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Permalink: lèse majesté Entry By: CJ Cooney Smash illiteracy! Email This Word To A Friend: |
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lèse majesté mare nostrum sophism hauteur zaddik mare clausum peine forte et dure jannock scarabee usucaption wanhope etiolate travails afflatus gentrification samsara contradistinction Ymir obtund mammon soupçon plutocracy quotidian dissimulate doyen abaft rafale byzantine MORE ARCHIVES lèse majesté layz MA-juh-stee noun treason; a crime committed against a king or queen 1898The Malady of the CenturyI will therefore dismiss the charge, if only to avoid the public scandal of a Member being accused of lese majeste.'1910Twenty Years At Hull HouseIt seemed that moment as if the hopes of democracy were more likely to come to pass on English soil than upon our own. Robert Blatchford's stirring pamphlets were in everyone's hands, and a reception given by Karl Marx's daughter, Mrs. Aveling, to Liebknecht before he returned to Germany to serve a prison term for his lese majeste speech in the Reichstag, gave us a glimpse of the old-fashioned orthodox Socialist who had not yet begun to yield to the biting ridicule of Bernard Shaw although he flamed in their midst that evening.1939Easy to KillSeems to think he's God Almighty and that anyone who disagrees with him is committing lese-majeste.Labels: Agatha Christie, Jane Addams, Max Nordau
mare nostrum MAR-ee NOS-truhm noun our sea; Roman nickname for the Mediterranean Sea 187020,000 Leagues Under the SeaThe Mediterranean, the blue sea par excellence, 'the great sea' of the Hebrews, 'the sea' of the Greeks, the 'mare nostrum' of the Romans, bordered by orange-trees, aloes, cacti, and sea-pines; embalmed with the perfume of the myrtle, surrounded by rude mountains, saturated with pure and transparent air, but incessantly worked by underground fires; a perfect battlefield in which Neptune and Pluto still dispute the empire of the world!1919Mare Nostrum (Our Sea) A NovelIn Ferragut's estimation the mare nostrum ['Mare Nostrum' (Our Sea), the classic name for the Mediterranean.] was a species of blue beast, powerful and of great intelligence—a sacred animal like the dragons and serpents that certain religions adored, believing them to be the source of life.2002Heris SerranoLike Italy's central protrusion into the Mediterranean on old Earth (back when that body of water was known as Mare Nostrum), the Guerni Republic enjoyed a location both handy for trade and easy to defend.Labels: Elizabeth Moon, Jules Verne, Vicente Blasco Ibanez
sophism SAW-fi-zuhm noun a false argument often crafted to deceive 1849Yeast: A ProblemBut poor truth-seeking Lancelot did not see what sex had to do with logic; he flew at her as if she had been a very barrister, and hunted her mercilessly up and down through all sorts of charming sophisms, as she begged the question, and shifted her ground, as thoroughly right in her conclusion as she was wrong in her reasoning, till she grew quite confused and pettish. 1867Unspoken SermonsIt is reproach. Then he reproaches them that they had not seen God, when no man hath seen God at any time, and Paul says no man can see him! Is there here any paradox? There cannot be the sophism: 'No man hath seen God; ye are to blame that ye have not seen God; therefore all men are to blame that they have not seen God!' If we read, 'No man hath seen God, but some men ought to have seen him,' we do not reap such hope for the race as will give the aspect of a revelation to the assurance that not one of those capable of seeing him has ever seen him!1905The War of the ClassesMr. O'Neil is right, and that this is no sophism it is the intention of this article, among other things, to show. Labels: Charles Kingsley, George MacDonald, Jack London
hauteur haw-TUR noun arrogance; haughty behavior; an elevated sense of pride 1886The Prairie Chief'Is the fair-faced maiden,' said Rushing River, referring to the girl's comparatively light complexion, 'willing to share the wigwam of a Blackfoot chief?' Moonlight received this very decided and unusually civil proposal of marriage with becoming hauteur, for she was still ruffled by the undignified manner in which she had been carried off.1904Peter Pan'A little!' she replied with hauteur. 'If I am no use I can at least withdraw,' and she sprang in the most dignified way into bed and covered her face with the blankets.1927Lazarus LaughedCALIGULA—(who has moved to Lazarus' side defensively—in a quick whisper) Beware of this man, Lazarus! (then advancing—with a condescending hauteur) Greeting, Marcellus!Labels: Eugene O'Neill, J. M. Barrie, R. M. Ballantyne
zaddik ZAW-dik noun a Jewish saint; a righteous person 1909The Renascence of Hebrew Literature (1743-1885) At that moment the Hasidim with their Oriental fatalism, and their worship of the Zaddik ('Saint'), whom they revered as a wonder-worker, appeared upon the scene and won the Jews of a large part of Poland to their standard.1996Servant of the BonesAnd Gregory became a madman. And his brother a holy man, a saint, zaddik.Labels: Anne Rice, Nahum Slouschz
mare clausum MAWR-ee KLAW-suhm noun closed sea; a body of water under the jurisdiction of a single nation and which is off-limits to all other nations 1894A Journey in Other WorldsThe stormy ocean we behold in the west, which corresponds to our Atlantic, though it is far more of a mare clausum in the geographical sense, is also destined to become a calm and placid inland sea.Labels: J. J. Astor
peine forte et dure pen for tay dyoor phrase strong and painful punishment; torture 1735Lives of the Most Remarkable CriminalsBurnworth absolutely refused to plead at all; upon which, after being advised by the judge not to force the Court upon that rigour which they were unwilling at any time to practice, and he still continuing obstinate, his thumbs (as is usual in such cases) were tied and strained with pack thread. This having no effect upon him, the sentence of the press, or as it is sailed in Law, of the Peine Fort et Dure, was read to him in these words: You shall go to the place from whence you came, and there being stripped naked and laid flat upon your back on the floor, with a napkin about your middle to hide your privy members, and a cloth on your face, then the press is to be laid upon you, with as much weight as, or rather more than you can bear.1859It Is Never Too Late to MendThe governor put him on a favorite crank of his, and gave him eight thousand turns to do in four hours and a half. He knew the boy could not do it, and this was only a formula he went through previous to pillorying the lad. Josephs had been in the Pillory about an hour when it so happened that the Reverend John Jones, the chaplain of the jail, came into the yard. Seeing a group of warders at the mouth of the labor-cell, he walked up to them, and there was Josephs in peine forte et dure.1958Dr. NoThe Grand Inquisitor sat in the high-backed chair. The hour had struck for the peine forte et dure.Labels: Arthur L. Hayward, Charles Reade, Ian Fleming
jannock jan-AWK adjective honest 1922UlyssesWha gev ye thon colt? Pal to pal. Jannock.Labels: James Joyce
scarabee SKAER-uh-bee noun a beetle; a dung beetle; an ancient Egyptian symbol 1872The Poet At the Breakfast Table I think, by way of compromise and convenience, I shall call him the Scarabee. He has come to look wonderfully like those creatures—the beetles, I mean—-by being so much among them. His room is hung round with cases of them, each impaled on a pin driven through him, something as they used to bury suicides. These cases take the place for him of pictures and all other ornaments. 1972Elephants Can Remember'Yes, that table—the brass one—that's Captain Wilson, he sent me that from Singapore or something like that. And that Benares brass, too. That's nice, isn't it? That's a funny thing on the ash tray. That's Egyptian, that is. It's a scarabee, or some name like that. You know. Sounds like some kind of scratching disease, but it isn't. No, it's a sort of beetle and it's made out of some stone. They call it a precious stone. Bright blue. A lazy—a lavis—a lazy lapin or something like that.'Labels: Agatha Christie, Oliver Wendell Holmes
usucaption yoo-suh-KAP-shuhn noun ownership of a property as established or evidenced by long use 1840What is PropertyIt is the absolute, exclusive, autocratic domain of a man over a thing—a domain which begins by usucaption, is maintained by possession, and finally, by the aid of prescription, finds its sanction in the civil law; a domain which so identifies the man with the thing, that the proprietor can say, 'He who uses my field, virtually compels me to labor for him; therefore he owes me compensation.'1874The Life of John of BarneveldRather by usucaption than usurpation Holland had in many regards come to consider herself and be considered as the Republic itself.1903The Orations of Marcus Tullius CiceroThose things, again, I say have no existence, which are incapable of being touched or proved, but which can be perceived by the mind and understood; as if you were to define usucaption, guardianship, nationality, or relationship; all, things which have no body, but which nevertheless have a certain conformation plainly marked out and impressed upon the mind, which I call the notion of them.Labels: Cicero, John Lothrop Motley, Joseph-Pierre Proudhon
wanhope WAN-hop noun nearly hopeless; a feint hope 1400The Canterbury TalesWel oughte I sterve in wanhope and distresse, Farwel, my lif, my lust, and my galdnesse!1907Between The Dark and The DaylightI should like to give the story of Alford's experiences just as Wanhope told it, sitting with us before the glowing hearth in the Turkish room, one night after the other diners at our club had gone away to digest their dinners at the theatre, or in their bachelor apartments up-town, or on the late trains which they were taking north, south, and west; or had hurried back to their offices to spend the time stolen from rest in overwork for which their famished nerves would duly revenge themselves.Labels: Geoffrey Chaucer, William Dean Howells
etiolate EE-tee-uh-layt verb to make weak; to create a pale or sickly appearance; to deprive of light 1891Peter IbbetsonAnd is there, perchance, some sixth sense embedded somewhere in the thickness of the flesh—some survival of the past, of the race, of our own childhood even, etiolated by disuse?1982Helliconia SpringThe chill, the etiolated morning in which rain threatened, the sense of adventure, served to make her feel disembodied.1995Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the WestShe sat down, looking a bit etiolated…Labels: Brian Aldiss, George du Maurier, Gregory Maguire
travails truh-VAYLS noun troubles and difficulties; hard work 1900The Lost ContinentThey warmed to the old words as the high shrill voice of the priest cried them forth, and as they listened, and as they realised how intimate was the care of the Gods for the travails and sorrows of their daily lives, so much warmer grew their responses.1998The Iron Lance'What are earthly travails compared to Heaven's treasures?'1999MonsterAfter much soul-searching, as well as witnessing, firsthand, the triumphs and the travails of those noble enough...to brave the elements of Nature as well as the much more malignant Forces of Big Government, this newspaper must weigh in on the side of rationality and self-preservation.1999FlashforwardAnd so he sat, taking it in, taking in the peaks and valleys of other people's lives, the highs and lows, the trials and travails of those whose existence had more variation, more excitement, more angst than his own.Labels: C. J. Cutliffe Hyne, Jonathan Kellerman, Robert J. Sawyer, Stephen Lawhead
afflatus e-FLAY-tes noun inspiration; divinely inspired 1890How to Fail in LiteratureOr you may wildly mix your metaphors, as when a critic accuses Mr. Browning of 'giving the irridescence of the poetic afflatus,' as if the poetic afflatus were blown through a pipe, into soap, and produced soap bubbles.1923Emily of New MoonBut Emily wanted another verse to round the poem off properly and the divine afflatus seemed gone.1992Food of the GodsThe divine afflatus of poetry is the gift of the entheogen.Labels: Andrew Lang, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Terence McKenna
gentrification jen-truh-fuh-KAY-shuhn noun migration of middle or high class persons to a low or working class neighborhood; the restoration of a dilapidated community 1981Rabbit Is Rich...the old retired people are being forced out by gentrification, the middle class returning to the cities.1997Plum IslandThere has been some gentrification in recent years, boutiques, trendy restaurants, and all that, but Claudio's remains pretty much the same as it was when I was a kid.1999The Last DanceThere were sections of Diamondback that long ago had been sucked into the quagmire of hopeless poverty, where any thoughts of gentrification were mere pipe dreams.Labels: Ed McBain, John Updike, Nelson Demille
samsara sam-SAWR-uh noun life; the swirl of life; human existence 1919From Ritual To Romance In the Mahayana scriptures Buddha is referred to as the Fisherman who draws fish from the ocean of Samsara to the light of Salvation. 1971SiddharthaThis game was called Samsara, a game for children, a game which was perhaps enjoyable played once, twice, ten times - but was it worth playing continually?Labels: Hermann Hesse, Jessie L Weston
contradistinction KAWN-truh-dis-tink-shuhn noun distinguishing something by contrasting it with something else 1911The Devil's DictionaryPANTHEISM, n. The doctrine that everything is God, in contradistinction to the doctrine that God is everything.1937The Road to Wigan PierIn order to symbolize the class war, there has been set up the more or less mythical figure of a 'proletarian', a muscular but downtrodden man in greasy overalls, in contradistinction to a 'capitalist', a fat, wicked man in a top hat and fur coat.1991The Road to Omaha...my title is 'general' in contradistinction to the civilian 'mister,'…Labels: Ambrose Bierce, George Orwell, Robert Ludlum
Ymir EE-mir noun the name of a giant who's body was use by Norse gods to create the world 2000American GodsHe placed Ymir's brains in the sky as clouds, and his salt blood became the seas we crossed.Labels: Neil Gaiman
obtund awb-TUHND verb to blunt; to make dull; to make less severe; to decrease pain 1820The System of NatureIn old age man extinguishes entirely, his fibres become rigid, his nerves loose their elasticity, his senses are obtunded, his sight grows dim, his ears lose their quickness, his ideas become unconnected, his memory fails, his imagination cools: what then becomes of his soul?1993Fatal CureOn top of that, John was obtunded, and when aroused, apathetic.1998TimelineWhite male, ballpark seventy years old. Comes in confused, obtunded, disoriented times three.Labels: Baron D'Holbach, Michael Crichton, Robin Cook
mammon MA-muhn noun material wealth; riches; a false god from the old Christian testament; the god of wealth 1651LeviathanThe sixth place is Luke, 16. 9: 'Make ye friends of the unrighteous mammon, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting tabernacles.' This he alleges to prove invocation of saints departed. But the sense is plain, that we should make friends, with our riches, of the poor; and thereby obtain their prayers whilst they live. 'He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord.'1849Yeast: A ProblemIn God's name, if the Stock Exchange, and railway stagging, and the advertisements in the Protestant Hue-and-Cry, and the frantic Mammon-hunting which has been for the last fifty years the peculiar pursuit of the majority of Quakers, Dissenters, and Religious Churchmen, are not The World, what is? 1955Augustine: Confessions and EnchiridionNor can that possibly be void which was uttered by the mouth of Thy truth: 'If, therefore, you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?'1991Barton FinkMAYHEW: Why thank you, son, how kind. Bein' occupied here in the worship of Mammon, I haven't had the chance yet to see your play…Labels: Charles Kingsley, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Saint Augustine, Thomas Hobbes
soupçon soop-SON noun a tiny amount; a dash; a trace 1864Wylder's Hand'Now, you, I dare say,' continued Wylder, not caring to perceive the soupçon of sarcasm that modulated her answer so musically, 'look upon me as a very fortunate fellow?'1992Red Square...the filling was sure to be no more than a suggestion—a delicate soupçon of ground pork or steamed cabbage…1993Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief...you can expect a man with—as Carstairs phrases it—a fierce black moustache and fierce black eyebrows and more than a soupçon of arrogance.Labels: Dorothy Gilman, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Martin Cruz Smith
plutocracy PLOO-taw-kruh-see noun a government by the wealthy or moneyed class 1909A Gentleman From MississippiHe had his speech all really to warn the country that he thought a crowd of the plutocracy was goin' to get the bonds to resell to the public at advanced rates.1920The New JerusalemMeanwhile the Labour men talk about the need to 'nationalise' the mines or the land, as if it were not the great difficulty in a plutocracy to nationalise the Government, or even to nationalise the nation.1937The Road To Wigan PierBut if we do get it there will be a struggle, conceivably a physical one, for our plutocracy will not sit quiet under a genuinely revolutionary government.Labels: G. K. Chesterton, George Orwell, Thomas A. Wise and Joseph R. Grismer
quotidian kwo-TI-dee-uhn noun, adjective something which occurs everyday; everyday; ordinary; daily 1849The CaxtonsWith what an effort we reconcile ourselves to the trite cares and vexed pleasures, 'the quotidian ague of frigid impertinences,' to which we return! How strong and black stands my pencil-mark in this passage of the poet from whom I have just quoted before!—'We are here among the vast and noble scenes of Nature—we are there among the pitiful shifts of policy; we walk here in the light and open ways of the Divine Bounty—we grope there in the dark and confused labyrinth of human malice. 1931An Adventure in FuturityWhen Fancy's vivid spark impels the soul | To scorn quotidian scenes, to spurn the bliss | Of vulgar minds, what nostrum shall compose | Its fatal tension?1984The MikoIt was as if she had been spun down the awful tunnel of legend, as if quotidian Tokyo with its hordes of rushing people, thick pollution, and bright neon lights had disappeared entirely.Labels: Clark Ashton Smith, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Eric Van Lustbader
dissimulate di-SIM-yuh-layt verb to hide behind a mask; to hide one's intentions; to pretend things are not as they are 1762EmileIf I dissimulate and pretend to see nothing, he will take advantage of my weakness; if he thinks he can deceive me, he will despise me, and I become an accomplice in his destruction.1796The MonkI saw those prospects on the point of closing in the most horrible manner: Yet was I obliged to dissimulate, and to receive with a semblance of gratitude the false civilities of him who held the dagger to my bosom.1910Simon the JesterLastly, there was the worldly device, which I adopted, of dissimulating the furnace of my affliction beneath a smiling exterior.Labels: Jean Jaques Rousseau, Matthew Lewis, William J. Locke
doyen DOI-uhn noun the oldest or most senior member of a group; the leader of a group; the dean of a university 1907My Double LifeThe news was told us by Mother St. Alexis, the doyenne, the most aged member of the community, who was so tall, so thin, and so old that I never looked upon her as a human being or as a living being.1936The Island of SheepAnd there were dogs of every colour and age, from Stoddart's old patriarch Yarrow, who was the doyen of the tribe…1980Photo FinishHe approached the doyen of Australian music critics…Labels: John Buchan, Ngaio Marsh, Sarah Bernhardt
abaft a-BAFT adverb towards the stern of the ship 1903FalkOn these days you could make out that ship at a great distance by the multi-coloured grotesque riot going on abaft her mizzen mast.1939MisfitHis mate read the exterior dials of the stereoscope. 'Plus point two, abaft one point three, slight drift astern.' He shifted to radar and added, 'Range seven nine oh four three.'1943I Walked With a ZombieEXT. DECK OF SCHOONER - NIGHT Betsy is seated on the cabin top just abaft of the foremast. She is looking out toward the sea and her expression is ecstatic. She is completely lost in the beauty that she feels, sees and smells.1979The Devil's AlternativeThe ship was heading east-northeast to clear Cape Ince, so that as he shielded his eyes and gazed abaft the beam, the noon sun was almost straight in his face.1998The Hundred DaysThe breeze is veering again, said the first. It will be abaft the beam directly.Labels: Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray, Frederick Forsyth, Joseph Conrad, Patrick O'Brian, Robert A. Heinlein
rafale ruh-FAYL noun a volley of rapidly bursting artillery 1916A Volunteer PoiluAnother dreadful rafale (volley) of shrapnel, at the rate of ten or fifteen a minute, came speeding from the German lines.1920Now It Can Be ToldIt was what the French call la rafale des tambours de la mort—the ruffle of the drums of death.Labels: Henry Sheahan, Philip Gibbs
byzantine BAI-zan-teen adjective hard to comprehend due to complexity; intricacy; complicated 1982PartisansBut in the deepest recesses of her mind she wondered whether the plan was indeed God's will—or merely part of Bernice's byzantine design.1991The Road to Omaha...she had brought up her own daughters to serve the byzantine infrastructures of the government's myriad bureaus, departments, and agencies.1992True FacesMaybe it should have prepared me for the more byzantine protocols of extraterrestrials, but I've got a bad attitude.1998Target CommandDuring the cold war, KGB operations were Byzantine to say the least.Labels: Alistair MacLean, Chuck Rogers, Pat Cadigan, Robert Ludlum
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