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heterodox HET-ur-uh-dawks adjective unorthodox opinions; opinions divergent from the norm; not orthodox 1766Jonathan SwiftThe Journal to StellaProbably William Whiston, who was deprived of the Lucasian professorship at Cambridge in 1710 for his heterodox views.1871John Stuart MillAutobiographyAll of these who had anything in them, myself among others, quickly outgrew this boyish vanity; and those who had not, became tired of differing from other people, and gave up both the good and the bad part of the heterodox opinions they had for some time professed.1887Bret HarteThe Crusade of the ExcelsiorThe march of science, which had been stopped by the local fogs of Todos Santos some fifty years, had not disturbed the simple Aesculapius of the province with heterodox theories: he still purged and bled like Sangrado, and met the priest at the deathbed of his victims with a pious satisfaction that had no trace of skeptical contention.1924Lewis HodusBuddhism and Buddhists in China...his daughter was associating with a young monk discussing heterodox doctrines…Labels: Bret Harte, John Stuart Mill, Jonathan Swift, Lewis Hodus
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vacuity va-KYOO-uh-tee noun the state of being vacuous; a moronic idea 1882Walt WhitmanSpecimen DaysThe attractions, fascinations there are in sea and shore! How one dwells on their simplicity, even vacuity!1885Bret Harte By Shore and Sedge 'That's it. Justifyin' yourself by works instead o' leanin' onto Him! Find Him, sez you! Git Him, sez you! Works is vain. Glory! glory!' he continued, with fluent vacuity and wandering, dull, observant eyes. 1919Camilla KenyonSpanish DoubloonsI listened to their lazy, fragmentary conversation vast gulfs of mental vacuity seemed to open before me.Labels: Bret Harte, Camilla Kenyon, Walt Whitman
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saturnine SA-turh-nain adjective to be melancholy; to be bitterly sarcastic; a grave; foreboding appearance 1878Bret Harte Drift From Two Shores After the Sunday episode, already referred to, she was given her liberty on that day, a privilege she gracefully recognized by somewhat unbending her usual austerity in the indulgence of a saturnine humor. 1946Henry KuttnerVintage SeasonHe saw one man's face, over and overa long, dark saturnine face, deeply lined, sorrowful, the face of a powerful man wise in worldliness, urbane and helpless.1957Jim ThompsonWild TownBugs glowered at him helplessly, wanting nothing so much as to smash his fist into the deputy's bland, saturnine face.1995Brian JacquesThe Outcast of RedwallTall and saturnine, he dressed plainly and affected the manner of a gentlebeast.Labels: Bret Harte, Brian Jacques, Henry Kuttner, Jim Thompson
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mea culpa may-uh KOOL-pa noun an acknowledgment of error, guilt, or fault 1870Bret Harte The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales The master lifted her gently, and waited for the paroxysm to pass. When, with face still averted, she was repeating between her sobs the mea culpa of childish penitence—that 'she'd be good, she didn't mean to,' etc., it came to him to ask her why she had left Sabbath-school. 1922Mary Johnston1492And, O my Lord, never more will I forget that that tomb in which thou didst rest, still, still is held by the infidel!' He beat his breast. ' Mea culpa! mea culpa! '1987S. T. HaymonDeath of a GodWho did he think he was kidding? That must be the kind of guff all faithless lovers fed into their personal computers to get themselves in the clear. Mea culpa. Metaphorically, over his cornflakes and cup of instant, he beat his breast, calling himself all the right names—a lecher, a swine, a dirty old man.1992Connie WillisThe Doomsday Book'Mea culpa,' she whispered, 'mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.' Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault, but that wasn't right, that was only in the Confiteor Deo.2003Clive Cussler and Paul KemprecosWhite DeathMea culpa. It didn't seem like a bad idea at the time.Labels: Bret Harte, Clive Cussler, Connie Willis, Mary Johnston, Paul Kemprecos, S. T. Haymon
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