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zuppa zhuh-puh noun Italian soup 1962Len DeightonThe Ipcress FileWe ordered the Zuppa di Lenticchie and Jean told me how this lentil soup reminded her of visits with her father to Sicily many years ago.1984Clive CusslerDeep SixI thought I'd try the zuppa di pesce.1994Patricia CornwellThe Body FarmI put on a pot of Zuppa di Aglio Fresco, a fresh garlic soup…2002Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint and David FreerThe Shadow of the LionPeople who had saved all year for this time were stuffing themselves with fatty sausages, bread, rich bean soup, Salame, Mortadella, Cotechino, still-steaming loaves of ciabbata, thick fragrant zuppa di fagioli.Labels: Clive Cussler, Len Deighton, Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint and David Freer, Patricia Cornwell
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krill kril noun small crustaceans; planktonic crustaceans 1978Wilbur SmithHungry as the SeaDuring the long voyage up from Shackleton Bay, Samantha had streamed a very fine-meshed net from Warlock's stern, collecting an incredible variety of krill and plankton and other microscopic marine life.1984William GibsonNew Rose HotelI spread crab-flavored krill paste on orange rice crackers.1999Clive CusslerAtlantis FoundWithout the algae to dine on, there would be no krill, the little shrimplike fellows, who in turn provide nourishment for every animal and fish in these southern waters from penguins to whales to phocids.Labels: Clive Cussler, Wilbur Smith, William Gibson
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delenda est Carthago day-LEN-daw est kawr-TAW-go phrase Carthage must be destroyed. - (Marcus Porcius) Cato the Elder, Roman Senator during the period of the Third Punic War (149 - 146 B.C.) 1775Benjamin FranklinLondon 1757 to 1775I sit down, Sir, after much patience, merely to take some notice of the invective and abuse, that have, on this occasion, been so liberally bestowed on my country, by your writers who sign themselves Old England, a Londoner, a Liveryman of London, &c. &c. [By the way, Mr. Printer, should I have said liberally or illiberally? Not being now it seems allowed to be an Englishman, I ought modestly to doubt my English, and submit it as I do to your correction.] The public, however, has been assured by these gentlemen, that 'the Bostonians have an evil disposition towards Old England, a rooted malice against this country, an implacable enmity to it;' they talk of our having 'hostile intentions,' and making 'barbarous resolutions against it;' they say that 'neither French nor Spaniards have as yet outdone the Bostonians in malicious combinations against its existence;' that we are 'as inveterate enemies to Old England, as ever the Carthagenians appeared to be to Rome.'—If all this is true, the inference intended is a plain one; it is as proper now to make war on Boston, as ever it was to make war against France or Spain; and it will be as right a thing in Old-England, totally to destroy New-England, as it was in Old Rome to destroy Carthage—You should not be contented with cutting the throats of one half of us in the West, to make the other half buy your goods whether they will or no, (as some Londoners say other Londoners do in the East) but the word should be, with old Cato, delenda est: Don't leave one stone upon another, nor a Carthagenian or Bostonian alive upon the face of the earth. Is this what these valiant writers would be at?1884P. EllisCeltic EmpireIn 195 BC the Consul Marcus Porcius Cato was sent to deal with the rebellious tribes. He was an austere military man and his severity was proverbial. He is famous for uttering the cry: 'Carthago delenda est!' (Carthage must be destroyed!).1912Rupert HughesMrs Budlong's Chrismas PresentsShe grew frantic to be quit of Carthage—to rub it off her visiting list. Unconsciously her motto became Cato's ruthless Carthago delenda est.1999Clive CusslerSerpent'It's something you learn in first-year Latin. 'Delenda est Carthago.' Carthage must be destroyed!Labels: Benjamin Franklin, Clive Cussler, P. Ellis, Rupert Hughes
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trebuchet tre-byuh-SHET noun a medieval artillery for hurling large stones or other objects during sieges 1960Poul AndersonThe High CrusadeThe boat carried several of these-also a disassembled trebuchet which his artisans had constructed.1976Karl Edward WagnerDark CrusadeKane's trebuchets are smashing the outer walls to powder.2003Clive Cussler and Paul KemprecosWhite DeathHe's a medieval weapons buff, so he developed a gadget similar to a trebuchet that had a surprising range.Labels: Clive Cussler, Karl Edward Wagner, Paul Kemprecos, Poul Anderson
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seppuku se-PYOO-kyoo noun suicide; the suicide ritual of the samurai; hara-kiri 1939Rex StoutSome Buried CeasarMaybe you think they call it hara-kiri, but they don't or at least rarely. They call it seppuku.1975James ClavellShogunWomen committed seppuku only with a knife in the throat.1986John Walter WilliamsHardwiredDaud and I aren't planning to commit seppuku with you, and I don't think the Hetman will, either.1989Iain M. BanksCanal DreamsThe condemned man ate a hearty breakfast. Feast before seppuku.1990Clive CusslerDragonYou will please allow me to save face by committing seppuku.Labels: Clive Cussler, Iain M. Banks, James Clavell, John Walter Williams, Rex Stout
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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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keelhaul KEEL-hawl verb punishment by hauling a person under the keel of a ship; a nasty reprimand 1973Clive CusslerThe Mediterranean CaperHe’d heard old tales that described in detail the ancient and brutal practice of keelhauling insubordinate British sailors.1975James ClavellShogunIf Pesaro had not yielded instantly, once again Rodrigues would have had to blow a hole in a man's face or put him in irons or order fifty lashes or keelhaul the man or perform any one of a hundred obscenities essential by sea law to maintain discipline.Labels: Clive Cussler, James Clavell
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