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ultima ratio regum ool-tuh-muh RAW-tee-o RAY-goom phrase the last argument of kings; war 1792Thomas PaineThe Rights of ManWithout consuming, like the Ultima Ratio Regum, it winds its progress from nation to nation, and conquers by a silent operation.1884Grant AllenPhilistiaYou know the motto Louis Quatorze used to cast on his bronze cannon—'Ultima ratio regum.' Well, we Socialists ought to be able to find better logic for our opponents than that, oughtn't we?'1981Patrick O'BrianThe Ionian MissionIf Captain Aubrey were to turn his cannon - the ultima ratio regum, and of other bullies - on Professor Graham, the truth would remain unaltered.1992Neal StephensonSnow Crash'What does ultima ratio regum mean?' | 'The Last Argument of Kings,'' the Librarian says.Labels: Grant Allen, Neal Stephenson, Patrick O'Brian, Thomas Paine
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jactitation jak-tuh-TAY-shuhn noun restlessness; twitching; an untrue claim at the expense of someone else 1759Laurence Sterne The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Gentleman—It has not only been a question, Captain Shandy, amongst the best lawyers and civilians in this land, continued Kysarcius, 'Whether the mother be of kin to her child,'—but, after much dispassionate enquiry and jactitation of the arguments on all sides—it has been adjudged for the negative—namely, 'That the mother is not of kin to her child.'1995Patrick O'BrianThe Commodore'Well, sir, this is the second day of the first stadium, and we may expect a diminution of the animal heat—increasing restlessness and jactitation.Labels: Laurence Sterne, Patrick O'Brian
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sensu stricto SEN-soo STRIK-to adverb in the strictest sense 1978Patrick O'BrianDesolation IslandTwo I find to be idiots, sensu stricto; three, including the big fellow that is thought to have killed his keeper, are hard men.Labels: Patrick O'Brian
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kreng kreng noun the corpse of a whale after the blubber has been removed 1993Patrick O'BrianThe Wine-Dark Sea'Kreng, ha, ha ha!' cried a dozen voices on the gangway; and the helmsman, in a low, kindly murmur said to Reade, 'That's what we call a corpus, sir: a carcass with his head emptied of spermaceti and the blubber all stripped off.'Labels: Patrick O'Brian
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demulcent di-MUHL-suhnt noun a soothing balm or medicine; something that relieves irritation 1852William YouattThe DogMild and demulcent liquids were his only food.1970Patrick O'BrianMaster & Commander...drink nothing but demulcent barley-water…1986Brian DaleyThe Starfollowers of CoramonderHealers were seeing to Ferrian's temple and Reacher's leg, applying demulcents to the burns they'd gotten when the Orb had opened against them.Labels: Brian Daley, Patrick O'Brian, William Youatt
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obnubilate awb-NYOO-bi-layt verb to cloud; to obfuscate; to make less clear 1652Robert BurtonThe Anatomy of MelancholyAnd from these crudities, windy vapours ascend up to the brain which trouble the imagination, and cause fear, sorrow, dullness, heaviness, many terrible conceits and chimeras, as Lemnius well observes, 'as black and thick cloud covers the sun, and intercepts his beams and light, so doth this melancholy vapour obnubilate the mind, enforce it to many absurd thoughts and imaginations,' and compel good, wise, honest, discreet men (arising to the brain from the lower parts, 'as smoke out of a chimney') to dote, speak, and do that which becomes them not, their persons, callings, wisdoms.1820Sir Walter ScottThe Monastery'Now, by my knighthood,' answered Sir Piercie, 'your lovely faculties either of mind or body are, O my most fair Discretion, obnubilated by some strange hallucination.'1977Patrick O'BrianThe Mauritius Command'It is the pity of the world, Dr McAdam, to see a man of your parts obnubilate his mind with the juice of the grape.'Labels: Patrick O'Brian, Robert Burton, Sir Walter Scott
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Mahayana maw-huh-YAW-nuh noun a major branch of Buddhism 1886Fa HienRecord of Buddhistic KingdomsThere are in Buddhism the triyana, or 'three different means of salvation, i.e. of conveyance across the samsara, or sea of transmigration, to the shores of nirvana. Afterwards the term was used to designate the different phases of development through which the Buddhist dogma passed, known as the mahayana, hinayana, and madhyamayana.'1913Kaiten NukariyaThe Religion of the SamuraiThe Southern Buddhists never call their faith Hinayana, the name being an invention of later Buddhists, who call their doctrine Mahayana in contradistinction to the earlier form of Buddhism.1958Jack KerouacThe Dharma BumsHe's a great mysterious Bodhisattva I think maybe a reincarnation of Asagna the great Mahayana scholar of the old centuries.'1989Patrick O'BrianThe Thirteen Gun SaluteHe was of the utmost help to me when I was enquiring into the spread of Buddhism—the arrival of Mahayana Buddhism in Java.'Labels: Fa Hien, Jack Kerouac, Kaiten Nukariya, Patrick O'Brian
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abaft a-BAFT adverb towards the stern of the ship 1903Joseph ConradFalkOn these days you could make out that ship at a great distance by the multi-coloured grotesque riot going on abaft her mizzen mast.1939Robert A. HeinleinMisfitHis 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.'1943Curt Siodmak and Ardel WrayI 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.1979Frederick ForsythThe 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.1998Patrick O'BrianThe 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
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mammothrept MAM-mo-thrept noun a spoiled child 1601Ben JonsonCynthia's RevelsAMO: But very well! O, you are a mere mammothrept in judgment, then.1970Patrick O'BrianMaster & CommanderAnd having seen the parents I am impatient to see this youth, the fruit of their strangely unattractive loins: will he be a wretched mammothrept?Labels: Ben Jonson, Patrick O'Brian
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