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quand même kawn mem adverb nevertheless; in spite of; even so 1907Sarah BernhardtMy Double LifeI then stepped into the carriage which had caused such a sensation at the theatre, and drove away. On reaching home I took the contract to my mother. She signed it without reading it. I made my mind resolutely to be some one quand-même.1909Frank HarrisThe Man ShakespeareThe critics who have ignorantly praised his Hotspur and Bastard as if he had been a man of deeds as well as a man of words have only obscured the truth that Shakespeare the poet-philosopher, the lover quand même, only reached a sane balance of nature through his overflowing humour.1922E. E. CummingsThe Enormous Room'You're god damn right it's Malheureux,' I said, forgetting my French. 'Quand même, he has resisted authority.'1980Robert LudlumThe Bourne Identity'Merci bien. Je vais essayer quand même.'Labels: E. E. Cummings, Frank Harris, Robert Ludlum, Sarah Bernhardt
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orthogonal or-THAWG-uh-nuhl adjective at right angles; intersecting at right angles; irrelevant or extraneous, usually in reference to an issue or subject 1985Carl SaganContactThey're made of a niobium alloy, they have peculiar patterns cut into them, and they're obviously designed to rotate in three orthogonal directions very fast in a vacuum.1989Charles SheffieldProteus UnboundIf I wanted to talk fancy like Leo, I'd say it's like their science is orthogonal to ours. They move along a completely different axis of understanding.1998Michael CrichtonTimelineWhat we have developed is a form of space travel. To be precise, we use quantum technology to manipulate an orthogonal multiverse coordinate change.'2001Robert LudlumThe Sigma Protocol...she went into standard E&S, evasion and search, tactics. That meant flattening yourself against a wall with a pistol drawn, then shifting to an orthogonal wall, and repeating the process.Labels: Carl Sagan, Charles Sheffield, Michael Crichton, Robert Ludlum
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éminence grise ay-mee-nawns greez noun a behind the scenes decision-maker or power-broker; a puppet-master; literally: gray eminence 1988Robertson DaviesThe Lyre of OrpheusThere was no secret about the compelling portrait of Judas, holding firmly to his moneybag; there were enough sketches in the books Francis had filled at Düsterstein to mark him clearly as Tancred Saraceni, father in art to Francis, and an ambiguous éminence grise in the art world of forty years ago…1989Gore VidalHollywoodThe subject of the assistant president, the éminence grise, the Texas Machiavelli, was too enormous for either to embark on.1990Robert LudlumThe Bourne UltimatumHis bald head, fringed by perfectly groomed gray hair above his temples, was like the skull of an anointed éminence grise of some royal court where kings, princes and pretenders deferred to his wisdom…1994Caleb CarrThe Alienist...Ward McAllister had been Mrs. Astor's social éminence grise…Labels: Caleb Carr, Gore Vidal, Robert Ludlum, Robertson Davies
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Malthusian mal-THOO-zhuhn adjective relating to or conforming to the theory of Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) which holds: populations increase faster than the resources needed to support the increase, and, if unchecked, will result in all-pervasive poverty, disease, and starvation 1832Various The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction (29 Sept 1832)We have besides safety for danger—accelerated speed without inhumanity—gain of time—of accommodation—of money—and over and above all, as a non-consumer of food, we have by the substitution what will remove the host of Malthusian ills to a period of almost indefinite duration. 1899Charles Dudley Warner That Fortune Everybody knows that it is full of the most gamy and beautiful fish in the world—namely, the speckled trout, whose honest occupation it is to devour whatever is thrown into the pool—a body governed by the strictest laws of political economy in guarding against over-population, by carrying out the Malthusian idea, in the habit the big ones have of eating the little ones. 1988Robert Ludlum The Icarus AgendaIf it were otherwise, you'd be talking about another system of government that doesn't permit the Malthusian law of economic failure.1996Joyce Carol OatesWe Were the MulvaneysAs a Harvard Ph.D. I became a neo-Malthusian but I consider myself a revisionist neo-Malthusian.Labels: Charles Dudley Warner, Joyce Carol Oates, Robert Ludlum, Various
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oubliette oo-blee-ET noun a dungeon, room, or storage space with only a trap door or gap in its ceiling as a point of entry or exit 1953Ian FlemingCasino RoyaleLe Chiffre's two cards followed them with a faint rattle which comes from the canister at the beginning of each session before the discards have made a cushion over the metal floor of their oubliette.2001Robert LudlumThe Cassandra CompactUnder the floorboards in the main room, in a small oubliette, was a cache of arms, medicines, and other essentials, indicating that the owner was undoubtedly in Howell's line of work.2002Amélie NothombFear and TremblingI probed my brain in search of a layer favorable to amnesia. Were there any oubliette cells in my neuronal fortress?Labels: Amélie Nothomb, Ian Fleming, Robert Ludlum
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pedagogic pe-duh-GAW-jik adjective related to the profession of teaching or education 1915Ford Madox FordThe Good SoldierWith her little, pedagogic sectarianism she remembered that Catholics do not do this thing.1919Lucas MaletDeadham HardDons, head-masters, the pedagogic and professorial tribe generally, he had long taken in his stride quite unabashed. Church dignitaries, too, left him saucily cool.2002Robert LudlumThe Janson Directive'There's always time for recriminations,' said Charlotte Ainsley with a severe, over-the-glasses pedagogic look.Labels: Ford Madox Ford, Lucas Malet, Robert Ludlum
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nostrum NOS-truhm noun a panacea; a cure-all remedy; a secret recipe for medicine; snake-oil 1912G. K. ChestertonManaliveI must say that for a clergyman to countenance, even in jest, such discredited nostrums of dissipated demagogues as Socialism or Radicalism partakes of the character of the betrayal of a sacred trust.1982Frank HerbertThe White Plague...he dosed himself not only with specifics to which his medical standing gave him access but also with nostrums…2000Robert Ludlum and Galye LyndsThe Hades FactorIn Iraq, life for most people was basic, and this doctor, whose work had been published widely, who once had traveled the globe to address pediatric conferences, was reduced to nostrums and yogurt.Labels: Frank Herbert, G. K. Chesterton, Galye Lynds, Robert Ludlum
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sub rosa suhb RO-zuh adverb in confidence; secretly; covertly 1927Sinclair LewisElmer GantryWhatever worldly expressions he might use in sub rosa conversations with the less sanctified theological students…1962Alistair MacLeanSatan BugYou will remember that there was nothing sub rosa about Gregori's arrival in this country…2000Robert Ludlum and Galye LyndsThe Hades FactorFrom the great shuttered embassy, they handled passport questions, reported on local media, and occasionally passed sub-rosa messages between Washington and Baghdad.Labels: Alistair MacLean, Galye Lynds, Robert Ludlum, Sinclair Lewis
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post meridiem post muh-rid-EE-uhm adverb, adjective after noon; source of abbreviation PM which signifies the hours of the day between noon and midnight; literally: after the sun has crossed the line (of the sundial) 1846Captain Frederick Marryat The Privateersman We then took our leave, promising to be back by dinner-time, and I went with Philip to fit him out in a more creditable way; and having made my purchases and given my orders, (it being then almost two o'clock post meridiem,) we hastened to Mr Trevannion's, that we might be in time for dinner.1991Robert Ludlum The Road To OmahaI hereby determine that the hour of our conference will take place post meridiem, the specific time to be mutually agreed upon with later communication by telephone. Labels: Captain Frederick Marryat, Robert Ludlum
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antediluvian an-ti-duh-LOO-vee-uhn adjective biblical era before the flood; antiquate; unfashionable 1939Henry MillerTropic of CapricornCertainly I did not need this grotesque, cumbersome, antediluvian desk which I had installed in the parlour…1975Robert LudlumThe Road to Gandolfo'That phrase is about as antediluvian as you are,' muttered Sam as he stood up.2003Dan BrownThe Da Vinci CodeThe air inside smelled antediluvian, regal somehow, with traces of pipe tobacco, tea leaves, cooking sherry, and the earthen aroma of stone architecture.Labels: Dan Brown, Henry Miller, Robert Ludlum
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contradistinction KAWN-truh-dis-tink-shuhn noun distinguishing something by contrasting it with something else 1911Ambrose BierceThe Devil's DictionaryPANTHEISM, n. The doctrine that everything is God, in contradistinction to the doctrine that God is everything.1937George OrwellThe 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.1991Robert LudlumThe Road to Omaha...my title is 'general' in contradistinction to the civilian 'mister,'…Labels: Ambrose Bierce, George Orwell, Robert Ludlum
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byzantine BAI-zan-teen adjective hard to comprehend due to complexity; intricacy; complicated 1982Alistair MacLeanPartisansBut 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.1991Robert LudlumThe Road to Omaha...she had brought up her own daughters to serve the byzantine infrastructures of the government's myriad bureaus, departments, and agencies.1992Pat CadiganTrue FacesMaybe it should have prepared me for the more byzantine protocols of extraterrestrials, but I've got a bad attitude.1998Chuck RogersTarget 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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impecunious im-pi-KYOO-nee-uhs adjective broke; penniless; needy 1920Edith WhartonThe Age of InnocenceAs it was precisely of that love that poor Winsett was starving to death, Archer looked with a sort of vicarious envy at this eager impecunious young man who had fared so richly in his poverty.1938Nevil ShuteRuined CityIt came through Sir David Hogan, who induced an impecunious shipowner associate to speculate on the future to the extent of ordering a replacement to his fleet.1990Robert LudlumThe Bourne UltimatumIt was a heady experience for a man who had lived an impecunious existence for the past thirty years.Labels: Edith Wharton, Nevil Shute, Robert Ludlum
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