The Death of Fissiparous and Other Words: A Dictionary of Words & Phrases on the Verge of Extinction

ne plus ultra

nay pluhs UHL-truh

phrase

the highest level achievable; the acme; the ultimate state of something

1809Washington IrvingA History of New YorkFor my part, I am prodigiously fond of these valuable speculations so complimentary to human nature, and which are so ingeniously calculated to make beasts of both writer and reader; but in this instance I am inclined to take the proposition by halves, believing with old Horace, that though war may have been originally the favourite amusement and industrious employment of our progenitors, yet like many other excellent habits, so far from being ameliorated, it has been cultivated and confirmed by refinement and civilization, and encreases in exact proportion as we approach towards that state of perfection, which is the ne plus ultra of modern philosophy.1862Anthony TrollopeNorth AmericaAnd in London he will find the supreme of power, the ne plus ultra of work according to the world's capability of working. Any one of such journeys may be more valuable to a man—nay, any one such journey must be more valuable to a man—than a visit to Niagara.1897Eliot GregoryWorldly Ways and BywaysSo little is known about the proper preparation of food that tomorrow's dinner will appear to many as the ne plus ultra of delicate living.

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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laity

LAY-uh-tee

noun

a group of ordinary persons not possessing the particular professional credentials or specific skills of another group; non-clergy members of a religious group

1859Washington IrvingThe Life of George WashingtonHunting came next to war in those days, as the occupation of the nobility and gentry. The clergy engaged in it equally with the laity.1901Anna M. GalbraithThe Four Epochs of Woman's LifeThe author takes this opportunity to thank the medical profession and the laity for the very cordial reception which has been tendered the first edition of this small volume. The necessity for the use of technical expressions in a book written expressly for the laity must always be a matter of regret.1903Johann George BuehlerOn the Indian Sect of the JainasAs their doctrine, like Buddha's, is originally a philosophical ethical system intended for ascetics, the disciples, like the Buddhists, are, divided into ecclesiastics and laity.

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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