Photo Credit: Allen Shirley
Location: Sequoia National Park
"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear."
-- Mark Twain
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Sequoia National Park by Allen Shirley
Photo Credit: Allen Shirley
Location: Sequoia National Park
"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear."
-- Mark Twain
FACTS
Banana
This giant herb, the banana, which springs from an underground stem (rhizome), leads to bunches of 50-150 individual fruits (fingers) grouped in clusters (hands) of 10-20. This happens only once as each plant produces only one bunch of fruit (technically, a berry).
Backgammon
Backgammon's various names have been Vibhitika, Royal Game of Ur, Senet, oder Senat, 12-Linien-Spiel, Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum, Alea, Tabula, Tric-Trac, Jacquet, Nard oder Nardshir, T'shu-p'u, Swan liu, Sugoroku, Tavla, Tabli, Plakato, Acey Deucy, and Toccadille.
AtlanticThe surface waters of the North Atlantic having a higher salinity than that of any other ocean; the ocean grows wider at a rate of about 1.5 inches a year.
Asia, Cultures and Religions
Asia is the birthplace of all the world's major religions -- but only Christianity developed outside Asia. Asia is the birthplace of the world's earliest civilizations such as Sumer, China, and India -- largely isolated from each other and the rest of the world by barriers of deserts, mountains, and oceans -- so these cultures developed independently for thousands of years.
Aristotle
After the death of Alexander the Great, who had been his pupil, Aristotle felt himself in danger and left Athens for the island of Euboea in order to save the Athenians from sinning twice against philosophy -- referring to Socrates as the earlier victim.
National Aquarium
The National Aquarium originally built at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1873, was relocated to Washington, DC in 1888 and is the oldest public aquarium in the United States.
Apple Trees
The production of consistent apple trees is not easy as the seeds resemble their parents no more than human daughters resemble mothers. Without the technique of grafting, each tree in the world would constitute its own variety, distinct from every other.
Anatomy and PhysiologyPhysiology was first used by the Greeks as a term to describe a philosophized inquiry into the nature of things, but the term as applied to activities of healthy humans only came about in the 16th century. Anatomy is more about identifying organs and body parts (structure), while physiology studies how they work (processes and functions).
Frogs and Toads
In general, frogs are more active and like water more than toads -- and have webbed feet while toads have little or no webbing.
Alphabetization
Words can be alphabetized two ways -- word-by-word or letter-by-letter. In the former, a shorter word will precede all others beginning with the same letters even if the word is followed by another word -- and in the latter all letters are taken as a sequence, with hyphens and spaces ignored.
J, V, O
J was the last letter included in our alphabet and only with the influence of Noah Webster, and other dictionaries of his time, did J and V gain full acceptance. O is the oldest letter of our alphabet.
Crocodile
Of all reptile brains, the crocodile brain is the most highly developed and they are the last living link with the dinosaur-like reptiles of prehistoric times and the nearest living relative to the birds.
Lichens
Lichens are part-algae and part-fungus. The algae in lichens make food and the fungus wraps around the algae to protect it from the sun.
Alaskan Flag
The Alaskan flag of Polaris (the North Star) and Ursa Major (Great Bear) was designed by a 13-year-old orphan boy -- with the dark-blue background symbolizing the Alaskan sky and ubiquitous forget-me-not flowers of spring.
African Languages
Africa is by far the most linguistically diverse continent, with approximately 2000 languages by some counts. Some 50 African languages have more than half a million speakers each. Tonality - tones based on pitch levels to indicate semantic or grammatical distinction - is a common feature of indigenous African languages.
Adolescence
From a biological perspective, adolescence should be the best time of life. Most physical and mental functions are at their peak. It is the time when foods taste best, appetite is heartiest, sleep is sweetest, and music is most seductive.
Adjectives
Adjectives have no inflections aside from the determiners . The endings -er and -est denote degrees of comparison and are regarded as noninflectional suffixes (English is the only European language to employ uninflected adjectives).
This giant herb, the banana, which springs from an underground stem (rhizome), leads to bunches of 50-150 individual fruits (fingers) grouped in clusters (hands) of 10-20. This happens only once as each plant produces only one bunch of fruit (technically, a berry).
Backgammon
Backgammon's various names have been Vibhitika, Royal Game of Ur, Senet, oder Senat, 12-Linien-Spiel, Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum, Alea, Tabula, Tric-Trac, Jacquet, Nard oder Nardshir, T'shu-p'u, Swan liu, Sugoroku, Tavla, Tabli, Plakato, Acey Deucy, and Toccadille.
AtlanticThe surface waters of the North Atlantic having a higher salinity than that of any other ocean; the ocean grows wider at a rate of about 1.5 inches a year.
Asia, Cultures and Religions
Asia is the birthplace of all the world's major religions -- but only Christianity developed outside Asia. Asia is the birthplace of the world's earliest civilizations such as Sumer, China, and India -- largely isolated from each other and the rest of the world by barriers of deserts, mountains, and oceans -- so these cultures developed independently for thousands of years.
Aristotle
After the death of Alexander the Great, who had been his pupil, Aristotle felt himself in danger and left Athens for the island of Euboea in order to save the Athenians from sinning twice against philosophy -- referring to Socrates as the earlier victim.
National Aquarium
The National Aquarium originally built at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1873, was relocated to Washington, DC in 1888 and is the oldest public aquarium in the United States.
Apple Trees
The production of consistent apple trees is not easy as the seeds resemble their parents no more than human daughters resemble mothers. Without the technique of grafting, each tree in the world would constitute its own variety, distinct from every other.
Anatomy and PhysiologyPhysiology was first used by the Greeks as a term to describe a philosophized inquiry into the nature of things, but the term as applied to activities of healthy humans only came about in the 16th century. Anatomy is more about identifying organs and body parts (structure), while physiology studies how they work (processes and functions).
Frogs and Toads
In general, frogs are more active and like water more than toads -- and have webbed feet while toads have little or no webbing.
Alphabetization
Words can be alphabetized two ways -- word-by-word or letter-by-letter. In the former, a shorter word will precede all others beginning with the same letters even if the word is followed by another word -- and in the latter all letters are taken as a sequence, with hyphens and spaces ignored.
J, V, O
J was the last letter included in our alphabet and only with the influence of Noah Webster, and other dictionaries of his time, did J and V gain full acceptance. O is the oldest letter of our alphabet.
Crocodile
Of all reptile brains, the crocodile brain is the most highly developed and they are the last living link with the dinosaur-like reptiles of prehistoric times and the nearest living relative to the birds.
Lichens
Lichens are part-algae and part-fungus. The algae in lichens make food and the fungus wraps around the algae to protect it from the sun.
Alaskan Flag
The Alaskan flag of Polaris (the North Star) and Ursa Major (Great Bear) was designed by a 13-year-old orphan boy -- with the dark-blue background symbolizing the Alaskan sky and ubiquitous forget-me-not flowers of spring.
African Languages
Africa is by far the most linguistically diverse continent, with approximately 2000 languages by some counts. Some 50 African languages have more than half a million speakers each. Tonality - tones based on pitch levels to indicate semantic or grammatical distinction - is a common feature of indigenous African languages.
Adolescence
From a biological perspective, adolescence should be the best time of life. Most physical and mental functions are at their peak. It is the time when foods taste best, appetite is heartiest, sleep is sweetest, and music is most seductive.
Adjectives
Adjectives have no inflections aside from the determiners . The endings -er and -est denote degrees of comparison and are regarded as noninflectional suffixes (English is the only European language to employ uninflected adjectives).
New Words
Undercast \UHN-der-kast\, noun:
1. Something viewed from above through another medium, as of clouds viewed from an airplane.
2. Mining. A crossing of two passages, as airways, dug at the same level so that one descends to pass beneath the other without any opening into it.
His skin was white, but the sweater brought out the undercast of pale, pale green so that his skin was either pearl white or a dreamlike green depending on how the light hit it.
-- Laurel K. Hamilton, A Kiss of Shadows
Crewmen later reported having seen explosions and fires through breaks in the undercast, but their fleeting observations were none too precise and the strike photos were too poor to be of much use.
-- Wesley Frank Craven, James Lea Cate, The Army Air Forces in World War II
Undercast derives from meteorology and aeronautics jargon.
Brannigan \BRAN-i-guhn\, noun:1. A carouse.
2. A squabble; a brawl.
Polonius certainly spoke a mouthful of truth to Laertes when he advised him, in effect, "Don't start a Brannigan. But if somebody else does, give 'em hell!
-- Ty Cobb and Al Stump, My life in baseball: the true record
Emerson says in his essay on compensation that those who who would enjoy the wolfish Satisfaction of shovelling it in each Morning must forego the simple Delights of acquiring a Brannigan the Night before.
-- George Ade, Hand-made fables
A brannigan is a case of a word acquiring general meaning after already existing as a family name.
Spoor \SPOHR\, noun:1. A track or trail, esp. that of a wild animal pursued as game.
verb:
1. To track by or follow a spoor.
In all cases, however, a spoor is to be worked out like a problem, and requires as much brain- work as many equations, and far more original talent and observation.
-- William Chambers and Robert Chambers, Chambers's journal, Volumes 39-40
There are occasions in a hunter's experience when a spoor begins hot and true and then fades.
-- Wilbur Smith, A Sparrow Falls
Spoor derives from the Afrikaans word for trace. It is related to spurn.
Vestigial \ve-STIJ-ee-uhl\, adjective:
1. Relating to a body part that has become small and lost its use because of evolutionary change.
2. Pertaining to, or of the nature of anything that is no longer present or in existence.
Pixar filmmakers have to be able to tap into their vestigial child, their inner Andy. In that sense, the Toy Story series is their collective autobiography.
-- Richard Corliss, "End of Innocence", Time, June 2010.
In gasps he replied that it was a boa - boas were notoriously good-natured - he only wished to see its vestigial hind-legs - then would let it go - he was not hurting it.
-- Patrick O'Brian, The far side of the world
Vestigial is from the French vestige, "a mark, trace, sign," which comes from the Latin vestigium, "footprint, trace," of unknown origin.
Palladian \puh-LEY-dee-uhn\, adjective:
1. Pertaining to wisdom, knowledge, or study.
2. Of or pertaining to the goddess Athena.
3. Pertaining to, introduced by, or in the architectural style of Andrea Palladio.
Within the sanctuary the gold and ivory image of Athena, fashioned by Phidias, had given way to the pale face of Our Lady, Mother of the Holy Child, and the grandiloquent Latin of the mass rolled its volume through the hall that once had echoed to the sonorous Greek of the Palladian hymns.
-- Justin Huntly McCarthy, The dryad: a novel
Miss Barfoot was smiling at this Palladian attitude when a servant announced two ladies, Mrs. Smallbrook and Miss Haven.
-- George Gissing, Arlene Young, The odd women
Palladian is a direct ancestor of the Greek Palládios, "of Athena," goddess of wisdom.
Subtilize \SUHT-l-ahyz\, verb:1. To make (the mind, senses, etc.) keen or discerning.
2. To elevate in character.
3. To make thin, rare, or more fluid or volatile; refine.
By long brooding over our recollections, we subtilize them into something akin to imaginary stuff, and hardly capable of being distinguished from it.
-- Nathanial Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance
Another (ah Lord helpe) mee vilifies /With Art of Love, and how to subtilize, /Making lewd Venus, with eternall Lines, /To tye Adonis to her love's designes.
-- John Davies of Hereford, Papers Complaint, compil'd in ruthfull Rimes Against the Paper-spoylers of these Times
Subtilize grew in popularity among practitioners of alchemy and early medical theory.
1. Something viewed from above through another medium, as of clouds viewed from an airplane.
2. Mining. A crossing of two passages, as airways, dug at the same level so that one descends to pass beneath the other without any opening into it.
His skin was white, but the sweater brought out the undercast of pale, pale green so that his skin was either pearl white or a dreamlike green depending on how the light hit it.
-- Laurel K. Hamilton, A Kiss of Shadows
Crewmen later reported having seen explosions and fires through breaks in the undercast, but their fleeting observations were none too precise and the strike photos were too poor to be of much use.
-- Wesley Frank Craven, James Lea Cate, The Army Air Forces in World War II
Undercast derives from meteorology and aeronautics jargon.
Brannigan \BRAN-i-guhn\, noun:1. A carouse.
2. A squabble; a brawl.
Polonius certainly spoke a mouthful of truth to Laertes when he advised him, in effect, "Don't start a Brannigan. But if somebody else does, give 'em hell!
-- Ty Cobb and Al Stump, My life in baseball: the true record
Emerson says in his essay on compensation that those who who would enjoy the wolfish Satisfaction of shovelling it in each Morning must forego the simple Delights of acquiring a Brannigan the Night before.
-- George Ade, Hand-made fables
A brannigan is a case of a word acquiring general meaning after already existing as a family name.
Spoor \SPOHR\, noun:1. A track or trail, esp. that of a wild animal pursued as game.
verb:
1. To track by or follow a spoor.
In all cases, however, a spoor is to be worked out like a problem, and requires as much brain- work as many equations, and far more original talent and observation.
-- William Chambers and Robert Chambers, Chambers's journal, Volumes 39-40
There are occasions in a hunter's experience when a spoor begins hot and true and then fades.
-- Wilbur Smith, A Sparrow Falls
Spoor derives from the Afrikaans word for trace. It is related to spurn.
Vestigial \ve-STIJ-ee-uhl\, adjective:
1. Relating to a body part that has become small and lost its use because of evolutionary change.
2. Pertaining to, or of the nature of anything that is no longer present or in existence.
Pixar filmmakers have to be able to tap into their vestigial child, their inner Andy. In that sense, the Toy Story series is their collective autobiography.
-- Richard Corliss, "End of Innocence", Time, June 2010.
In gasps he replied that it was a boa - boas were notoriously good-natured - he only wished to see its vestigial hind-legs - then would let it go - he was not hurting it.
-- Patrick O'Brian, The far side of the world
Vestigial is from the French vestige, "a mark, trace, sign," which comes from the Latin vestigium, "footprint, trace," of unknown origin.
Palladian \puh-LEY-dee-uhn\, adjective:
1. Pertaining to wisdom, knowledge, or study.
2. Of or pertaining to the goddess Athena.
3. Pertaining to, introduced by, or in the architectural style of Andrea Palladio.
Within the sanctuary the gold and ivory image of Athena, fashioned by Phidias, had given way to the pale face of Our Lady, Mother of the Holy Child, and the grandiloquent Latin of the mass rolled its volume through the hall that once had echoed to the sonorous Greek of the Palladian hymns.
-- Justin Huntly McCarthy, The dryad: a novel
Miss Barfoot was smiling at this Palladian attitude when a servant announced two ladies, Mrs. Smallbrook and Miss Haven.
-- George Gissing, Arlene Young, The odd women
Palladian is a direct ancestor of the Greek Palládios, "of Athena," goddess of wisdom.
Subtilize \SUHT-l-ahyz\, verb:1. To make (the mind, senses, etc.) keen or discerning.
2. To elevate in character.
3. To make thin, rare, or more fluid or volatile; refine.
By long brooding over our recollections, we subtilize them into something akin to imaginary stuff, and hardly capable of being distinguished from it.
-- Nathanial Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance
Another (ah Lord helpe) mee vilifies /With Art of Love, and how to subtilize, /Making lewd Venus, with eternall Lines, /To tye Adonis to her love's designes.
-- John Davies of Hereford, Papers Complaint, compil'd in ruthfull Rimes Against the Paper-spoylers of these Times
Subtilize grew in popularity among practitioners of alchemy and early medical theory.
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