Momma's Word of the Day (check first post every day!)

[momma]

245.July 3rd, 2007gum·bo, n.- 1. Chiefly Southern U.S.

 

2. A soup or stew thickened with okra pods.

 

3. Chiefly Mississippi Valley & Western U.S. A fine silty soil, common in the southern and western United States, that forms an unusually sticky mud when wet.

 

4. Gumbo A French patois spoken by some Black people and Creoles in Louisiana and the French West Indies.

 

-This word originated in Democratic Republic of the Congo

 

At first, gumbo was just another word for what we now generally call okra. Both are African words for the plant and its versatile, viscous pods; okra is most likely from the Ibo language of West Africa, while gumbo is from further south, probably the Tshiluba language spoken in Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). But something happened to the bland vegetable. It became the sturdy, unsung main ingredient of an increasingly palatable New Orleans dish that took the name gumbo in its honor.

 

Not that okra ever got top billing in a gumbo; it's too bland. Our earliest record of gumbo in the English language is an 1805 account of New Orleans that doesn't even mention okra: "Shrimps are much eaten here; also a dish called gumbo. This last is made of every eatable substance, and especially of those shrimps which can be caught at any time." John James Audubon wrote in 1835, "To me 'Ecrevisses' [crayfish], whether of fresh or salt water, stripped of their coats, and blended into a soup or a 'gombo,' have always been most welcome." Most of the time gumbo requires a modifier: shrimp gumbo, crab gumbo, chicken gumbo, wild duck gumbo, even gopher gumbo. Okra is always there, however, even though it always seems to come last, as in this recent description by food writer Elizabeth Hanby: "A standard, present-day New Orleans recipe for gumbo requires crab, shrimp, oysters, ham or veal, green pepper, celery, filé (powdered, dried sassafras leaves), thyme, bay leaf, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and--of course--okra!"

 

There is no question that gumbo comes from a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo language family. There is some question about which Bantu language, but it might well be Tshiluba or Luba, a national language of Democratic Republic of the Congo, spoken by more than six million of the population of forty-six million. Another English word perhaps from Tshiluba, if not from one of the other closely-related Bantu languages, is banjo (1739).

 

-The following are some common combinations of ingredients that are included in gumbo:

 

* Seafood gumbo, with shrimp, oysters, and crabmeat

* Crawfish gumbo

* Beef gumbo

* Chicken gumbo with Andouille Sausage

* Turkey and Andouille gumbo (popular after Thanksgiving)

* Duck and Oyster (or Shrimp) Gumbo

* Squirrel Gumbo

* Rabbit Gumbo

* Greens (with or without seafood and/or meat (see Gumbo Z'Herbes below)

* Dog Gumbo usually garnished with ojue

[momma]

246.July 4th, 2007Independence Day, n.-July 4, celebrated in the United States to commemorate the adoption in 1776 of the Declaration of Independence.

 

- We hold these truths to be self-evident,

that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,

that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

 

With these memorable words, Thomas Jefferson, at the age of 33, laid the cornerstone of the United States of America. Though the Declaration of Independence, or, as it was known at the time, "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America," holds no legal standing, it stands at the head of the US Code. The signed copy resides in the National Archives in Washington, DC.

 

Fifty years later, in an 1825 letter, Jefferson wrote that the Declaration of Independence was designed as "an appeal to the tribunal of the world." The document was therefore "intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion," and the fledgling state was thus introduced to the nations among which it was destined to assume its rightful place.

 

To lay the moral foundation for revolution, the Declaration of Independence invokes the principle of natural rights, which is strongly identified with John Locke (particularly in Two Treatises of Government, 1690). These are the basic rights of which each individual is possessed, and of which he cannot be stripped by society or government. In Jefferson's formulation, the "pursuit of happiness" was substituted for Locke's more specific "health" and "possessions."

 

-On 3 July, John Adams wrote to his wife:

 

The second day of July, 1776,…Iamaptto believe … will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.

 

Adams was thinking of the resolution of independence adopted on 2 July as the pivotal event, but the Declaration of Independence soon completely obscured the resolution.

 

The first anniversary does not appear to have been commemorated throughout the thirteen states, but there were elaborate celebrations in the principal cities, and parades, the firing of guns, the ringing of bells, decorations, illuminations, fireworks, and the drinking of toasts constituted the chief features in every instance. The practice of commemorating the Glorious Fourth soon spread widely, particularly after the adoption of the Constitution. As the years went by, some of the early features of the celebration declined or disappeared entirely, such as the thirteen guns and thirteen (or thirteen times thirteen) toasts. Meanwhile, sports and games, which at first were only a minor part of the festivities, became the greatest attraction. In country regions, the Fourth of July became a day for picnics, with exhibitions of skill in such contests as potato races, watermelon eating, and catching the greased pig, without much thought of the Declaration of Independence. Since 1777, fireworks, great and small, have held a prominent place. In the early 1900s, serious efforts were made to promote safety in Fourth of July celebrations, and in ensuing years the personal possession of fireworks has been outlawed in many states.

 

-Observance

 

* In 1777, British officers fired 13 guns, once at morning and again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white and blue bunting.

* In 1778, General George Washington marked the Fourth of July with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute. Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.

* In 1779, July 4 fell on a Sunday. The holiday was celebrated on Monday July 5.

* In 1781, Massachusetts was the first legislature to recognize the Fourth of July.

* In 1783, Moravians in Salem, North Carolina held the first celebration of the Fourth of July in the country with a challenging music program assembled by Johann Friedrich Peter. This work was titled the Psalm of Joy.

* In 1791, First recorded under "Independence Day" name.

* In 1870, the U.S. Congress made Independence Day a holiday, albeit unpaid, for federal employees.

[momma]

247.July 5th, 2007hot line, n.-1. A direct and immediate telephone linkup, especially between heads of government, as for use in a crisis.

 

2. A telephone line that gives quick and direct access to a source of information or help

 

-Origin: 1955

 

In these days of sophisticated electronics and instant global satellite communication, it is hard to remember that a hotline was originally just an actual telephone line directly linking two parties so that it would be available round the clock for instant communication. The first such designated hotlines defended us against a Soviet air attack. A New York Times Magazine article in August 1955 explained that the Continental Air Defense Command included "twelve air divisions, tied in by 'hot line' communications with one another and with the Army, Navy and Civil Defense Administration. They are like a giant nerve system where a distant pinprick brings an instant reaction throughout the whole organism." In those early days, when most phones were black, the hotline would often be marked by a red telephone.

 

In 1963, one particular hotline became hot news. In the aftermath of the previous year's Cuban missile crisis, when miscommunication between the United States and the Soviet Union nearly led to war, the two sides established a telephone and teletype "hot line" between the White House and the Kremlin so the leaders of the two nations could talk at a moment's notice. That line was opened August 30, 1963. Before the year was over, business picked up on the idea; the British Overseas Airways Corporation announced a reservations hot line linking London and New York.

 

Nowadays hotline (usually spelled as one word) most often refers not to the telephone line itself but to a service available instantly by telephone. There are hotlines for problems like drug abuse and loneliness, as well as for advice on grammar and cooking turkeys. Many of these nowadays are called help lines (1980) or go by names describing the type of service, such as Kids' Line (1983), Parentline (1990), and High Society Sexline (1986).

 

-Notable hotlines

 

* The White House/Kremlin hotline during the Cold War, known as the red telephone, which was established on June 20, 1963, in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

* On June 20, 2004, both India and Pakistan agreed to extend a nuclear testing ban and to set up a hotline between their foreign secretaries aimed at preventing misunderstandings that might lead to nuclear war.

* Fictional hero Batman had a hotline connecting the mayor's office to his desk in the 1966 TV series featuring Adam West. This is known as the Batphone. It was a red phone that sat beneath a cake cover and would light up when rung.

* India and China announced a hotline for the foreign ministers of both countries while reiterating their commitment to strengthening ties and building "mutual political trust".

[momma]

247.July 5th, 2007juke n. or v.-n. A roadside or rural establishment offering liquor, dancing, and often gambling and prostitution.

 

V.

 

1. To play dance music, especially in a juke.

 

2. To dance, especially in a juke or to the music of a jukebox.

 

-This word originated in Mali

 

Before there was a jukebox, there was a juke. And before there was a juke, there was a wicked word in the Bambara language of present-day Mali in West Africa: something like dzugu, meaning "wicked." There is also a dzug, meaning "live wickedly," in the neighboring Wolof language, so that too may have contributed to the English juke. Whatever the exact origin, it was brought across the Atlantic centuries ago by slaves.

 

In the American South, in due course, it became the name of a place where the descendants of slaves could have wicked fun. Novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston explained it in Jonah's Gourd Vine in 1934: "Jook, the pleasure houses near industrial work. A combination of bawdy, gaming, and dance hall. Incidentally the cradle of the 'blues.'" Jukes were generally located in the countryside rather than the city, sometimes near the camps of turpentine workers.

 

In the late 1930s, coin-operated phonographs in jukes were jokingly called juke organs and then juke boxes. And while jukes seem extinct, juke boxes remain fixtures in bars and other places of entertainment.

 

Bambara is a Mandingo language of the Mande branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It is the national language of Mali, where it is spoken by nearly three million people. Another English word from Bambara is shea (1799), the name of a tree with oily seeds used to make shea butter.

[momma]

248.July 7th, 2007chutz·pah also hutz·pah, n.-Utter nerve; effrontery

 

-Synonyms: assumption, audaciousness, audacity, boldness, brashness, brazenness, cheek, cheekiness, discourtesy, disrespect, effrontery, face, familiarity, forwardness, gall, impertinence, impudence, impudency, incivility, insolence, nerve, nerviness, overconfidence, pertness, presumptuousness, pushiness, rudeness, sassiness, sauciness

 

-The word derives from the Yiddish chutzpah (חוצפה). This, in turn, derived from the Hebrew word ḥuṣpâ (חֻצְפָּה), meaning "insolence," "audacity," and "impertinence"; though, by now, the English, usage of the word has taken on a wider spectrum of meaning, having been popularized through vernacular use, film, literature, and television.

 

In Hebrew, chutzpah is used indignantly, to describe someone who has over-stepped the boundaries of accepted behaviour for selfish reasons. But in Yiddish and English, chutzpah has developed interesting ambivalent and even positive connotations. Chutzpah can be used to express admiration for non-conformist but gutsy audacity. Leo Rosten in The Joys of Yiddish defines chutzpah as "gall, brazen nerve, effrontery, incredible 'guts,' presumption plus arrogance such as no other word and no other language can do justice to." In this sense, chutzpah expresses both strong disapproval and grudging admiration.

 

One humorous example of chutzpah is often given as follows: "A boy is on trial for murdering his parents, and he begs of the judge leniency because he is an orphan."

 

Related terms in Yiddish are khotsef (חצוף) and khatsufeh (חצופֿה), which means an "impudent man" and an "impudent woman," respectively.

 

Alan Dershowitz entitled his bestselling book of essays Chutzpah. Norman Finkelstein titled his book responding to Dershowitz's claims on Israel Beyond Chutzpah.

 

Leo Stoller controversially claims to own a trademark on the word.

[General Septem]

I was going 72 in a 55 zone the other day and some indignant statie had the chutzpah to give me a ticket.

[momma]

249.July9th, 2007supergrass, n.-A police informer who implicates many people.

 

-No, it's not vegetation or any form of cannabis. A "supergrass" in British slang is an informer whose testimony points to many suspects; to "grass on" someone is to tattle on him.

 

"An Al Qaeda supergrass held in the U.S. is to be shown pictures of the terror suspects arrested in Britain in the hope that he can identify them."

 

Link: 'Terror ringleader' is brilliant NHS doctor | News | This is London

 

Posted July 3, 2007.

 

- Informers had been referred to as "grasses" since the late-1930s, and the "super" prefix was coined by journalists in the early 1970s to describe those informers from the city's underworld who testified against former associates in a series of high-profile mass trials at the time.

 

-Usage in Northern Ireland

 

In Northern Ireland the term supergrass especially refers to arrested paramilitaries who divulged the identities of their compatriots to the Royal Ulster Constabulary in exchange for immunity from prosecution and, in many cases, substantial sums of money. Many convictions based on supergrass testimony were later overturned, and the supergrass system was discontinued in 1985.

 

The use of the term in Northern Ireland began with the arrest of Christopher Black in 1981. After securing assurances that he would have protection from prosecution, Black gave statements which lead to 38 arrests. On 5 August 1983, 22 members of the Provisional IRA were sentenced to a total of 4,000 years in prison based on Black's testimony. (Eighteen of these convictions were overturned on appeal on 17 July 1986.)

 

By the end of 1982 twenty five more 'supergrasses' had surfaced contributing to the arrests of over six hundred people from paramilitary organizations, such as the Provisional IRA, the Irish National Liberation Army and the Ulster Volunteer Force.

 

On 11 April 1983 fourteen members of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force were jailed on the evidence of supergrass Joseph Bennett. These convictions were all overturned on 24 December 1984. The last supergrass trial finished on 18 December 1985, when 25 members of the INLA were jailed on the evidence of Harry Kirkpatrick. 24 of these convictions were later overturned on 23 December 1986.

[General Septem]

47 waited, poised with his eye against the rifle's scope. It was just across the street where he'd made his first kill. He had been shaking so much he could barely hold his rifle steady without using the diazepam. How times had changed. But it was the same old mission, with a different face; just another supergrass that needed to be made an example of.

[momma]

47 waited, poised with his eye against the rifle's scope. It was just across the street where he'd made his first kill. He had been shaking so much he could barely hold his rifle steady without using the diazepam. How times had changed. But it was the same old mission, with a different face; just another supergrass that needed to be made an example of.

 

I always love how you make a story or some little blurb with the word. It keeps me interested what you are going to write next.

[General Septem]

I always love how you make a story or some little blurb with the word. It keeps me interested what you are going to write next.

 

Why thank you

 

It works both ways actually, because every day I always try and come up with a short story (although I'm not always successful), so it's kind of a fun challenge too.

[momma]

250.July 10th, 2007nemesis, n.-One who is hostile to or opposes the purposes or interests of another

 

-Nemesis (in Greek, Νέμεσις), also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia ("the goddess of Rhamnous"), at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, in the Greek mythology was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris, vengeful fate personified as a remorseless goddess. In Greek myth, a daughter of Nyx (Night) and the personification of righteous anger, especially that of the gods at human presumption. According to some versions she and not Leda was loved by Zeus and laid the egg out of which Helen (of Troy) was hatched. She provides one of the rare instances where an apparent personification of an abstract quality is the object of an ancient cult. She was worshipped at Rhamnus in Attica, where a magnificent temple was built for her in the fifth century BC.

 

-The name Nemesis is related to the Greek word νείμειν, meaning "to give what is due". The Romans equated one aspect of Greek Nemesis, which might be interpreted as "indignation at unmerited advantage", as Invidia (Aronoff 2003).

 

-Synonyms: archenemy, enemy, foe

[zkissane]

250.July 10th, 2007nemesis, n.-One who is hostile to or opposes the purposes or interests of another

 

-Nemesis (in Greek, Νέμεσις), also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia ("the goddess of Rhamnous"), at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, in the Greek mythology was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris, vengeful fate personified as a remorseless goddess. In Greek myth, a daughter of Nyx (Night) and the personification of righteous anger, especially that of the gods at human presumption. According to some versions she and not Leda was loved by Zeus and laid the egg out of which Helen (of Troy) was hatched. She provides one of the rare instances where an apparent personification of an abstract quality is the object of an ancient cult. She was worshipped at Rhamnus in Attica, where a magnificent temple was built for her in the fifth century BC.

 

-The name Nemesis is related to the Greek word νείμειν, meaning "to give what is due". The Romans equated one aspect of Greek Nemesis, which might be interpreted as "indignation at unmerited advantage", as Invidia (Aronoff 2003).

 

-Synonyms: archenemy, enemy, foe

 

Also, a Star Trek movie that broke the phenomenon of even-numbered Star Trek movies being pretty good and odd-numbered movies being crap (it was #10 and it was crap).