Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Q.  What agencies fall under the Department of Justice?  A.  Find a list of over 50 agencies at https://www.justice.gov/agencies/list 

The phrase 'Put your nose out of joint' is quite old and was used by Barnaby Rich in His Farewell to Militarie Profession, 1581:  "It could bee no other then his owne manne, that has thrust his nose so farre out of ioynte."  https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/296600.html  The nose of a person doesn’t have a joint. 

Originally created in Mexico but popularized in the American Southwest, Frito Pies (not actually pies) are comfort food perfection.  Picture this:  a freshly opened bag of Fritos smothered in spicy beef chili, cheddar cheese, and some bright, crunchy onions and jalapeños.  Lena Abraham   https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a28914527/frito-pie-recipe/ 

"Great Spirit, grant that I may not criticize my neighbor until I have walked a mile in his moccasins."  Native American proverb. 

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta and Sicily between 1593 and 1610.  He is commonly placed in the Baroque school, of which he is considered the first great representative.  In his own lifetime Caravaggio was considered enigmatic, fascinating, rebellious and dangerous.  He burst upon the Rome art scene in 1600, and thereafter never lacked for commissions or patrons, yet he handled his success atrociously.  An early published notice on him, dating from 1604 and describing his lifestyle some three years previously, tells how "after a fortnight's work he will swagger about for a month or two with a sword at his side and a servant following him, from one ball-court to the next, ever ready to engage in a fight or an argument, so that it is most awkward to get along with him."  In 1606 he killed a young man in a brawl and fled from Rome with a price on his head.  In Malta in 1608 he was involved in another brawl, and yet another in Naples in 1609, possibly a deliberate attempt on his life by unidentified enemies.  By the next year, after a relatively brief career, he was dead.  See graphics at https://www.caravaggio-foundation.org/ 

The word ‘blatant’ was invented in Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene.  Spenser coined the word ‘blatant’ when he came up with the fictional many-tongued creature, the Blatant beast, in his epic poem.  Despite running to over 1,000 pages, The Faerie Queene was left unfinished.  Spenser died suddenly in 1599, and left his great work only partially completed--he’s written only six of the projected twelve books, so he never got round to writing the entire second half of the poem.  According to one theory, the phrase ‘going for a song’ originated in a reference to Spenser’s most famous poem.  The story, recounted by Thomas Fuller in his Worthies of England (1662), goes that Queen Elizabeth I was so pleased with The Faerie Queene that she commanded that Spenser be paid £100 for his trouble.  The Lord High Treasurer, Lord Burghley, upon hearing that such a huge sum was going to be given for a mere poem, exclaimed,  ‘What?  All this for a song?’  The meaning of the phrase became distorted (indeed, inverted) until it came to refer to something valuable that was going cheap – though this theory remains speculative.  https://interestingliterature.com/2017/03/five-fascinating-facts-about-edmund-spenser/

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

mouse potato  (MAUS puh-tay-to)  noun  Someone who lives a sedentary life, spending large amounts of leisure time playing computer games, surfing the net, streaming videos, etc.

rat race (RAT rays)  noun  A repetitive competitive activity, such as the modern working life in which one constantly struggles to attain wealth, status, etc.  From rat, from Old English raet (rat) + race, from Old Norse ras (race).  Earliest documented use:  1937.  The term started out as a literal racing of rats (earliest use 1783).  Then it was used as military slang (1931) to refer to planes or ships chasing each other or racing.  Eventually the term evolved into its current sense.  In French, a popular expression métro, boulot, dodo (commute, work, sleep) refers to the daily grind.  Also see, sisyphean.

clicktivism  (KLIK-ti-viz-uhm)  noun  The use of the Internet to signal support for a cause.  A blend of click, as in a mouse click + activism.  Earliest documented use:  2006.

Feedback to A.Word.A.Day

From:  Phyllis Charnyllis  Remember Helen Gurley Brown, creature/editor of Cosmopolitan magazine?  She passed almost 10 years ago at the age of 90.  She also took “mousey” to another level by coining “mouseburger”!  See this 1982 The New York Times article.  AWADmail Issue 991 

Growing up in a bilingual family meant that nothing ever had to suffer in translation.  When it came to language, we had the best of both worlds.  From babyhood on up I hear two languages flowing in and out of each other as smoothly as two streams converging.  The Best of Both Worlds, a short story by Carrie Young 

Gluten is a family of proteins found in grains, including wheat, rye, spelt, and barley.  Of the gluten-containing grains, wheat is by far the most common.  The two main proteins in gluten are glutenin and gliadin.  Gliadin is responsible for most of the adverse health effects of gluten.  When flour mixes with water, the gluten proteins form a sticky network that has a glue-like consistency.  This glue-like property makes the dough elastic and gives bread the ability to rise during baking.  It also provides a chewy, satisfying texture.  Interestingly, the name gluten derives from this glue-like property of wet dough.  Find list of gluten-free foods at https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318606#_noHeaderPrefixedContent 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2393  July 21, 2021

No comments: