51吃瓜 of the Day
sustainability
noun
the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance.
More about sustainability
Sustainability, now most commonly meaning 鈥渢he quality of not depleting natural resources,” is a transparent compound of the adjective sustainable 鈥渁ble to be supported or maintained,鈥� and the common noun suffix –ity. The oldest usage of sustainability was as a legal term 鈥渢he capacity of being sustained as true, or upheld as valid by legal argument鈥� (1835). The current environmental sense, specifically mentioning wildlife and ecosystems, arose about 1980.
how is sustainability used?
Sustainability is based on a simple and long-recognized factual premise: Everything that humans require for their survival and well-being depends, directly or indirectly, on the natural environment.
Recognizing that a focus on sustainability is expected by a growing number of customers, many companies have used their relative downtime to take stock of their environmental footprint and make road maps for a greener future.
sustainability
Parnassian
adjective
pertaining to poetry.
More about Parnassian
The adjective Parnassian originally meant 鈥減ertaining to Mount Parnassus,鈥� a mountain in central Greece on which Delphi is located. Delphi was sacred to Apollo as the god of prophecy and the god of music, which he shared with the Muses, the goddesses of music, poetry, drama, history, and dancing. Parnassian comes via the Latin adjective Parnassius (also 笔补谤苍腻蝉颈耻蝉) from Greek 笔补谤苍腻虂蝉颈辞蝉, the adjective derivative of 笔补谤苍腻蝉(蝉)贸蝉. Sixty percent of Greek words have no reliable etymology: 笔补谤苍腻蝉(蝉)贸蝉 is one of them. Parnassian entered English in the second half of the 16th century.
how is Parnassian used?
His granular, giddy analysis of Scottish bard William Topaz McGonagall, 鈥渨idely acclaimed as the worst poet in history,鈥� fascinates as the negative expression of a Parnassian ideal. It鈥檚 also comedic gold.
With some major performers, this approach might have been revelatory, showing the thunderbolts of inspiration behind the poetry. But with songs containing lines like 鈥淚鈥檓 dancing in the dark with you between my arms鈥� or 鈥淲hen I was six years old I broke my leg 鈥� I was younger then,鈥� we鈥檙e not exactly in the realm of Parnassian transcendence.
Parnassian
alfresco
adverb
out-of-doors; in the open air.
More about alfresco
Very many people became used to dining alfresco in 2020. In Italian al fresco means 鈥渋n the fresh air, in the cool air,鈥� and is composed of the prepositional phrase al 鈥渢o the鈥� (from the preposition a 鈥渢o, on,鈥� and the masculine singular article il, lo, and the adjective fresco 鈥渃ool, fresh鈥�). Italian fresco comes from Old High German frisc (English fresh and modern German frisch). The Italian noun fresco 鈥減ainting or a painting on a fresh, moist, plaster surface with colors ground up in water,鈥� entered English at the end of the 16th century. In contemporary Italian slang, al fresco means “in prison” (prisons formerly being cold, dark, dank). Alfresco entered English in the first half of the 18th century.
how is alfresco used?
This being spring, waiters in red jackets with gold buttons dart in and out of the kitchen to ferry drinks from the bar and dishes from the kitchen to those of us wishing to dine alfresco.
Working from one of the apartment鈥檚 two rooms getting a little tedious? Time to upgrade their Wi-Fi router and take calls and Zoom meetings alfresco.
alfresco