51吃瓜 of the Day
More about acme
Acme, 鈥渢he highest point; summit; peak,鈥� comes straight from Greek 补办尘岣� 鈥減oint, highest point, extremity.鈥� 础办尘岣� is one of many Greek words derived from the widespread Proto-Indo-European root ak-, ok– 鈥渟harp, pointed, angular.鈥� Other Greek derivatives include 谩办谤辞蝉 鈥渢opmost, outermost,鈥� as in 补办谤贸辫辞濒颈蝉 鈥渦pper city, citadel鈥� (English acropolis), 补办谤辞产谩迟脓蝉 (English acrobat), literally 鈥渉eight walker,鈥� and 补办铆蝉 鈥減oint.鈥� Latin derives from the same root 腻肠别谤 (stem 腻肠谤-) 鈥渟harp, stinging,鈥� 补肠颈脓蝉 鈥减辞颈苍迟,鈥� acidus 鈥渟our, acid,” and 补肠奴迟耻蝉 鈥渟harp, sharpened鈥� (English acute). The Proto-Germanic root from ak-, ok– is ag-. The Proto-Germanic noun 补驳测艒 becomes ecg 鈥渟harpness, sharp side, blade, sword鈥� in Old English (and edge in modern English); the Proto-Germanic verb agyan becomes eggja 鈥渢o goad, incite鈥� in Old Norse, the source of English egg (on). Acme entered English in the second half of the 16th century.
how is acme used?
To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence. Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole Empire says, “Well done!”
In this new era of television as high art, especially cable television, figuring out the acme of that art has been a task many have been eager to take on. We’ve mostly stayed silent, until now. That show, the best there ever was, is聽Breaking Bad.
acme
pi猫ce de r茅sistance
noun
the most noteworthy or prized feature, aspect, event, article, etc., of a series or group; special item or attraction.
More about pi猫ce de r茅sistance
Pi猫ce de r茅sistance, 鈥渢he principal dish of a meal; the most noteworthy item of a group,鈥� entered English from French in 1789鈥攁 fateful year. In French pi猫ce de r茅sistance appears at least by 1732 and refers to the main course of a meal. By 1789 the phrase was used in English to describe a person. The phrase literally means 鈥減iece of resistance,鈥� but scholars disagree on how the phrase acquired its senses.
how is pi猫ce de r茅sistance used?
Last year, Americans spent four times as much money on grocery store hummus as they did a decade before, according to the latest consumer surveys, and a growing number of snacks and fast-casual concepts also feature the fiber- and protein-rich chickpea as their pi猫ce de r茅sistance.
He goes home to his apartment, takes a good, long look at himself in the mirror, and decides to slick back his hair. Then he takes a cigarette break. (Pause for dramatic music.) And, finally, he brings out the pi猫ce de r茅sistance: a black turtleneck.
pi猫ce de r茅sistance
More about skylark
The verb skylark, 鈥渢o frolic; sport; have boisterous fun,鈥� dates from about 1771 in Britain. This sense is the same as the verb lark, which comes later, in 1813. How skylark acquired its 鈥渇un鈥� sense isn鈥檛 clear: some suggest it was a term in sailors鈥� slang for roughhousing high up in a ship鈥檚 rigging, skylarks being known for their singing while hovering high in the air. The earliest occurrences of the verb, however, are from court and police records in London, which seem to indicate that the verb skylark is a city word, not a sailor鈥檚 one. Skylark is a favorite word of Mark Twain鈥檚: he used the participle or gerund skylarking four times in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
how is skylark used?
He never backslapped, roughhoused or skylarked with his colleagues, and his statesmanlike calm evoked feelings of awe.
With all the jocularity of a clambake getting started in bare feet and shallow water, a crew of performers skylarked through a robust performance borrowing impartially from vaudeville, burlesque and backporch conversation last week before a Radio City audience.
skylark