51吃瓜 of the Day
doddle
noun
something easily done, fixed, etc.: He was really worried about my finishing the fence repairs on my own, but it was a doddle.
More about doddle
Doddle, 鈥渟omething easy to do or fix,鈥� is a British colloquialism of uncertain origin. Some say it comes from Scottish doddle 鈥渁 small lump of toffee鈥� (and therefore attractive and easy to make away with). Some say doddle may come from the verb dawdle 鈥渢o waste time, idle.鈥� Doddle may also be a variant of the verb toddle 鈥渢o move with short unsteady steps鈥� (as a toddler does). Doddle entered English in the first half of the 20th century.
how is doddle used?
But it is a delusion to think we can solve Earth鈥檚 problems by relocating to Mars. I completely disagree with Musk and with my late colleague Stephen Hawking on that, because dealing with climate change on Earth is a doddle compared with聽terraforming Mars.
This [journey] would have been a doddle on Highway 1 at any other time of year, but a succession of winter storms had blocked the coast road with landslides in half a dozen places.
doddle
Promethean
adjective
creative; boldly original.
More about Promethean
Promethean is the adjective derived from Prometheus, one of the Titans, the race of divine beings that preceded the Olympian gods (there was bad ichor between the two races). The Greek poet Hesiod interpreted Prometheus as 鈥淔orethought鈥�; Prometheus鈥� twin brother Epimetheus was therefore 鈥淎fterthought.鈥� Prometheus and Epimetheus (and Atlas, too) were sons of Iapetus, whose Hebrew equivalent, Japheth, is a son of Noah (Genesis 5:32). Promethean entered English towards the end of the 16th century.
how is Promethean used?
While this work suggests man鈥檚 helplessness in the face of nature鈥檚 relentless power, Cai鈥檚 exhibit suggests an ironic thematic reversal: nature鈥檚 state of helplessness in the face of modern man鈥檚 relentless, Promethean drive to progress.
That ambivalence is the divided heart of the novel: Gatsby is a dreamer and a 鈥済o-for-broke Promethean overreacher,鈥� but鈥攁s Corrigan鈥檚 former high school teacher tells her, 鈥淕atsby was looking for the wrong things. .鈥�.鈥�. Money and clothes and Daisy.鈥� He embodies the best and worst qualities of America, resulting in a novel that is simultaneously buoyant and grim, as Corrigan notes.
Promethean
squib
noun
a short and witty or sarcastic saying or writing.
More about squib
The noun squib, 鈥渁 short and witty or sarcastic saying,鈥� dates from the end of the 16th century, a development of its original sense, 鈥渁 small firework that burns with a hissing noise but doesn鈥檛 explode.鈥� The word has no definitive etymology, but it is most likely onomatopoeic. Squib entered English in the first half of the 16th century.
how is squib used?
After Bush pulled off his carrier stunt before an awestruck cable universe, Maureen Dowd dipped her fingernails in the old acid and banged out a memorable squib questioning the Top Gun’s swagger …
Throughout it all, he found one way or another to seize the gaze of the media, often by slipping to the press short bits of provocative writing, then known as squibs.
squib