51吃瓜 of the Day
More about sinistrality
There is nothing sinister about sinistrality: the word simply means 鈥渓eft-handedness鈥� (as opposed to right-handedness) or 鈥渓eft-sidedness.鈥� Sinistrality is a derivation of the adjective sinistral, whose current sense is 鈥渙n the left-hand side, left鈥� (in Middle English sinistralle meant “unlucky, adverse鈥�). Sinistrality entered English in the mid-19th century.
how is sinistrality used?
碍别谤尘颈迟鈥檚 sinistrality leapt right off the page at me as soon as I saw the photograph of him with Bret McKenzie that accompanies聽Adam Sternbergh鈥檚 feature in this week鈥檚 magazine.
There are reports of editors being 31 per cent lefty and of graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in math and science showing 45 per cent sinistrality.
sinistrality
rodomontade
noun
vainglorious boasting or bragging; pretentious, blustering talk.
More about rodomontade
Rodomontade, 鈥渧ainglorious boasting, bragging,鈥� is also occasionally spelled rhodomontade (as if it were from Greek 谤丑贸诲辞苍 鈥渞ose鈥�) and rodomontado; it comes from Middle French rodomont, from Italian rodomonte 鈥渂ully,鈥� from Rodomonte, the name of the courageous but boastful king of Algiers in Ariosto鈥檚 Orlando Furioso 鈥淩oland in Frenzy, Raging Roland,鈥� 1516. Orlando Furioso is a continuation of an earlier Renaissance Italian epic Orlando Innamorato 鈥淩oland in Love,鈥� by Matteo Boiardo, one of whose major characters is Rodomonte, also spelled Rodamontre, and popularly interpreted to mean 鈥渕ountain roller,鈥� from Italian rodare, from Latin 谤辞迟腻谤别, from rota 鈥渨heel,鈥� and Italian monte, from Latin mons (stem mont-) 鈥渕ount, mountain.鈥� Rodomontade entered English in the late 16th century.
how is rodomontade used?
I am charmed to notice that things that were once said to matter鈥攆amiliarity with epigrams, knowledge of rhetorical devices and their terrifying names, the ability to display a rich vocabulary without 谤辞诲辞尘辞苍迟补诲别鈥�seem to matter still.
because she has amused him with some rodomontade about despising rank and wealth in matters of love and marriage, he flatters himself that she’s devotedly attached to him.
rodomontade
backlins
adverb
Scot. and North England.
backward; back.
More about backlins
The extremely rare Scottish and northern English dialect adverb backlins, 鈥渂ack, backward,鈥� comes from the equally rare Old English adverb 产忙肠濒颈苍驳, used only in the adverbial phrase on 产忙肠濒颈苍驳 鈥渙n the back, behind, backward.鈥� On 产忙肠濒颈苍驳, moreover, occurs only in the Rushworth Gospels (ca. 975), in the Northumbrian dialect of Old English鈥攏ot even in late West Saxon, the standard literary dialect of Old English. Backlins is formed from the noun back, the uncommon adverb suffix –ling, as in middling, and the native English adverb suffix –s, as in always, sometimes.
how is backlins used?
Then backlins we hastened weel pleased wi the day, / Though some of our brithers had wandered away.
An auld man’s howff’s a tapsalteerie touer: / Time backlins gaes, my warld turns withershins, / Glaur’s in the lift, sterns skeenkle in the stour …
backlins