51吃瓜 of the Day
utopian
adjective
founded upon or involving idealized perfection.
More about utopian
The English adjective and noun utopian comes from New Latin 弄迟辞辫颈腻苍耻蝉, an adjective derived from the noun 弄迟辞辫颈补, a quasi-Greek noun meaning 鈥渘o place,鈥� formed from the negative adverb and particle ou 鈥渘ot鈥� (“quasi-Greek” because in Greek ou cannot be used as a prefix for nouns), top-, the stem of the noun 迟贸辫辞蝉 鈥渁 place,鈥� and the noun suffix –ia (the adjective suffix –腻苍耻蝉 is purely Latin). 弄迟辞辫颈补 is a coinage of Sir Thomas More鈥檚 in his 1516 satire D膿 optim艒 re墨publicae stat奴 d膿que nov膩 insul膩 弄topi膩 (“Concerning the Best State of a Republic [Commonwealth] and Concerning the New Island Utopia”). In English, but not in other languages, the first syllable of 弄迟辞辫颈补 rhymes with the prefix eu– (as in Euclid or Eucharist); thus in English there is a confusion between 弄迟辞辫颈补 鈥渘o place鈥� and Eutopia 鈥済ood place, a place of happiness and felicity.鈥�
how is utopian used?
For its proponents, it offered a聽utopian聽vision聽of an art world in which color and class barriers were finally dismantled.
At a time of such social, political and ecological upheaval, it鈥檚 natural to dream of a utopian world in which these problems are no more鈥攊n fact, people have been doing it for centuries.
shivaree
noun
a mock serenade with kettles, pans, horns, and other noisemakers given for a newly married couple; charivari.
More about shivaree
The etymology of shivaree is obscure. Most authorities consider it to be a Mississippi Valley French alteration (or a vulgar corruption) of French charivari, a noun of obscure origin, said to be from Late Latin 肠补谤墨产补谤颈补 鈥渉eadache,鈥� from Greek 办补谤脓产补谤铆补, equivalent to 办补谤脓-, a combining form of 办谩谤腻, 办谩谤脓 鈥渉ead,鈥� and the noun suffix –产补谤铆补 鈥渉eaviness鈥� (from 产补谤媒蝉 鈥渉eavy鈥� and the abstract noun suffix –铆补). Supposedly such a racket would give someone a headache.
Other authorities claim that shivaree comes from French chez vous 鈥渁t your home鈥� and list many variants in spelling (and presumably in pronunciation): chevaux, cheveaux, chev-ho, chivoo, shavoo, sheave-o, sheavo, sheevo, shevoo, shivaree, shivaroo, shiveree, shiverree, shivoe.
Vulgar or not,聽shivaree was noble enough for Mark Twain to use it (in that spelling) in A Tramp Abroad (1880): “… she turned on all the horrors of the 鈥楤attle of Prague,鈥� that venerable shivaree, and waded chin deep in the blood of the slain.鈥� Charivari entered English in the first half of the 19th century. Shivaree seems to have entered English in 1875.
how is shivaree used?
“Let’s give the governor and his lady a real shivaree!” Nearly a hundred drunks assembled outside the tavern with horns and drums and washboards and bugles and tin pots.
Encouraging cake mashing, like a host of other awful wedding customs, from shivaree (a noisy mock serenade on the wedding night) to tying a tin can to the newlyweds鈥� getaway car, is one last chance for the couple鈥檚 friends to indulge in the game of 鈥淴 and Y, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.鈥�
fascicle
noun
a section of a book or set of books being published in installments as separate pamphlets or volumes.
More about fascicle
The noun fascicle 鈥渁 bunch, bundle鈥� has always been a technical term, restricted to botany and anatomy. Even in its publishing sense, 鈥渁 section of a book or set of books published in installments as separate pamphlets or volumes,鈥� fascicle is a technical term. Fascicle comes from Latin fasciculus (also the source of fascicule) 鈥渁 small bundle, packet, parcel,鈥� a diminutive of the noun fascis 鈥渁 bundle (e.g., of sticks, wood, books). The 蹿补蝉肠脓蝉, the plural of fascis, were the bundle of rods about five feet long, bound by red leather bands around an ax that in Republican times was used as an instrument of execution. The 蹿补蝉肠脓蝉 were the primary visible symbol of a higher Roman magistrate鈥檚 power and authority. They were carried by lictors: twelve 蹿补蝉肠脓蝉 for consuls and proconsuls (and for kings in the regal period); six 蹿补蝉肠脓蝉 for praetors and Masters of the Horse; and twenty-four 蹿补蝉肠脓蝉 for dictators. Fascis or 蹿补蝉肠脓蝉 becomes fascio in Italian, meaning 鈥渂undle of sticks.鈥� The Roman 蹿补蝉肠脓蝉 were adopted as the symbol of the Partito Nazionale Fascista (鈥淣ational Fascist Party鈥�) organized by Benito Mussolini in 1919, the same year as the appearance of the English noun fascists. Fascicle entered English in the 17th century.
how is fascicle used?
… she gathered her poems into forty homemade books, known as 鈥�fascicles,鈥� by folding single sheets of blank paper in half to form four consecutive pages ….
… he knew what he sought, and found exactly that, the fascicles dwindling like melting ice-shards, verso words showing through ….