2016年2月29日 星期一

redoubtable, indubitable, Clear the air


The Japan Times

Japan's cult brands get into character
When the topic turns to “Cool Japan” and the various related efforts to capitalize on Japan's indubitable cultural capital internationally, commendation ...
. on Page 72:
" ... One redoubtable Tory was granted a special place in the sun. Dr Johnson, the literary giant of the age, basked in the political approval of the new regime, signalized with a pension from Lord Bute in 1762. ... "


I've been reading some interesting "where is Google headed" speculation from a the redoubtable but undoubtable Om Malik.


Clear the air (澄清誤會)
含義: 化解隱藏的不滿;消除兩人之間的不良情緒。
例句: “My friend has been ignoring my texts for days. She must be mad at me, but I don't know why. I want to clear the air, so I hope she will meet me to talk!”(我的朋友好幾天都不理會我的簡訊。她一定是生我的氣了,但我不明白為什麼。我想澄清誤會,所以我希望她能跟我當面談談!)


redoubtable 
adjective LITERARY OR HUMOROUS
very strong, especially in character; producing respect and a little fear in others:
Tonight Villiers faces the most redoubtable opponent of his boxing career.


undoubtable
indubitable
adjective FORMAL
that cannot be doubted:
an indubitable fact

indubitably
adverb FORMAL
He looked different, but it was indubitably John.

movement, suffrage, red-letter date, intercessory

在凌淑華(Su Hua)1953的古韻 (Ancient Melodies)翻譯本(台北1991 北京1994/2003)中
有"太平天國運動"說法
應該是錯誤的

又日本的賞櫻時節似非"櫻花節"






Spotlight
Campaigning for Women's Rights          
Campaigning for Women's Rights
July 19 is a red-letter date for women: on this date in 1848, the first women's rights convention began in Seneca Falls, NY. Suffragists Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were among others who called for equal rights for women in education, law and voting. They drafted a Declaration of Sentiments, based on the Declaration of Independence. (It took another 70-plus years for American women to get the right to vote; the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920.) Another blow for women's rights was struck on this date in 1984, when Geraldine Ferraro was chosen as the first female vice-presidential nominee at the Democratic Party convention in San Francisco.
Quote
"Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles, and see that the world is moving." — Elizabeth Cady Stanton
red-letter date
noun [C usually singular]
a special, happy and important day that you will always remember:
The day I first set foot in America was a red-letter day for me.

suffrage Line breaks: suf|frage
Pronunciation: /ˈsʌfrɪdʒ/ 

Definition of suffrage in English:

noun

1[MASS NOUN] The right to vote in political elections:universal adult suffrage[AS MODIFIER]: the women’s suffrage movement
1.1[COUNT NOUN] archaic A vote given in assent to a proposal or in favour of the election of a particular person:the suffrages of the community
2(usually suffrages) (In the Book of Common Prayer) the intercessory petitions pronounced by a priest in the Litany.
2.1A series of petitions pronounced by the priest with the responses of the congregation.
2.2archaic Intercessory prayers, especially those for the dead.
EXAMPLE SENTENCES
  • Nor have we examined adequately suffrages for the dead, the question of indulgences, the role of Mary in Christian piety, or the sins of denominationalism against the communion that is God's present gift.
  • In their funerals and suffrages for the dead, they make great difference between the rich and the poor.
  • The most significant of these was of course the ability to say mass, acknowledged to be the most effective suffrage for the dead.

Origin

Late Middle English (in the sense 'intercessory prayers', also 'assistance'): from Latin suffragium, reinforced by French suffrage. The modern sense of 'right to vote' was originally US (dating from the late 18th century).
MORE
  • The Latin suffragium meant both ‘support’ and ‘right to vote’, and was formed from suf- ‘under, near’ and fragor ‘din, shout of approval’. In medieval Latin, when democracy was not relevant, the ‘support’ sense was strongest, and suffrage first came into English in the sense of prayers for the departed and of intercession. The sense of a vote reappeared in the mid 16th century, with the sense ‘a right to vote’ first appearing in the United States Constitution of 1787. Suffragette, for a female campaigner for suffrage, was an initially mocking coinage of the early 20th century.

suffrage
noun [U]
the right to vote in an election, especially for representatives in a parliament or similar organization:
universal suffrage (= the right of all adults to vote)

suffragette Show phonetics
noun [C]
a woman in Britain, Australia and the United States in the early 20th century who was a member of a group that demanded the right of women to vote and that increased awareness of the matter with a series of public protests

suffragist Show phonetics
noun [C]
someone who supports suffrage, especially a supporter of the right of women to vote in the early 20th century

suffrage 


音節
 
suf • frage
 
発音
 
sʌ'fridʒ
  1. [名詞]
  2. 1 投票権;(特に)選挙権,参政権;投票(vote)
  3. 2 賛成票;賛成,同意;一致した意見.
  4. 3 〔教会〕 祈り(prayer);((suffrages)) 〔英国国教会〕 執りなしの祈り,代祷だいとう.
  5. [語源]
    c1380.中期英語<ラテン語 suffrgium 投票札,投票(ラテン語 suffrg「…のために投票する,支持する」より)
Question of the Day
Who is Geraldine Ferraro?

Geraldine Ferraro was member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the 9th District in New York who ran for Vice President of the United States on the Democratic Party ticket with running mate Walter Mondale in 1984. They were defeated in a landslide by incumbent President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. BushMore







movement
━━ n. 動き, 運動, 動作; (pl.) 動静, (一連の)行動; ((単複両扱い)) 活動グループ; 軍事行動; 運転; 機械の動く部分; (社会的・政治的)運動, 動向; (小説などの)筋の運び; 【楽】楽章; リズム; (絵画などの)躍動性; (商品の)出回り; 便通 (bowel ~).
in the movement 風潮にのって.


movement (GROUP OF PEOPLE) Show phonetics
group noun [C]
a group of people with a particular set of aims:
the women's movement
The suffragette movement campaigned for votes for women in Britain and the US.
[+ to infinitive] a movement to stop animals being killed for their fur

intercession Line breaks: inter|ces¦sion
Pronunciation: /ˌɪntəˈsɛʃ(ə)n/ 

Definition of intercession in English:

noun

[MASS NOUN]
1The action of intervening on behalf of another:he only escaped ruin by the intercession of his peers with the king
1.1The action of saying a prayer on behalf of another:prayers of intercession

Derivatives

intercessional
Pronunciation: /ˌɪntəˈsɛʃ(ə)n(ə)l/ 
adjective
intercessory
adjective

Origin

Late Middle English: from Latin intercessio(n-), from the verb intercedere (see intercede).

rehab, superlative, addictive, rehabilitation, excommunication, paedophile, commensurate with

Early Alarm for Church on Abusers in the Clergy
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Warnings dating to 1952 contradict Catholic bishops’ defense that they did not know pedophile priests could not be rehabilitated and returned to the ministry.


Japan will need to play a global role commensurate with its size and economic strength: http://ow.ly/YM0DR




Merkel chides Pope for Holocaust controversy


German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on the Pope to give a clear rejection of Holocaust denial, following the controversial rehabilitation of a bishop. Merkel said she was not satisfied with a clarification of the Vatican's position on the matter. Late last month, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication on British bishop Richard Williamson after he apologised for inflammatory comments made on Swedish TV. Williamson had questioned whether six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust and denied the use of gas chambers. Several leading German bishops have condemned the German-born Pope's decision and called for Williamson's rehabilitation to be revoked.




Russia rehabilitates last tsar


Russia's Supreme Court has ruled that the country's last tsar, Nicholas II, and his family should be recognised as victims of Soviet repression. Tsar Nicholas, his wife and five children were killed by a Bolshevik revolutionary firing squad in 1918, but they have never been officially recognised as victims until now. The ruling officially rehabilitates the Romanov family and declares groundless the accusations made against them at the time they were killed. The tsar and his family were canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.



Getting the culture right is one of the key catalysts to enabling students to achieve. As the late Peter Drucker argued:
Achievement is addictive – finding students’ strengths and focusing them on achievement is the best definition of teacher and teaching. (Post-capitalist society, Butterworth Heinemann, 1985)


From Hospital Into Rehab, Six Weeks After 47-Story Fall
By JAMES BARRON
Continuing a recovery that has left medical professionals searching for superlatives, Alcides Moreno was discharged from the hospital Friday.



paedophile UK, US pedophile
noun [C]
a person, especially a man, who is sexually interested in children

paedophilia UK, US pedophilia
noun [U]




superlative
(BEST)
adjective
of the highest quality; the best:
We went to a superlative restaurant.

superlatively Phoneticadverb
extremely:
The company has been superlatively successful this year.
━━ n. 最高の人[もの], 極致; 【文法】最上級.


rehab Phonetic
noun [U] INFORMAL
the process of helping someone to stop taking drugs or alcohol:
She's just finished four months of rehab.
a rehab clinic
After his arrest in 1998, he checked himself into rehab to get over his heroin addiction.
rehab
noun
The systematic application of remedies to effect a cure: care, regimen, rehabilitation, therapy, treatment.

rehabilitation (′rē·ə′bil·ə′tā·shən) (medicine) The restoration to a disabled individual of maximum independence commensurate with his limitations by developing his residual capacity.
n. - 修復, 恢復名譽, 復興
v. tr. - 修復, 使復興


commensurate
kəˈmɛnʃ(ə)rət,-sjə-/
adjective
  1. corresponding in size or degree; in proportion.
    "salary will be commensurate with age and experience"


addict Show phonetics

noun [C]
a person who cannot stop doing or using something, especially something harmful:
a drug/heroin addict
a gambling addict
HUMOROUS I'm a chocolate/shopping addict.

addicted Show phonetics
adjective
By the age of 14 he was addicted to heroin.
I'm addicted to (= I very often eat/drink) chocolate/lattes.
I know that if I start watching a soap opera I immediately become hopelessly addicted.

addiction Show phonetics
noun [C or U]
drug addiction
his addiction to alcohol

addictive Show phonetics
adjective
1 An addictive drug is one which you cannot stop taking once you have started:
Tobacco is highly addictive.

2 describes an activity or food that you cannot stop doing or eating once you have started:
The problem with video games is that they're addictive.
These nuts are addictive - I can't stop eating them.

3 addictive personality a set of characteristics which mean that you very quickly become addicted to drugs, food, alcohol, etc:
He's got an addictive personality.

2016年2月28日 星期日

pastiche, trepidation, assassination, mélange


“Quand on travaille pour plaire aux autres on peut ne pas réussir, mais les choses qu'on a faites pour se contenter soi-même ont toujours une chance d'intéresser quelqu'un.”
-- Pastiches et mélanges, Marcel Proust

"When we work to please others may not succeed, but the things we did to settle oneself still have a chance to attract someone."
- Pastiches and mixtures, Marcel Proust
At the Salon, Monet’s two large seascapes had been placed near the older artist’s work, and the Monets were much admired. Infuriated at being congratulated for Monet’s seascapes, Manet apparently exclaimed, “Who is this rascal who pastiches my painting so basely?”


The assassination of the brother of a prominent tribal leader on October 13th has pushed Taiz, Yemen's third city and capital of its most populous province, closer to the edge. Nowadays the city of a million people, say some residents, feels like a powder keg waiting with trepidation for a spark http://econ.st/17QXzQI

It was with trepidation then that Father Quixote introduced himself to the high clerical figure.

trepidation[trep・i・da・tion]

  • 発音記号[trèpədéiʃən]
[名][U]
1 (嫌なことが起こりそうだという)戦慄(せんりつ), 恐怖, 驚き, 不安, 動揺.
2 (手足の)震え;《病理学》(筋肉の)振顫(しんせん).


Monsignor Quixote
is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1982. The book is a pastiche of the classic Spanish novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes with many moments of hilarious comedy, but also offers reflection on matters such as life after a dictatorship, Communism, and the Catholic faith.


But though it depicts a confectionary reality in which appearance matters above all, "Marie Antoinette" is far from superficial, and though it is often very funny, it is much more than a fancy-dress pastiche. Seen from the inside, Marie's gilded cage is a realm of beauty and delight, but also of loneliness and alienation.

The Magus, impressive and exasperating by turns, is his most ambitious novel ("I fell into almost every trap awaiting the tyro writer", Fowles admits). The French Lieutenant's Woman, combining Victorian pastiche and postmodern interjections, is more accessible and perhaps more loved.


  • pastiche
  • [pæstíːʃ]
[名]仿諷體(pastiches)
1 (文学・音楽などの)模倣作品, 贋造(がんぞう).
2 (一般に)寄せ集め, ごたまぜ.