solidify, upstanding, Margarine, bread-and-butter, quest, disparate

Giorgia Meloni Solidifies Her Credentials in Europe

By Jason Horowitz

The Italian prime minister helped persuade the Hungarian leader, Viktor Orban, to go along with a landmark fund for Ukraine. It was a big moment for Europe. And for her.

SEOUL, South Korea — Former President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea, whose reputation as an upstanding political leader had been tarnished recently by a corruption scandal, committed suicide on Saturday by jumping off a cliff near his retirement home, according to his aides and the police.

BEIJING -- Fledgling auto maker BYD Co. is in talks to supply its batteries to car companies in Europe and the U.S., Chairman Wang Chuanfu said in an interview.

A deal could solidify BYD's growing prominence in the electric-car market after it surprised the automotive world by launching a plug-in car in December, ahead of more established foreign rivals.

Google is certainly solidifying a dominant position in the world of books by digitizing the great collections of the world. It relies on a basic mathematical principle: no matter how many volumes Harvard or Oxford may have, each can’t have more than Oxford plus Harvard plus Michigan, and so on.

But the director and choreographer Busby Berkeley’s vision was solidified by two seemingly disparate concepts: his appreciation for beautiful women and his time spent in the Army, where he created large-scale parade drills for troops while stationed in Europe during World War I.

TD Ameritrade said Thursday that it is buying thinkorswim for about $606 million in cash and stock, solidifying TD Ameritrade's standing as one of the largest online brokerage firms.

Spotlight

Margarine Source

Margarine was patented in France by Hippolyte Mège-Mouriés on this date in 1869. Responding to an offer made by the French emperor Napoleon III to award a prize to anyone who could come up with an inexpensive substitute for butter, Mège-Mouriés, a chemist, took clarified beef fat, removed the liquid under pressure, and allowed it to solidify. It was then combined with butyrin and water to make what was then referred to as oleomargarine. Today, in the US, mostly the more healthful polyunsaturated canola, sunflower and corn oils are used in margarine.

Quote

"The history of the world is the record of a man in quest for his daily bread and butter" — Hendrik Willem van Loon


Citigroup views its Mexican banking unit, Banamex, as a solid business and has no plans to sell it, Reuters reported, citing undisclosed sources familiar with the matter.

Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times»

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1.	on Page 17:
	"... '7 As a result, he never made himself a fortune. The Simons thus were solid members of the professional middle class, but they were far from wealthy. Arthur Simon adhered to the German professional ideal ..." 財務佳
2.	on Page 237:
	"... converts in a psychological community weaned on a fierce distrust of theory." For Edwin Boring and many other experimentalists, steady, solid experimental data gathering, ..." 堅實
3.	on Page 278:
	"... This peculiarity of computers, in turn, makes possible the creation of "an empirical science of computers-as distinct from the solid-state physics or physiology of their componentry." "Since there are now many such devices in the world, and since the properties ..."

solid
adj., -er, -est.

1. 1. Of definite shape and volume; not liquid or gaseous.
   2. Firm or compact in substance.
2. Not hollowed out: a solid block of wood.
3. Being the same substance or color throughout: solid gold.
4. Mathematics. Of or relating to three-dimensional geometric figures or bodies.
5. Having no gaps or breaks; continuous: a solid line of people.
6. Of good quality and substance: a solid foundation.
7. Substantial; hearty: a solid meal.
8. Sound; reliable: solid facts.
9. Financially sound.
10. Upstanding and dependable: a solid citizen.
11. Written without a hyphen or space. For example, the word software is a solid compound.
12. Printing. Having no leads between the lines.
13. Acting together; unanimous: a solid voting bloc.
14. Slang. Excellent; first-rate.

upstanding
adj.

1. Standing erect or upright.
2. Morally upright; honest.

upstandingness up·stand'ing·ness n.

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solid (CERTAIN) 
adjective
certain or safe; of a good standard; giving confidence or support:
This provided solid evidence that he committed the crime.
The drama course gives students a solid grounding in the basic techniques of acting.

solidly 
adverb
The economy has been growing solidly for five years now.
My colleagues are solidly behind me (= they support me) on this issue.

solidify 

verb [I or T]
to become or make something become certain:
He solidified his commitment to the treaty, giving a forceful speech in favour of it.
Support for the policy is solidifying.

SOLIDIFY
v., -fied, -fy·ing, -fies. v.tr.

1. To make solid, compact, or hard.
2. To make strong or united.

v.intr.

To become solid or united.

solidification so·lid'i·fi·ca'tion (-fĭ-kā'shən) n.


solidity 
noun [U] (ALSO solidness)
certainty:
The agreement would give a new solidity to military cooperation between the two countries.


disparate 
adjective FORMAL
different in every way:
The two cultures were so utterly disparate that she found it hard to adapt from one to the other.

Margarine

KK: []
DJ: []

n. (名詞 noun)

1. 人造黃油,麥淇淋

bread-and-butter
Bread-and-butter ideas or problems are the basic things that directly relate to most people:
Health and education are the sort of bread-and-butter issues that people vote on.

quest Show phonetics
noun [C] LITERARY
a long search for something that is difficult to find, or an attempt to achieve something difficult:
Nothing will stop them in their quest for truth.
She went to India on a spiritual quest.
[+ to infinitive] She does aerobics four times a week in her quest to achieve the perfect body.