Biden Is Obama's Pick for VP
CHICAGO, Aug. 22 -- Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), a two-time presidential candidate who has collected substantial foreign policy credentials in his three decades in the Senate, will be announced Saturday morning as Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, a Democratic source said Friday night.
(By Anne E. Kornblut, Michael D. Shear and Anita Kumar, The Washington Post)
belfry
(bĕl'frē)
n., pl. -fries.
- A bell tower, especially one attached to a building.
- The part of a tower or steeple in which bells are hung.
[Middle English belfrei, from Old North French belfroi, alteration of Old French berfrei, berfroi.]
belfried bel'fried adj.WORD HISTORY The words bell and belfry seem obviously related, but in fact the bel– portion of belfry had nothing to do with bells until comparatively recently.
Belfry goes back to a compound formed in prehistoric Common Germanic. It is generally agreed that the second part of this compound is the element *frij–, meaning “peace, safety.” The first element is either *bergan, “to protect,” which would yield a compound meaning “a defensive place of shelter,” or *berg–, “a high place,” which would yield a compound meaning “a high place of safety, tower.”
Whatever the meaning of the original Germanic source, its Old French descendant berfrei, which first meant “siege tower,” came to mean “watchtower.” Presumably because bells were used in these towers, the word was applied to bell towers as well. The Old North French alteration belfroi, which reminded English speakers of their native word belle (our bell), entered Middle English with the sense “bell tower,” first recorded in 1272.
Bats in the belfryMeaning Crazy; eccentric. Origin
It has the sound of a phrase from Olde Englande and it certainly has the imagery to fit into any number of Gothic novels based in English parsonages or turreted castles. In fact, it comes from the USA; nor is it especially old. All the early citations are from American authors and date from the start of the 20th century. For example, this piece from the Ohio newspaper The Newark Daily Advocate, October 1900:
Ambrose Bierce, also American, used the term in a piece for Cosmopolitan Magazine, in July 1907, describing it as a new curiosity:
The use of 'bats' and 'batty' to denote odd behaviour originated around the same time as 'bats in the belfry' and they are clearly related. Again, the first authors to use the words are American:
There have been several attempts over the years to associate the term 'batty' with various people called Batty or Battie, notably the 18th century physician William Battie. He was a governor of the Bethlem Hospital, a.k.a. Bedlam, and physician to St Luke's Hospital for Lunaticks, where he wrote A Treatise on Madness. Despite those illustrious credentials, it was bats rather than Battie that caused scatterbrained people to be called 'batty'. |
Bats are, of course, the erratically flying mammals and 'belfries' are bell towers, sometimes found at the top of churches. 'Bats in the belfry' refers to someone who acts as though he has bats careering around his topmost part, i.e. his head.The Phrase A Week newsletter goes out to 71,500 subscribers (53,500 by e-mail, 18,000 by RSS feed).
credentials
Hide phoneticsplural noun
the abilities and experience which make someone suitable for a particular job or activity, or proof of someone's abilities and experience:
All the candidates had excellent academic credentials.
She was asked to show her press credentials.
cre・den・tial
n.
- That which entitles one to confidence, credit, or authority.
- credentials Evidence or testimonials concerning one's right to credit, confidence, or authority: The new ambassador presented her credentials to the president.
To supply with credentials: “trained, professional, credentialed child care” (Lee Salk).
[From Medieval Latin crēdentiālis, giving authority, from crēdentia, trust. See credence.]
USAGE NOTE The use of the participle credentialed to refer to certified teachers and other professionals is well established (She became credentialed through a graduate program at a local college), but its more general use to mean “possessing professional or expert credentials” is still widely considered jargon. The sentence The board heard testimony from a number of credentialed witnesses was unacceptable to 85 percent of the Usage Panel.
presentation of credentials 遞交國書
是松下集團的全球商標。在1961年揚聲器外銷美國時所創用的，此複合字源自有「全、總、汎」之意的「Pan」與有「音的、音速的」之意的「sonic」之組合。
」則是廣告語標，在於傳達「全世界的員工，透過開發、生產、販賣、服務業務，持續對豐厚人人生活、帶動社會發展，提供有價值的創意」。
album-oriented ━━ a. アルバム曲指向の ((ラジオ放送など)).
mar・tial・ly ━━ ad. 勇ましく.