highball, proportion, vinegar,

on Page 87:

"... How I envy the clarity of vision that comes to the travelling salesman in a railway buffet-car at the third highball! How simple the great problems become! ..."

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Op-Ed: Brazil’s Vinegar Uprising

Humor is a powerful weapon in the march toward full democracy.

Definition of vinegar

noun

[mass noun]

• a sour-tasting liquid containing acetic acid, obtained by fermenting dilute alcoholic liquids, typically wine, cider, or beer, and used as a condiment or for pickling.
• sourness or peevishness of behaviour, character, or speech:her aggrieved tone held a touch of vinegar

Derivatives

vinegarish

adjective

vinegary

adjective

vinegariness

noun

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French vyn egre, based on Latin vinum 'wine' + acer 'sour'

highball
n.

━━ n., vi. ハイボール ((ウイスキーをソーダ水で割った飲物)); （鉄道の）進めの信号; 〔俗〕 全速で突っ走る.
⇒high

1. A cocktail served in a tall glass and consisting of liquor, such as whiskey, mixed with water or a carbonated beverage.
2. 1. A railroad signal indicating full speed ahead.
   2. A high-speed train.

intr.v. Slang., -balled, -ball·ing, -balls.
To move ahead at full speed.
A highball is the name for a family of mixed drinks that are composed of an alcoholic base spirit and a larger proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer. Originally, the most common highball was made with rye whiskey and ginger ale. The Online Etymology Dictionary suggests that the name originated around 1898 and probably derives from ball meaning a "drink of whiskey" and high because it is served in a tall glass.


proportion
(prə-pôr'shən, -pōr'-)
n.

1. A part considered in relation to the whole.
2. A relationship between things or parts of things with respect to comparative magnitude, quantity, or degree: the proper proportion between oil and vinegar in the dressing.
3. A relationship between quantities such that if one varies then another varies in a manner dependent on the first: "We do not always find visible happiness in proportion to visible virtue" (Samuel Johnson).
4. Agreeable or harmonious relation of parts within a whole; balance or symmetry.
5. Dimensions; size. Often used in the plural.
6. Mathematics. A statement of equality between two ratios. Four quantities, a, b, c, d, are said to be in proportion if ^a/_b = ^c/_d.

tr.v., -tioned, -tion·ing, -tions.

1. To adjust so that proper relations between parts are attained.
2. To form the parts of with balance or symmetry.

[Middle English proporcion, from Old French proportion, from Latin prōportiō, prōportiōn-, from prō portiōne, according to (each) part : prō, according to; see pro-¹ + portiōne, ablative of portiō, part.]

proportionable pro·por'tion·a·ble adj.
proportionably pro·por'tion·a·bly adv.
proportioner pro·por'tion·er n.
proportionment pro·por'tion·ment n.

SYNONYMS proportion, harmony, symmetry, balance. These nouns mean aesthetic arrangement marked by proper distribution of elements. Proportion is the agreeable relation of parts within a whole: a house with rooms of gracious proportion. Harmony is the pleasing interaction or appropriate combination of elements: the harmony of your facial features. Symmetry and balance both imply an arrangement of parts on either side of a dividing line, but symmetry frequently emphasizes mirror-image correspondence of parts, while balance often suggests dissimilar parts that offset each other harmoniously: flowers planted in perfect symmetry around the pool. "In all perfectly beautiful objects, there is found the opposition of one part to another, and a reciprocal balance" (John Ruskin).