The Modes Ranked by Brightness

Todays Thought

The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second. 

-John Steinbeck, novelist, Nobel laureate (27 Feb 1902-1968)

Todays Thought

In the cellars of the night, when the mind starts moving around old trunks of bad times, the pain of this and the shame of that, the memory of a small boldness is a hand to hold. 

-John Leonard, critic (25 Feb 1939-2008)

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Todays Thought

The theory of democratic government is not that the will of the people is always right, but rather that normal human beings of average intelligence will, if given a chance, learn the right and best course by bitter experience. 

-W.E.B. Du Bois, educator, civil rights activist, and writer (23 Feb 1868-1963)

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Todays Word

 

jactation

PRONUNCIATION:

(jak-TAY-shuhn) 

MEANING:

noun:
1. Boasting.
2. Involuntary bodily movements, such as tossing or twitching.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin jactation (tossing, boasting), from jactare (to throw, boast), frequentative of jacere (to throw). Earliest documented use: 1576. Also spelled as jactitation.

USAGE:

“The girls from the legal pools and the courthouse clerks stood out on the sidewalks [and] engaged in conceited jactation ... Most of the talk had little to do with actual facts.”
Patricia Hickman; Katrina’s Wings; Five Star; 2002.

“Amidst all the pain, and relentless jactation of his body, Laurel thought he could still hear the man.”
Emma Porter; The Fairy King; Xlibris; 2019.

See more usage examples of jactation in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

Todays Thought

There is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some diehard's vote. 

-David Foster Wallace, novelist, essayist, and short story writer (21 Feb 1962-2008)

Todays Thought

It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment. 

-Ansel Adams, photographer (20 Feb 1902-1984)

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Todays Word

 

grizzle

PRONUNCIATION:

(GRIZ-uhl) 

MEANING:

verb tr.:	To make gray.
verb intr.:	1. To turn gray.
	2. To fuss; to gripe or grumble.
noun:	1. An animal with gray or grizzled fur.
	2. Gray hair.
adjective:	1. Having gray hair.
	2. Gray.

ETYMOLOGY:

For the color-related senses: from Old French grisel, diminutive of gris (gray).
For the grumble sense: origin unknown.
Earliest documented use: 1390.

USAGE:

“My hair has grizzled, I’ve developed a paunch and some rather unpalatable views.”
Sam Wollaston; On the Road; The Guardian (London, UK); Feb 18, 2012.

“Last night, as I was trying to settle my fretting son to sleep, I had a thought, clear as day: ‘I just don’t want to do this any longer.’ He’d been grizzling for 45 minutes, his dad was out, and after a long day at work, all I wanted was a glass of wine and some mindless telly.”
Cathy Adams; Mother Knows Best; The Independent (London, UK); May 10, 2021.

“Consider that I have no hair, no fur, no raiment to disarrange. No silver-trimmed livery-hat to hang on a peg, like Thomas. No grizzle wig to keep free of lice.”
Verlyn Klinkenborg; Timothy; Vintage; 2007.

See more usage examples of grizzle in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

Todays Word

 

onolatry

PRONUNCIATION:

(oh-NOL/NAHL-uh-tree) 

MEANING:

noun:
1. Worship of the donkey or ass.
2. Devotion to foolishness.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek ono- (ass) + -latry (worship). Earliest documented use: 1903.

NOTES:

In the beginning, an ass was merely a donkey. The anatomical term was arse. As words wade along the river of language, they get smoothened with time: curse became cuss, parcel turned into passel, and arse morphed into ass. Of course, both forms coexist.

Regardless of the form, one truth remains: asses get no respect. In any language. Greek gave us onolatry and Latin added asinine to our linguistic stable.

There’s even the onocentaur, but that may be just a half-assed attempt at mythology.

USAGE:

“From his foretelling hoofs; the bray
Of the world of asses following Darius --
The sound that scattered the great Scythian hordes;
The sound of the crowd’s onolatry, and after.”
Edith Sitwell; Out of School: To José Garcia Villa; The Atlantic; Jun 1949.

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Todays Thought

Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles. 

-George Jean Nathan, author and editor (14 Feb 1882-1958)

Todays Thought

The crucial disadvantage of aggression, competitiveness, and skepticism as national characteristics is that these qualities cannot be turned off at five o'clock. 

-Margaret Halsey, novelist (13 Feb 1910-1997)

Todays Thought

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. 

-Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President (12 Feb 1809-1865)

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Todays Thought

I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this. 

-Emo Phillips, comedian, actor (b. 7 Feb 1956)

Todays Thought

 If you can't fly, run; if you can't run, walk; if you can't walk, crawl; but by all means keep moving

-Martin Luther King Jr

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Todays Thought

Jobs are like going to church: it’s nice once or twice a year to sing along and eat something and all that, but unless you really believe there’s something holy going on, it gets to be a drag going in every single week. 

-Thomas Michael Disch, science fiction author and poet (2 Feb 1940-2008)