Definition: (noun) A rail and the row of balusters or posts that support it, as along the front of a gallery.
Synonyms: banister, handrail.
Usage: She leaned over the balustrade, trying to see what was happening below.
Discuss
Month: May 2022
inn
caravanserai – A type of inn in Eastern countries where caravans are put up. More…
harbergery – An inn or place of entertainment. More…
inn – Etymologically a place “in” which people live or stay, from Proto-Germanic innam. More…
Neville Chamberlain Becomes Prime Minister of England (1937)
Chamberlain served as prime minister of the UK from 1937 to 1940. His political legacy is defined by his controversial policy of “appeasement” toward Adolf Hitler, exemplified by the Munich Pact that allowed Hitler to annex the Sudetenland in 1938. Once Hitler annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia and invaded Poland in 1939, Chamberlain led Britain to war. However, he was forced to resign eight months later, following the failed British campaign in Norway. How much longer did Chamberlain live? Discuss
Ethiopia National Day
A military junta called the Derg brought an end to the Ethiopian Empire and Haile Selassie‘s rule on September 12, 1974. The Derg socialist military regime was overthrown by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991, commemorated by the May 28 holiday. A constitution was adopted in 1994 and Ethiopia’s first multiparty elections were held in 1995. Discuss
Jim Thorpe (1888)
Thorpe was one of the most versatile athletes in modern sports. He won Olympic gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon, starred in college and professional football, and played basketball and Major League baseball. He lost his Olympic titles, however, when it was discovered that he had played minor league baseball prior to competing, thus violating the amateur status rules. His medals were later restored to him. Legend has it that Thorpe began his athletic career in what casual way? Discuss
go halfsies
slang To share something, especially the cost of something, in equal proportion between two people. Watch the video
Maple Syrup
A popular topping for pancakes, waffles, French toast, and the like, maple syrup comes from the sap of sugar maple and black maple trees. In springtime, taps inserted in the trees begin flowing with sap, which is collected, strained, and concentrated by boiling. Native Americans were the first to prepare syrup from maple sap, using hot rocks or freezing to concentrate the sap. They shared their methods with arriving colonists—and the rest is history. What is produced by boiling down maple syrup? Discuss
schism
Edgar Allan Poe
I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active – not more happy – nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. Discuss
opera
opera – Actually the Latin plural of opus, “labor, work.” More…
prima donna – Meaning “principal female singer in an opera,” it is from the same Italian phrase meaning “first lady”; the meaning “temperamental person” was first recorded in 1834. More…
primo vomo – The principal male singer in an opera. More…
soap opera – Goes back (1939) to the early days of radio suspense serials, which were mainly sponsored by soap-makers; the “opera” part is an echo of the earlier “horse opera”—a Western (1927). More…