Note: Archives before January 2021 are limited to popular stories.
prevaricate |
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| Definition: | To stray from or evade the truth; equivocate. |
| Synonyms: | beat around the bush, palter, tergiversate |
| It is the same with man as with the tree … The more he seeketh to rise into the height and light, the more vigorously do his roots struggle earthward, downward, into the dark and deep—into the evil.
Friedrich Nietzsche |
Today’s topic: prizeathlete – Derived from Greek athlon, "prize" or "contest"—which also gives us triathlon (etc.); it should be pronounced ATH-leet—with two syllables, not three. More… cakewalk – Started out as a competitive dance whose winner got a cake as a prize. More… premium – First meant "prize, reward." More… taking the cake – Once meant literally winning the prize of a cake, awarded in a cakewalk. More… |
Ball-Catching FestivalThis 500-year-old tradition, said to have its roots in the legend of a dragon god (Ryujin) offering two balls to the Empress Jingu (170–269), takes place each year in Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka City, Japan. Two teams of Japanese men, wearing only loincloths (fundoshi), compete for a ball that weighs about 18 pounds; these teams consist of the Land Team, made up of farmers who work the fields, and the Sea team, composed of fishermen. A Shinto priest awaits the winner to hand him the ball—the size of the harvest or of the catch during the new year is determined by which team wins. |
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