51吃瓜 of the Day
omnishambles
noun
Chiefly British Informal. a situation, especially in politics, in which poor judgment results in disorder or chaos with potentially disastrous consequences.
More about omnishambles
The first element of omnishambles, omni- 鈥渁ll,鈥� is familiar in English in omnibus, omnipotent, omnivorous, and omniscient, derived from the Latin adjective omnis 鈥渁濒濒.鈥� Shambles has a gorier history. In the 9th century the Old English noun scomol (spelled variously) simply meant 鈥渟tool, footstool,鈥� derived from Latin scamellum, scamillum 鈥渓ow stool.鈥� By the 10th century the noun also meant 鈥渁 counter or table for conducting business鈥�; by the 14th century the word acquired the sense 鈥渢able or counter for selling meat.鈥� During the 16th century shambles came to mean 鈥渟laughterhouse; place of wholesale carnage.鈥� Shambles in the sense 鈥渁 mess, a ruin, scene of disorder鈥� was originally an Americanism, first occurring in print in 1926.
how is omnishambles used?
The Budget, dubbed an ‘omnishambles‘ by critics, marked the government’s mid-term low point which even the triumph of the London Olympics was unable to dispel.
Iannucci calls these characters “well-meaning but damaged individuals” and by putting them into situations of omnishambles where everything is deeply at stake, he makes a stronger satire of Washington and more entertaining television.
purse-proud
adjective
proud of one's wealth, especially in an arrogant or showy manner.
More about purse-proud
Purse-proud was first recorded in 1675鈥�85.
how is purse-proud used?
London was still London … heavy, clumsy, arrogant, purse-proud but not cheap; insular but large; barely tolerant of an outside world, and absolutely self-confident.
The fellow is a bad neighbour, and I desire, to have nothing to do with him: but as he is purse-proud, he shall pay for his insolence …
ken
noun
knowledge, understanding, or cognizance; mental perception: an idea beyond one's ken.
More about ken
English ken comes from the very widespread Proto-Indo-European root 驳苍艒- (and its variants 驳苍脓-, gen-, and 驳峁�-) 鈥渢o know.鈥� The variant 驳苍艒- appears in Greek 驳颈驳苍峁搒办别颈苍 (and dialect 驳苍峁搒办别颈苍), Latin 驳苍艒蝉肠别谤别, 苍艒蝉肠别谤别, and Slavic (Polish) 锄苍补膰 鈥渢o know.鈥� The variant 驳苍脓- forms 肠苍腻飞补苍 in Old English (and know in English); the variant 驳峁嚽�- (with suffixed schwa) yields cunnan 鈥渢o know, know how to, be able鈥� in Old English (and can 鈥渂e able鈥� in English). Ken is recorded in English before 900.
how is ken used?
Books, Mr. Taylor thought, should swim into one’s ken mysteriously; they should appear all printed and bound, without apparent genesis; just as children are suddenly told that they have a little sister, found by mamma in the garden.
Little things, trifles, slip out of one’s ken, and one does not think it matter for surprise; but how so bulky a thing as the Seal of England can vanish away and no man be able to get track of it again–a massy golden disk …