51吃瓜 of the Day
demur
verb (used without object)
to make objection, especially on the grounds of scruples; take exception; object: They wanted to make him the treasurer, but he demurred.
More about demur
The verb demur comes via Old French demorer, demourer, ultimately from Latin 诲脓尘辞谤腻谤墨 鈥渢o linger, delay, hold up,鈥� its original, now obsolete meaning in English. In the 17th century demur acquired its usual senses in contemporary English 鈥渢o object, take exception to,鈥� and especially its legal sense 鈥渢o make or interpose a demurral,鈥� which is a pleading that admits the facts of an opponent’s proceeding but denies any entitlement to legal relief, and that also causes a delay in the proceedings until the point or pleading is settled. Demur entered English in the 13th century.
how is demur used?
Montague is genial but determined, and before I could demur he had me packed into a two-thousand-dollar Gore-Tex dry suit with an unbearably tight collar, highly insulated rubber bootees, and an electric-blue life jacket.
… Sonia had a little changed her mind. Wedge would be very unlikely to demur.
apologia
noun
a work written as an explanation or justification of one's motives, convictions, or acts.
More about apologia
It is unsurprising that the earliest occurrences of apologia 鈥渁 defendant鈥檚 speech in a trial鈥� appear in 5th-century Athens. The Greek verb 补辫辞濒辞驳别卯蝉迟丑补颈 鈥渢o speak in defense, defend oneself鈥� and its derivative noun 补辫辞濒辞驳铆补 are first used by such heavy hitters as Thucydides, Euripides, and Plato. Plato鈥檚 础辫辞濒辞驳铆补 厂艒办谤谩迟辞耻蝉 鈥淎pology of Socrates鈥� refers to the three speeches Socrates delivered in his self-defense at his trial in 399 b.c. Apologia is similarly used in Cardinal Newman鈥檚 religious autobiography, Apologia pro Vita Sua 鈥淒efense of His Own Life鈥� (1864). Apologia entered English in the late 18th century.
how is apologia used?
Now Starr has laid out the defining saga of his life in a book. …聽鈥淚 view it as not an apologia at all,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut simply: Tell the story.鈥�
Occasionally, we鈥檝e been accused of writing a show that鈥檚 sort of an apologia for the surveillance state.
summer
noun
a principal beam or girder, as one running between girts to support joists.
More about summer
The rare noun summer 鈥渉orizontal supporting beam鈥� comes from Old French somier, sommier, which had the semantic development 鈥減ackhorse,鈥� then 鈥渁 pack, a load,鈥� and finally 鈥渁 beam, a joist.鈥� The Old French forms come from the Late Latin (c600) adjective 蝉补耻尘腻谤颈耻蝉, a variant of Late Latin (c300) 蝉补驳尘腻谤颈耻蝉 鈥減ertaining to a packsaddle鈥� (equus 蝉补驳尘腻谤颈耻蝉 means 鈥減ackhorse鈥�). 厂补驳尘腻谤颈耻蝉 derives from Late Latin (late 4th century) sagma (inflectional stem sagmat-) 鈥減acksaddle,鈥� a loanword from Greek 蝉谩驳尘补 鈥渃overing, clothing,鈥� later also 鈥減acksaddle.鈥� Finally, the derivative noun 蝉补耻尘补迟腻谤颈耻蝉 (蝉补驳尘补迟腻谤颈耻蝉) 鈥渄river of a packhorse鈥� comes into English (via Old French sommetier) as sumpter 鈥減ackhorse, mule.鈥� Summer entered English in the 14th century.
how is summer used?
The summer was a heavy beam spanning the middle of a large room … and it served as an intermediate support for the floor joists of the story above ….
The cross beams were known as girders, summers or somers, and dormants: one of them carried the chimney, and so was called the “bressummer,” that is the breast girder.