Posted on 01/29/2009 4:23:25 AM PST by secret garden
In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".
cynosure • \SYE-nuh-shur\ • noun
1 : the northern constellation Ursa Minor; also : North Star
2 : one that serves to direct or guide
3 : a center of attraction or attention
Example sentence:
The young actress's natural beauty and graceful charm made her a cynosure wherever she went.
Etymology:
Ancient mariners noted that all the stars in the heavens seem to revolve around a particular star, and they relied on it to guide their navigation. The constellation that this bright star appears in is known to English speakers today as Ursa Minor, or the Little Dipper, but the Ancient Greeks called it Kynosoura, a term that comes from a phrase meaning "dog's tail." "Kynosoura" passed into Latin and Middle French, becoming "cynosure." When English speakers adopted the term in the mid-16th century, they used it as a name for the constellation and the star (which is also known as the North Star) and also to identify a guide of any kind. By the early 17th century, "cynosure" was also being used figuratively for anything or anyone that, like the North Star, was the focus of attention or observation.
The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-)
Practice makes perfect.....post on....
Review Thread One: Word For The Day, Thursday 11/14/02: Raffish (Be SURE to check out posts #92 and #111 on this thread!)
Review Thread Two: Word For The Day, Tuesday 1/14/03: Roister
Review Thread Three: Word For The Day, Tuesday 1/28/03: Obdurate
WFB's attempt to emulate us ; ) No pushing at the door please!
i swear i can detect a yinzer within a few words!
It’s on the Ahia north of Wheeling.
could it be...racial.
No, not worked up, but bothered anyway. It’s a group of young men, most of them black. It’s little wonder.
discomfited is mildly perturbed, yid know if i was hot and bothered, believe me!
I hope you lulled them into thinking they won’t have to work hard to beat us tomorrow night! We’re out west this week too. It makes for late nights. :-(
It started with the Eagles QB saying how excited he was, that he was voting for the first time. Hopefully it was the last time too. The uneducated should not vote if they haven’t looked at the issues and done their homework. It is a privilege and a responsibility.
Alas, and did my savior bleed
And did my sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
Well, at some point about 30 years ago, a hymn revisionist decided that the self-esteem of sinners might be hurt by such self-effacing lyric, so the hymn was revised in the new hymnals:
Alas, and did my savior bleed
And did my sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
Well, about 25 years ago, another hymn revisionist decided that the lyric was still just too threatening, so the hymn was again revised in the even newer hymnals:
Alas, and did my savior bleed
And did my sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
For someone such as I?
Of course, when we sang the song in church, I just continued to sing it with the original lyrics "for such a worm as I" at full voice.
And as another example, about 15 years ago we were attending a small Baptist church that didn't have a choir, but I sang with the small worship ensemble that led in the music part of the worship services. Our music leader had chosen the familiar song "Jesus Loves the Little Children" as one of the songs. We were practicing the song with the instrumentalists, and I noticed the words were different. The lines "Red and Yellow, Black and White - They are precious in his sight" had been changed to "Every color, every race - they're all covered by His grace". I stopped the rehearsal right there and told him that I would not sing those words so he'd better plan on singing it on Sunday with the original words. He laughed, and agreed with me. We sang the song as it was originally written.
We’ve had a lot of hims turn into thems and yous, to placate “gender inclusive” idiots.
“Go forth among the people
See men of every nation”
is now redundantly
“Go forth among the people
People of every nation”
Phillistines, all of them.
We Calvinists even alter the Lord’s Prayer saying “Debts and Debtors.” I guess it’s a Puritan thing, I dunno.
It’s certainly shorter and less sibilant that way.
Now that Bush is no longer the cynosure, who’s left to blame? (No one will dare touch the Big O.)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2174450/posts
We’re surrounded by crazy people who don’t take their meds. A+ for you.
I would think that that difference would be more along the lines of a different translation from the original.
good for you! that is totally ridiculous that they would change that!
sounds more like a BANKRUPTCY thang to me... : )
sounds just like a lawyer to me......LOL
That's not altering it; that's using the Scriptural version.
sounds more like a BANKRUPTCY thang to me... : )
Well apart from Christ, mankind IS spiritually bankrupt.
In my parish, most peeps hold hands during the our Father. The choir directors son went to Stubenville a few years back. After 1 semester he refused to hold hands and told people why.... quite loudly, too.
And I am an Extraordinary Minister. We don’t quite have fleets of them.
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