Month: March 2017

I never really look at the term “bellwether,” beyond thinking it had to do with the weather. Wrong!

A bellwether is one that leads or indicates trends. The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram (a wether) leading his flock of sheep.

“Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing; after the have exhausted every other alternative.”

Winston Churchill

Loot (n.)
“Goods taken from an enemy, etc.,” 1788, Anglo-Indian, from Hindi lut, from Sanskrit loptram, lotram “booty, stolen property,” from PIE *roup-tro-, from root *reup- “to snatch” (see rip (v.)). The verb is first attested 1821, from the noun. Related: Looted; looting.
Thugs (n.)
The word “Thuggee” derives from the Hindi ठग (ṭhag), which means “deceiver”. Related words are the verb thugna (“to deceive”), from the Sanskrit स्थग (sthaga “cunning, sly, fraudulent”) and स्थगति (sthagati, “he conceals”).[5] This term, describing the murder and robbery of travellers, is popular in South Asia and particularly India.  Thuggee or tuggee (Hindi: Nepali ठग्गी ṭhaggī; Urdu: ٹھگ‎; Sanskrit: sthaga; Sindhi: ٺوڳي، ٺڳ‎; Kannada: ಠಕ್ಕ thakka) refers to the acts of Thugs, an organised gang of professional robbers and murderers. Thugs travelled in groups across South Asia for six hundred years.[1] Although the Thugs traced their origin to seven Muslim tribes, Hindus appear to have been associated with them at an early period.
Assasin (n.)
A  member of the Nizari branch of Ismaili Muslims at the time of the Crusades, when the newly established sect ruled part of northern Persia (1094–1256). They were renowned as militant fanatics, and were popularly reputed to use hashish before going on murder missions.

My favorite piece of theatrical criticism is a review of an actor’s performance in King Lear by John Mason Brown:

“He played the king as if he were apprehensive someone else would play the ace.”