Tit

Tit (pronounced tit)

(1) Any of numerous small active old world songbirds of the family Paridae, especially those of the former genus Parus.

(2) Medieval slang for a girl or young woman thought something of a minx.

(3) A small, worthless or worn-out poor horse; a nag (archaic).

(4) Slang for a despicable or unpleasant person (archaic).

(5) Slang for a teat (used in agricultural and other circles).

(6) As tit-bit, a small morsel of food.

(7) An imperfect echoic used in the phrase “tit for tat” (thought derived from the medieval phrase “this for that”).

(8) One of the many vulgar slang terms for the female breast (although in certain contexts applied also to men and used in the phrase "taking the bull by the tits" to suggest someone is doing something wrong or misunderstands things).    

Pre 1100: Entered Middle English circa 1550 as titte, drawn from Old English titt; cognate with Middle Low German & Middle Dutch titte and existed in German as zitze, Icelandic as tittr and Norwegian as titta.  The Scandinavian forms applied to small birds and the Old English titt was a variant of teat.  The modern slang variation, attested from 1928, seems to be a recent reinvention from teat, used apparently without awareness it’s a throwback to the original form although the form is on record from 1746 as an English and Irish nursery diminutive of teat.

Tits constitute the Paridae, a large family of small birds, most of which were formerly classified in the genus Parus.  Typically known as tits in the most of English-speaking world, these birds are also called either chickadees or titmice in North America. The creatures are mainly small, stocky, woodland species with short, stout bills, some with crests.  Ranging in length between four and nine inches (100 to 220 mm), they have a mixed diet including seeds and insects and appear to have adapted well to co-habitation with humans in urban environments.

Small tits (Cyanistes teneriffae)

Great tits (Parus major)

Species in taxonomic order

Genus Cephalopyrus

Fire-capped tit Cephalopyrus flammiceps

Genus Sylviparus

Yellow-browed tit, Sylviparus modestus

Genus Melanochlora

Sultan tit, Melanochlora sultanea

Genus Periparus

Black-breasted tit or rufous-naped tit, Periparus rufonuchalis

Rufous-vented tit, Periparus rubidiventris

Coal tit, Periparus ater

Genus Pardaliparus

Yellow-bellied tit, Pardaliparus venustulus

Elegant tit, Pardaliparus elegans

Palawan tit, Pardaliparus amabilis

Genus Lophophanes

European crested tit, Lophophanes cristatus

Grey crested tit, Lophophanes dichrous

Genus Baeolophus

Bridled titmouse, Baeolophus wollweberi

Oak titmouse, Baeolophus inornatus

Juniper titmouse, Baeolophus ridgwayi

Tufted titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor

Black-crested titmouse, Baeolophus atricristatus

Genus Sittiparus

Varied tit, Sittiparus varia

Owston's tit, Sittiparus owstoni

Iriomote tit, Sittiparus olivaceus

Chestnut-bellied tit, Sittiparus castaneoventris

White-fronted tit, Sittiparus semilarvatus

Genus Poecile

White-browed tit, Poecile superciliosus

Sombre tit, Poecile lugubris

Père David's tit, Poecile davidi

Marsh tit, Poecile palustris

Caspian tit, Poecile hyrcanus

Black-bibbed tit, Poecile hypermelaenus

Willow tit, Poecile montanus

Sichuan tit Poecile weigoldicus

Carolina chickadee, Poecile carolinensis

Black-capped chickadee, Poecile atricapillus

Mountain chickadee, Poecile gambeli

Mexican chickadee, Poecile sclateri

Grey-headed chickadee, Poecile cinctus

Boreal chickadee, Poecile hudsonicus

Chestnut-backed chickadee, Poecile rufescens

Genus Cyanistes

Small tit, Cyanistes teneriffae

Eurasian blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus

Azure tit, Cyanistes cyanus

Genus Pseudopodoces

Ground tit, Pseudopodoces humilis (previously "Hume's ground jay" in crow family Corvidae)

Genus Parus

Great tit, Parus major

Japanese tit, Parus minor (often included in Parus major)

Cinereous tit, Parus cinereus (split from Parus major)

Green-backed tit, Parus monticolus

Genus Machlolophus

White-naped tit, Machlolophus nuchalis

Yellow tit, Machlolophus holsti

Himalayan black-lored tit, Machlolophus xanthogenys

Indian black-lored tit, Machlolophus aplonotus

Yellow-cheeked tit, Machlolophus spilonotus

Genus Melaniparus

White-shouldered black tit, Melaniparus guineensis

White-winged black tit, Melaniparus leucomelas

Southern black tit, Melaniparus niger

Carp's tit, Melaniparus carpi

White-bellied tit, Melaniparus albiventris

White-backed black tit, Melaniparus leuconotus

Dusky tit, Melaniparus funereus

Rufous-bellied tit, Melaniparus rufiventris

Cinnamon-breasted tit, Melaniparus pallidiventris

Red-throated tit, Melaniparus fringillinus

Stripe-breasted tit, Melaniparus fasciiventer

Acacia tit or Somali Tit, Melaniparus thruppi

Miombo tit, Melaniparus griseiventris

Ashy tit, Melaniparus cinerascens

Grey tit, Melaniparus afer

Athenaeum

Athenaeum (pronounced ath-uh-nee-uhm or ath-uh-ney-uhn)

(1) An institution for the promotion of literary or scientific learning.

(2) A library or reading room.

(3) A sanctuary of Athena at Athens, built by the Roman emperor Hadrian, and frequented by poets and scholars (always with initial capital letter).

1727:  Adopted in English from the Latinized form of Greek Athḗnaion (the temple of Athene) in ancient Athens, in which professors taught and actors or poets rehearsed. The meaning "literary club-room or reading room" is from 1799 and "literary or scientific club" is from 1864.  The academy of learning in Rome was established near the Forum in circa 135 AD by the Emperor Hadrian.  The alternative (mostly US) spelling is athenaeum.

The Emperor Hadrian built the Athenaeum as a place for the promotion of literary and scientific studies (ingenuarum artium), the name borrowed from the Hellenic original in acknowledgement of the still admired intellectual traditions of classical Athens.  The Athenaeum was situated near the Capitoline Hill and the ruins were discovered in 2009 during excavations for the construction of a underground rail line, in the middle of what is now Piazza Venezia.

Ruins of the Athenaeum, Rome.

Scimitar or scimiter

Scimitar or scimiter (pronounced sim·i·tar or sim-i-ter)

An oriental sword with a curved blade broadening towards the point

1540s: Originally written also as cimiterie, from the Middle French cimeterre or the Italian scimitarra.  Most etymologists agree it’s from an unknown Ottoman Turkish word and ultimately from the Persian شمشیر‎ (šamšir) (sword), an unusual event because the linguistic variations in the Ottoman dialects are so well documented.  There are contested variations too in the Persian, shimshir (pronounced shamsher) is said by some to be derived from the Greek sampsera (a barbarian sword) but most authorities find this explanation unsatisfactory.  There were many variations too in spelling, the preferred modern form scimitar reflecting the influence of Italian but at least one dictionary preferred simitar as late as 1902.  Scimitared is the somewhat gruesome adjective.

Antique Persian scimitar with leather wood scabbard featuring natural engraving on pommel and wooden handle adorned with embossed metal.  The heavy curved blade is hand-forged and thirty inches (760mm) in length with a deep blood grove.  The leather-covered wooden scabbard is equipped with a pair of belt rings and wire decoration.  The drag is heavily embossed with nature designs and is thirty-eight inches (965mm) long.

Produced between 1968-1986 (and based on an earlier coupé of the same name launched in 1964), the Reliant Scimitar was an early and successful attempt to combine the stylistic appear of a coupé with the practicality of an estate.  Although English manufacturers had a long tradition of (mostly bespoke) two-door estates called shooting-brakes, they were expensive and often rather staid designs.  The Scimitar, although rather crude and lacking refinement, was at the time unique in the market and sold well, starting a trend for the design which is still sometimes used.

Wimp

Wimp (pronounced whimp)

(1) A weak, ineffectual, timid person.

(2) In particle physics, a speculative particle: Weakly Interacting Massive Particle.

(3) In computer science, a summary of the elements of the graphical user interface: (Windows, Icons, Menus (or Mice), Pointers.

For (1), 1915-1920, an Americanism of uncertain though thought generally to be related to whimper.  Word first used in 1920 but didn’t appear again until 1960 although wimpish persisted.  For (2) 1985-1990.  For (3) 1980, said to have been coined by computer scientist Merzouga Wilberts, about whom little appears to be known.

Big data

Based on the biggest data sets ever gathered, cosmologists use mathematics to calculate the actual parameters of the universe and the numbers which have emerged from the equations suggest some ninety percent of matter (or energy) has yet to be discovered, observed or defined.  One possibility is mechanical; the math is wrong.  The other explanation is the data is incomplete because or means of measuring or observing the cosmos is not able to see anything.  Scientists, as impressed as economists by the beauty of their mathematical models, prefer the later.  To account for all that’s “missing”, they speak of dark matter and dark energy and divide their energies between looking for the dark stuff and developing theories which might explain its nature.

Weakly interacting massive particles (wimps) emerged as one theory; a speculative particle thought wholly or partially to constitute dark matter.  A wimp interacts via gravity and any other forces and is inherently non-vanishing in its strength.  For the theory to work, wimps must date from the earliest moments of the Universe and be cold dark matter because modelling of a universe full of cold dark matter produces a distribution of galaxies close to what we today observe.  However, a simulation with hot dark matter reduces a universe to a sort of cosmic sludge.

Wimps may be out there.  Images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Although wimps remain wholly hypothetical, assuming the math is correct, wimps do successfully fill the astrophysical gaps and there is a near consensus today among cosmologists that most of the mass in the Universe is dark.  That said, the answer remains, “don’t know”.

Appellate

Appellate (pronounced uh-pel-it)

(1) Of or pertaining to that which can be reviewed by a power or authority vested with the necessary jurisdiction.

(2) A court, tribunal or other body having the power or authority to review and decide appeals made against decisions issued by subordinate individuals or institutions.

1726: From the Classical Latin appellātus (called upon, summoned), past participle of appellāre (to appeal) and perfect passive participle of appellō (address as, call by name), the construct being ad (to, towards) +‎ pellō (push; impress).  Details of appellate jurisdiction in English courts appear in Sir William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769).

Courts of appeal

Appellate courts, usually styled as courts of appeal, are those vested with the jurisdiction to an appeal from a subordinate court within the same hierarchy.  In Australia, as a general principle, the court system exists in three layers (1) a trial court, (2) an intermediate appellate court and (3) a final court of appeal although variations exist and appeals from lower courts are not always of right; in many cases an application for leave to appeal can be declined.  The Australian court systems are now unitary which means that, depending on the law(s) involved, the avenue of appeal lies to a state, territory or Commonwealth court, appeals to the Privy Council in London sundered for commonwealth matters in 1968 and for those involving the states in 1986 by the Australia Acts.

Usually, it’s the more serious cases which proceed to the highest courts of appeal but the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear parking-ticket and other minor matters if the law under which a conviction was obtained happened in a jurisdiction where the offence was deemed one of absolute liability and an appeal not permitted.  In those matters, the court held that in the US, a legal principle existed that the state could not convict a citizen of something without granting a means of appealing the decision.