n. A large stone presented by the archangel Gabriel to the patriarch Abraham, and preserved at Mecca. The patriarch had perhaps asked the archangel for bread.

(1395 – 1468) – Inventor of the printing press.
(also: 100 most influential people in the world)
(also: johann gutenberg quotes)

(n.) uh... I think it has something to do with electricity, and old-timey TV's maybe.

it does sound delicious though.

(also: Governing People)

(n.) planet earth's seventh continent, as long as one decides to list it seventh while counting, and which is not a continent, technically speaking (it's just australia, which *is* a continent, and all the other places in the pacific that don't belong to any others)

in addition to australia, oceania is usually considered to include
* micronesia (including kiribati, resting comfortably right on the international date line)
* melanesia (including papua new guinea and, like... I guess some places they might have used for filming in "survivor." anyone remember that show?)
* and polynesia (including new zealand, hawaii, samoa, and the delightful statue heads at easter island)

After years of education they gave you a confy boss chair, but they also make you shame to sit on it.
You have to be in field with workers to whip them.

Definition: I shouldnt look like lazy, athough i look like an idiot on foot.

one of the less savory human avocations, the act of graverobbing amounts to theft of a corpse or its sundry accoutrements from their proper place of internment.

graverobbing has been an epidemic concern at various points in history. for example, in egypt, even in ancient times (when it was better known as ancient egypt), the elaborate tombs of pharaohs were tempting targets for taphological treasure-hunting transgressors, who would seek to pillage not only the gold ornaments with which pharaohs were buried, but also occasionally the mummies themselves (apparently they were considered to have medicinal purposes. mmm, human jerky)

graverobbing was also a source of concern in victorian england, as the need for fresh corpses for medical research (and lack of willing donors) left doctors' associations with little other recourse but to accept stolen cadavers, maintaining plausible deniability by not asking too many questions.

graverobbing may strike the reader as callous, heartless, and reprehensible, but the open-minded among us should remember, you can't take it with you

A mystic beverage secretly used by our most popular novelists and poets to regulate the imagination and narcotize the conscience. It is said to be rich in both obtundite and lethargine, and is brewed in a midnight fog by a fat witch of the Dismal Swamp.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) an elementary unit of time for human beings, consisting of one sunny phase that they spend awake and one dark phase that they spend asleep. known for passing extremely slowly on an individual basis, but practically flying by in the plural

(noun) A colossal economic tumbleweed that rolled through the 1930s, leaving barren wallets and shattered dreams in its wake. A time when Wall Street took a nosedive, fortunes evaporated, and the job market turned into a cruel game of musical chairs. Soup lines became the catwalks of survival fashion, and "brother, can you spare a dime?" was the national anthem. A period when laughter was in short supply, but resilience and resourcefulness prevailed, reminding us that even in the darkest times, human spirit can find a flicker of hope.

Teaching Tip: Make the Great Depression relatable to students by connecting it to their own lives. Help them understand the impact of economic hardships by engaging in activities that simulate budgeting, rationing, and the experience of poverty. This hands-on approach fosters empathy and deepens their understanding of the era's challenges and resilience.

(n.) a traveling attraction which offers clowns, stunt performances and trained animals.

circus is also the latin word for "circle," which explains why Piccadilly Circus is one of London's most disappointing tourist attractions next to pall mall

A form of expression peculiar to the Land beyond the Magazines.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) a variety of nerd found in japan, exhibiting most of the classical nerd characteristics including aversion to social situations not carried out through the comforting barrier of a computer screen and pop culture jargon

(also: infinity)

Hideously appareled after the manner of the time and place.
In Boorioboola-Gha a man is presentable on occasions of ceremony if he have his abdomen painted a bright blue and wear a cow's tail; in New York he may, if it please him, omit the paint, but after sunset he must wear two tails made of the wool of a sheep and dyed black.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

A favorable occasion for grasping a disappointment.

(n.) rejoice! the debts, and the anxieties over those same debts, won't be attacking your dreams tonight.

practiced in the Jewish tradition every 50 or so years, freeing all slaves and releasing all debts.
practiced in ancient Babylonia and Syria (or so I've skim-read a few minutes ago).

(also: tabula rasa)

(n.) without hair; the condition of baldness in human men is often taken as a sign of dignified maturity, or at least that's what bald men are repeatedly assured

“A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live.”
― Lao Tzu
(also: Lao Tzu)

A gift of the gods to certain women, entailing virtue without humility.
(also: women)
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)