Posted on 06/09/2011 5:26:34 AM PDT 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".
leitmotif \LYT-moh-teef\, noun
1. In music drama, a marked melodic phrase or short passage which always accompanies the reappearance of a certain person, situation, abstract idea, or allusion in the course of the play; a sort of musical label.
2. A dominant and recurring theme.
Example sentences:
Each actor to appear on stage is accompanied by a musical phrase on the drum -- a sort of leitmotif to characterize an emotion, much like a Wagnerian drama.
-- Eleanor Blau, "Connecticut's Shakespeare", New York Times, July 9, 1982
One theme had recurred so frequently in these conversations that it had become the leitmotif of the trip.
-- Jack F. Matlock Jr., Autopsy on an Empire
As is so often the case in a crazy household . . . guilt becomes a leitmotif.
-- Frederick Busch, "My Brother, Myself", New York Times, February 9, 1997
Etymology:
Leitmotif (also spelled leitmotiv) is from German Leitmotiv, "leading motif," from leiten, "to lead" (from Old High German leitan) + Motiv, "motif," from the French. It is especially associated with the operas of German composer Richard Wagner.
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!
LOL.....apologies to all!
I’m surprised we didn’t hear a leitmotif here when my husband’s alarm failed to go off and he had to rush to a meeting.
I had problems with my Blackberry failing to make sounds when I first got it. It would, at times, just go silent until I rebooted it. Only made me late once though. I got rid of a free music service app (Pandora) and it has worked since then.
The problem today, sadly, was human error - he set his alarm for pm instead of am..... he feels very dumb right now
Mine has no ball, there’s some sort of little touchpad you stroke. No moving parts.
One time, years ago, my alarm clock woke me to the radio. But on this day, the station was for some reason down. So the alarm turned on and played dead air in an attempt to wake me up.
No doubt the Congressman from New York’s leitmotif is “The Oscar Meyer Weiner Theme.”
That happened with my old crackberry. I fixed it by cleaning it with a toothbrush to get the ball rolling again.
I'm ready to let it go myself. Any tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
She is calling him out yet again. A+ for you! And Sarah!
They’ll get around to his investigation as soon as they take care of the Maxine Waters imbroglio. On the 12th of Never. A+ for you, F- for the democrats.
Reminds me of Monica. A+ for you.
a different, but equally aggravating, happenstance is when the alarm in the hotel room, set by the previous occupant, goes off at Odarkthirty on you. That has happened more than once, and most recently to xskids in their room on the way back from Montreal. I honestly think it should be on the maid’s checklist of things to do when getting the room ready, to make sure the alarm is turned OFF. Yes, as a hotel guest you can certainly take care of it yourself, but you shouldn’t have to.
Ever been to a place where the power goes off unless you have your hotel key in the slot by the door? Then you have to set the alarm clock every time you enter your room. Good times.
Can’t say i have. What the he!! sort of cheap@$$ place is that? they don’t power rooms without occupants? is this in the USA?
No, it’s a foreigner thing. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered it here. More eco-friendly. Barf.
Turns off the A/C or heat, too. I usually use my Giant Eagle Advantage Card as a stand in for the room key when I leave.
dang. the most eco-friendly thing i have encountered is you having to positively signal you want the towels/bedding changed bc otherwise they will assume you are saving the planet and won’t require that service. bc we “hate” the planet we often ask for extra towels. three women [when i stay with xsgirls] cannot shower with 3 bath sized towels. OBVIOUSLY, each requires a towel for hair and one for body.
Oh yeah, that is all over Europe. I’m glad my husband knew about it or I would have been all “WTF aren’t the lights going on?”
It’s amazing how the eco-friendly thing is also the cheaper thing for the hotel. So they can posture the heck out of their frugality.
good point. wonder how many eco-freak hotels there would be if it were actually MORE costly to save the earth.
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