Word: modernness
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Mafia," literally, means swank, or dolled up, but it probably derives from a Sicilian term meaning beauty or pride. In the context of crime, Mafia applies to the older, strictly Sicilian element of the Mob. "La Cosa Nostra," or Our Thing, is a broader term that means the modern American-born organization...
...area, going so far as to take Neapolitans as allies. A particularly bloody period in 1930-31 called the Castellammarese War (the town of Castellammare del Golfo was home to one of the factions) killed about 60 gangsters. Thus the factions agreed to unite behind the Mob's modern founding father, Salvatore Maranzano...
...Morris, editor of the American Heritage dictionary, feels that such standards are essential if readers are to have "any indication of the social levels of words." But Morris rejects suggestions that the new dictionary is an "American Fowler." Despite their prescriptive brilliance, he says, the Fowler Brothers (Dictionary of Modern English Usage, 1926) could not possibly reflect a true cross section of the literate community of their time. As Morris sees it, "This is what we believe our usage panel has accomplished...
Famous prima donnas are apt to regard a bout with contemporary opera as roughly equivalent to a gargle with sulphuric acid. Modern composers, singers say, don't know how to write. They ruin voices by demanding odd and un-vocal sounds. Though this attitude is widespread, there is evidence that it is less a matter of fact than fashion. Birgit Nilsson, though she sings no contemporary opera at all, points out that composers are usually ahead of performers. Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, she observes, was abandoned as un-performable, "yet nowadays no dramatic soprano can be considered...
...thrill-seeking car driver whose appetite for concrete and asphalt has become jaded, modern technology provides a variety of alternatives. First came the dune buggy, which can bounce merrily across rolling beaches. Then the snowmobile made its appearance, giving drivers breathtaking access to wintry fields and drifts. Now the all-terrain vehicle is here-a snug, rugged buggy that resembles a bathtub on wheels and can jounce, swim or crawl over just about any obstacle that nature has to offer...