Word: peloponnesian
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...himself a survivor of the illness, the plague attacked suddenly, causing "violent heats" in the head, inflammation of the eyes and throat, "reddish, livid" skin, extreme diarrhea and high fever. Historians agree that the epidemic, which killed the great statesman Pericles, contributed to the fall of Athens in the Peloponnesian War. But there is no agreement on its cause. Was it smallpox? Scarlet fever? Typhus? Measles...
...that empiricism refers to the belief that all ideas are derived from sensory perceptions? How many users know the difference between a regular grand jury and a grand jury? And how many of us know enough about German literature to use sturm und drang correctly? Or about the Peloponnesian War which inspired some historian to coin Pyrrhic victory, to make a golden apple of this idiom, rather than dilute its meaning every time...
Editor's Note: The phrase Pyhrric victory was not inspired by the Peloponnesian War but by the disastrous strategies of the Greek king Pyhrrus in his war against the Romans in the Italian region of Magna Graecia...
...want to hear any of this. Can't hear anything else, at this tick of the clock except brassy, trashy, junk-jingling, stage-stomping Madonna, who has been world famous for almost two months. Just now she is the hottest draw in show biz. Michael Jackson? History. Prince? The Peloponnesian Wars. Cyndi Lauper? Last week's flash, and besides, if you wanna be like Cyndi, you have to dye your hair orange and fuchsia, and your parents freak. No, Madonna is the full moon you see at this bend in the river, and never mind what is around the corner...
...there are hundreds of them. Some of the students taking them were not even born at the time of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, and most of them could not explain what that resolution was. To many college students, the Viet Nam War might as well be the Peloponnesian wars: both are ancient history. Many students cannot say whether the U.S. was allied with the South Vietnamese or the North Vietnamese...