02 November 2004

Word for the Day

zabernism · (ZAB-&r-niz-`m) · noun
:the misuse of military power; aggression; bullying. (In disuse, bordering on obsolete).

[After Zabern, German name for Saverne, a village in Alsace, France. In 1912, in
this village, a German military officer killed a lame cobbler who smiled athim.]

"Both countries have been slaves to Kruppism and Zabernism--because they were sovereign and free! So it will always be. So long as patriotic cant can keep the common man jealous of international controls over his belligerent possibilities, so long will he be the helpless slave of the foreign threat, and 'Peace' remain a mere name for the resting phase between wars."

--H.G. Wells; In The Fourth Year: Anticipations of a World Peace; 1918.

. . . . . .
shamelessly stolen from wordsmith.org

No comments:

Post a Comment

Gyromantic Informicon. Comments are not moderated. If you encounter a problem, please go to home page and follow directions to send me an e-mail.