Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
PITHING
Verb
pithing
present participle of pith
Source: Wiktionary
PITH
Pith, n. Etym: [AS. pi; akin to D. pit pith, kernel, LG. peddik. Cf. Pit a kernel.]
1. (Bot.)
Definition: The soft spongy substance in the center of the stems of many plants and trees, especially those of the dicotyledonous or exogenous classes. It consists of cellular tissue.
2. (a) (Zoöl.) The spongy interior substance of a feather. (b) (Anat.) The spinal cord; the marrow.
3. Hence: The which contains the strength of life; the vital or essential part; concentrated force; vigor; strength; importance; as, the speech lacked pith. Enterprises of great pith and moment. Shak. Pith paper. Same as Rice paper, under Rice.
Pith, v. t. (Physiol.)
Definition: To destroy the central nervous system of (an animal, as a frog), as by passing a stout wire or needle up and down the vertebral canal.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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19 June 2025
ROOTS
(noun) the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage; “his roots in Texas go back a long way”; “he went back to Sweden to search for his roots”; “his music has African roots”
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