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.
SCURRILITY
scurrility, billingsgate
(noun) foul-mouthed or obscene abuse
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
scurrility (countable and uncountable, plural scurrilities)
Something that is scurrilous.
Source: Wiktionary
Scur*ril"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. scurrilitas: cf. F.scurrilité.]
1. The quality or state of being scurrile or scurrilous; mean, vile, or obscene jocularity. Your reasons . . . have been sharp and sententious, pleasant without scurrility. Shak.
2. That which is scurrile or scurrilous; gross or obscene language; low buffoonery; vulgar abuse. Interrupting prayers and sermons with clamor and scurrility. Macaulay.
Syn.
– Scurrilousness; abuse; insolence; vulgarity; indecency.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
7 April 2025
SUPERFETATION
(noun) fertilization of a second ovum after a pregnancy has begun; results in two fetuses of different ages in the uterus at the same time; “superfetation is normal in some animal species”
Coffee Trivia
