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.
STRATAGEM
ploy, gambit, stratagem
(noun) a maneuver in a game or conversation
contrivance, stratagem, dodge
(noun) an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade; “his testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
stratagem (plural stratagems)
A tactic or artifice designed to gain the upper hand, especially one involving underhanded dealings or deception.
Source: Wiktionary
Strat"a*gem, n. Etym: [F. stratagème (cf. Sp. estratagema, It. stratagemma), L. strategema, Gr. Stratum) + Agent.]
Definition: An artifice or trick in war for deceiving the enemy; hence, in general, artifice; deceptive device; secret plot; evil machination. Fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. Shak. Those oft are stratagems which error seem, Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream. Pope.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
7 November 2024
ERASE
(verb) remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing; “Please erase the formula on the blackboard--it is wrong!”
Coffee Trivia
