In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
TORTUOUS
tortuous
(adjective) not straightforward; “his tortuous reasoning”
Byzantine, convoluted, involved, knotty, tangled, tortuous
(adjective) highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious; “the Byzantine tax structure”; “Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship”; “convoluted legal language”; “convoluted reasoning”; “the plot was too involved”; “a knotty problem”; “got his way by labyrinthine maneuvering”; “Oh, what a tangled web we weave”- Sir Walter Scott; “tortuous legal procedures”; “tortuous negotiations lasting for months”
tortuous, twisting, twisty, winding, voluminous
(adjective) marked by repeated turns and bends; “a tortuous road up the mountain”; “winding roads are full of surprises”; “had to steer the car down a twisty track”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
tortuous (comparative more tortuous, superlative most tortuous)
(often, figurative) Twisted; having many turns; convoluted.
(astrology) Oblique; applied to the six signs of the zodiac (from Capricorn to Gemini) that ascend most rapidly and obliquely.
(obsolete) Injurious; tortious.
Usage notes
• This term has strongly negative connotations, perhaps transferred from the similar-sounding adjective torturous.
• Not to be confused with the legal term tortious.
Source: Wiktionary
Tor"tu*ous, a. Etym: [OE. tortuos, L.tortuosus, fr.tortus a twisting, winding, fr. torquere, tortum, to twist: cf. F. tortueux. See Torture.]
1. Bent in different directions; wreathed; twisted; winding; as, a tortuous train; a tortuous train; a tortuous leaf or corolla. The badger made his dark and tortuous hole on the side of every hill where the copsewood grew thick. Macaulay.
2. Fig.: Deviating from rectitude; indirect; erroneous; deceitful. That course became somewhat lesstortuous, when the battle of the Boyne had cowed the spirit of the Jakobites. Macaulay.
3. Injurious: tortious. [Obs.]
4. (Astrol.)
Definition: Oblique; -- applied to the six signs of the zodiac (from Capricorn to Gemini) which ascend most rapidly and obliquely. [Obs.] Skeat. Infortunate ascendent tortuous. Chaucer. --Tor"tu*ous*ly, adv.
– Tor"tu*ous*ness, n.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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4 April 2025
GUILLOTINE
(verb) kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine; “The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country”
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