enervate - weaken, deprive of strength, attenuate.

partisan - one-sided, committed to a party, biased or prejudiced.

equivocate - lie, mislead, conceal the truth.

assiduous - diligent, hard-working, sedulous.

anachronism - something out of place for its time

lassitude - weariness, tiredness

phlegmatic - calm, sluggish temperament; unemotional

sycophant - flatterer, parasite; a suck-up

perfunctory - superficial, listless, not thorough

impair - worsen, diminish in value

I just love this:

 Q: "Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?"
 A: "No."
 Q: "Did you check for blood pressure?"
 A: "No."
 Q: "Did you check for breathing?"
 A: "No."
 Q: "So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?"
 A: "No."
 Q: "How can you be so sure, doctor?"
 A: "Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar."
 Q: "But could the patient have still been alive nevertheless?"
 A: "It is possible that he could have been alive and practising law somewhere."

And this:

Q: "So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?"
A: "Yes."
Q: "And what were you doing at that time?"

And this one:

Q: What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke that morning?
A: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
Q: And why did that upset you?
A: My name is Susan.

OK ... I promise ... this is the last one:

Q. "Were you alone or by yourself?"

These gems were all supposedly reported in the Massachusetts Bar Association Lawyers Journal, and are questions actually asked of witnesses by attorneys during trials and, in certain cases, the responses given by insightful witnesses. Oh dear ... all I can say is, it's a worry!

Discussion of Pet Peeves prompted Marty Cahill to write about one of his:

"decimate

"It's now commonly used as a synonym for annihilate, but the
meanings are quite different.  When a Roman phalanx suffered
a serious breach of discipline, the punishment was to
decimate the ranks.  The men were assembled, every tenth
soldier was required to step forward and he was beheaded.
Severe punishment, indeed, but not severe aggression."

When I was teaching Roman History, I used to love the unit on the Roman Army (no, not because of all the gory bits ... although it was one topic that had the boys' undivided attention!) What I admired was the Romans' fabulously pragmatic approach to everything they did. 

The organisation of their camps - set out in exactly the same way throughout the whole Empire - was masterful. It didn't matter where they were, how tired they were after marching all day (the average distance was 15 miles [24 klms], but on a forced march, Caesar's armies could manage 25-30 miles [40-48 klms]) - they all knew where they were. None of this stumbling around in the dark, wondering which way to run - it was a classic example of the KISS principle (and may explain why the Romans were so successful for so long!)

Not only did these legionaries march 25 miles across rough terrain (where they didn't have roads), they did it carrying up to 60 pounds [27 kilos] of equipment, which included their clothes, armour and weapons, plus cooking pots, pick-axe, a basket, a saw, a sickle, a leather strap, an entrenching tool and several types of shovel. While all these items were carried by legionaries, it seems more likely that each man had a digging tool plus one or two of the other items. (The leather strap would be useful for carrying turf blocks, as seen on Trajan's column.) Sorry ... I told you I loved Roman History.

The reason for the emphasis on all things military this week is that we've just commemorated ANZAC Day. The day begins with dawn services (starting at 4.28 am - the same time as the beach landing took place at Gallipoli in 1915). It's very moving and concludes with a lone bugler playing the Last Post. 

After the dawn service, each city and town holds its ANZAC Day March for returned service men and women. This concludes at the local war memorial and the rest of the day can be spent at the RSL clubs (Returned Soldiers League), catching up with friends and playing two-up; watching the city marches on telly, or at family picnics and barbeques.

It seems odd to many people that we have a day to remember what was essentially a military defeat, but ANZAC Day has become a symbol of everything that most of us regard as important (not just here in Australia and New Zealand - but everywhere), and that is caring for each other, refusing to give up (however hopeless the situation appears to be), resourcefulness and courage.

Far from being a celebration of war, ANZAC Day focuses on the need to avoid any future wars and celebrates the human spirit.