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Lorelili's definitions

Lusitania

(1907-1915) A ship contemporary with the Titanic. One of the biggest and fastest ocean liners of her time, this four-funneled luxury liner was carrying a secret cargo of military supplies for the British in WWI; Germany, blockaded by the British, newly-equipped with U-boats (which Churchill ordered rammed on site), and aware of this smuggling on the part of the British, warned that any British or American ship thought to be carrying war supplies would be liable to attack, regardless of the safety of passengers or crew. The 1259 passengers and 701 crew who boarded the Lusitania on May 1, 1915, paid little attention, largely unaware of the contraband bullets and shrapnel that the ship carried.
On May 7, as lunchtime ended within sight of Ireland's south coast, the Lusitania was hit by a torpedo from a German u-boat, followed by a much bigger secondary explosion (likely a steam-pipe explosion). Listing sharply toward the wound in her starboard side, she sank in only 18 minutes, taking 1195 men, women, and children with her.
123 of the 159 Americans on board were killed, plus 94 of the 129 children on board (including 35 of 39 infants), indirectly goading the United States to enter the war on Britain's side.
The passengers of the Lusitania naively refused to believe that a submarine would attack a passenger ship, let alone one as fast as the Lusitania.

May 7, just 11.5 miles from the Irish coast, a torpedo rocked the ship. Listing sharply to starboard and continuing at full speed for two miles, she had lost control. Panic ensued as she plunged under the surface, head-first.
Power was soon lost, trapping many below-decks and a number in the first-class elevators.
The starboard lifeboats swung away from the ship, while the port boats swung inward; although the ship had 48 lifeboats, only six starboard boats would be safely lowered while many others tipped or were lowered on top of each other. The port boats had to slide down the hull, splintering as they snagged on rivets, while one broke loose and careened down the boat deck, crushing passengers who were not already injured on the sloping decks. The maimed littered the deck and a sea that was choked with floating debris.
While parents tried to find their children in the frenzy, children squealed for their parents. Many put on their life-jackets upside-down and backwards in the panic.
In less than twenty minutes, the Lusitania was gone, taking the trapped to the bottom and leaving several hundred more at the surface to die of hypothermia.
The Lusitania casualties were tiny compared to the soldiers who died daily at the front, but they got an immediate reaction; not even civilians were safe.
by Lorelili January 12, 2014
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oops baby

What there are too many of: babies that were born to a couple that didn't intend for a baby.

The result of unprotected sexual encounters. Many men are suddenly out of the picture when one of these comes along.
A man (in disgusting cowardice) just goes on his way, leaving the woman to raise their oops baby on her own. If you're not ready for the responsibility of parenthood, then you shouldn't be having sex.

Contraceptives and abortion are two of the few ways to avoid oops babies.
by Lorelili January 27, 2006
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Elizabeth Bathory

A Hungarian countess (1560-1614) known for her beauty and her cold-blooded sadism. In 1611, she was accused of the torture and murder of over 600 young women, most of them the adolescent daughters of Slovak peasants; as long as her victims were not her fellow Hungarians, she could do as she pleased.
It was when she had exhausted the local population of peasant girls and began preying on the daughters of lesser nobles and the gentry that the authorities intervened.

According to legends added over 110 years after her death, she was said to have bathed and even drank the blood of her victims to gain their youth, beauty, and vitality.
In a case that is over 400 years old, fact and legend are difficult to separate, but Elizabeth Bathory was clearly among them most prolific serial killers of history.

An intelligent, accomplished woman, she belonged to a powerful, wealthy family and was educated beyond even her male peers. She could speak, read and write in Hungarian, German, Latin, and Greek while most of the nobles around her could barely read or write.

She and her husband had three sons and three daughters and she doted on them all... when she wasn't torturing pretty maidens behind their backs, especially the buxom ones because they supposedly lasted longer.

Very likely a psychopath, she allegedly bedded many men and women throughout her adult life (and gave birth to an illegitimate daughter through a peasant boy some months before she married). Never once did she show remorse or accept responsibility for her crimes.
by Lorelili March 9, 2010
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opera

A style of theater/drama in which the characters sing all or most of their lines.

The story is usually simpler than that of movie plots, since it takes longer to sing than to speak. The stories, perhaps melodramatic to our modern eyes, are as varied as movies; from lighthearted, romantic prances ("The Marriage of Figaro", "The Elixer of Love"); heartbreaking romantic tragedies ("La Boheme". "Madame Butterfly", "Aïda"); and some almost x-rated shockers ("Elektra"(much like the Mendez brothers case), "Salome"). Operas are often quite true to life and often deal with some of the most difficult choices that a person can make; matters of life and death, in other words. ...Of course, the plot is much more dramatic than in reality.

Opera relies on voice types (unlike movies, which rely on appearance):

Soprano: highest female voice; plays the heroine, the sweetheart, the victim woman.

Mezzo-soprano: medium female voice; plays the villainess, seductresses.

Contralto: lowest female voice; very rare, usually limited to maids, mothers, grandmothers, and witches.

Tenor: highest male voice: plays the hero, the lover, the doomed hero. Usually romances the soprano.

Baritone: medium male voice; plays the villain, evil prison wardens, and other mean ones.

Bass: lowest male voice; plays priests, kings, fathers, and the Devil.

Opera houses are theaters designed especially for opera... and don't be surprised to find a (rather sexy) tuxedo-clad ghost wandering the dark recesses of the opera house, living his life away on a lake beneath the theater.
Opera is a grim world; there's competition all over for parts... and not to mention some rather unusual situations: tantrums and refusals to do something that the director wants to be staged.

What's the difference between a soprano and a terrorist?
-You can negotiate with a terrorist.;)

"He's here! The Phantom of the Opera!"
by Lorelili June 4, 2005
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Anne of Cleves

(1515-1558) The fourth wife of Henry VIII. After the death of Jane Seymour, a new wife was sought for Henry, but his reputation preceded him; his main choices rejected him, making Anne of Cleves the front runner. The daughter of a German Duke, Anne was 24 when she married Henry in early 1540 but, unknown to her until later, Henry was repulsed by her. Described as pretty by everyone else, Henry (who was nearly fifty, obese, and had leg ulcers by then) said of his first sight of her "I like her not". Their introduction was a disaster, owing to mutual misunderstanding, beginning the marriage on a tenuous note.

After six months of marriage, Henry had the marriage annulled and offered to Anne property and estates in exchange that she remain in England. Initially devastated, Anne accepted and lived her days in wealth, answering to no man but to Henry, now as his "dear sister".
Anne of Cleves was olive-skinned, unlike the pallid Jane Seymour, and lacked the sophistication of Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Her unfamiliar German manners, exotic clothes, and German speech did not help matters. Henry, put off by her body, whined incessantly about how "ugly" that she was, suspecting that she wasn't a virgin, disregarding her sheltered upbringing and overprotective mother; at 24, Anne believed that a kiss from a man would make her pregnant.
Anne of Cleves, humiliated and hurt by the king, outlived Henry and his other wives, enjoyed the love of her stepchildren and her people, and died a contented woman.
by Lorelili January 4, 2011
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wench

1. (archaic) A girl or woman of the peasant class, especially one who works as a servant.

2. (archaic) An easy woman.

Verb: To chase women, to womanize
The serving wench, all of eighteen years, glanced slyly at the lord of the manor, knowing that he was given to wenching when his wife was absent.
by Lorelili September 3, 2010
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frowzy

1. Of a room, musty and stale.

2. Of one's appearance, unkempt and dingy; a scuzzy or messy appearance.
The rustic cabin smelled frowzy after being closed for six months. The campers looked just as frowzy as the threadbare furniture and moth-eaten carpets.
by Lorelili May 1, 2011
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