Lorelili's definitions
The highest social class in pre-modern societies and even in a few contemporary societies, and the status and title of a noble are usually inherited; basically another term for aristocrats, a tiny group of elite people who are omnipotent over the common people.
Nobles are born into wealth and power and often into politics, regardless of their merit to these privileges; peerage is the legal system to constitute the various hereditary titles.
From highest to lowest rank, the most common peerage titles are:
-duke and duchess
-marquis and marquise
-earl/count and countess
-viscount and viscountess
-baron and baroness
Under a feudal system, the nobility earned property from the monarch through military service.
Nobles are born into wealth and power and often into politics, regardless of their merit to these privileges; peerage is the legal system to constitute the various hereditary titles.
From highest to lowest rank, the most common peerage titles are:
-duke and duchess
-marquis and marquise
-earl/count and countess
-viscount and viscountess
-baron and baroness
Under a feudal system, the nobility earned property from the monarch through military service.
The peasants resented the nobility for their frivolity, but at least these farmers had little to lose; the courts of the elite were swarming with ruthless intrigue, often with plots of overthrowing the royal family. Noblewomen were married off young, had little real power, and just served to manage households and produce many children (who were raised by nannies) to continue the family dynasty, never free to live or choose as they wanted.
Nobility had/have everything to lose: wealth, reputation, position, allies, public support, political influence, and life. A very public life with numerous people breathing down one's neck and threats on one's person did not help matters, either.
Nobility had/have everything to lose: wealth, reputation, position, allies, public support, political influence, and life. A very public life with numerous people breathing down one's neck and threats on one's person did not help matters, either.
by Lorelili February 20, 2011
Get the nobilitymug. Cute little race of people who exist in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tiny in stature (adults standing three to four feet tall); rather plump in body; with big, hairy feet; pointy ears; long, curly hair on their heads; and infectuous enthusiasm for life and won't turn down a good party or open displays of affection. Their natural habitat is the Shire, although , some have moved elsewhere.
The Elves, pretty; Humans, also nice to look at... but the Hobbits! They're so cuuuuuute! I just want hug them! ...but I'm afraid that I'd strangle them.
by Lorelili March 25, 2005
Get the hobbitmug. From French "paysannerie", meaning "place of the country dwellers".
The class consisting of peasants and serfs (country people, mostly farm workers) in an agricultural society, in which peasants are the most common type of people (can be anywhere from fifty to ninety-five percent of the people).
Peasants are usually poor and live in villages and work farmland which practically belongs to them but is owned by lords.
The class consisting of peasants and serfs (country people, mostly farm workers) in an agricultural society, in which peasants are the most common type of people (can be anywhere from fifty to ninety-five percent of the people).
Peasants are usually poor and live in villages and work farmland which practically belongs to them but is owned by lords.
Thanks to the incompetence of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the peasantry were losing their land and suffered from inflated prices for bread.
The peasantry worked hard, but at least they knew their place and their allies. Appearances were minimal for farm workers, their operations were small scale; they had nothing to lose. The nobility had everything to lose.
The peasantry worked hard, but at least they knew their place and their allies. Appearances were minimal for farm workers, their operations were small scale; they had nothing to lose. The nobility had everything to lose.
by Lorelili December 14, 2010
Get the peasantrymug. An often understood garment from ancient Rome; the "toga" of a toga party is much scantier and flimsier than the toga that ancient Romans wore.
The toga was basically a large wrap worn over a tunic.
The toga was basically a large wrap worn over a tunic.
In the early days of the empire, the toga was worn by both sexes, but after 200 BC the toga was reserved for men while women were expected to wear the stola; a woman wearing a toga was generally a prostitute or an adultress, to distinguish them from "respectable" women.
by Lorelili November 7, 2012
Get the togamug. An insulting term for a sexually loose woman, derived from the old English word hora (from the Indo-European root ka; meaning "to like, desire"), so "whore" could be translated as "pleasurer".
Also another word for a prostitute (strangely, while "whore" is considered a pejorative word in the English-speaking world, in Germany the organizations of prostitutes use the word Hure (whore) on purpose since they feel that prostitute is an unnecessary euphemism for something that doesn't need any euphemisms.)
Also another word for a prostitute (strangely, while "whore" is considered a pejorative word in the English-speaking world, in Germany the organizations of prostitutes use the word Hure (whore) on purpose since they feel that prostitute is an unnecessary euphemism for something that doesn't need any euphemisms.)
by Lorelili February 19, 2007
Get the whoremug. An old-fashioned English way of saying "blonde". As flax possesses golden fibers, this term was inevitably used for a person with fair hair.
Her flaxen tresses falling from her kerchief, the farm girl ventured through the snow to the barn to milk the cows.
by Lorelili September 4, 2006
Get the flaxenmug. (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.
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.
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
Get the Lusitaniamug.