The highest womyn's singing voice, usually limited to wymyn and children.
Plays the heroine in opera and musicals...
Ranging from sweet, innocent ingenues to long-suffering, victimized womyn and a few villains or semi-villains.
Plays the heroine in opera and musicals...
Ranging from sweet, innocent ingenues to long-suffering, victimized womyn and a few villains or semi-villains.
Sopranos... from sassy but likeable soubrettes to high, fluteish, coloraturas to sweet, virginal lyric sopranos to strong, tragic spinto and dramatic sopranos... to steely, powerful, DRAMATIC Wagner roles.
by Lorelili August 26, 2005
Get the Sopranomug. The nickname given to an unknown serial killer who killed five women in the Whitechapel section of the East End of London from August 31 to November 9, 1888. The killer was given this nickname because a knife was used to cut the victims throats and mutilate their abdomens. To this day, nobody knows the identity of the killer, since nobody saw or heard anything suspicious.
By today's standards, the Ripper murders would barely make headlines; a faceless lust killer murdering five streetwalkers in a huge slum that's already swarming with criminals and lowlifes. 55% of children were dead before age five; outhouses, clogged sewers, slaughterhouses, and horse-drawn buggies ensured that the filth and stench; overcrowding in crumbling buildings and low job prospects ensured that whole families were homeless; drinking and fights were rampant, and many people were missing teeth or had black eyes. Many women were forced to sell themselves as a sure way of supporting themselves and feeding their children, even if it meant going off to secluded nooks with six or seven strange (and potentially dangerous) men each day.
Contrary to the popular (romanticized) image of a black-caped figure in a top-hat, the victims were last seen with very nondescript, working-class men; the Ripper would most certainly have been caught had he worn the cape and top-hat.
There have been many theories as to who did this and there have been numerous urban legends (even the Royal Family was not spared the rumors), although most of these stories are certainly false.
By today's standards, the Ripper murders would barely make headlines; a faceless lust killer murdering five streetwalkers in a huge slum that's already swarming with criminals and lowlifes. 55% of children were dead before age five; outhouses, clogged sewers, slaughterhouses, and horse-drawn buggies ensured that the filth and stench; overcrowding in crumbling buildings and low job prospects ensured that whole families were homeless; drinking and fights were rampant, and many people were missing teeth or had black eyes. Many women were forced to sell themselves as a sure way of supporting themselves and feeding their children, even if it meant going off to secluded nooks with six or seven strange (and potentially dangerous) men each day.
Contrary to the popular (romanticized) image of a black-caped figure in a top-hat, the victims were last seen with very nondescript, working-class men; the Ripper would most certainly have been caught had he worn the cape and top-hat.
There have been many theories as to who did this and there have been numerous urban legends (even the Royal Family was not spared the rumors), although most of these stories are certainly false.
While Jack the Ripper has gone down in history as the star of history's great whodunnit, few people remember the victims:
-Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, found at 3:45 AM, August 31, 1888, age 43. Mother of five, three of whom were grown at the time. Separated from her husband, whom she left because of his affair during her fifth pregancy, Polly became caught in the downward spiral of drinking and prostitution. Polly was a homeless alcoholic during her last days and was last seen trying to secure money to pay for a bed at her lodging house.
-Annie Chapman, found at 6 AM, September 8, 1888, age 47. Mother of three, one of whom was born crippled, another dead at the age of twelve in 1882. Annie and her husband, while originally lower middle-class, took to drinking from the stresses around their children and separated after falling into poverty. His death in 1886 was a death-blow to her will to live. By her death, Annie was malnourished, homeless, and suffering from tuberculosis and syphillis.
-Elizabeth "Long Liz" Stride, found at 1 AM, September 30, 1888, age 45. She had separated from a husband in 1881 and had a troubled common-law marriage with a dock worker at her death.
-Catherine "Kate" Eddowes, found at 1:45 AM, September 30, 1888, age 46. Mother of three grown children. Separated from her first common-law husband, she was living quite happily with her second, going from doss house to doss house. An intelligent, bubbly woman, her last night was spent sleeping off the drink in a local jail until the police released her at 1 AM.
-Mary Jane Kelly, aka "Ginger" or "Fair Emma", found at 10:45 AM, Novemeber 9, 1888, age 25. The youngest victim and the only victim to be killed indoors, she had a ground-floor flat and allowed her homeless friends to spend the night there, although she and her boyfriend had recently broken up for just that reason. Originally worked in a high-class brothel in the West End of London, but somehow fell to the slums of the East End.
-Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, found at 3:45 AM, August 31, 1888, age 43. Mother of five, three of whom were grown at the time. Separated from her husband, whom she left because of his affair during her fifth pregancy, Polly became caught in the downward spiral of drinking and prostitution. Polly was a homeless alcoholic during her last days and was last seen trying to secure money to pay for a bed at her lodging house.
-Annie Chapman, found at 6 AM, September 8, 1888, age 47. Mother of three, one of whom was born crippled, another dead at the age of twelve in 1882. Annie and her husband, while originally lower middle-class, took to drinking from the stresses around their children and separated after falling into poverty. His death in 1886 was a death-blow to her will to live. By her death, Annie was malnourished, homeless, and suffering from tuberculosis and syphillis.
-Elizabeth "Long Liz" Stride, found at 1 AM, September 30, 1888, age 45. She had separated from a husband in 1881 and had a troubled common-law marriage with a dock worker at her death.
-Catherine "Kate" Eddowes, found at 1:45 AM, September 30, 1888, age 46. Mother of three grown children. Separated from her first common-law husband, she was living quite happily with her second, going from doss house to doss house. An intelligent, bubbly woman, her last night was spent sleeping off the drink in a local jail until the police released her at 1 AM.
-Mary Jane Kelly, aka "Ginger" or "Fair Emma", found at 10:45 AM, Novemeber 9, 1888, age 25. The youngest victim and the only victim to be killed indoors, she had a ground-floor flat and allowed her homeless friends to spend the night there, although she and her boyfriend had recently broken up for just that reason. Originally worked in a high-class brothel in the West End of London, but somehow fell to the slums of the East End.
by Lorelili May 05, 2009
Get the jack the rippermug. A person who is attracted to the opposite gender. Heterosexuality is the most common sexual orientation in the world (but by no means "normal". It is simply more common than some variations of human sexuality).
Only tiny minorities are exclusivly heterosexual or exlusively homosexual (somewhere between 2 to 5% each); most are somewhere in between those two extremes.
Slang terms for heterosexuials include straight.
Only tiny minorities are exclusivly heterosexual or exlusively homosexual (somewhere between 2 to 5% each); most are somewhere in between those two extremes.
Slang terms for heterosexuials include straight.
Many (ignorant/prejudiced) heterosexuals like to abuse or try to change sexual minorities, like homosexuals (who love members of the same sex), bisexuals (who love both sexes), pansexuals (who are love anybody; male, female, intersex, whoever), and asexuals (who have no sexual desires whatsoever), and seem to believe that these people can become straight, despite that sexual orientation is pretty much fixed for life.
What causes heterosexuality? People always ask what causes pan-, bi-, a-, and homosexuality, but hardly question heterosexuality.
What causes heterosexuality? People always ask what causes pan-, bi-, a-, and homosexuality, but hardly question heterosexuality.
by Lorelili September 05, 2005
Get the heterosexualmug. A character in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. Cosette is the illigitimate daughter of Fantine, who had to leave her in the care of the Thénardier family while she worked to support Cosette. Unknown to the illiterate Fantine, the sociopathically cruel Thénardier family abuse the little girl and make false claims about her health so that Fantine will send more money to them. The money is then used for their own expenses and to spoil their own daughters, Eponine and Azelma, while Cosette is treated as a virtual slave... until Fantine's death, when her former boss, Jean Valjean, comes to rescue Cosette, bribing the ruthless Thénardiers to let her go. From there, Jean Valjean and Cosette escape to Paris.
Nine years later, at age seventeen, Cosette is a beautiful, well-bred young woman and doted on by Papa Valjean. Trouble begins when she runs into Marius Pontmercy, a young nobleman and student, and they fall in love. Valjean, worried about his discovery by Javert and about his adoptive daughter's safety, tries to thwart the budding love affair until he realizes that she's no longer a little girl and he has to let her go; out of love for her, he saves a wounded Marius from the barricade. She and Marius eventually marry before Valjean dies, leaving his life story to her.
Nine years later, at age seventeen, Cosette is a beautiful, well-bred young woman and doted on by Papa Valjean. Trouble begins when she runs into Marius Pontmercy, a young nobleman and student, and they fall in love. Valjean, worried about his discovery by Javert and about his adoptive daughter's safety, tries to thwart the budding love affair until he realizes that she's no longer a little girl and he has to let her go; out of love for her, he saves a wounded Marius from the barricade. She and Marius eventually marry before Valjean dies, leaving his life story to her.
Cosette's character is much stronger in the book and the depth of her romance with Marius a major emotional focus while Eponine is a peripheral character, although no less sad and pitiful.
Cosette is the peripheral character in the musical, almost one-dimensional while Eponine's presence is much stronger and shares the pathos with Fantine.
Cosette is the peripheral character in the musical, almost one-dimensional while Eponine's presence is much stronger and shares the pathos with Fantine.
by Lorelili July 27, 2011
Get the Cosettemug. An insult or an explitive, addressing somebody who sleeps (ie. has sex with) one's mother. Often used to describe someone that you hate, but it's also used among close friends as a term of affection.
Still, in a way, a father, stepfather, or stepmother is a motherfucker; who else would be fucking one's mother?
Still, in a way, a father, stepfather, or stepmother is a motherfucker; who else would be fucking one's mother?
Son: "'Sup, motherfucker?"
Father: "I'm your father! Don't talk to me like that!"
Son: "I meant literally. How else do you think I got here?"
Father: "I'm your father! Don't talk to me like that!"
Son: "I meant literally. How else do you think I got here?"
by Lorelili March 14, 2006
Get the motherfuckermug. The mother goddess in the indigenous belief systems of the Andes mountains. Her name literally means "Mother World" and she is associated with the earth and fertility. She has survived the Spanish conquest and she is still revered by communities in the Andes.
Pachamama has the power to cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, but she is generally benevolent to her people.
by Lorelili July 30, 2012
Get the Pachamamamug. A large sea-dwelling mammal that has been mistaken for a fish in times past since they resemble fish in physical appearance. Whales are more closely related to hippopotomi and elephants than fish.
Whales are quite harmless unless provoked. They do occasionally cause truble to boats, but they're doing their own thing. They're not acting against human beings; humans have themselves to blame, not the animals. Everybody does their own thing.
by Lorelili March 05, 2005
Get the whalemug.