Word of the day.

 ne plus ultra

*noun  *nay-plus-UL-truh  

Definition   *the highest point capable of being attained : acme  *the most profound degree of a quality or state

Examples   *To drummers in the '70s and '80s, (Neil) Peart was an Eddie Van Halen figure, someone whose pyrotechnic chops seemed to be ne plus ultra - Christopher R Weingarten, The New York Times, 12 Jan 2020.

"The ne plus ultra of campaign trail restaurants, visited without fail election cycle after election cycle by Democrat, Republican and third-party candidates alike, is the Red Arrow Diner, a century-old, 24-hour diner in Manchester, New Hampshire. A political consultant could not imagine a better stage for the practice of person-to-person politicking". Gary He, Eater.com, 30 Jan 2020.

Did you know?

It is the height, the zenith, the ultimate, the crown, the pinnacle. It is the peak, the summit, the crest, the high-water mark. All these expressions, of course, mean "the highest point attainable". But ne plus extra may top them all when it comes to expressing in a sophisticated way that something is the pink of perfection. It is said that the term's predecessor, non plus ultra, was inscribed on the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar, which marked the western end of the classical world. The phrase served as a warning : "(Let there) not (be) more (sailing) beyond". 

The New Latin version ne plus ultra, meaning "(go) no more beyond", found its way into English in the early 1600s.

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Did you know?

* Japan has a network of roads that play music as you drive over them at the correct speed. 

* There is an "echo bridge" in Singapore that allows animals to cross the highway easily.

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by a half past 9. Suma had come by and in between her work, went across to the Rajah Hospital to have the three-week-old POP cast on her leg removed. Perused mail, gave directions to my staff at the JSS Kollam and ensured that their monthly payment coupled with the festival advance were transferred to their individual accounts by 1600 hrs.

The ward between Suma's house and ours has been declared 'a containment zone' as 6 cases of Covid has been detected in a family. The guy is a health worker at the Jubilee Mission Hospital in Thrissur. Keeping quiet about his ailment - after having contracted the illness - he continued to live a normal life with his family, consisting of wife, two children and elderly parents. He's now apologising to his immediate neighbours for his mistake : had I met him, I would have given a tight slap for being so irresponsible!

So she's gonna be off work for at least a week. Lekha has to bear the brunt!