Main Entry: des·ul·to·ry
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin desultorius, from desultus (past participle of desilire to leap down, from de- + -silire, from salire to leap) + -orius -ory --
1: lacking steadiness, fixity, regularity, or continuity : ERRATIC, WAVERING, SHIFTING contact with each other and in desultory contact with the surrounding larger American community -- Ethel Albert>
2: marked by lack of definite plan or method, sustained purpose, or regular persistent logical procedure or continuity : showing unsteadiness, inconsistency, or incoherence
3: not connected with the main subject : not cogently relevant : Digressive

"For 'tis the sport to have the enginer / Hoist with his owne petar" -- Shakespeare, Hamlet III iv.

"Hoist" was in Shakespeare's time the past participles of a verb "to hoise", which meant what "to hoist" does now: to lift. A petard (see under "peter out" for the etymology) was an explosive charge detonated by a slowly burning fuse.

If the petard went off prematurely, then the sapper (military engineer; Shakespeare's "enginer") who planted it would be hurled into the air by the explosion. (Compare "up" in "to blow up".) A modern rendition might be: "It's fun to see the engineer blown up with his own bomb."

Seated next to me is Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Ken Backes with whom I served in Iraq.

I was proud to have been asked to speak to - and be soaked by - units of the 89th Airlift Wing.

Catchy Caption of the Day

Actual Caption:

Gregory Despres is shown in this image from television. On April 25, 2005, Despres arrived at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood, a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, and brass knuckles.

U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons, fingerprinted Despres, and then let him into the United States.

Despres ... was arrested in Mattapoisett, Mass. and is being held in a jail there, charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Memo to U.S. Customs and Border Protection:

Putting aside, for the moment,

the blood-stained chain saw,

the sword,

the hatchet,

the knife and

the brass knuckles,

was there anything ... anything at all ... about this guy which might have cause you to think twice about letting him into the country?

(CP PHOTO/HO/WHDH-TV)