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of written laws, disseminated around 621 B.C.E. For each crime, the
code mandated only one penalty: death. The harshness of Draco’s
laws became legendary and led to the coining of the word draconian.z Fortunately for the Athenians, Solon, a later Athenian statesman,
repealed almost all of Draco’s laws around 594 B.C.E. However, Solon
was wise enough to keep Draco’s homicide law, which made the state,
not the family, responsible for justice in murder. Solon has since come
into English as a noun referring to a wise and skilled lawgiver.Quixotic (adjective)Romantically impractical or impulsive.z Quixotic comes from the name Don Quixote, the main character in
a Spanish novel written by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 1600s,
The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha.z As you may know, the novel follows the adventures of a retired
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books of chivalry that he decides to sally forth as a knight-errant to
right wrongs, save fair maidens, and generally uphold the knight’s
code. With a distorted perception of reality and a romantic view of
the world, he renames himself Don Quixote and, among many other
adventures, attacks windmills he mistakenly believes are giants.z Connecting the character of Don Quixote to quixotic is probably
the best way to remember this word. Or you might make a personal
connection with a time when you did something completely crazy, a
bit romantic, or totally impractical.Gerrymander (noun/verb)noun: The act of dividing election districts to give one party an unfair
advantage.
verb: To divide election districts unfairly.