ne plus ultra

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 20, 2020 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>ne plus ultra</strong> &#149; \nay-plus-UL-truh\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> the highest point capable of being attained <strong>:</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acme">acme</a></p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> the most profound degree of a quality or state</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"To drummers in the '70s and '80s, [Neil] Peart was an Eddie Van Halen figure, someone whose pyrotechnic chops seemed to be the <em>ne plus ultra</em>." — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/12/arts/music/neil-peart-rush-songs.html">Christopher R. Weingarten, <em>The New York Times</em>, 12 Jan. 2020</a></p> <p>"The <em>ne plus ultra</em> 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." — <a href="https://www.eater.com/2020/1/30/21111882/red-arrow-diner-campaign-trail-restaurant-new-hampshire">Gary He, <em>Eater.com</em>, 30 Jan. 2020</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>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 <em>ne plus ultra</em> may top them all when it comes to expressing in a sophisticated way that something is the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pink#h2">pink</a> of perfection. It is said that the term's predecessor, <em>non plus ultra</em>, was inscribed on the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar, which marked the western end o