word-a-day e-mail, three-ring-circus themed week.
three-ring circus
PRONUNCIATION:(THREE-ring SUHR-kuhs)
MEANING:
noun: A situation marked by confusing, amusing, or tumultuous activity.
ETYMOLOGY:After a circus with three separate rings in which performances take place simultaneously. Earliest documented use: 1898.
USAGE:”Guy Ritchie told friends recently: ‘Our marriage was a three-ring circus in the end. We started as a normal family and tried to live a normal family life, but Madonna wanted something else.’”
Marriage Had Become Three-Ring Circus; Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland); Oct 16, 2008.
kathryn b
