{"id":7448,"date":"2026-10-28T01:52:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T01:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=7448"},"modified":"2026-10-28T01:53:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T01:53:34","slug":"word-of-the-day-litigious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2026\/10\/28\/word-of-the-day-litigious\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Day: Litigious"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s word of the day, thanks to the Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary<\/a>) is litigious<\/em>. Pronounced \/ l\u026a\u02c8t\u026ad\u0292 \u0259s \/, this adjective means \u201cexcessively or readily inclined to litigate\u201d or \u201cinclined to dispute or disagree; argumentative\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/litigious<\/a>). The meaning of to litigate<\/em> is \u201cto make the subject of a lawsuit; contest at law,\u201d although it once meant \u201cto dispute\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/litigate<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appears in the language in the \u201c1620s, from French litigieux<\/em> and directly from Latin litigiosus<\/em> \u2018contentious, quarrelsome,\u2019 from litigium<\/em> \u2018dispute, strife,\u2019 from litigare<\/em> \u2018to dispute, quarrel; sue, go to court\u2019 (see litigation<\/strong>). The word was in Middle English with a now-obsolete sense \u2018fond of disputes\u2019 (late 14c.), making it senior in English to litigate<\/strong> or litigation<\/em>\u201d (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/word\/litigious<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to On This Day, on this date in 1919, the \u201cAxeman of New Orleans claims last victim\u201d (https:\/\/www.onthisday.com\/events\/october\/27<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s right: the Axeman of New Orleans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This guy was apparently an American Jack the Ripper, though not always effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first attack (perhaps, since one retired detective claimed that the killer had first appeared in 1911) happened in May of 1918. \u201cJoseph Maggio, an Italian grocer, and his wife Catherine were attacked while sleeping inside their apartment on the corner of Upperline and Magnolia Streets. The killer broke into the residence and cut the couple’s throats with a straight razor; Catherine’s throat was cut so deeply that her head was nearly severed from her shoulders. The killer then struck both victims with an axe\u201d (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Axeman_of_New_Orleans<\/a>). The killer clearly had planned the attack because he had brought a change of clothes. The razor was found in a neighbor\u2019s yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the early morning hours of June 27, 1918, Louis Besumer and his mistress Harriet Lowe were attacked in private quarters at the back of Besumer’s grocery\u2026. Besumer was struck with a hatchet above his right temple, which resulted in a possible skull fracture. Lowe was hacked over the left ear and left with one side of her face permanently paralyzed. The couple were discovered the following morning, alive but critically injured, by bakery wagon driver John Zanca, who had come to the grocery to make a routine delivery. The axe, which had belonged to Besumer himself, was found in an adjacent bathroom\u201d (ibid.). Lowe later accused Besumer of the crime, but he was acquitted by a jury. Police also arrested an African-American man who had worked for Besumer, but he was released because of a lack of evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the early morning hours of August 5, 1918, 28-year-old Anna Schneider, who was eight months pregnant, awoke to find a dark figure standing over her and was bashed in the face repeatedly; her scalp was cut open, and her face was covered in blood. Anna was discovered after midnight by her husband, Ed Schneider, as he returned late from work. Anna claimed that she remembered nothing of the attack and gave birth to a healthy baby girl two days later\u201d (ibid.). I made sure to include that last sentence because I know some of you would be worried. In this case the woman was apparently hit with a lamp instead of an axe, but I suppose \u201cLampman\u201d doesn\u2019t sound particularly threatening. An ex-convict was arrested for this crime, but he was released quickly because of a lack of evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn August 10, 1918, Pauline and Mary Bruno awoke to the sound of a commotion in the adjoining room where their elderly uncle, Joseph Romano, resided. Upon entering the room, the sisters discovered Romano had taken a serious blow to his head, which resulted in two open cuts. The assailant was fleeing the scene as they arrived, yet the girls were able to distinguish that he was a dark-skinned, heavy-set man who wore a dark suit and slouched hat. Romano was able to walk to the ambulance once it arrived, but died two days later due to severe head trauma\u201d (ibid.). It was after this murder that a retired detective claimed that a similar murder had happened seven years prior, but that didn\u2019t lead to an arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the night of March 10, 1919, Italian immigrant Charles Cortimiglia and his family \u2013 wife Rosie and infant daughter Mary \u2013 were attacked in their residence on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Second Street in Gretna, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb. Upon hearing screams from the Cortimiglia residence, grocer Iorlando Jordano rushed across the street to investigate. He discovered that Cortimiglia’s family had all been attacked by the Axeman. Charles and Rosie had both suffered skull fractures from blows caused by an axe, which was found on their back porch; Mary was killed in her mother’s arms from a blow to the back of the neck\u201d (ibid.). I\u2019m sorry that I included that last detail.
\u201cUpon gaining full consciousness, Rosie made claims that Jordano and his 18-year-old son, Frank, were responsible for the attacks. Iorlando, a 69-year-old man, was in too poor of health to have done so. Frank, more than six feet tall and weighing over 200 pounds, would have been too large to have fit through the panel on the back door. Charles vehemently denied his wife’s claims, yet police nonetheless arrested the Jordanos and charged them with the murder. The men would later be found guilty. Frank was sentenced to hang, and his father to life in prison. Charles divorced his wife after the trial. Almost a year later, Rosie admitted that she had falsely accused the Jordanos out of jealousy and spite, resulting in their release\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn August 10, 1919, grocer Steve Boca was attacked as he slept in his bedroom by an axe-wielding intruder. Boca awoke during the night to find a dark figure looming over his bed. Upon regaining consciousness, Boca ran to the street to investigate the intrusion, and found that his head had been cracked open. The grocer ran to the home of his neighbor, Frank Genusa, where he lost consciousness and collapsed. Nothing had been taken from the home yet, once again, a panel on the back door of the home had been chiseled away. Boca recovered from his injuries but could not remember any details of the attack. This attack took place after the emergence of the infamous Axeman letter\u201d (ibid.). More about the letter in a minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the night of September 3, 1919, Sarah Laumann was attacked in her apartment. Neighbors came to check on the young woman, who had lived alone, and broke into the home when Laumann did not answer. They discovered the 19-year-old lying unconscious on her bed, suffering from a severe head injury and missing several teeth. The intruder had entered the apartment through an open window and attacked Laumann with a blunt object. A bloody axe was discovered on the front lawn of the building. Laumann recovered from her injuries yet couldn’t recall any details from the attack\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, \u201cOn the night of October 27, 1919, the wife of Mike Pepitone was awakened by a noise and arrived at the door of her husband’s bedroom just as a large, axe-wielding man was fleeing the scene. Pepitone had been struck in the head and was covered in his own blood. Blood spatter covered the majority of the room, including a painting of the Virgin Mary. Pepitone’s wife, the mother of six children, was unable to describe any characteristics of the killer other than \u2018large\u2019. The Pepitone murder was the last of the alleged Axeman attacks\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, about the letter: \u201cOn March 13, 1919, a letter purporting to be from the Axeman was published in newspapers, saying that he would kill again at fifteen minutes past midnight on the night of March 19 but would spare the occupants of any place where a jazz band was playing. That night all of the city’s dance halls were filled to capacity, and professional and amateur bands played jazz at parties at hundreds of houses around town. There were no murders that night\u201d (ibid.). This led to a theory that the Axeman was the owner of a jazz establishment that was struggling. But that seems to be a bit of a stretch because in none of the cases was anything stolen from the victims. If the killings were for financial reasons, one would think the killer would have robbed the victims as well. In any case, here\u2019s the letter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHell, March 13, 1919
Esteemed Mortal:
They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen me, for I am invisible, even as the ether that surrounds your earth. I am not a human being, but a spirit and a demon from the hottest hell. I am what you Orleanians and your foolish police call the Axeman.
When I see fit, I shall come and claim other victims. I alone know whom they shall be. I shall leave no clue except my bloody axe, besmeared with blood and brains of he whom I have sent below to keep me company.
If you wish you may tell the police to be careful not to rile me. Of course, I am a reasonable spirit. I take no offense at the way they have conducted their investigations in the past. In fact, they have been so utterly stupid as to not only amuse me, but His Satanic Majesty, Francis Josef, etc. But tell them to beware. Let them not try to discover what I am, for it were better that they were never born than to incur the wrath of the Axeman. I don’t think there is any need of such a warning, for I feel sure the police will always dodge me, as they have in the past. They are wise and know how to keep away from all harm.
Undoubtedly, you Orleanians think of me as a most horrible murderer, which I am, but I could be much worse if I wanted to. If I wished, I could pay a visit to your city every night. At will I could slay thousands of your best citizens, for I am in close relationship with the Angel of Death.
Now, to be exact, at 12:15 (earthly time) on next Tuesday night, I am going to pass over New Orleans. In my infinite mercy, I am going to make a little proposition to you people. Here it is: I am very fond of jazz music, and I swear by all the devils in the nether regions that every person shall be spared in whose home a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just mentioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then, so much the better for you people. One thing is certain and that is that some of your people who do not jazz it out on that specific Tuesday night (if there be any) will get the axe.
Well, as I am cold and crave the warmth of my native Tartarus, and it is about time I leave your earthly home, I will cease my discourse. Hoping that thou wilt publish this, that it may go well with thee, I have been, am and will be the worst spirit that ever existed either in fact or realm of fantasy.
-The Axeman\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will say this about the Axeman: he was certainly a bad person, but I wouldn\u2019t call him \u201cthe worst spirit that ever existed.\u201d I can think of a few people who were far worse. But I wouldn\u2019t argue the point. This is not an issue about which I would be litigious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s image is of the cover of The Axeman\u2019s Jazz<\/em> by Eric Drewes, one of several books about the Axeman of New Orleans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s word of the day, thanks to the Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary) is litigious. Pronounced \/ l\u026a\u02c8t\u026ad\u0292 \u0259s \/, this adjective means \u201cexcessively or readily inclined to litigate\u201d or \u201cinclined to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[1031,238,395,284,1030],"class_list":["post-7448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-of-the-day","tag-axeman-of-new-orleans","tag-dictionary","tag-etymology","tag-linguistics","tag-litigious","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7450,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7448\/revisions\/7450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}