Word of the Day for Saturday, July 12, 2008

puerile \PYOO-uhr-uhl; PYOOR-uhl\, adjective:

• Displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity; juvenile; childish.

Puerile comes from Latin puerilis, from puer, "child, boy."

niggard

1. n. A stingy, grasping person; a miser.
2. adj.Stingy; miserly.

Jailbreak

• The act of breaking the tether that AT&T has on your iPhone.

Once I jailbreak my iPhone I can use my T-Mobile card to make calls anytime I want.

Trivia

When it comes to courtroom acronyms, what is PINS?

• It stands for person in need of supervision.

Today in History

• Henry VIII: married his sixth (and final) wife, Catherine Parr; she outlived him by a year (1543)
• Medal of Honor: top US military decoration was authorized by Congress (1862)
• Dreyfus Affair: French captain Alfred Dreyfus was declared innocent of treason and released from prison (1906)
• Geraldine Ferraro: became the first woman nominated for US vice president on a major-party ticket; she was chosen by Democratic candidate Walter Mondale (1984)

Today's Birthdays

• Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920): painter and sculptor; artist Andrew Wyeth (91) also has a birthday today
• Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960): award-winning lyricist, Show Boat, The Sound of Music
• Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983): engineer and inventor of the geodesic dome
• Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): transcendentalist who lived for two years in a hut on Walden Pond and wrote of his experiences
• Bill Cosby (71): actor and comedian who broke ground with his roles on I Spy and The Cosby Show; other actors born on this date include Michelle Rodriguez and Topher Grace (both 30)
• Kristi Yamaguchi (37): champion figure skater