Word of the Day for Thursday, October 9, 2008

aficionado \uh-fish-ee-uh-NAH-doh\, noun:

• An enthusiastic admirer; a fan.

Aficionado derives from Spanish aficionar, "to induce a liking for," from afición, "a liking for."
goat rope

• A situation or activity that has become completely fucked up, or, an exercise in futility. The phrase comes from the image of a goat, tied down with a rope, humping the rope but not getting anywhere. Similar to goat fuck.

These directions are useless - trying to find this place is such a goat rope.
Trivia
How long, in hours, are observant Jews supposed to fast for Yom Kippur?

• Approximately 25 hours—from sunset on the eve of Yom Kippur until nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur. Nightfall is defined as when three stars are visible in the sky, generally between 40 and 72 minutes after sunset.

Today's Holiday

• Yom Kippur (Judaism) the Day of Atonement.

Today in History

• Roger Williams: religious dissident who espoused a separation of church and state was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony; he went on to found Rhode Island (1635)
• Yale University: was founded in New Haven, as The Collegiate School of Connecticut (1701)
• Laura Ingalls: became the first woman to fly solo across the US, from New York to California (1930)

Today's Birthdays

• Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935): French captain wrongly accused of treason in the Dreyfus Affair
• John Lennon (1940-1980): Beatle, activist, singer of "Imagine"; other musicians born on this date include Jackson Browne (60), Kenny Garrett (48), P.J. Harvey (39) and Sean Lennon (32)
• Tony Shalhoub (55): Emmy-winning actor, Monk; also, actors Fyvush Finkel (86), Richard Chaves and Robert Wuhl (both 57), Sharon Osbourne (56), Scott Bakula and John O'Hurley (both 54), Brandon Routh (29), Zachery Ty Bryan (27) and Tyler James Williams (16)
• Mike Singletary (50): NFL hall-of-famer; golfing legend Annika Sorenstam (38) shares this birth date