January 3, 2009

yegg \yeg\, noun:

• a burglar who robs safes; safecracker

by 1903, underworld slang of unknown origin, possibly the name of an American burglar and safecracker

Textually Frustrated

• When texting with someone over IM or SMS that takes too long to reply leaving you waiting and frustrated.

"She takes forever; texting with Sara leaves me textually frustrated"
Trivia

Five years before winning her first Oscar, what 20-year-old actress starred in the title role of The Next Karate Kid?

• Hilary Swank, in 1994. She went on to win Best Actress Oscars for Boys Don’t Cry (1999) and Million Dollar Baby (2004).

Today's History:

• Meiji Restoration: re-established the authority of Japan's emperor and heralded the fall of the shoguns (1868)
• the Curse of the Bambino: Red Sox losing streak began with the team's sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees; it lasted till 2004 (1920)
• March of Dimes: fundraising organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to raise funds for the battle against poliomyelitis; it later expanded its aim to preventing premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality (1938)

Today's Birthdays:

• Victoria Principal (59): actress
• Cicero (106 BCE-43 BCE): orator and essayist who delivered 14 Philippic orations against Marc Antony
• Lucretia Mott (1793-1880): activist for women's rights and against slavery
• J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973): writer, LOTR trilogy
• George Martin (83): producer of nearly all The Beatles' albums; plus musicians Victor Borge (1909-2000), Stephen Stills (64), John Paul Jones (63), James Carter (40) and Kimberley Locke (31)
• Sergio Leone (1929-1989): director of "spaghetti westerns"
• Danica McKellar (34): actress, Winnie from The Wonder Years
• Bobby Hull (70): NHL hall-of-famer; also, quarterback Eli Manning (28)
• Mel Gibson (53): big screen actor; also, actors Robert Loggia (79), Dabney Coleman (77) and Jason Marsden (34)

January 4, 2009

zealous \ZEL-uhs\, adjective:

• full of zeal; actively enthusiastic

c.1526, from Latin zelosus from zelus "zeal"
snow hysteria

• When the populace's fear of a snowstorm creates traffic jams and general panic way before any flakes even fall. Usually turns out to be a totally disproportionate response to a minor snowstorm.

Everyone is fleeing the office thanks to snow hysteria...but it isn't supposed to start snowing until 9 PM.

Trivia
When it comes to skiing slang, what’s a yard sale?

• The remains of a bad accident or wipeout that leaves a skier's belongings scattered around a ski slope.

Today in History:

• McDonald Islands: uninhabited, barren, volcanic islands were discovered in the Indian Ocean near Antarctica (1854)
• appendectomy: the first such surgical removal of the appendix was performed in Iowa (1885)
• Great Society: President Lyndon B. Johnson outlined his domestic policies in his State of the Union address; he aimed to "end poverty and racial injustice" (1965)

Today's Birthdays:

• Louis Braille (1809-1852): musician, educator who developed a raised-point writing system for the blind
• Sir Isaac Pitman (1813-1897): developed a shorthand system based on phonetics
• Jane Wyman (1914-2007): Oscar-winning actress (Johnny Belinda); she shared a birthday with her daughter, Maureen Reagan (1941-2001)
• Floyd Patterson (1935-2006): first two-time world heavyweight champ
• Don Shula (79): NFL coach with the most wins
• Vanity (50): actress, singer, Born-Again Christian Evangelist now known as Denise Matthews
• Michael Stipe (49): frontman of R.E.M.
• Julia Ormond (44): actor, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; also, actors Dyan Cannon (72), Ann Magnuson (53), Patrick Cassidy (47) and Dave Foley (46)