Friday, July 31, 2009

sui generis \soo-eye-JEN-ur-us; soo-ee-\, adjective:

• Being the only example of its kind; constituting a class of its own; unique.

Sui generis is from Latin, literally meaning "of its own kind": sui, "of its own" + generis, genitive form of genus, "kind."

bro favor

• (n.) Pronounced like the spanish "por favor", bro favor is an act of goodwill asked of one's "bro" or "homey".
• (adv.) Still pronounced like the spanish "por favor", but used in place of the word please.

(n.)"Dude, I could really use $7 to buy this limited edition copy of Spawn. Do me a bro favor and spot me $7?"

(adv.) "Spot me $7 bro favor?"
Trivia

At what time of the day, on what day of the week, is it most dangerous to drive, according to the National Safety Council?

• 2 A.M. on Sunday morning—when drivers who are exhausted and inebriated are on the road, heading home after a night of partying.

Today in History:

• Trinidad: island in the Caribbean was discovered by Christopher Columbus (1498)
• Christchurch: became the first New Zealand city to be chartered (1856)
• NYSE: closed due to the outbreak of World War I, but opened again four months later to help the war effort by selling bonds (1914)
• K2: the world's second-highest peak, also known as Mount Godwin-Austen, was summited for the first time, by an Italian team (1954)

Today's Birthdays:

• Henri Brisson (1835-1912): two-time premier of France
• Milton Friedman (1912-2006): Nobel Prize winner for Economics
• Primo Levi (1919-1987): Italian chemist who wrote of his experiences during the Holocaust
• Evonne Goolagong Cawley (58): tennis champ
• J.K. Rowling (44): creator of Harry Potter (who shares the same birthday)
• Will Champion (31): rocker, Coldplay; also, musicians Kenny Burrell (78), Lobo (66), Gary Lewis (64), Bill Berry (51), Fatboy Slim (46) and Jim Corr (45)
• B.J. Novak (30): comic writer/actor, The Office; also, actors France Nuyen (70), Susan Flannery (66), Geraldine Chaplin (65), Michael Biehn (53), Wesley Snipes (47), Dean Cain (43), Ben Chaplin (39) and Annie Parisse (34)