Thursday, August 13, 2009

furtive \FUR-tiv\, adjective:

1. Done by stealth; surreptitious; secret; as, a furtive look.
2. Expressive of stealth; sly; shifty; sneaky.
3. Stolen; obtained by stealth.
4. Given to stealing; thievish; pilfering.

Furtive is from Latin furtivus, from furtum, "theft," from fur, "thief."
sloth-cloth

• An old tee-shirt you wear while hanging around the house.
• The word is hard to say many times quickly.

The great man came to the door wearing baggy boxer shorts and a food-stained sloth-cloth.

Trivia

Before taking to the high seas, what famous explorer was a pickle purveyor who supplied ships with vitamin C-rich pickled vegetables to ward off scurvy among the crew?

• Amerigo Vespucci, the man for whom the Americas are named.

Today in History:

• Mexico City: city then known as Tenochtitlán fell to Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, along with the entire Aztec Empire (1521)
• taxicabs: first appeared on the streets of New York City (1907)
• Berlin: was divided by barbed wire, which soon became the Berlin Wall (1961)

Today's Birthdays:

• Annie Oakley (1860-1926): sharpshooter, starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
• Fidel Castro (83): Communist leader of Cuba from 1959 till February, 2008
• Dan Fogelberg (1951-2007): singer, composer, "Same Old Lang Syne," "Longer"; soprano Kathleen Battle (61) was also born on this date
• John Slattery (47): actor, Mad Men; also, actors Kevin Tighe (65), Gretchen Corbett (62) and Seana Kofoed (39)
• Midori Ito (40): champion figure skater; also, sportsmen Ben Hogan (1912-1997), Bobby Clarke (60) and Jarrod Washburn (35)