Saturday, September 12, 2009

inure \in-YOOR\,
transitive verb:

• To make accustomed or used to something painful, difficult, or inconvenient; to harden; to habituate; as, "inured to drudgery and distress.

intransitive verb:

• To pass into use; to take or have effect; to be applied; to serve to the use or benefit of; as, a gift of lands inures to the heirs.

Inure derives from prefix in-, "in" + obsolete ure, "use, work," from Old French uevre, "work," from Latin opera, "trouble, pains, exertion," from opus, "work."

put the boot in

• (British) Kicking somebody when they're down.

Once it became obvious he would be fired, the entire office took the chance to put the boot in.
Trivia
What number did the word myriad represent to the ancient Greeks?

• 10,000.

Today in History:

• Henry Hudson: began exploring the Hudson River (1609)
• Elizabeth Barrett: eloped with fellow poet Robert Browning (1846)
• Jacqueline Bouvier: married John F. Kennedy in an enormous wedding (1953)
• Steven Biko: black civil rights leader died in police custody in South Africa; international protests and a UN arms embargo ensued (1977)

Today's Birthdays:

• Richard Gatling (1818-1903): inventor of the Gatling gun
• Herbert Henry Asquith (1852-1928): British prime minister; French king Francis I (1494-1597) shared this birth date
• Jesse Owens (1913-1980): black track-and-field star who won four gold medals at the Berlin Summer Olympics
• Yao Ming (29): 7-and-a-half-foot-tall Houston Rockets center
• Jennifer Hudson (28): American Idol finalist who went on to win awards for her role as Effie White in Dream Girls; also, entertainers Maurice Chevalier (1888-1972), Ian Holm (78), Linda Gray (69), Barry White (1944-2003), Joe Pantoliano (58), Peter Scolari (54), Amy Yasbeck (47), Josie (39), Paul Walker (36), Benjamin McKenzie and Ruben Studdard (both 31) and Emmy Rossum (23)