Friday, October 23, 2009

galumph \guh-LUHM(P)F\, intransitive verb:

• To move in a clumsy manner or with a heavy tread.

Galumph is probably an alteration of gallop. It was coined by Lewis Carroll in the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky."

last texter

• That friend that always sends you a meaningless text after the obvious end of a text conversation, just to get the last text. They do this while totally oblivious to their uncontrollable habit.

OMG, Jan is SUCH a last texter it drives me crazy. The other day, she sent me a text "K" back after I texted her "don't text me, in a meeting." So then I had to dig out my phone again to clear it so it wouldn't keep vibrating for the rest of the meeting!

Trivia

Of the $2,500 in estimated expenses Lewis and Clark received from Congress for their historic expedition of exploration, what was the largest allocation?

• Gifts for Indians—$696.

Today in History

• Brutus: committed suicide after losing to Mark Anthony and Octavian in the Second Battle of Philippi, a war fought to avenge the assassination of Julius Caesar (42 BCE)
• War of Jenkins' Ear: British PM Robert Walpole reluctantly declared war on Spain after a ship's captain brought in his ear, pickled, and told the House of Commons it had been severed by the Spanish coast guard (1739)
• Hungarian Revolution: spontaneous protest began, marking the first anti-Soviet revolt; many thousands were killed or fled; the Hungarian Republic was declared exactly 33 years later(1956)
• iPod: digital music player was launched by Apple (2001)
• Moscow Theater Crisis: Chechen terrorists took 700 hostages; many died during a Russian raid the next day (2002)

Today's Birthdays

• John Heisman (1869-1936): football coach after whom the Heisman Trophy is named
• Johnny Carson (1925-2005): host of The Tonight Show
• Jim Bunning (78): pitcher-turned-politician; also, pitchers Al Leiter (44) and John Lackey(31)
• Pelé (69): Brazil's most famous soccer star; plus, swimmer Gertrude Ederle (1905-2003)
• Michael Crichton (1942-2008): author of Jurassic Park
• Ang Lee (55): Oscar-winning director of Brokeback Mountain; filmmakers Philip Kaufman(73) and Sam Raimi (50) share this birth date
• 'Weird Al' Yankovic (50): pop parodist; also, country star Dwight Yoakam (53)
• Ryan Reynolds (33): actor, The Proposal; actors Michael Rupert (58), Masiela Lusha (24) and Jessica Stroup (23) also celebrate birthdays today