Saturday, October 17, 2009

innocuous \ih-NOK-yoo-uhs\, adjective:

1. Harmless; producing no ill effect.
2. Not likely to offend or provoke; as, "an innocuous remark."

Innocuous is from Latin innocuus, from in-, "not" + nocuus, "harmful," from nocere, "to harm." It is related to innocent, formed from in- + nocens, nocent-, "harming, injurious, hence criminal, guilty," from the present participle of nocere. Less common is the opposite of innocuous, nocuous.

underboob

• cleavage visible from the part of the shirt that covers the bottom of the female breasts

If that is not a deliberate underboob, I don't know what is.

Trivia

What item—found in virtually every house and office—was the inspiration behind the first roll-on deodorant?

• The ballpoint pen. Its design led to the development and marketing of Ban Roll-On by Bristol-Myers in 1952.

Today in History

• Battle of Saratoga: key battle of the American Revolutionary War ended with a major British surrender (1777)
• Al Capone: mobster called Scarface who ruled much of Chicago was finally convicted — of income tax evasion; he served eight years of an 11-year sentence (1931)
• 1973 Oil Crisis: was sparked when OPEC cut oil supplies to nations that supported Israel in theYom Kippur War

Today's Birthdays

• Jerry Siegel (1914-1996): writer who was one of the creators of Superman; authors Nathanael West (1903-1940) and Arthur Miller (1915-2005) share this birth date
• Evel Knievel (1938-2007): daredevil
• Mae C. Jemison (53): the first black woman in space
• Eminem (37): rapper, The Slim Shady LP; also, musicians Jim Seals (68), Gary Puckett (67), Ziggy Marley (41), Chris Kirkpatrick (38) and Wyclef Jean (37)
• Matthew Macfadyen (35): actor, Spooks, Pride and Prejudice; plus, actors Rita Hayworth (1918-1987), Montgomery Clift (1920-1966), Michael McKean (62), George Wendt and Margot Kidder(both 61) and Norm Macdonald (46)