Saturday, October 24, 2009

confabulation \kon-FAB-yuh-lay-shuhn\, noun:

1. Familiar talk; easy, unrestrained, unceremonious conversation.
2. (Psychology) A plausible but imagined memory that fills in gaps in what is remembered.

Confabulation comes from Late Latin confabulatio, from the past participle of Latin confabulari, "to talk together," from con-, "together, with" + fabulari, "to talk." It is related to fable, "a fiction, a tale," and to fabulous, "so incredible or astonishing as to resemble or suggest a fable."

people voice

• A people voice is the voice that someone uses when talking to people who aren't their friends. This voice is automatically happy, nicer and sweeter than their normal voice. It is also often more high pitched. This is often the voice people use when answering a telephone or when working in retail. Similiar to the girlfriend voice.

She so used her people voice when she was talking to that customer over there. Did you hear how sweet she was? She never sounds like that normally!

Trivia
Who appears as the stationmaster in the 1999 movie The Cider House Rules?

• John Irving, author of the book on which the film was based, and winner of the Oscar for the movie’s screenplay.

Today in History

• Peace of Westphalia: marked the end of the Thirty Years' War, a series of European conflicts (1648)
• Annie Edson Taylor: seeking fame and fortune, the former schoolteacher became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel; she used a pickle barrel (1901)
• George Washington Bridge: upper level of the NY-NJ span opened; the lower level opened 31 years later (1931)
• United Nations: international organization now comprising 192 member states was formally established (1945)
• Toronto Blue Jays: became the first non-US team to win the World Series, downing the Atlanta Braves in 6 (1992)

Today's Birthdays

• Moss Hart (1904-1961): playwright, You Can't Take it With You; plus, poet Denise Levertov (1923-1997)
• Bob Kane (1915-1998): cartoonist creator of Batman
• Bill Wyman (73): bassist of the Rolling Stones
• Kevin Kline (62): award-winning actor; other actors born on this date include F. Murray Abraham(70) and B.D. Wong (49)
• Kweisi Mfume (61): former president of the NAACP
• Monica (29): R&B singer
• Wayne Rooney (24): Man United's famous young forward; NFL hall-of-famer Y.A. Tittle (83) shares this birthday