Saturday, December 12, 2009

palliate \PAL-ee-ayt\, transitive verb:

1. To make (an offense or crime) seem less serious; extenuate.
2. To make less severe or intense; mitigate.
3. To relieve the symptoms of a disease or disorder.

Palliate derives from Late Latin palliatus, past participle of palliare, "to cloak, to conceal," from Latin pallium, "cloak."

Short story long

• Something that could have been told in a more concise way but is dragged out because the teller doesn't know how to tell a story. It's a play on the annoying clarifier, "Long story short," people use to sum up a digression, which really never seems to be that short anyway. So instead you say the opposite.

So I was walking into the store the other day, I wanted to get some aspirin because I had this massive headache and I walked down aisle four but they only had Tylenol but that doesn't work and I went to the counter and short story long this guy was holding up the store!

Trivia
Hanukkah How many commandments—or mitzvot—from God are listed in the Torah?

• 613.

Today in History

• The Katzenjammer Kids: oldest comic strip still in syndication debuted (1897)
• Guglielmo Marconi: transmitted the first transatlantic radio signal, from Cornwall to Newfoundland; the feat was unsubstantiated (1901)
• Boys Town: youth center was founded by Father Flanagan (1917)
• Keiko: Willy of Free Willy, a killer whale, died of pneumonia in his mid-20s in a Norwegian fjord (2003)

Today's Birthdays

• John Jay (1745-1829): America's first Chief Justice
• Bill Nighy (60): actor, Love, Actually, Pirate Radio; also, actors Wings Hauser (62), Sheree J. Wilson(51), Madchen Amick (39) and Mayim Bialik (34)
• Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880): author of Madame Bovary; plus, writers Patrick O'Brian (1914-2000) and John Osborne (1929-1994)
• Edvard Munch (1863-1944): artist, The Scream
• Dionne Warwick (69): singer who specialized in Burt Bacharach songs; also, singers Connie Francis (71), Dickey Betts (66) and Hank Williams III (37)
• Tracy Austin (47): tennis pro; athletes Alvin Kraenzlein (1876-1928) and Cathy Rigby (57) also have a birthday today
• Maggie Rodriguez (40): host of The Early Show; plus, TV game-show host Bob Barker (86)
• Frank Sinatra (1915-1998): singer/actor, Oscar winner for From Here to Eternity; other Oscar winners born on this date include Edward G. Robinson (1893-1973) and Jennifer Connelly (39)