Sunday, December 6, 2009

bonhomie \bah-nuh-MEE\, noun:

• A good nature; pleasant and easy manner.

Bonhomie comes from French, from bonhomme, "good-natured man," from bon, "good" (from Latin bonus) + homme, "man" (from Latin homo).

booty text

• The lazy, low-commitment version of the booty call

booty text from 555-5555: What are you doing? Wanna come over and sleep in my bed?

Trivia
What popular 1980s pop group had three unrelated members with the same last name—Taylor—in its original lineup?

• Duran Duran. The Taylors were Andy, John, and Roger.

The name of what African nation is the same as its capital city—plus two letters?

• Tunisia. Its capital, of course, is Tunis.

Today in History

• The Washington Post: DC's largest newspaper published its first edition (1877)
• Irish Free State: precursor to today's Republic of Ireland was formed (1922)
• Ulysses: a United States judge ruled that James Joyce's novel, in which characters correspond to Homeric figures, was not obscene (1933)
• Mars Global Surveyor: NASA released pictures of the red planet that seemed to show the recent presence of water (2006)

Today's Birthdays

• Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918): poet, "Trees"; authors Sophie von La Roche (1731-1807), Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) and Osbert Sitwell (1892-1969) shared this birth date
• Ira Gershwin (1896-1983): lyricist
• Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995): photojournalist
• Dave Brubeck (89): jazz pianist/composer, "Take Five"
• Steven Wright (54): Oscar-winning comedian/actor
• Judd Apatow (42): filmmaker, Knocked Up, Funny People; performers born on this date include Agnes Moorehead (1906-1974), James Naughton (64), JoBeth Williams (61), Kin Shriner, Wil Shriner and Tom Hulce (all 56), Janine Turner (46) and Lindsay Price (33)

From yesterday:
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Today's History

• Phi Beta Kappa: oldest collegiate honors society was founded as a secret club at the College of William and Mary (1776)
• Great Smog of 1952: five days of intense air pollution began in London, killing possibly more than 10,000 people
• "irrational exuberance": former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that the market might be dangerously overvalued (1996)

Today's Birthdays

• Martin Van Buren (1782-1862): 8th POTUS and a founder of the Democratic Party
• George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876): general who lost the battle of Little Bighorn
• Walt Disney (1901-1966): animator, filmmaker and the creator ofDisneyland
• Little Richard (77): singer/songwriter; other singers born on this date include Jose Carreras (63) and Jim Messina (62)
• Joan Didion (75): novelist and essayist, The Year of Magical Thinking; writers Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) and Calvin Trillin (74) share this birth date
• Alex Kapp Horner (40): actor, The New Adventures of Old Christine; also, actors Jeroen Krabbe (65), Morgan Brittany (58), Brian Backer (53), Margaret Cho (41), Amy Acker (33), Nick Stahl (30) and Frankie Muniz (24)