Monday, January 18, 2010

accord \uh-KAWRD\, intransitive verb:

1. To be in agreement or harmony; agree.

transitive verb:

1. To cause to conform or agree; bring into harmony.
2. To grant; bestow.

noun:

1. Agreement; harmony.
2. A settlement or compromise of conflicting opinions.
3. A settlement of points at issue between nations.

Accord derives from Middle English accorden, from Old French acorder, from Medieval Latin accordāre, to bring into agreement.

professional student

• Person who receives multiple degrees and keeps taking courses instead of holding a profession related to the degrees earned. Can be a compliment or an insult depending on the speaker.

Ex. 1: a compliment: "Man, I think you're so cool for writing a dissertation on Mesoamerican maize fertilization. You're a real professional student!"

Ex.2 an insult: "Hey Jack, won't you get a real job and quit being a professional student?"

Trivia
What famous words serve as the epitaph on Martin Luther King Jr.’s tombstone?

• The words he used to end his famous “I have a dream” speech—“Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty I’m Free at Last.” King is buried on land adjoining the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as pastor.

History

• Lima: capital of the Spanish New World empire was founded by Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro after he defeated the native Incans; the now-sprawling metropolis is also known as El Pulpo ("the Octopus") (1535)
• Sandwich Islands: Hawaii was first visited by a European, Captain James Cook, who named it after one of his sponsors, the Earl of Sandwich (1778)
• Botany Bay: the first ship of the First Fleet arrived in Australia, bringing English convicts (1788)
• Marion Barry: the mayor of Washington, DC, was arrested on drug charges; after serving his sentence, he reentered politics and regained the mayoralty (1990)

Today's berfdays, yo!

• Montesquieu (1689-1755): political philosopher and writer
• Peter Roget (1779-1869): lexicographer who compiled Roget's Thesaurus
• Daniel Webster (1782-1852): statesman and orator
• Thomas Watson (1854-1934): telephone pioneer; plus, aircraft designer Thomas Sopwith (1888-1989)
• A.A. Milne (1882-1956): creator of Winnie the Pooh
• Mark Messier (49): NHL hall-of-famer; plus, tennis pro Elke Clijsters (25)
• Kevin Costner (55): Oscar-winner for Dances with Wolves; also, actors Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), Cary Grant (1904-1986), Danny Kaye (1913-1987), Jesse L. Martin (41), Derek Richardson (34), Jason Segel (30) and Samantha Mumba (27)