Wednesday, January 13, 2010

lapidary \LAP-uh-dair-ee\, adjective:

1. Of or pertaining to the art of cutting stones or engraving on them.
2. Engraved in stone.
3. Of or pertaining to the refined or terse style associated with inscriptions on monumental stone.

noun:

1. One who cuts, polishes, and engraves precious stones.
2. A dealer in precious stones.

Lapidary is from Latin lapidarius, "pertaining to stone," from lapis, lapid-, "stone."
FMTPO

• Abbreviation of "For me to poop on." Popularised by Triumph the Insult Comic Dog of "Late Night with Conan O'Brian" fame.

"Yeah, Kirk. That was great acting, Kirk, really great acting...FMTPO!!!" - Triumph the Insult Comic Dog to William Shatner on the occasion of his visit to the "Late Night with Conan O'Brian" show, regarding Shatner's acting in the original television series "Star Trek."

Trivia
What popular fruit was named for the Manchurian foreman at an Oregon orchard?

• The Bing cherry. It was named for Ah Sit Bing in the late 19th century after he helped horticulturalist Seth Lewelling develop it.

Today in history

• J'accuse: French journalist Emile Zola published his defense ofAlfred Dreyfus, the army captain falsely convicted of treason because he was Jewish (1898)
• Henry Ford: patented his plastic car, which ran on ethanol; the plastic was soybean-based, and the car was unsuccessful (1942)
• L. Douglas Wilder: became the first African American elected governor of a US state — Virginia (1990)
• The Fantasticks: the world's longest-running musical ended its off-Broadway run after 17,162 shows and nearly 42 years (2002)

Today's Birthdays

• Salmon P. Chase (1808-1873): Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; his picture is on the $10,000 bill
• Horatio Alger (1832-1899): writer of "rags-to-riches" stories
• Félix Tisserand (1845-1896): astronomer for whom the Tisserand Crater was named
• Orlando Bloom (33): actor, Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean; also, actors Sophie Tucker (1884-1966), Gwen Verdon (1925-2000), Frances Sternhagen (80), Charles Nelson Reilly (1931-2007), Rip Taylor (76), Richard Moll (67), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (49), Penelope Ann Miller (46) and Nicole Eggert (38)