Thursday, February 18, 2010

duplicity \doo-PLIS-i-tee, dyoo-\, noun:

1. Deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech; also, an instance of deliberate deceptiveness; double-dealing.
2. The quality or state of being twofold or double.

Duplicity comes from Middle English duplicite, from Old French, from Late Latin duplicitās, doubleness, from Latin duplex, duplic-, twofold.

Balls out

• To exude tremendous effort, to try extremely hard.

I decided to slack off and get a B in the class, but Ross went balls out and got a 100%
Trivia

In diner slang of yore, what would you be served if you ordered blowout patches? How about Zeppelins in a fog or a First Lady?

• Blowout patches were pancakes; Zeppelins in a fog were sausages and mashed potatoes; and a First Lady was an order of spareribs.

History

• Jefferson Davis: became head of the Confederate States of America (1861)
• Academy Awards: first winners were announced (Wings was Best Picture); the awards banquet was held in May (1929)
• Elm Farm Ollie: became the first cow to fly in an airplane; the trip took place in Missouri and she was milked mid-flight (1930)
• Pluto: the icy rock demoted from planet to dwarf planet was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh (1930)
• Robert Philip Hanssen: FBI agent was arrested on charges of spying for the Soviet Union and, later, Russia; he was sentenced to life without parole (2001)

Berfdays, yo!

• Mary Tudor (1516-1558): queen of England
• Louis Tiffany (1848-1933): painter who specialized in stained-glass art; plus, painter/sculptor Max Klinger (1857-1920)
• George Gipp (1895-1920): college football star
• Enzo Ferrari (1898-1988): designer of the eponymous car
• Toni Morrison (79): Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Beloved; plus, writers Wallace Stegner (1909-1993) and Helen Gurley Brown (88)
• John Travolta (56): scientologist, actor, Get Shorty, The Taking of Pelham 123; also, actors George Kennedy (85), Sinead Cusack (62), Cybill Shepherd (60), Greta Scacchi (50), Matt Dillon (46), Molly Ringwald (42) and Sarah Brown (35)
• Dr. Dre (45): Grammy-winning rapper/producer, co-founder of N.W.A.; also, musicians Yoko Ono (77), Juice Newton (58) and Robbie Bachman (57)