Saturday, March 6, 2010

masticate \MAS-tih-kayt\, transitive verb:

1. To grind or crush with or as if with the teeth in preparation for swallowing and digestion; to chew; as, "to masticate food."
2. To crush or knead (rubber, for example) into a pulp.

intransitive verb:

1. To chew food.

Masticate comes from the past participle of Late Latin masticare, "to chew," from Greek mastichan, "to gnash the teeth." The noun form is mastication.

yardsale

• to fall while skiing or snowboarding and leaving a trail of gear behind them

that two-planker is having a yardsale down there
Trivia
In dog sledding, what command does the musher customarily give to get his or her team going?

• Hike. Mush is rarely used.

History

• Toronto: Canada's largest city, and one of the most livable cities in the world, was incorporated (1834)
• the Alamo: fort was overrun by Mexican troops during the Texas revolution; all inside were killed (1836)
• Dred Scott case (1857): US Supreme Court ruled that slaves were not citizens; the decision was overturned a decade later by the 14th amendment

Berfdays

• Michelangelo (1475-1564): artist who painted the Sistine Chapelceiling and sculpted the David
• Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655): satirist; also, writers Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), Ring Lardner (1885-1933) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (82)
• Ed McMahon (1923-2009): long-time sidekick to Johnny Carson onThe Tonight Show
• Valentina Tereshkova (73): cosmonaut who was the first woman in space; plus, astronaut Gordon Cooper(1927-2004)
• Tom Arnold (51): comic actor, True Lies; plus, comic entertainers Lou Costello (1906-1959), Rob Reiner (63), D.L. Hughley (46) and Connie Britton (42)
• Shaquille O'Neal (38): hulking basketball star; also, athletes Willie Stargell (1940-2001) and Dick Fosbury (63)