Friday, April 2, 2010

slake \SLAYK\, transitive verb:

1. To satisfy; to quench; to extinguish; as, to slake thirst.
2. To cause to lessen; to make less active or intense; to moderate; as, slaking his anger.
3. To cause (as lime) to heat and crumble by treatment with water.

 intransitive verb:

1. To become slaked; to crumble or disintegrate, as lime..

Slake comes from Middle English slaken, "to become or render slack," hence "to abate," from Old English slacian, from slæc, "slack."

Stall Waiting

• When you realize that you and your neighbor have finished using the bathroom at the same time so you delay exiting the stall a few seconds to avoid any uncomfortable eye contact or "excuse me"s while leaving the stall. Wait period is usually until the person reaches the buffer zone of the sink, where all normal social etiquettes are re-activated.

"Hmm...Bob and I just flushed at the same time. I better wait a few seconds so I don't run into him."
Trivia

Who was the Roman emperor when Jesus Christ was crucified?

• Tiberius.

Today's Holiday

• Good Friday: Friday before Easter, commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus. As early as the 2nd century it was kept by Christians as a day of penance and fasting. The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches have special liturgies for the day, which include readings and prayers commemorating Christ's sufferings on the cross. Protestant churches also hold special services on Good Friday. 

History

• Florida: Juan Ponce de León discovered this state's flowery coast, naming it for Pascua florida ("flowery Easter"); he was searching for the Fountain of Youth; the event is commemorated as Pascua Florida Day (1513)
• "The world must be made safe for democracy": with these words, US President Woodrow Wilson urged Congress to enter WWI (1917)
• Falkland Islands War: Argentina invaded British-occupied Falkland Islands; Argentina's defeat within a few months discredited its military government, and civilian rule was restored the following year (1982)

Berfdays

• Charlemagne (742?-814): first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
• Casanova (1725-1798): legendary adventurer, author, lover; he wrote Histoire de ma vie; plus, writers Hans Christian Anderson (1805-1875) and Émile Zola (1840-1902)
• Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904): sculptor of the Statue of Liberty; plus, artist Max Ernst (1891-1976)
• Dr. Demento (69): radio DJ of novelty songs and parodies; musicians Leon Russell (68), Marvin Gaye (1939-1984), Larry Coryell (67), Emmylou Harris (63) and Jesse Carmichael (31) share this birth date
• Don Sutton (65): MLB hall-of-famer; also, NFL player Bill Romanowski (44)
• Chris Meloni (49): Law and Order: SVU's detective Elliot Stabler; also, actors Alec Guinness (1914-2000), Linda Hunt (65), Pamela Reed (61), Clark Gregg (48), Jana Marie Hupp (46), Rosalyn Sanchez (37), Adam Rodriguez (35), Bethany Joy Galeotti (29) and Jesse Plemons (22)