Tuesday, May 25, 2010

phlegmatic \fleg-MAT-ik\, adjective:

1. Not easily excited to action or display of emotion; apathetic; sluggish.

2. Self-possessed, calm, or composed.

3. Of the nature of or abounding in the humor phlegm.

Phlegmatic finds its origin in medical theories of the humors, the phlegmatic temperment. The Greek root phlegmatikós, "pertaining to phlegm," is the source.

intexticated

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  Describes people who drive while sending text messages on their phones.

"Dude, what was THAT?!"

"Probably just some intexticated highschooler."

"How did she get in a car accident?"

"She was intexticated."

Trivia

For what 1987 action film was the suburban home of TV’s The Partridge Family firebombed?

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  Lethal Weapon. The house, located on the Warner Bros. back lot in Burbank, California, also served as the home of Abner and Gladys Kravitz on TV’s Bewitched.

History

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  Constitutional Convention: convened in Philadelphia; George Washington presided (1787)
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  Babe Ruth: hit his 714th home run, setting a record that held until 1974, when Hank Aaron broke it (1935)
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  OAU: was founded at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the goals of encouraging African unity, promoting development and fighting neocolonialism (1963)
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  Hands Across America: more than five million people joined hands in a line that stretched for 4,000 mi/6,400 km from New York City to Long Beach, CA; participants raised money for the fight against hunger and homelessness (1986)
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  Erik Weihenmayer: became the first blind man to climb Mt. Everest (2001)

Birthdays

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  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): poet, founder of transcendentalism; other writers born on this date include Robert Ludlum (1927-2001), Raymond Carver (1938-1988) and Jamaica Kincaid (61)
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  Bill Bojangles Robinson (1878-1949): tap dancer
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  Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972): aerospace engineer who developed the helicopter
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  Anne Heche (41): actor, Men in Trees; also, entertainers Ian McKellen (71), Dixie Carter (1939-2010), Frank Oz (66), Patti D'Arbanville (59), Connie Sellecca (55), Mike Myers (47), Molly Sims (37) and Ethan Suplee and Cillian Murphy (both 34)
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  Lauryn Hill (35): R&B singer; other musicians with this birthday include Hal David (89), Beverly Sills (1929-2007), Tom T. Hall (74), Leslie Uggams and Jessi Colter (both 67)