Sunday, June 13, 2010

vernacular \ver-NAK-yuh-ler\, noun:

1. The plain variety of language in everyday use.

2. The language or vocabulary peculiar to a class or profession.

3. The native speech or language of a place.

4. Any medium or mode of expression that reflects popular taste or indigenous styles.

adjective:

1. (of language) Native or indigenous.

2. Using the native language of a place.

3. Using plain, everyday language

The origin of vernacular is the Latin vernaculus, "domestic or native."

unhappy hour

• the lack of drink specials during the hours of 4-8 pm on weekdays at a bar

Yo let's go to Brass Rail for drinks after work.

Are you kidding? They have an unhappy hour - the beers are $8 each

Trivia

What racehorse, considered a lock to win the Triple Crown, ended up coming in third in the Belmont Stakes after stepping on a safety pin?

• Spectacular Bid, in 1979. The safety pin had fallen off a bandage on his foot.

History

• Great Vancouver Fire: most of the Canadian city was destroyed by a fire that killed dozens of people and left only a few buildings standing; within days rebuilding began (1886)
• Thurgood Marshall: became the first black man to be nominated as a US Supreme Court justice; he served for 24 years (1967)
• Pentagon Papers: a secret study of the US involvement in Vietnam began to appear in The New York Times (1971)
• Pioneer 10: the space probe flew out of the solar system, the first manmade object to do so (1983)
• Mehmet Ali Agca: would-be assassin of Pope John Paul II in 1981 was pardoned by Italy (2000)

Birthdays

• William Butler Yeats (1865-1939): poet and playwright who led the Irish literary renaissance; also, authors Fanny Burney (1752-1840), Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957) and Mark Van Doren (1894-1972)

• Red Grange (1903-1991): legendary gridiron athlete who CNN named greatest football player of all time
• Siegfried (71): magician and tamer of white tigers
• Ban Ki-moon (66): 8th secretary-general of the UN
• Jamie Walters (41): actor, Beverly Hills, 90210; also, actors Malcolm McDowell (67), Stellan Skarsgård and Richard Thomas (both 58), Tim Allen (57), Ally Sheedy (48), Ethan Embry (32) and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (24)