Tuesday, August 17, 2010

tare \TAIR\, noun:

1. The weight of the wrapping or container that holds an object.

2. The weight of a container or wrapper that is deducted from the gross weight to obtain net weight.

3. The weight of a vehicle without cargo, passengers, etc.

4. Any of various climbing plants, generally with edible seeds.

Tare ultimately comes from the Arabic verb taraha, "to reject."

Meeting Affective Disorder

• A form of boredom that occurs in relation to mandatory meetings, most commonly those centered around a presentation. Symptoms include difficulty in staying awake, and delirious hallucinations more commonly referred to as daydreams.

Guy 1: I think you have Meeting Affective Disorder, you should see a doctor

Guy 2: Why do you think I have that?

Guy 1: The pool of drool on the table from you dozing off.

Trivia

In what city was celebrity socialite Paris Hilton born?

• New York City—not Paris.

History

• Robert Fulton: launches his steamboat trip up the Hudson from New York to Albany (1807)
• Pike Place Market: Seattle's top tourist destination and one of the oldest farmers' markets in the US opened for business (1907)
• Peter Fechter: 18-year-old was killed as he attempted to cross the Berlin Wall; East German guards shot him and he was left to bleed to death (1962)
• Double Eagle II: became the first hot-air balloon to complete a transatlantic flight, from Presque Isle, Maine, to Miserey, France (1978)

Birthdays

• Belinda Carlisle (52): singer
• Pierre de Fermat (1601-1665): mathematician, Fermat's Last Theorem
• Davy Crockett (1786-1836): Tennessee woodsman who became a congressman and was killed at the Alamo
• Jiang Zemin (84): former president of China
• V.S. Naipaul (78): Nobel Prize-winning author of A House for Mr. Biswas; plus, poet Ted Hughes (1930-1998)
• Guillermo Vilas (58): tennis hall-of-famer; other sportsmen born on this date include Nelson Piquet (58), Jon Gruden (47), Jorge Posada (39), Jim Courier (40), Antwaan Randle El (31) and Dustin Pedroia (27)
• Robert De Niro (67): Oscar-winner for The Godfather II and Raging Bull; also, actors Mae West (1893-1980), Maureen O'Hara (90), Donnie Wahlberg (41), Bryton McClure (24) and Brady Corbet (22)
• Everette Harp (49): R&B saxophonist