Sunday, January 23, 2011

homograph \HOM-uh-graf\, noun:

• A word of the same written form as another but of different meaning, whether pronounced the same way or not.

Homograph conbines the Greek roots homos, "same," and graphos, "drawn or written."

Do I smell popcorn?

• Phrase uttered when you have passed a particularly pungent bubble of gas that you are so proud of you want everyone to take a deep whiff.

We all knew we were in trouble when Amber asked, "Do I smell popcorn?" we just didn't know that it was lethal.

Trivia

Which was the last of the 50 states to become home to a commercial winery?

• North Dakota, in 2002.

History

• Shaanxi Earthquake: deadliest earthquake in recorded history shook central and eastern China, killing more than 800,000 (1556)
• Election Day: date for national elections was set by US Congress as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (1845)
• Elizabeth Blackwell: became the first female physician in the US, graduating first in her class from Geneva Medical College (1849)
• Roots: the mini-series based on Alex Haley's epic novel began on ABC (1977)
• Daniel Pearl: reporter for The Wall Street Journal was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan; he was killed less than a month later (2002)

Birthdays

• Édouard Manet (1832-1883): impressionist painter
• Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948): filmmaker
• Django Reinhardt (1910-1953): Gypsy jazz guitarist
• Derek Walcott (81): Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright; other writers born on this date include Stendhal (1783-1842) and Camilla Collett (1813-1895)
• Chesley Sullenberger (60): hero pilot of US Airways flight 1549
• Antonio Villaraigosa (58): mayor of LA; also, politicians Frank Lautenberg (87) and Thomas R. Carper (64)
• Princess Caroline (54): heir presumptive to the throne of Monaco
• Mariska Hargitay (47): actor, Law and Order: SVU; also, actors Jeanne Moreau (83), Chita Rivera (78), Lou Antonio (77), Gil Gerard (68), Rutger Hauer (67), Richard Dean Anderson (61), Gail O'Grady (48) and Tiffani Thiessen (37)