Monday, March 28, 2011

afflatus \uh-FLAY-tuhs\, noun:

• A divine imparting of knowledge; inspiration.

Afflatus is from Latin afflatus, past participle of afflare, "to blow at or breathe on," from ad-, "at" + flare, "to puff, to blow." Other words with the same root include deflate (de-, "out of" + flare); inflate (in-, "into" + flare); soufflé, the "puffed up" dish (from French souffler, "to puff," from Latin sufflare, "to blow from below," hence "to blow up, to puff up," from sub-, "below" + flare); and flatulent.

hipster head bob

• A small nod of the head, done repetitively in synchronization with music. Denotes approval of music by the listener. Performed at concerts by concert-goers, or while listening to music by the listener.
• Substituted for dancing by hipsters, who are too cool to dance.

Andy: Dude, how was the DFA1979 show?

Brad: Great, except for all the douches doing the hipster head bob. I just wanted to get down!

Trivia

What Hollywood star once groused, “How in the hell would you like to have been in this business for as long as I, and then have one of your kids win an Oscar before you did?”

• Henry Fonda—when his daughter Jane won a Best Actress Oscar for Klute (1971). Dad won an Oscar 10 years later for On Golden Pond, in which daughter Jane also appeared.

History

• Andrew Jackson: US president was censured by the Senate for his actions in the Bank War; the censure was later expunged from the record (1834)
• Turkey: key cities changed names: Constantinople became Istanbul and Angora was tweaked to Ankara (1930)
• Virginia Woolf: distinguished novelist, critic and essayist (A Room Of One's Own) committed suicide by drowning; she had been suffering from depression and bouts of mental illness for many years (1941)
• Three Mile Island: the most serious nuclear accident in US history took place at a power station in Pennsylvania (1979)

Birthdays

• Aristide Briand (1862-1932): French PM who served 11 times as premier and held 26 ministerial posts; he proposed the Kellogg-Briand Pact
• Mario Vargas Llosa (75): writer who made an unsuccessful bid for president of Peru; plus, writers Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) and Russell Banks (71)
• Vince Vaughn (41): comic actor, Wedding Crashers, The Break-Up; also, actors Onoe Shoroku II (1913-1989), Dirk Bogarde (1921-1999), Conchata Ferrell (68), Ken Howard (67), Dianne Wiest (63), Annie Wersching (34) and Julia Stiles (30)
• Kate Gosselin (36): reality-show mom, Jon and Kate Plus Eight
• Lady Gaga (25): singer/songwriter and fashionista; also, musicians Rudolf Serkin (1903-1991) and Reba McEntire (56)