Saturday, March 26, 2011

verisimilitude \ver-uh-suh-MIL-uh-tood; -tyood\, noun:

1. The appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true.

2. Something that has the appearance of being true or real.

Verisimilitude comes from Latin verisimilitudo, from verisimilis, from verus, "true" + similis, "like, resembling, similar." The adjective form is verisimilar.

Brand Dropping

• Mentioning that you're wearing an expensive brand of clothing, using an expensive piece of technology, or bragging about other items that you own which are of high value. Brand Dropping is similar to name dropping, the main difference is mentioning merchandise in lieu of a person.

Jon: Dude! Watch it, if you spill that drink on my $ 350 Zegna shirt I'm gonna lose it.

Dave: Stop brand dropping Jon. No one cares what kind of shirt that is.

Trivia

What is the weight and diameter of the standard pool ball?

• Weight, 5 ½ to 6 ounces; diameter, 2 ¼ inches.

History

• Popeye: a statue of the spinach-loving cartoon character was erected in Crystal City, Texas (1937)
• Bangladesh: declared independence from Pakistan (1971)
• Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat signed an Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement at the White House (1979)
• Mercosur: the Southern Common Market, which joins Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, was established with the Treaty of Asunción (1991)

Birthdays

• Robert Frost (1874-1963): four-time Pulitzer Prize-winner for poetry; plus, writers Edward Bellamy (1850-1898), A.E. Housman (1859-1936), Tennessee Williams (1911-1983), Erica Jong (71) and Bob Woodward (68)
• Syngman Rhee (1875-1965): Republic of Korea's first president
• Othmar Ammann (1879-1965): engineer who designed the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
• Sandra Day O'Connor (81): first female US Supreme Court justice; plus, first female Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (71)
• Alan Arkin (77): Oscar-winner for Little Miss Sunshine; also, actors Leonard Nimoy (80), James Caan (71), Martin Short (61), Jennifer Grey (51), Michael Imperioli (45), T.R. Knight (38), Amy Smart (35) and Keira Knightley (26)
• Steven Tyler (63): rocker who is a judge on American Idol; also, musicians James Moody (1925-2010), Pierre Boulez (86), Diana Ross (67), Alan Silvestri (61), Teddy Pendergrass (1950-2010), Kenny Chesney (43) and Juvenile (35)
• John Stockton (49): retired Utah Jazz point guard and NBA hall-of-famer