Sunday, March 13, 2011

aver \uh-VUR\, transitive verb:

1. To affirm with confidence; to declare in a positive manner, as in confidence of asserting the truth.

2. (Law) To assert, claim, or declare as a fact.

Aver is from Old French-Medieval French averer, from Medieval Latin adverare, to confirm as authentic, from Latin ad-, ad- + Medieval Latin verare, from Latin verus, true. Other words deriving from verus are very, which sometimes has the sense of "true"; verify, to prove the truth of; and verdict, a decision or judgment, literally a "true-saying" (verus + dictum, saying).

Do you like hobbies?

• Something you say during an awkward pause in conversation in attempt to start conversation. However this will just make the conversation more awkward and draw attention to the pause.

Person 1:"Yeah, that was by far the best Family Guy episode ever."

Person 2:"Yeah for sure."

Person1:"......."

Person2:"......."

Person1:"So....do you like hobbies?"

Person2:"Um? Yes."

Person1:"......."

Person2:"......."

Trivia

Which nine letters are traditionally used on Snellen eye exam charts?

• C, D, E, F, L, O, P, T and Z.

History

• Uranus: seventh planet from the Sun was discovered by William Herschel (1781)
• Andrew Johnson: the 17th POTUS's impeachment trial began in the US Senate (1868)
• Czar Alexander II: was assassinated in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date) (1881)
• Pluto: the discovery of the dwarf planet was announced by Clyde W. Tombaugh (1930)
• Kitty Genovese: was murdered in Queens, New York, while neighbors ignored her screams; this prompted investigation into the bystander effect (1964)
• Phoenix lights: unusual lights of various sorts were seen over Arizona, Nevada and Sonora; among the eyewitnesses was Arizona Governor Fife Symington (1997)

Birthdays

• Joseph Priestley (1733-1804): scientist who isolated and described several gases, including oxygen
• Percival Lowell (1855-1916): astronomer who predicted the discovery of Pluto
• William H. Macy (61): Oscar winner for Fargo, Emmy winner for Door to Door; also, actors Deborah Raffin (58), Glenne Headly (56), Dana Delany (55), Annabeth Gish (40), Danny Masterson (35) and Emile Hirsch (26)
• Terrence Blanchard (49): jazz trumpeter; plus, musicians Roy Haynes (86), Rosalind Elias (81), Mike Stoller (78), Neil Sedaka (72), Adam Clayton (51) and Khujo (39)
• Johan Santana (32): pitcher for the NY Mets; other athletes born today are 1st-baseman Will Clark (47) and 49ers quarterback Trent Dilfer (39)