Tuesday, March 29, 2011

bedaub \bih-DOB\, transitive verb:

1. To smudge over; to besmear or soil with anything thick and dirty.
2. To overdecorate; to ornament showily or excessively.

Bedaub is from be-, "thoroughly" + daub, from Medieval French dauber, "to plaster," perhaps from Old French dauber, "to clothe in white, white-wash, plaster," from Latin dealbare, "to whitewash, to plaster," from de- (intensive prefix) + albus, "white."

brain boner

• Something that strikes a chord in someone's thinking, creating a spur of "enlightenment" and stimulation in knowledge, especially in subjects like philosophy & logic.

John: Hey, have you seen that recent philosophical discussion between XXX and YYY on YouTube?

Peter: Yeah, it was so good it gave me a brain boner.

Trivia

What attraction at California’s Disneyland was transformed into Tarzan’s Treehouse in 1999?

• The Swiss Family Treehouse, which had been a fixture in the Anaheim theme park since 1962.

History

• Niagara Falls: ceased falling due to an ice jam upstream (1848)
• North America Act: the British parliament created the Dominion of Canada (1867)
• Royal Albert Hall: was opened by Queen Victoria, dedicated to her husband and consort, Prince Albert (1871)
• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus: the Ringling Brothers joined P.T. Barnum and James A. Bailey to form "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1919)
• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg: US Communist couple were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage about the atomic bomb on behalf of the Soviet Union (1951)
• Vietnam War: the last US soldiers left South Vietnam (1973)
• Ireland: became the first country to ban smoking in all public places (2004)

Birthdays

• John Tyler (1790-1862): US president who had 15 children, more than any other president; plus, British PMs Edward Stanley (1799-1869) and John Major (68)
• Sam Walton (1918-1992): entrepreneur who became one of the world's richest men
• Vangelis (68): composer, often of electronic music, Chariots of Fire; and, musicians Pearl Bailey (1918-1990), Perry Farrell (52) and John Popper (44)
• Eric Idle (68): humor writer and actor; and, author Judith Guest (75)
• Elle Macpherson (47): Sports Illustrated model and sometimes actor; also, actors Bud Cort (61), Christopher Lambert (54), Marina Sirtis (52), Amy Sedaris (50), Lucy Lawless (43) and Hideaki Takizawa (29)
• Jennifer Capriati (35): Olympic gold medalist in tennis; plus, athletes Cy Young (1867-1955), Walt Frazier (66) and Earl Campbell (56)