Friday, April 15, 2011

vociferate \voh-SIF-uh-reyt\, verb:

• To speak or cry out loudly or noisily; shout; bawl.

Vociferate derives from the Latin combination vox, "voice," and ferre, "to bear."

Front-seat back-seat dilemma

• The inability to decide which seat to take due to the quantity of friends both "kickin' in the front seat" and "sittin' in the back seat." Characterized by indecision and anxiety as the individual has "gotta make their mind up."A largely ignored condition until early 2011, the "front-seat back-seat dilemma" was widely publicized upon the advent of Rebecca Black's viral single "Friday."

Friend 1 (From the front seat): "Why won't Tim get in the car? I have a dermatologist appointment in 5 minutes!"

Friend 2 (From the back seat): "Dude, give him a break. He's suffering a front-seat back-seat dilemma. Everyone's been there once."

Trivia

What is taxonomy?

• The field of biology devoted to naming, describing, and classifying organisms.

History

• Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet: opened the first free American school for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut (1817)
• Titanic: the "unsinkable" luxury liner sank after hitting an iceberg; over 1,500 died (1912)
• Bergen-Belsen: Nazi concentration camp was liberated by British and Canadian forces (1945)
• McDonald's: Ray Kroc opened the store that launched the empire (1955)
• Botox: botulinum toxin was approved by the FDA for treatment of moderate-to-severe frown lines (2002)

Birthdays

• Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519): Italian Renaissance man who painted the Mona Lisa
• Henry James (1843-1916): author of Daisy Miller and The Bostonians
• Johannes Stark (1874-1957): Nobel Prize-winning physicist; also, physicist Leonhard Euler (1707-1783)
• Max Wertheimer (1880-1943): a founder of Gestalt psychology
• Stanley Bruce (1883-1967): Australian PM
• Bessie Smith (1894-1937): blues and jazz singer; and, musicians Roy Clark (78), Dave Edmunds (67) and Ed O'Brien (43)
• Heloise (60): household tips columnist, "Hints from Heloise"
• Emma Thompson (52): Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress and screenwriter, Sense and Sensibility, Last Chance Harvey; also, actors Michael Ansara (89), Elizabeth Montgomery (1933-1995), Lois Chiles (64), Amy Wright (61), Danny Pino (37), Seth Rogen (29), Alice Braga (28) and Emma Watson (21)
• Samantha Fox (45), singer, Page 3 girl, monster jugs.