Monday, April 4, 2011

dapple \DAP-uhl\, noun:

1. A small contrasting spot or blotch.

2. A mottled appearance, especially of the coat of an animal (as a horse).

transitive verb:

1. To mark with patches of a color or shade; to spot.

intransitive verb:

• 1. To become dappled.

adjective:

• 1. Marked with contrasting patches or spots; dappled.

Dapple derives from Old Norse depill, "a spot."

fauxpology

• When a person makes it sound like they are apologizing when, in fact, they are just shifting the blame or using twisted logic to argue their way out of responsibility for their actions.

When George said, "I guess we all just have to accept some of the blame here," I stopped listening because I knew it was just going to be another fauxpology.

Trivia

What is being held aloft by the winged woman depicted in the Emmy Award statuette?

• An atom. According to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the statuette’s wings represent the muse of art and the atom represents the electron of science.

History

• William Henry Harrison: went on record as the US president with the shortest tenure, dying one month after inauguration (1841)
• NATO: was established with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty by 12 Western nations (1949)
• The Beatles: held all of the top 5 places on the Billboard Hot 100 (1964)
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was supporting striking sanitation workers (1968)
• World Trade Center: a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to mark the opening of the Twin Towers (1973)
• Microsoft: software behemoth was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico (1975)

Birthdays

• Edward Hicks (1780-1849): naive-style painter; also, artists William Jackson (1843-1942) and Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958)
• Muddy Waters (1915-1983): blues musician influential in developing the Chicago blues
• Maya Angelou (83): Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, 3-time Grammy winner for her spoken records, author of autobiographical I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
• David E. Kelley (55): Emmy-winning TV producer of Ally McBeal, Chicago Hope, Boston Legal; plus, playwrights Robert Sherwood (1896-1955) and Marguerite Duras (1914-1996)
• Robert Downey, Jr. (46): actor, Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes; other actors born on this date include Anthony Perkins (1932-1992), Craig T. Nelson (67), Christine Lahti (61), Lorraine Toussaint and Hugo Weaving (both 51), Barry Pepper (41), James Roday (35), Heath Ledger (1979-2008), Natasha Lyonne (32), Amanda Righetti (28) and Jamie Lynn Spears (20)
• David Blaine (38): street magician and illusionist
• Ava Fabian (49): Playmate 08/1986, model, actress