Saturday, April 2, 2011

unctuous \UNGK-choo-us\, adjective:

1. Of the nature or quality of an unguent or ointment; fatty; oily; greasy.
2. Having a smooth, greasy feel, as certain minerals.
3. Insincerely or excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech; marked by a false or smug earnestness or agreeableness.

Unctuous is from Medieval Latin unctuosus, from Latin unctus, "anointed, besmeared, greasy," past participle of unguere, "to anoint, to besmear."

Pooformance Anxiety

• Anxiety concerning the act of defecation, most often related to pooping in public restrooms.

I was at the game and I waited in line for a stall forever, but when I finally got in there I got pooformance anxiety and I couldn't poop.

Trivia

What California town is named after the favorite American authors of two early residents?

• Twain Harte, a resort village in the central Sierra Nevada. It was named in 1924 by Keturah Wood for her and husband Alonzo’s favorite writers, Mark Twain and Bret Harte.

History

• Florida: Juan Ponce de León discovered this state's flowery coast, naming it for Pascua florida ("flowery Easter"); he was searching for the Fountain of Youth; the event is commemorated as Pascua Florida Day (1513)
• Turin: the first Italian Parliament convened in the first capital of the new Kingdom of Italy (1860)
• "The world must be made safe for democracy": with these words, US President Woodrow Wilson urged Congress to enter WWI (1917)
• Falkland Islands War: Argentina invaded British-occupied Falkland Islands; Argentina's defeat within a few months discredited its military government, and civilian rule was restored the following year (1982)

Birthdays

• Charlemagne (742?-814): first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
• Casanova (1725-1798): legendary adventurer, author, lover; he wrote Histoire de ma vie; plus, writers Hans Christian Anderson (1805-1875) and Émile Zola (1840-1902)
• Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904): sculptor of the Statue of Liberty; plus, artist Max Ernst (1891-1976)
• Dr. Demento (70): radio DJ of novelty songs and parodies; musicians Leon Russell (69), Marvin Gaye (1939-1984), Larry Coryell (68), Emmylou Harris (64) and Jesse Carmichael (32) share this birth date
• Don Sutton (66): MLB hall-of-famer; also, NFL player Bill Romanowski (45)
• Chris Meloni (50): Law and Order: SVU's detective Elliot Stabler; also, actors Alec Guinness (1914-2000), Linda Hunt (66), Pamela Reed (62), Clark Gregg (49), Jana Marie Hupp (47), Rosalyn Sanchez (38), Adam Rodriguez (36), Bethany Joy Galeotti (30) and Jesse Plemons (23)