Sunday, April 17, 2011

scurrilous \SKUR-uh-luhs\, adjective:

1. Grossly or obscenely abusive.

2. Characterized by or using low buffoonery.

Scurrilous likely traces its origin to the Etruscan language, coming into Latin as scurrilis, "fashionable city idler," and, later, "buffoon."

digitally freshen up

• A term one can use to excuse oneself from the face-time company of another for reasons of a burning desire to check your e-mail. You won't be comfortable in your conversation unless you check on your inbox for any immediately important messages that need attention. By "digitally freshening up", you have eased the unnatural frequent urge of wanting to peek at your iPhone in your important business meeting.

Before an all day business meeting begins, one person to another: "excuse me while I digitally freshen up, I'll be right back".

Trivia

How many of the gospels in the New Testament mention palm branches being spread along Jesus’ path during his final entry into Jerusalem?

• Just one, John (12:13). Matthew (21:8) and Mark (11:8) refer only to branches cut from trees; Luke (19:36) makes no mention of branches at all.

Holiday

• Palm Sunday (Christian)

History

• Daffy Duck: wath introduthed on Porky'th Duck Hunt (1937)
• Mickey Mantle: MLB hall-of-famer made major league debut with the Yankees (1951)
• Mustang: the Ford Motor Company introduced its "pony car" class at the New York World's Fair (1964)
• Shea Stadium: Queens, New York, baseball park opened (1964); it served the Mets for 44 years before being demolished to make room for parking for the new Citi Field
• Apollo 13: splashed down safely, ending the near-disastrous flight (1970)
• Cambodia: fell to the Khmer Rouge with the capture of Phnom Penh, resulting in genocidal killing fields (1975)

Birthdays

• Leonard Woolley (1880-1960): archeologist who excavated Ur and Eridu
• Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971): former premier of the USSR; Sri Lankan PM Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1916-2000) shared this birth date
• Harry Reasoner (1923-1991): journalist, anchor of ABC Evening News, 60 Minutes; journalist William Simms (1806-1870) was also born on this date
• Cynthia Ozick (83): short-story writer and novelist; other writers born on this date include Isak Dinesen (1885-1962), Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) and Nick Hornby (54)
• Don Kirshner (1934-2011): rock promoter; musicians born on this date include Jan Hammer (63), Liz Phair (44) and Victoria Beckham (37)
• Jennifer Garner (39): actor, Alias, Juno; also, actors William Holden (1918-1981), Olivia Hussey (60), Sean Bean (52), Lela Rochon (47) and William Mapother (46)