Monday, September 12, 2011

dilatory \DIL-uh-tor-ee\, adjective:

1. Tending to put off what ought to be done at once; given to procrastination.
2. Marked by procrastination or delay; intended to cause delay; -- said of actions or measures.

Dilatory is from Latin dilatorius, from dilator, "a dilatory person, a loiterer," from dilatus, past participle of differre, "to delay, to put off," from dis-, "apart, in different directions" + ferre, "to carry."

epic fail

• Complete and total failure when success should have been reasonably easy to attain.

***after getting pwn3d in a video game***

Player1: Dude, we just got reamed

Player2: Yeah, Epic Fail

Trivia

How did the season we know as autumn also come to be called fall?

• It was initially called “fall of the leaf” in Middle English during the 16th century, and eventually was shortened to fall. The word crossed the Atlantic with early American colonists and continues to be used in the U.S., but it is now obsolete in Great Britain.

History

• Henry Hudson: began exploring the Hudson River (1609)
• Elizabeth Barrett: eloped with fellow poet Robert Browning (1846)
• Jacqueline Bouvier: married John F. Kennedy in an enormous wedding (1953)
• Bonanza: Ben Cartwright and his sons rode onto the screen in America's first TV series taped in color (1959)
• Haile Selassie: Ethiopia's emperor was deposed in a military coup after a 58-year reign (1974); he died a year later, while under arrest
• Steven Biko: black civil rights leader died in police custody in South Africa; international protests and a UN arms embargo ensued (1977)

Birthdays

• Richard Gatling (1818-1903): inventor of the Gatling gun; plus, inventor of a high-speed printing press Richard March Hoe (1812-1886)
• Herbert Henry Asquith (1852-1928): British PM; plus, world leaders Francis I (1494-1597) and Juscelino Kubitschek (1902-1976)
• H.L. Mencken (1880-1956): controversial journalist and critic; also, writer Michael Ondaatje (68)
• Ben Shahn (1898-1969): painter and graphic artist
• Jesse Owens (1913-1980): black track-and-field star who won four gold medals at the Berlin Summer Olympics
• Yao Ming (31): 7-and-a-half-foot-tall Houston Rockets center
• Jennifer Hudson (30): American Idol finalist who went on to win awards for her role as Effie White in Dream Girls; also, entertainers Maurice Chevalier (1888-1972), Ian Holm and George Jones (both 79), Linda Gray (71), Maria Muldaur (68), Barry White (1944-2003), Joe Pantoliano (60), Gerry Beckley (59), Peter Scolari (56), Amy Yasbeck (49), Josie and Josh Hopkins (both 40), Paul Walker (38), Benjamin McKenzie and Ruben Studdard (both 32) and Emmy Rossum (25)

Read more: http://www.answers.com/