Tuesday, January 10, 2012

paregmenon \puh-REG-muh-non\, noun:

• The juxtaposition of words that have a common derivation, as in “sense and sensibility.”

Paregmenon comes from the Greek word parēēgménon meaning "to bring side by side or derive."

yestergay

• a gay male now in a heterosexual relationship or marriage. Not the same as ex-gay, which is someone who seeks a religious conversion to abandon homosexuality.

After years of bad relationships with men, he finally found a woman he loved enough to want to marry. Marty's a yestergay.

Trivia

Who led a fleet of armored Rolls-Royces into battle in Turkey during World War I, capturing an entire Kurdish regiment in its desert garrison?

• British colonel T. E. Lawrence—the legendary Lawrence of Arabia.

History

• Julius Caesar: crossed the Rubicon with his army (49 BCE)
• Common Sense: Thomas Paine published (anonymously) his influential pamphlet calling for American independence from Britain via revolution (1776)
• London Underground: the Metropolitan Line, the first section of the tube, opened, running between Paddington and Farringdon streets (1863)
• gusher: oil was discovered near Beaumont, Texas (1901)
• League of Nations: precursor to the United Nations held its first meeting; though it was proposed by a US president, the US never did join (1920)
• Vatican City: the US reestablished full diplomatic relations with the Holy See after having been out of touch for over a century (1984)
• Where's the beef?: Wendy's ad campaign began; it quickly morphed into a political slogan (1984)

Birthdays

• Ray Bolger (1904-1987): The Wizard of Oz's Scarecrow; plus, actors Paul Henreid (1905?-1992), Sal Mineo (1939-1976), William Sanderson (63), Evan Handler (51) and Trini Alvarado (45)
• Max Roach (1924-2007): jazz percussionist and composer; also, musicians Sherrill Milnes and Eddy Clearwater (both 77), Frank Sinatra, Jr. (68), Rod Stewart (67), Donald Fagen (64), Scott Thurston (60), Pat Benatar (59) and Shawn Colvin (56)
• Tintin (83): fictional Belgian reporter in Hergé's comic book series The Adventures of Tintin
• Donald Knuth (74): computer science pioneer, developer of TeX
• George Foreman (63): boxer who promotes the popular indoor grill

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