Thursday, February 9, 2012

screed \skreed\, noun:

1. A long discourse or essay, especially a diatribe.

2. An informal letter, account, or other piece of writing.

3. Building Trades. A. A strip of plaster or wood applied to a surface to be plastered to serve as a guide for making a true surface. B. A wooden strip serving as a guide for making a true level surface on a concrete pavement or the like. C. A board or metal strip dragged across a freshly poured concrete slab to give it its proper level.

4. British Dialect. A fragment or shred, as of cloth.

5. Scot. A. A tear or rip, especially in cloth. B. A drinking bout.

verb:

1. Scot. To tear, rip, or shred, as cloth.

Screed is related to the Old English word for shred. Its alternate sense of a long speech was first recorded in 1789 and may be related to the sense of the word meaning a long lists of names.

garriage

• The formal union of two people who are of the same gender in a consensual relationship, typically recognized by society. Also described as same-sex marriage and gay marriage.

The two men had been seeing each other for 5 years and engaged for 9 months before they decided to make their relationship permanent by garriage.

The gay couple invited all their friends to celebrate the couple's garriage ceremony.

The two women exchanged loving vows during their garriage ceremony.

Trivia

What U.S. symbol was re-created in the six-foot-high floral arrangement that stood alongside Atlas Shrugged author Ayn Rand’s casket at her 1982 funeral?

• The dollar sign ($). Rand, who also wrote The Fountainhead, was a fierce champion of capitalism and often wore dollar-sign jewelry.

History

• 1893 - In Milan, Italy, Giuseppe Verdi's "Falstaff" was first performed. It was his last opera.
• 1895 - Volley Ball was invented by W.G. Morgan.
• 1942 - Daylight-saving "War Time" went into effect in the U.S.
• 1960 - The first star was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star was for Joanne Woodward.
• 1969 - The Boeing 747 flew its inaugural flight.
• 1971 - The San Fernando Valley experienced the Sylmar earthquake that registered 6.4 on the Richter Scale.
• 1971 - The Apollo 14 spacecraft returned to Earth after mankind's third landing on the moon.
• 1975 - The Russian Soyuz 17 returned to Earth.
• 1969 - The Boeing 747 flew its inaugural flight.
• 1971 - The San Fernando Valley experienced the Sylmar earthquake that registered 6.4 on the Richter Scale.
• 1971 - The Apollo 14 spacecraft returned to Earth after mankind's third landing on the moon.
• 1975 - The Russian Soyuz 17 returned to Earth.
• 1997 - "The Simpsons" became the longest-running prime-time animated series. "The Flintstones" held the record previously.

Birthdays

• William Henry Harrison (U.S.) 1773
• George Ade 1866
• Amy Lowell 1874
• Ronald Colman 1891
• Brian Donlevy 1899
• Bill Veeck 1914
• Ernest Tubb 1914
• Carmen Miranda 1914
• Gypsy Rose Lee 1914
• Kathryn Grayson 1922
• Brendan Behan 1923
• Roger Mudd 1928
• Robert Morris 1931
• Jo Ann Prentice 1933
• Janet Suzman 1939
• Barry Mann 1942
• Carole King 1942
• Joe Pesci 1943
• Barbara Lewis 1943
• Alice Walker 1944
• Mia Farrow 1945
• Joe Ely 1947
• Major Harris 1947
• Judith Light 1949
• Dennis "DT" Thomas (Kool & the Gang) 1951
• Charles Shaughnessy 1955
• Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) 1960
• Travis Tritt 1963
• Julie Warner 1965
• Dannie Leigh 1970
• David Gallagher 1985