Wednesday, February 8, 2012

piacular \pahy-AK-yuh-ler\, adjective:

1. Expiatory; atoning; reparatory.

2. Requiring expiation; sinful or wicked.

Piacular is derived from two Latin roots: pia, which is related to the word pious, and a variation of the suffix -cule which denotes a diminutive nouns, like particle.

I tell you what

• By the use of this phrase to open or close a statement, the user acquires or asserts a pleasant, folksy authority. Sometimes paired with "boy" for added authority and folksiness (see example). Frequent famous users include Cris Collinsworth and Hank Hill.

"Boy, that was a heck of a down field block by Michael Vick, I tell you what."

"I tell you what, the Seattle Seahawks came here to play tonight."

Trivia

Why was temperamental tennis star Goran Ivanisevic forced to withdraw from the Samsung Open in Brighton, England, in 2000?

• He ran out of rackets during a match. The hard-serving Croat had smashed three rackets in three separate outbursts and didn’t have another with him.

History

• 1802 - Simon Willard patented the banjo clock.
• 1861 - The Confederate States of America was formed.
• 1904 - The Russo-Japanese War began with Japan attacking Russian forces in Manchuria.
• 1924 - The first U.S. execution to make use of gas took place in Nevada State Prison.
• 1971 - The Nasdaq stock-market index debuted.
• 1974 - The three-man crew of the Skylab space station returned to Earth after 84 days.
• 1975 - Queen's single "Killer Queen" was released. It was their first hit single.
• 1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter "man of peace" announced a plan to re-introduce draft registration.
• 1985 - "The Dukes of Hazzard" ended its 6-1/2 year run on CBS television.
• 1990 - Del Shannon died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound.
• 1993 - General Motors sued NBC, alleging that "Dateline NBC" had rigged two car-truck crashes to show that some GM pickups were prone to fires after certain types of crashes. The suit was settled the following day by NBC.

Birthdays

• William Tecumsen Sherman 1820 - Union General during U.S. Civil War
• Jules Verne 1828
• Dame Edith Evans 1888
• Lyle Talbot 1902
• Chester F. Carlson 1906
• Buddy Morrow 1919
• Lana Turner 1921
• Audrey Meadows 1924
• Jack Lemmon 1925
• Alejandro Rey 1930
• James Dean 1931
• John Williams 1932
• Larry Verne 1936
• Ray Sharpe 1938
• Ted Koppel 1940
• Brian Bennett 1940 - Musician (The Shadows)
• Nick Nolte 1941
• Robert Klein 1942
• Creed Bratton 1943 - Musician (The Grass Roots)
• Bunky Henry 1944
• Dan Seals 1948
• Ron Tyson 1948 - Singer (The Temptations)
• Brooke Adams 1949
• Mary Steenburgen 1953
• John Grisham 1955
• Vince Neil 1961 Musician/Singer (Motley Crue)
• Sammy Llanas 1961 - Musician (The BoDeans)
• Gary Coleman 1968
• Mary McCormack 1969
• Seth Green 1974