Wednesday, January 9, 2013

stridulous \STRIJ-uh-luhs\, adjective:

1. Also, strid·u·lant. Making or having a harsh or grating sound.
2. Pathology. Pertaining to or characterized by stridor.

Stridulous came from the Latin word stridulus meaning "giving a shrill sound, creaking" from stridere meaning "to utter an inarticulate sound, grate, creak."

brinksmanshit

• When two or more parties have entered separate bathroom stalls at nearly the same time and deliberately delay moving their bowels so as not to be the one to break the often awkward and intense silence.

We had made but a single but profound error in making eye contact before entering our stalls and now we were paying for it, sitting a mere 3 feet apart, separated by only a thin metal barrier, undoubtedly staring at each other's shoes, locked in a treacherous game of brinksmanshit. 

Trivia

Who was the first author to hit one million in Kindle e-book sales?

• The late Swedish crime writer Stieg Larsson, in 2010, with his three bestsellers: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.

History

• daguerreotype: L. J. M. Daguerre announced the first practical photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences (1839)
• autogiro: aeronautical engineer Juan de la Cierva made the first successful flight in the helicopter-like aircraft he had invented, in Madrid (1923)
• Martyr's Day of Panama: the tearing of a Panamanian flag during protests regarding US sovereignty over the Panama Canal Zone led to several days of deadly fighting (1964)
• Commonwealth of Northern Marianas: was established (1978)

Birthdays

• Gracie Fields 1898
• Vilma Banky (Lonchit) 1898
• Chic (Murat Bernard) Young 1901
• George Balanchine 1904
• Simone de Beauvoir 1908
• Richard Milhous Nixon (U.S.) 1913
• Fernando Lamas 1915
• Anita Louise (Fremault) 1915
• Herbert Lom 1917
• Judith Krantz 1928
• Domenico Modugno 1928
• Bart Starr (NFL) 1934
• Bob Denver 1935
• Dick Enberg 1935
• Big Al Downing 1940
• Joan Baez 1941
• Susannah York 1941
• Roy Head 1943
• Jimmy Page 1944 - Musician (Led Zeppelin) 
• Scott (Noel) Engel (The Walker Brothers) 1944
• Bill Cowsill 1948 - Musician (Cowsills)
• Rio Reiser 1950
• David Johansen 1950 - Musician (Buster Poindexter)
• Crystal Gayle 1951
• J. K. Simmons 1955
• Eric Erlandson 1963 - Musician (Hole)
• Haddaway 1965
• Joely Richardson 1965
• David John "Dave" Matthews 1967
• Carl Bell 1967 - Musician (Fuel)
• Steve Harwell 1967 - Musician (Smash Mouth)
• Joey Lauren Adams 1968
• A.J. McLean 1978
• Catherine Elizabeth Middleton 1982 - Duchess of Cambridge, married to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge  
• Nina Dobrev 1989