Saturday, May 4, 2013

MAY THE FOURTH

gander \GAN-der\, noun:

1. Slang. a look: Take a gander at his new shoes.

2. the male of the goose. Compare goose (def. 2).

Gander came to English from the Proto-Indo-European word for "goose" or perhaps another type of water bird. The first noun sense of gander, used as early as the year 1000, meant "a male goose," and later senses related metaphorically to the movement of a goose. While the verb form of gander meaning "to look" entered English in late 1600s, the noun form meaning "a look" didn't enter English until the early 1900s.

Crutch phrase

• An overworked figure of speech, such as, inter alia, "at the end of the day," or "it is what is," or "thinking outside the box," or "leverage our resources." Crutchphrases are a common refuge of speakers who have difficulty articulating ideas or concepts without reflexively using jargon and cliché. Often relied upon by powerpoint-user speakers who simply repeat what is already printed on the Powerpoint slide. The use of a crutchphrase is often an open admission of an unwillingness or inability to think, let alone use language effectively.

"At the end of the day," the speaker droned, "we have to think out of the box if we are to successfully leverage our resources." Note the split infinitive.

"But," protested a listener, "you're not making any sense at all, you're just babbling a bunch of crutch phrases!"

"It is what it is," replied the speaker, retreating to the safe territory of a crutch phrase.

Trivia

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Holiday

• Star Wars Day aka May The Fourth - Get it? May 4th? May the Fourth? May the Force be with you!

History

• Manhattan: Dutch colonist Peter Minuit landed on the island; he later bought it for $24 in trade goods (1626)
• Rhode Island: declared its independence from England, becoming one of the original Thirteen Colonies (1776)
• Al Capone: after many arrests, the crime boss known as Scarface was finally jailed for tax evasion (1932)
• Grammys: were first awarded (1959)
• Freedom Riders: students joined members of CORE to ride from Washington, DC, across the south toward New Orleans, protesting racial segregation on public interstate buses (1961)
• Kent State: four university students were killed and nine wounded by members of the Ohio National Guard, who were quashing a campus protest against the US invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War (1970)

Birthdays

• Sir Thomas Lawrence 1769
• Horace Mann 1796 - Educator, father of public education in the U.S., author
• Joseph Whitaker 1820
• Thomas Huxley 1825
• John Hanning Speke 1827
• Um Kalthum 1904
• Howard DaSilva (Silverblatt) 1909 - Actor ("The Lost Weekend", "The Great Gatsby")
• Heloise 1919
• Ed "Cass" Cassidy 1923 - Musician (New Jazz Trio, Taj Mahal, Spirit)
• Betsy Rawls 1928 - Golfer
• Hosni Mubarak 1928 - Egyptian president
• Maynard Ferguson 1928 - Jazz trumpeter, bandleader
• Audrey Hepburn (Edda Kathleen Hepburn van Heemstra) 1929 - Actress ("Monte Carlo Baby", "Breakfast at Tiffany's")
• Roberta Peters 1930 - Opera singer
• Harlon Hill 1932 - Football player
• El Cordobés (Manuel Benítez Pérez) 1936 - Spanish bullfighter
• Dick Dale 1937 - Musician
• Ron Carter 1937 - Jazz bassist
• Tyrone Davis 1938
• George F. Will 1941 - Columnist ("Newsweek"), editor
• David LaFlamme 1941
• Nick Ashford 1942 - Singer, songwriter (Ashford and Simpson)
• Ronnie Bond 1943 - Musician (The Troggs)
• Paul Gleason 1944 - Actor
• Peggy Sanntiglia 1944 - Singer
• Richard Jenkins 1947 - Actor ("The Visitor")
• Stella Parton 1949 - Country singer
• Hilly Hicks 1950 - Actor, minister
• Jackie Jackson 1951 - Singer (The Jackson Five, The Jacksons)
• Oleta Adams 1953 - Singer
• Julie Budd 1954
• Danny Brubeck 1955 - Drummer, Dave Brubeck's son
• Mick Mars 1955 - Musician (Motley Crue)
• Pia Zadora 1954 - Actress ("Hairspray"), singer
• Randy Travis (Randy Bruce Traywick) 1959 - Country singer
• Mary McDonough 1961 - Actress ("The Waltons")
• Jay Aston 1961 - Musician (Bucks Fizz)
• Ana Gasteyer 1967 - Comedian ("Saturday Night Live")
• Dawn Staley 1970 - Basketball player
• Will Arnet 1970 - Actor ("Arrested Development")
• Chris Tomlin 1972 - Singer
• Mike Dirnt 1972 - Musician (Green Day)
• Kimora Lee Simmons 1975 - Television personality, fashion designer
• Jose Castellanos 1977 - Musician (Save Ferris)
• Lance Bass 1979 - Singer ('N Sync)
• Alexander Gould 1994 - Actor ("Weeds," "Finding Nemo")