Tuesday, March 28, 2023

afflatus \uh-FLAY-tuhs\, noun:

• A divine imparting of knowledge; inspiration.

Afflatus is from Latin afflatus, past participle of afflare, "to blow at or breathe on," from ad-, "at" + flare, "to puff, to blow." Other words with the same root include deflate (de-, "out of" + flare); inflate (in-, "into" + flare); soufflé, the "puffed up" dish (from French souffler, "to puff," from Latin sufflare, "to blow from below," hence "to blow up, to puff up," from sub-, "below" + flare); and flatulent.

 

hipster head bob

• A small nod of the head, done repetitively in synchronization with music. Denotes approval of music by the listener. Performed at concerts by concert-goers, or while listening to music by the listener.
• Substituted for dancing by hipsters, who are too cool to dance.

Andy: Dude, how was the DFA1979 show?

Brad: Great, except for all the douches doing the hipster head bob. I just wanted to get down!

History

• Andrew Jackson: US president was censured by the Senate for his actions in the Bank War; the censure was later expunged from the record (1834)
• Turkey: key cities changed names: Constantinople became Istanbul and Angora was tweaked to Ankara (1930)
• Virginia Woolf: distinguished novelist, critic and essayist (A Room Of One's Own) committed suicide by drowning; she had been suffering from depression and bouts of mental illness for many years (1941)
• Three Mile Island: the most serious nuclear accident in US history took place at a power station in Pennsylvania (1979)

Birthdays

• Santi Raphael 1483

  
• Paul Whiteman 1890
• August Busch 1899
• Rudolf Serkin 1903
• Frank Lovejoy 1912
• Jay Livingston 1915
• Dirk Bogarde 1921
• Thad Jones 1923
• Freddie Bartholomew 1924
• Eric Dixon 1930

  
• Bill Anthony 1930
• Charlie McCoy 1941 - Country musician
• Mike Newell 1942 - Director
• Conchata Ferrell 1943 - Actress
• Ken Howard 1944 - Actor
• Chuck Portz (The Turtles) 1945
• Barry Miles 1947
• Dianne Wiest 1948 - Actress ("Law and Order")
• Milan Williams 1948 - Musician (Commodores)
• Ronnie Ray Smith 1949
• Reba McEntire 1955 - Actress, country singer
• Tracey Needham 1967 - Actress
• Max Perlich 1968 - Actor
• Salt (Cheryl James) 1969 - Rapper (Salt-N-Pepa)
• Vince Vaughn 1969 - Actor
• Brett Ratner 1969 - Actor
• Mr. Cheeks 1971 - Rapper (Lost Boyz)
• Ken L. 1973 - Actor
• Annie Wershing 1977 - Actress ("24")
• Julia Stiles 1981 - Actress
• Lady Gaga (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) 1986 - Musician