Sunday, February 18, 2024

pachyderm \PAK-i-durm\, noun:

1. A person who is not sensitive to criticism, ridicule, etc.

2. Any of the thick-skinned, nonruminant ungulates, as the elephant, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros.

3. An elephant.

Pachyderm clearly comes from the Greek roots pachý meaning "thick" and dermatos meaning "skin." Its metaphorical meaning of a person with thick skin is attested to in the 1860s.

 

Grammatically Challanged

• Someone who uses terrible punctuation and couldn't spell if their life depended on it. You are either grammatically challanged by nature, or you have been exposed to txt talkers too long.

my inglish teecher sez dat im inprooving

(My English teacher says that I'm improving.)

History 

• Jefferson Davis: became head of the Confederate States of America (1861)
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain's most popular novel — controversial for its colorful language and its depiction of blacks — was published (1885)
• Academy Awards: first winners were announced (Wings was Best Picture); the awards banquet was held in May (1929)
• Elm Farm Ollie: became the first cow to fly in an airplane; the trip took place in Missouri and she was milked mid-flight (1930)
• Pluto: the icy rock demoted from planet to dwarf planet was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh (1930)
• Robert Philip Hanssen: FBI agent was arrested on charges of spying for the Soviet Union and, later, Russia; he was sentenced to life without parole (2001)
• Shani Davis: became the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history; he won the men's 1,000-meter speed skating race in Turin (2006)

Birthdays

• Mary Tudor 1516 - The Queen of England known as "Bloody Mary"
• Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta 1745
• Louis Comfort Tiffany 1848 - Glass maker and interior designer
• Sholem Aleichem 1859
• Andres Segovia 1894
• Enzo Ferrari 1898
• Billy deWolfe 1907
• Pee Wee King 1914
  

  
• Bill Cullen 1920
• Jack Palance 1919
• Helen Gurley Brown 1922 - Author, editor
• George Kennedy 1925 - Actor
• Jim McElreath 1928
• Gahan Wilson 1930
• Toni Morrison 1931 - Author
• Milos Forman 1932 - Director
• Yoko Ono 1933 - "Artist, singer" (Plastic Ono Band), wife of John Lennon (Beatles)
• Mary Ure 1933
• Irma Thomas 1941
• Herman Santiago 1941 - Musician (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers)
  

  
• Dennis DeYoung 1947 - Musician (Styx)
• Sinead Cusack 1948 - Actress
• John Hughes 1950
• Cybil Sheppard 1950 - Actress
• Randy (Veronica) Crawford 1952
• Juice Newton (Judy Cohen) 1952 - Singer
• Robbie Bachman 1953 - Musician (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)
• Marty Howe 1954
• John Travolta 1954 - Actor ("Pulp Fiction")
• Vanna White 1957 - Game show host ("Wheel of Fortune")
• Greta Scacchi 1960 - Actress
• Matt Dillon 1964
• Dr. Dre (Andre Romelle Young) 1965 - Rapper, music producer, actor
• Molly Ringwald 1968 - Actress ("Sixteen Candles)
• Tommy Scott (Space) 1968
• Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1974 - Tennis player
• Dorzell Burton 1979