Thursday, September 24, 2026

fink \ fingk \ , verb; 

1. Slang . to inform to the police; squeal. 
2. Slang . to act as a strikebreaker; scab. 

noun: 

1. Slang . a strikebreaker. 
2. Slang . a labor spy. 
3. Slang . an informer; stool pigeon. 
4. Slang . a contemptible or thoroughly unattractive person.

Origin: Fink emerged as a slang term in the US in the early 1900s. Its origin is unknown, but some etymologists cite the German word of the same spelling, which means "a frivolous or dissolute person," as a possible lexical ancestor.

 

Layout Bitching

• The act of users posting statuses on Facebook, bitching and moaning unnecessarily about new layouts.

Person A: "WHAT THE HELL FACEBOOK, Y U ALWAYS CHANGE LAYOUT?"

Person B: "Shut the hell up and stop layout bitching."

 

confident turtle

• When one sticks their neck out so far as to avoid double chins and exude the confidence of a turtle that comes out of its shell.

She used the confident turtle to replace duck face in photos.

History

• Black Friday: Wall Street panicked as speculators tried to corner the gold market, causing a collapse (1869)
• USS Enterprise: first nuclear aircraft carrier was launched, in Newport News, Virginia (1960)
• 60 Minutes: investigative TV news-magazine debuted on CBS (1968)

Birthdays 

• John Marshall 1755
• F. Scott Fitzgerald 1896
• Don Porter 1912
• Larry Gates 1915
• Jim McKay 1921
• Sheila MacRae 1924
• Anthony Newley 1931
• Jim Henson 1936
• Barbara Allbut (The Angels) 1940
• Linda McCartney 1941 - Musician (Wings), wife of Paul McCartney (Beatles)
• Phyllis "Jiggs" Allbut (The Angels) 1942
• Gerry Marsden (Gerry and the Pacemakers) 1942
• "Mean" Joe Green (NFL) 1946
• Phil Hartman 1948
• Gordon Clapp 1948

• Kevin Sorbo 1958
• Nia Vardalos 1962
• Cedric Dent (Take 6) 1962
• Rafael Palmeiro 1964
• Lisa Matthews (born Lisa Reich) 1969 (PB Playmate Apr 1990)
• Marty Mitchell (Ricochet) 1969
• Megan Ward 1969
• Marty Cintron (No Mercy) 1971
• Kyle Sullivan 1988

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

  

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

philology \ fi-LOL-uh-jee \ , noun; 

1. Obsolete . the love of learning and literature. 
2. the study of literary texts and of written records, the establishment of their authenticity and their original form, and the determination of their meaning. 
3. (especially in older use) linguistics, especially historical and comparative linguistics. 

Origin: Philology joins philo- , a combining form from the Greek term meaning "loving," and -logy , a suffix used to refer to writing, discourses and collections. It entered English in the late 1300s.

¯\_(ã)_/¯

• y u mad

Pug: all you do is make infestors 

You: ¯\_(ã)_/¯

Holiday

• Autumnal Equinox

History

• Nathan Hale: the American Revolutionary War hero was hung by the British as a spy, saying "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country" (1776)
• Shaka: Zulu kingdom founder was assassinated by his half-brothers (1828)
• long-count fight: Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey (1927)
• Fiddler on the Roof: musical set in the shtetl opened on Broadway; it ran for 3,242 shows (1964)
• Iran-Iraq War: eight-year Persian Gulf conflict began (1980)

Birthdays

• Michael Faraday 1791
• Paul Muni 1895
• Allan 'Rocky' Lane 1901
• John Houseman 1902
• Martha Scott 1914
• Tommy Lasorda 1927
• Eugene Roche 1928
• Joni James (Joan Carmello Babbo) 1930
• Harriet King 1935
• Ray Norton 1937
• Paul LeMat 1945
• King Sunny Ade 1946
• Mark Phillips 1948
• Harold Carmichael 1949
• David Coverdale (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) 1951
• Shari Belafonte-Harper 1954
• Debby Boone 1956
• June Forester (The Forester Sisters) 1956
• Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blond) 1957
• Lynn Herring 1958
• Joan Jett 1960
• Rob Stone 1962
• Scott Baio 1961
• Bonnie Hunt 1964
• Big Rube (Society of Soul) 1971
• Emily "Autumn" Liddell 1979
  
• Laura Vandervoort 1984

 

  

  

  

 

 

  

Monday, September 21, 2026

desiderium \ des-i-DEER-ee-uhm \ , noun; 

• an ardent longing, as for something lost. 

Origin: Desiderium comes from the Latin verb dēsīderāre meaning "to long for; require." It entered English in the early 1700s. 

employmentally challenged

• In today's economy, this word is quite handy when describing those who are currently without a job, jobless, or unemployed. This large group of people may or may not be receiving monthly benefits. They might be actively seeking work and honing in on their resumes or interviewing skills. More often than not, one can assume that they are glued to their couches in sweatpants, watching daytime television.

The employmentally challenged woman slept until 11 a.m. and then pretended to search for jobs on Craigslist, while spending hours and hours on Facebook.

Trivia
What futuristic novel opens with the line “It was a pleasure to burn”?

• Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury.

History

• French National Convention: voted to abolish the monarchy (1792)
• Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus: editorial in the New York Sun addressed an eight-year-old's doubts (1897)
• The Hobbit: J.R.R. Tolkien's classic Middle-earth novel was published (1937)
• independence: Malta (1964) and Belize (1981) become independent of the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China was proclaimed (1949)
• NFL Monday Night Football: debuted on ABC, with color commentators Howard Cosell and Don Meredith (1970)

Birthdays

• H.G. Wells 1866
  
• Chuck Jones 1912
• Rand Brooks 1918
• Larry Hagman 1931
• Leonard Cohen 1934
• Henry Gibson 1935
• James Woolsey 1941
• Dickey Lee (Patches) 1941
• Sam McDowell 1942
• Fannie Flagg 1944
• Richard Childress 1945
• Stephen King 1947
• Reggie Rucker 1947
• Don Felder (The Eagles) 1947
• Marsha Norman 1948
• Bill Murray 1950
• Kenny Starr 1953
• Arie Luyendyk 1953
• Philthy Animal (Motorhead) 1954
• Mark Levin 1957
  
• Ethan Coen 1958
• Mark Reed Levin 1958
• Dave Coulier 1959
• David James Elliot 1960
• Nancy Travis 1961
• Catherine Oxenberg 1961
• Rob Morrow 1962
• Faith Hill 1967
• Tyler Stewart (Barenaked Ladies) 1967
• Ricki Lake 1968
• Trugoy the Dove (De La Soul) 1968
• Alfonso Ribeiro 1971
• Liam Gallagher (Oasis) 1972
• Joseph Mazzello 1983
• Maggie Grace 1983 - Actress ("Lost")
• Lindsey Stirling - (violinist) 1986

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

  

Sunday, September 20, 2026

brusque \ bruhsk \ , adjective;

• abrupt in manner; blunt; rough: A brusque welcome greeted his unexpected return.

Origin: Brusque is borrowed from French and adapted from the Italian word brusco meaning "tart." It entered English in the early 1600s.

 

Sticker Paralysis

• The effect caused by having a really awesome sticker and no appropriate place to use it. General symptoms include keeping the sticker in a drawer and never actually using it. Sometimes resulting in affixation remorse.

"I have contracted a case of sticker paralysis from this Vintage Apple sticker. I can't decide if I should put it on my fake plastic guitar or my rear window or my skateboard. It is too precious to use on just anything.

Holiday

• YOM KIPPUR starts at sundown 

History

• Ferdinand Magellan: explorer set sail from southern Spain to circumnavigate the globe (1519)
• Victor Emmanuel II: seized the Papal States from the French; later he became the first king of modern Italy (1870)
• civil rights: Mississippi governor Ross Barnett personally blocked the entrance of African-American James Meredith to the University of Mississippi; Meredith did end up attending (1962)
• Battle of the Sexes tennis match: Billie Jean King won against Bobby Riggs, who had said women couldn't stand the pressure of the game; 30,000 attended and millions watched on TV (1973)

Birthdays

• Upton Sinclair 1878
  
• Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton 1890
• Chuck Dressen 1898
• Elliot Nugent 1899
• Peg Phillips 1918
• Gogi Grant 1924
• James Galanos 1924
• Rachel Roberts 1927
• Johnny Dankworth 1927
• Donald A. Hall 1928
• Dr. Joyce Brothers 1928
• Anne Meara 1929
• Peter Palmer 1931
• Sophia Loren 1934
• John (Chuck) Panozzo (Styx) 1947
• Guy LaFleur 1951
• 
  Charlene Elizabeth Brinkeman (aka Brinke Stevens) 1954
• Peter White 1954
• Betsy Brantley 1955
• Gary Cole 1957
• Alannah Currie (Thompson Twins) 1957
• Crispin Glover 1964
• Kristen Johnston 1965
• Gunnar Nelson 1967
• Matthew Nelson 1967
• Ben Shepherd (Soundgarden) 1968

 

  

 

  

Saturday, September 19, 2026

equanimity \ ee-kwuh-NIM-i-tee, ek-wuh- \ , noun; 

• mental or emotional stability or composure, especially under tension or strain; calmness; equilibrium.

Origin: Equanimity can be traced to the Latin aequanimitas , which is formed with aequus meaning "even, plain, equal" and animus meaning "mind, spirit, feelings." It entered English in the early 1600s. 

pirate bath 

• The process of washing just the arm pit area and the private area with a wash cloth or handful of water. People will ask you to define a pirate bath, the easy definition is "pits and privates"

Kyle was in a helluva hurry and didn't have time to take a full shower. He instead took a pirate bath and he was on his way.

History

• George Washington's farewell address: was printed as an open letter to the American public (1796)
• New Zealand: became the first country to grant women the vote (1893)
• Butch Cassidy: notorious outlaw joined his partner, the Sundance Kid, in robbing their first bank as a duo in Winnemucca, Nevada (1900)
• Juan Perón: Argentina's president was deposed and exiled after a military coup (1955); he lived in exile for two decades and then was reinstated as president
• emoticons: the digital smiley :-) and frowny :-( were proposed by Scott Fahlman (1982)
• Ötzi the Iceman: 5,000-year-old tattooed mummy was discovered near the Austrian-Italian border (1991)

Birthdays

• Jan Luyts 1655
• Henry Brougham 1778
• Leon Jaworski 1905
• Frances Farmer 1910
• Sir William Golding 1911
• Roger Angell 1920
• Billy Ward (Billy Ward and the Dominoes) 1921
• Duke Snider 1926
• Adam West 1928
• Rosemary Harris 1930
• Ray Danton 1931
• Brook Benton 1931
• Mike Royko 1932
• David McCallum 1933
• Brian Epstein 1934
• Nick Massi (The Four Seasons) 1935
• Al Oerter 1936
• Paul Williams 1940
• Sylvia Tyson (Ian and Sylvia) 1940
• Bill Medley (Righteous Brothers) 1940
• Joe Morgan 1943
• "Mama" Cass Elliott (The Mamas and Papas) 1943
  
• Randolph Mantooth 1945
• David Bromberg 1945
• Freda Payne 1945
• John Coghlan (Status Quo) 1946
• Lol Creme (10cc, Godley & Creme) 1947
• Jeremy Irons 1948
• Lesley "Twiggy" Hornby 1949
• Joan Lunden 1951
• Daniel Lanois 1951
• Nile Rodgers (Chic) 1952
• Rex Smith 1956
• Lita Ford 1958
• Kevin Hooks 1958
• Trisha Yearwood 1964
• Jim Abbott 1967
• Espraronza Griffin (Society of Soul) 1969