Tuesday, October 27, 2026

higgledy-piggledy \ HIG-uhl-dee-PIG-uhl-dee \ , adverb; 

• in a jumbled, confused, or disorderly manner; helter-skelter. 

adjective: 

• confused; jumbled. 

Origin: Higgledy-piggledy came to English in the late 1500s and is a rhyming compound of uncertain origin. 

Presponse

• To respond to a question before it is finished, often confusing the asker.

Wendy: So are you avail-

Jimmy: No. (Presponse)

Wendy: -ible Monday?

(silence)

Wendy: Are you?

History 

• Philadelphia: the City of Brotherly Love was founded (1682)
• Federalist Papers: the first of a series of essays was published, calling for the ratification of the US Constitution; the essays were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay (1787)
• IRT: New York City's first rapid transit subway opened (1904) [Pictured below: The City’s mayor, George McClellan, opens the world-renowned New York City subway system. He actually drove the first passengers, charging them 5¢ to ride a line that, back then, only covered 9.1 miles of track with 28 stations. How things changed…]
• nylon: chemical company DuPont announced the name of its new synthetic fiber (1938)
• Wall Street crash: trading was halted for a cooling-off period after the Dow fell more than 500 points (1997)

Birthdays

• James Cook 1728
• Nicola Paganini 1782
• Theodore Roosevelt (U.S.) 1858
  
• Emily Post 1872
• Leif Erickson 1911
• Dylan Thomas 1914
• Teresa Wright 1918
• Nanette Fabray 1920
• Ralph Kiner (MLB) 1922
• Roy Lichtenstein 1923
• Ruby Dee 1924
• Floyd Cramer 1933
• John Cleese 1939
• Lara Parker 1942
• Lee (Melvin) Greenwood 1942
• Carrie Snodgress 1946
• Terry Anderson 1947
• Jack Daniels (Highway 101) 1949
• Garry Tallent (E Street Band) 1949
• Fran Lebowitz 1950
• Jayne Kennedy-Overton 1951
• Roberto Benigni 1952
• Peter Firth 1953
• Robert Picardo 1953
• Simon LeBon (Duran Duran) 1958

• Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots) 1967 
• Sean Holland 1968
• Sheeri Rappaport 1977
• Kelly Osbourne 1984

  

 

  

Saturday, October 24, 2026

samovar \ SAM-uh-vahr, sam-uh-VAHR \ , noun; 

• a metal urn, used especially by Russians for heating water for making tea. 

Origin: Samovar entered English in the 1800s from the Russian samovár , which means "self-boiler."

neverendum

• The act of putting a referendum initiative on the ballot over and over, on the theory that voters will eventually support the proposition because they don't want to hear about it anymore.

"A referendum on banning ice cream again? This is the third time they've tried to get this passed in four years."

"I'm voting in favor this time, just to be done with this neverendum."

 

booty hangers 

• A pair of short shorts that when you wear them your 'booty' 'hangs' out of the bottom.

Girl 1: "Wow! Michelle's booty is coming out of the bottom of her shorts!" 
Girl 2: "Yeah, she always wears booty hangers."

 

History

• Peace of Westphalia: marked the end of the Thirty Years' War, a series of European conflicts (1648)
• Annie Edson Taylor: seeking fame and fortune, the former schoolteacher became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel; she used a pickle barrel (1901)
• George Washington Bridge: upper level of the NY-NJ span opened; the lower level opened 31 years later (1931)
• Fair Labor Standards Act: the 1938 act that established the 40-hour work week in the US went into effect (1940)
• Toronto Blue Jays: became the first non-US team to win the World Series, downing the Atlanta Braves in 6 (1992)

Birthdays

• Sarah J. Hale 1788 - She wrote the poem "Mary Had A Little Lamb."
• Belva Lockwood 1830
• James Sherman 1855
• Molina Trujillo 1891
• Preston Foster 1900
• Moss Hart 1904
• Sonny Terry 1911
• Bob Kane 1915 (creator of Batman)
• Y.A. Tittle (NFL) 1926
• J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) 1930

• Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones) 1936 
• Santo Farina 1937
• F. Murray Abraham 1939
• J.P. Richardson 1930
• David Nelson 1936
• Jerry Edmonton (Steppenwolf) 1946
• Kevin Kline 1947
• Kweisi Mfume 1948
• B.D. Wong 1962
• Ben Gillies (Silverchair) 1979
• Monica 1980

 

   

  

 

  

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

scaramouch \ SKAR-uh-mouch, -moosh \ , noun; 

1. ( lowercase ) a rascal or scamp. 
2. a stock character in commedia dell'arte and farce who is a cowardly braggart, easily beaten and frightened. 

Origin: Scaramouch entered English in the 1600s from the Italian scaramuccia literally meaning "skirmish." It is ultimately of Germanic orign.

designated texter

• a passenger who reads and replies to any and all text messages recieved on the drivers phone, thus alowing the driver to focus on the road and not hit anything or get pulled over for reckless driving.

Guy 1: "Whoa, i almost hit that telephone pole back there, Dude you should be my designated texter " 
Guy 2: "Yeah no problem bro"

 

Selfie 

• A picture taken of yourself that is planned to be uploaded to Facebook, Myspace or any other sort of social networking website. You can usually see the person's arm holding out the camera in which case you can clearly tell that this person does not have any friends to take pictures of them so they resort to Myspace to find internet friends and post pictures of themselves, taken by themselves. A selfie is usually accompanied by a kissy face or the individual looking in a direction that is not towards the camera.

myspace face facebook arm twitter instagram snapchat picture Selfie 

 

History

• Louisiana Purchase: acquisition that doubled the territory of the United States was ratified by the Senate (1803)
• "I shall return": General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his 1942 promise when he led an Allied army in freeing the Philippines from Japanese control in WWII (1944)

  
• HUAC: opened hearings into alleged Communist influence in the movie industry (1947)
• Saturday Night Massacre: during Watergate, President Richard Nixon got rid of his special prosecutor, Archibald Cox, as well as his AG Elliot Richardson, and deputy AG William Ruckelshaus (1973)
• Sydney Opera House: distinctive building on Sydney Harbour was opened by Queen Elizabeth II (1973)

Birthdays

• Sir Christopher Wren 1632
• Arthur Rimbaud 1854
• James Mann 1856
• John Dewey 1859
• Charles Ives 1874

• Bela Lugosi (Blasko) 1882
• Ellery Queen (Frederic Dannay) 1905
• Arlene Francis 1908
• Will Rogers, Jr. 1912
• Granpa Jones (Louis Marshall) 1913
• Fayard Nicholas 1914
• Herschel Bernardi 1922
• Art Buchwald 1925
• Mickey Mantle (MLB) 1931
• William Christopher 1932
• Roosevelt Brown (NFL) 1932
  
• Michael Dunn 1934
• Jerry Orbach 1935
• Bobby Seale 1936
• Wanda Jackson 1937
• Juan "Manito" Marichal (MLB) 1937
• Jay Siegal (The Tokens) 1939
• Earl Hindman 1942
• Ric Lee (Ten Years After) 1945
• Isaac Curtis (NFL) 1950
• Al Greenwood (Foreigner) 1951
• Melanie Mayron 1952
• Dave Collins (MLB) 1952
• Tom Petty 1953 
  
• Keith Hernandez (MLB) 1953
• Eric Scott 1958
• Viggo Mortensen 1958
• Mark King (Level 42) 1958
• David Ryan (The Lemonheads) 1964
• James G. Sonefeld (Hootie & the Blowfish) 1964
• Fred Coury 1966 - Musician (Cinderella)
• Dannii Minogue 1971
• Snoop Doggy Dogg (Calvin Broadus) 1971

 

 

 

  

  

 

  

Monday, October 19, 2026

pratfall \ PRAT-fawl \ , noun;

1. a fall in which one lands on the buttocks, often regarded as comical or humiliating. 
2. a humiliating blunder or defeat. 

Origin: Pratfall entered English in the 1930s. It combines prat and fall . The origin of prat is unknown. Fall comes from the Old English feallan.

haberdash

• A bunch of bullshit; unsupported bullshit; a notion stated a fact.

Aww, thats haberdash if he says he can jump across that huge river in one bound.

 

History

• Yorktown campaign: British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered, effectively ending the land war of the American Revolution (1781)
• Black Monday: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 508 points — over 22% — setting a record for percentage decline that still stands (1987)
• Guildford Four: men wrongly convicted for a deadly IRA bombing were cleared after 15 years in jail (1989)

Birthdays

• Thomas Browne 1605
• Annie Peck 1850
• Charles Merrill 1885
• Robert Beatty 1909
• George Cates 1911
• Lawanda Page 1920
• Bern Bennett 1921
• George Nader 1921
• Jack Anderson 1922
• John le Carre 1931
• Robert Reed 1932
• Peter Max 1937
• Michael Gambon 1940
• Simon Ward 1941
• Peter Tosh 1944
• Divine 1945

• John Lithgow 1945
• Patricia Ireland 1945
• Jeannie C. Riley 1945
• Patrick Simmons (Doobie Brothers) 1948
• Lynn Dickey (NFL) 1949
• Charlie Chase 1952
• Nino DeFranco (The DeFranco Family) 1956
• Karl Wallinger (Waterboys, World Party) 1957
• Michael Myers 1957 - The Shape / serial killer
  
• Jennifer Holliday 1960
• Evander Holyfield 1962
• Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) 1965
• Jon Favreau 1966
  
• Trey Parker 1969
• Chris Kattan 1970
• Pras Michel (The Fugees) 1972
• Omar Gooding 1976
• Cyndi Thompson 1976
• Benjamin Salisbury 1980
• Rebecca Ferguson 1983 (DUNE)