Sunday, September 22, 2019

gingham \GING-uhm\, noun:

• yarn-dyed, plain-weave cotton fabric, usually striped or checked.

Gingham is derived from the Malay word ginggang which means "striped cloth." It entered English via the Dutch word gingang.

 
punam

• A pretty/cute face. Sometimes a person in general. Derived from the Yiddish "ponnum."

His baby has the biggest punam on him. .

My cat is a punam!

Austin Powers:
How can I say no to a Punam like that?

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
• Laura Vandervoort 1984

 

Sorry for party rockin'

Saturday, September 21, 2019

habiliment \huh-BIL-uh-muhnt\, noun:

1. Usually, habiliments. a. clothes or clothing. b. clothes as worn in a particular profession, way of life, etc.
2. habiliments, accouterments or trappings.

Habiliment comes from the French word of the same spelling. It's from the root habiller meaning "to dress."

 
12 month rule

• The 12 month rule is when parents have to stop saying how many months old their baby is after they reach 1 year old. Some parents say their baby is 34 months old. They make you do extra math when they could easily say 2 years and 10 months old.

Woman 1: "Aww how old is he?"
Woman 2: "26 months old"
Woman 1: "Don't say 26 months old it breaking the 12 month rule."

 
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")

WTF Friday - I wanted to do this to my neighbor...

Friday, September 20, 2019

skedaddle \ski-DAD-l\, verb:

1. to run away hurriedly; flee.

noun:

1. a hasty flight.

Skedaddle is an Americanism that arose in the 1860s. It may be related to the Scottish dialect word of the same spelling meaning "to spill, scatter."

 
California no

• The way rejection tends to be handled by Californians, who are sunny in disposition and less brusque than East Coast residents. Instead of bluntly saying "no," Californians say no by avoiding the question, forgetting to respond to emails, and generally postponing the issue. The best way to give a California no is to do nothing at all, as opposed to saying it outright. This is especially popular in the entertainment industry. For example, Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal is quoted as saying: "To me, postponing a Hollywood lunch meeting is the new passing. They figure they'll postpone you until you go away. This way, they are not saying no. If that happens more than twice -- obviously emergencies come up -- you've got to get the hint."

A: So I emailed that agent a week ago and still no response. What is going on?
B: He's giving you the California no.

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

Turtle Thursday: Flip that bird

...the bird!

Thursday, September 19, 2019

serotinal \si-ROT-n-l, ser-uh-TAHYN-l\, adjective:

• pertaining to or occurring in late summer.

Serotinal entered English in the early twentieth century. It is derived from the Latin word sērōtinus meaning "late of time." 

 

Premature Articulation

• Premature Articulation is the act of speaking/bragging too soon before all the facts are in, the game is over, etc.

Dude, I totally jinxed the Cardinals by blathering all over Facebook about how they were kicking ass, then they lost the game. For the first time since high school, I experienced premature articulation!

 

Trivia

In what country was an oppressive Communist regime overthrown in a bloodless uprising known as the Velvet Revolution?

• Czechoslovakia, in 1989.

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

 

Hasselhoff Wednesday: Rugby

I've always maintained that rugby is a sport for colossal assholes.

Here's the proof, not even the HOFF can make it cool.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

pari passu \PAH-ree PAHS-soo; Eng. PAIR-ahy PAS-oo, PAIR-ee\, adverb:

1. with equal pace or progress; side by side.
2. without partiality; equably; fairly.

Pari passu comes directly from the Latin phrase of the same spelling. It commonly meant "simultaneously" and literally meant "with equal step."

 
FOSU

• Acronym for Fear of Sobering Up. Someone who has FOSU may begin their drinking with Bloody Mary's over breakfast just to ensure they're never sober. People suffering from FOSU often use boring people as a reason to get drunk in the first place.

Reginald: Dave, I'm hungover.
Dave: Hair of the dog, mate.

Reginald: Yeah, fair enough... Can you fix me a Bloody Mary or a Gin and Tonic? I don't wanna be sober around these other asshats.
Dave: Bro, you've got a hardcore case of FOSU.

Reginald: Yeah, but have you been trapped in a conversation with Betty or Rachael recently? It's like listening to an orchestra of cats.

History

• Tiffany and Co.: upscale jewelry retailer was founded as a stationery and fancy goods store (1837)
• The New York Times: the "Gray Lady," then known as The New-York Daily Times, published its first issue (1851)
• Jimi Hendrix: influential rock guitarist died, age 27, due to substance abuse (1970)
• 2001 anthrax attacks: began, a week after 9/11, with a mailing from Trenton, New Jersey, to various media sources in New York City (2001)

  

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Birthdays

• Samuel Johnson 1709
• John Diefenbacker (Canada) 1779
  
• John George Diefenbaker 1895
• Greta Garbo 1905
• Eddie "Rochester" Anderson 1905
• Satchel Leroy Paige 1908
• Ray Geiger 1910
• Syd Howe 1911
• Rossano Brazzi 1916
• Jack Warden 1920
• Harvey Haddix 1925
• Phyllis Kirk 1926
• Teddie King 1929
• Jimmie Rodgers 1933
• Robert Blake 1938
  
• Fred Willard 1939
• Frankie Avalon 1939
• Ken Brett 1948
• Kerry Livgren (Kansas) 1949
• Dee Dee Ramone (The Ramones) 1952
• Holly Robinson Peete 1964
• Ricky Bell (Bell Biv Devoe, New Edition) 1967
• Joanne Catherall (Human League) 1962
• Blas Elias (Slaughter) 1967
• Jada Pinkett 1971
• Lance Armstrong 1971 (cheater)
• Brandon Porter 1993
• Taylor Porter 1993