Saturday, January 24, 2009

talisman \TAL-is-muhn, TAL-iz-muhn\, noun:

1. an object, such as a ring, engraved with figures supposed to have magic power; charm
2. anything that seems to produce extraordinary results

by 1599, from French talisman, in part via Arabic tilsam (pl. tilsaman), a Greek loan-word; in part directly from Byzantine Greek telesma "talisman, religious rite, payment," earlier "consecration, ceremony," originally "completion," from telein "perform (religious rites), pay (tax), fulfill," from telos "completion, end, tax."

transaction

• The sex you get from a crossdresser.

Man, that girl I met at the bar last night was really a dude. It's okay, I got me some sweet transaction.

Trivia

Which is the only state in the United States bordered by two navigable rivers? Clue: The rivers are the Missouri and the Mississippi.

• Iowa. The Mississippi is on its eastern border; the Missouri, on its western border.

Today in History:

• Caligula: Roman emperor who had a reputation for freakish behavior was assassinated by his Praetorian Guards (41)
• Eskimo Pie: chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar was patented by Christian K. Nelson; it aimed to satisfy cravings for ice cream and chocolate bars at once (1922)
• St. Petersburg: Russian city was renamed Leningrad three days after Lenin's death (1924)
• Shoichi Yokoi: Japanese soldier was discovered hiding on Guam, 28 years after American forces reconquered the island in the Battle of Guam (1972)

Today's Birthdays:

• Edith Wharton (1862-1937): novelist, Ethan Frome and The Age of Innocence; writers William Congreve (1670-1729) and Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais (1732-1799) were also born on this date
• Oral Roberts (91): faith healer, evangelist
• Neil Diamond (68): Grammy-winning singer/songwriter; other musicians born on this date include Doug Kershaw (73), Aaron Neville (68), Warren Zevon (1947-2003) and Tatyana Ali (30)
• Mary Lou Retton (41): the first American woman gymnast to win an individual Olympic gold medal
• Ed Helms (35): The Office's Andy Bernard; also, actors Ernest Borgnine (92), Michael Ontkean (63), John Belushi (1949-1982), Daniel Auteuil (59), Nastassja Kinski (50), Matthew Lillard (39) and Mischa Barton (23)

Quote:

• "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die." — Mel Brooks