Sunday, February 1, 2009

victuals \VIT-uhlz\, noun:

• food or provisions, esp. for humans

c 1303, vitaylle (singular), from Anglo-French and Old French vitaille, from Late Latin victualia "provisions," noun use of plural of victualis "of nourishment," from victus "livelihood, food, sustenance," from base of vivere "to live." Spelling altered by 1523 to conform with Latin, but pronunciation remains "vittles."

VOCD

• "Volume Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder"
• Function: Noun
• A psychoneurotic disorder in which the television viewer is beset with obsessions or compulsions or both to adjust the volume on the television to a "perfect" number, such as 15, 20, 25, etc. and suffers extreme anxiety or depression through failure to adjust the volume or witnessing an "imperfect" number (9, 16, 31).

Joe has VOCD; he must adjust the volume on any television in which it is not set to a perfect number.

Trivia

What U.S. government agency had a 320-foot-long ladder—the longest in the world—built for its use in the late 1990s?

• The U.S. Coast Guard. Its “debarkation ladder,” which can be rolled up for storage, is intended for emergencies, when a ship’s passengers and crew have to climb down to life rafts from the upper decks.

Today in History:

• US Supreme Court: held its first session, in NY; John Jay, a Federalist Papers author, presided (1790)
• Oxford English Dictionary: first fascicle, A—Ant, was published (1884)
• Ayatollah Khomeini: returned to Tehran after some 15 years of exile; the Iranian Revolution turned the country into an Islamic republic soon after (1979)
• Columbia: space shuttle disintegrated on reentry, killing all seven astronauts aboard (2003)
• wardrobe malfunction: Janet Jackson, in duet with Justin Timberlake, caused a stir at the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show (2004)

Today's Birthdays:

• Langston Hughes (1902-1967): poet, author and playwright of the Harlem Renaissance; authors S.J. Perelman (1904-1979) and Dame Muriel Spark (1918-2006) shared this birth date
• Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007): former president of Russia
• Joe Sample (70): jazz pianist and composer; also, musicians Rick James (1948-2004), Don Everly (72), Mike Campbell (59), Lisa Marie Presley (41), Joshua Redman (40), Big Boi (34) and Julie Roberts (30)
• Michael C. Hall (38): serial-killer star of Dexter; other actors born on this day include Clark Gable (1901-1960), Stuart Whitman (81), Garrett Morris (72), Sherman Hemsley (71), Sherilyn Fenn (44), Terry Jones (67), Pauly Shore (41) and Brian Krause (40)

Quote:

• "I haven't met a player or a coach whose goal isn't to win the Super Bowl." — Pete Rozelle