Wednesday, February 11, 2009

tome \tohm\, noun:

• a large, often scholarly, book

by 1519, from Middle French tome, from Latin tomus "section of a book, tome," from Greek tomos "volume, section of a book," originally "section, piece cut off," from temein "to cut," from Proto Indo-European *tom-/*tem- "to cut." Originally "a single volume of a multi-volume work;" sense of "a large book" is attested from 1573.

carcolepsy

• a condition affecting buddies on a trip who fall asleep as soon as the car starts moving, providing no company or driving help

Joe slept the whole way here, I think he suffers from carcolepsy.

Trivia

When it comes to American shoes, what woman’s size is the equivalent of a man’s size 8?

• 9 1/2. American women’s shoes are numbered 1 1/2 sizes higher than men’s shoes of the same length.

Today in History:

• Bernadette Soubirous: as a teenager, St. Bernadette saw her first vision of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes (1858)
• Natan Sharansky: Soviet dissident was released after 10 years in prison (1986)
• Nelson Mandela: political prisoner was freed after 27 years in detention; he went on to dismantle apartheid and become South Africa's first black president (1990)

Today's Birthdays:

• Sarah Palin (45): governor of Alaska who ran unsuccessfully for vice president of the US, MILF
• Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909-1993): director, screenwriter and producer, All About Eve
• Farouk I (1920-1965): king of Egypt
• Thomas Edison (1847-1931) inventor
• Jennifer Aniston (40): actor, Friends, Marley and Me; other actors born today include Leslie Nielsen (83), Conrad Janis (81), Tina Louise (75), Burt Reynolds (73), Philip Anglim (57), Carey Lowell (48), Damian Lewis (38), Brandy (30) and Matthew Lawrence (29)
• Mike Shinoda (32): singer, keyboardist, guitarist, songwriter of Linkin Park fame; also born today, singers Sheryl Crow (47) and Kelly Rowland (28)

Quote:

• "There's a way to do it better. Find it." — Thomas Alva Edison