Saturday, June 27, 2009

quidnunc \KWID-nuhngk\, noun:

• One who is curious to know everything that passes; one who knows or pretends to know all that is going on; a gossip; a busybody.

Quidnunc comes from Latin quid nunc?, "what now?"
Hiking in Appalachia

• To have an extramarrital affair. Stems from the disappearance and subsequent reappearance of South Carolina Governor, Mark Sanford(R). Gov. Sanford was thought to be hiking in Appalachia. In actuality, he was having an affair in the South American country of Argentina.

Girl, I just saw Susie's man hiking in Appalachia.
Trivia
What did the word bombast refer to when it first came into use in the 16th century?

• Padding or stuffing used in the clothes that were fashionable at the time. The use of the word broadened to describe padded—or overblown—language.

Today in History:

• Joseph Smith: the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was killed by an anti-Mormon mob in Illinois (1844)
• Joshua Slocum: Canadian adventurer landed at Newport, Rhode Island, becoming the first to circumnavigate the world on his own (1898)
• Newbery Medal: children's book prize was first awarded, to Hendrik Willem van Loon for The Story of Mankind (1922)
• Stonewall riots: patrons of a Greenwich Village bar resisted a police raid, sparking the gay pride movement (1969)
• paintball: the first game was played, in New Hampshire (1981)
• United States National Do Not Call Registry: opened for business; almost ¾ of a million phone numbers were signed up on its first day in a stand against unwanted telemarketing (2003)

Today's Birthdays:

• Alexis Bouvard (1767-1843): astronomer and director of the Paris Observatory
• Helen Keller (1880-1968): blind and deaf author, lecturer and social activist
• H. Ross Perot (79): wealthy Texan who ran for president
• Vera Wang (51): fashion designer who specializes in wedding gowns
• J.J. Abrams (43): writer/producer/director, Lost, Alias
• Ed Westwick (22): bad boy Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl; also, actors Bob Keeshan (1927-2004), Julia Duffy (58), Isabelle Adjani (54), Tobey Maguire (34), Drake Bell (23), Matthew Lewis (20) and Madylin Sweeten (18)