Wednesday, November 18, 2009

exegesis \ek-suh-JEE-sis\, noun; plural exegeses \-seez\:

• Exposition; explanation; especially, a critical explanation of a text.

Exegesis comes from Greek, from exegeisthai, "to explain, to interpret," from ex-, "out of" + hegeisthai, "to lead, to guide." Thus an exegesis is, at root, "a leading or guiding out of" a complexity.

darth breather Adj.

• a person who breathes so loud, and sounds like Darth Vader while breathing, especially in quiet places.

Michael: Man! I couldn't complete my exam yesterday.
Jeffrey: Why? Was it that hard?
Michael: No, but there was a darth breather behind me.
Trivia
What was the first island in the Pacific Ocean to become a British colony?

• Pitcairn, in 1838. Settled in 1790 by mutineers from the HMS Bounty and their Tahitian companions, Pitcairn is now the last remnant of the British Empire in the South Pacific.

Today in History

• William Tell: legendary Swiss archer shot an arrow through an apple on his son's head; his life depended on success in this challenge after he defied his canton's Austrian bailiff (1307)
• time zones: US and Canadian railroad companies implemented a system of five standard time zones so that train travelers would be able to keep time (1883)
• Calvin and Hobbes: comic strip about a boy and his stuffed tiger (named for the French theologian and the English political philosopher) debuted (1985)
• Jonestown: over 900 people died from drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid — or through other means — in a murder/suicide pact led by preacher Jim Jones in Guyana (1978)

Today's Birthdays

• Ignace Paderewski (1860-1941): pianist and composer who became prime minister of Poland; plus, lyricist William Gilbert (1836-1911), conductor Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985) and composerJohnny Mercer (1909-1976)
• Alan Shepard (1923-1998): the first American in space
• Margaret Atwood (70): author of The Blind Assassin and The Year of the Flood
• Wilma Mankiller (64): first female chief of the Cherokee Nation
• Warren Moon (53): NFL hall-of-famer; athletes Gary Sheffield (41) and David Ortiz (34) share this birthday
• Owen Wilson (41): actor, Wedding Crashers, Marley and Me; also, actors Brenda Vaccaro (70), Linda Evans (67), Jameson Parker (62), Kevin Nealon (56), Oscar Nunez (51), Elizabeth Perkins(49), Peta Wilson (39), Chloë Sevigny (35), Steven Pasquale (33) and Nate Parker (30)