Saturday, October 30, 2010

caterwaul \KAT-uhr-wawl\, intransitive verb:

1. To make a harsh cry.

2. To have a noisy argument.

noun:

1. A shrill, discordant sound.

Caterwaul is from Middle English caterwawen, "to cry as a cat," either from Medieval Dutch kater, "tomcat" + Dutch wauwelen, "to tattle," or for catawail, from cat-wail, "to wail like a cat."

What the actual fuck?

An expression of surprise or confusion used when what the fuck is insufficient to convey the magnitude of the situation. The increasingly flippant use and associated devaluation of the query 'what the fuck?' has necessitated the creation a more heart-felt derivative.

"What the actual fuck are you doing?"

"Have you seen Russell's beard yet?"

"Yeah... what the actual fuck?"

Trivia

What role did honey once play in the game of golf?

• It was used in the core of golf balls. Before the solid core was introduced in the late 1960s, most golf balls had a rubber center that was filled with a liquid—which frequently was honey. Today synthetic materials are used in mass-produced golf balls with liquid centers.

History

• Act of Supremacy: the English parliament passed a law making King Henry VIII head of the English church (1534)
• War of the Worlds: Orson Welles' radio broadcast purported to deliver news of a fictional Martian invasion; outrage and panic ensued (1930)
• Tsar Bomba: the largest and most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested was detonated by the Soviet Union over the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya (1961)
• the rumble in the jungle: Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman for the world heavyweight title (1974)
• Quebec: voters opted to stay part of Canada by a hair's-breadth majority of 50.6% to 49.4% (1995)

Birthdays

• John Adams (1735-1826): the first vice president of the US, and its second president
• Alfred Sisley (1839-1899): landscape artist
• Charles Atlas (1893-1972): Italian-born bodybuilder who ran a mail order course for "97-pound weaklings"
• Louis Malle (1932-1995): New Wave film director, My Dinner With André; also, director Claude Lelouche (73) and broadcast pioneer Fred Friendly (1915-1998)
• Grace Slick (71): rock singer, Jefferson Airplane; and, rocker Timothy Schmit (63)
• Henry Winkler (65): The Fonz of Happy Days; also, actors Ruth Gordon (1896-1985), Dick Gautier (73), Harry Hamlin (59), Kevin Pollack (53), Jack Plotnick (42), Nia Long and Ben Bailey (both 40) and Gael Garcia Bernal (32)
• Diego Maradona (50): Argentinian soccer great who led his country to the 1986 World Cup; also, gold-medal gymnast Nastia Liukin (21)
• Bobby "the blue" Bax0jayz (39): Drummer, accountant, supreme evil dictator of the universe