Tuesday, January 18, 2011

concupiscible \kon-KYOO-pi-suh-buhl\, adjective:

• Worthy of being desired.

Concupiscible has Latin roots in concupiscere, "to be desirous of."

just sayin'

• a term coined to be used at the end of something insulting or offensive to take the heat off you when you say it.

Jordan: Anna you have really let yourself go.

Anna: What the hell! What is your freaking problem?!

Jordan: Just sayin'

Anna: Oh well in that case, I suppose its okay.

Jordan: Friends?

Anna: Fer Sure

Trivia

Who was known as Agent l7F when he spied for British Naval Intelligence during World War II?

• Ian Fleming, creator of fictional superspy James Bond, aka Agent 007.

History

• Lima: capital of the Spanish New World empire was founded by Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro after he defeated the native Incans; the now-sprawling metropolis is also known as El Pulpo ("the Octopus") (1535)
• Sandwich Islands: Hawaii was first visited by a European, Captain James Cook, who named it after one of his sponsors, the Earl of Sandwich (1778)
• Botany Bay: the first ship of the First Fleet arrived in Australia, bringing English convicts (1788)
• Marion Barry: the mayor of Washington, DC, was arrested on drug charges; after serving his sentence, he reentered politics and regained the mayoralty (1990)

Birthdays

• Montesquieu (1689-1755): political philosopher and writer; also, Spanish-language poet Rubén Darío (1867-1916)
• Peter Roget (1779-1869): lexicographer who compiled Roget's Thesaurus
• Daniel Webster (1782-1852): statesman and orator
• Joseph Glidden (1813-1906): patented a way to make barbed wire, changing the shape of the American West
• Thomas Watson (1854-1934): telephone pioneer
• A.A. Milne (1882-1956): creator of Winnie the Pooh
• Mark Messier (50): NHL hall-of-famer; plus, tennis pro Elke Clijsters (26)
• Kevin Costner (56): Oscar-winner for Dances with Wolves; also, actors Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), Cary Grant (1904-1986), Danny Kaye (1913-1987), Jesse L. Martin (42), Derek Richardson (35), Jason Segel (31) and Samantha Mumba (28)