Saturday, February 12, 2011

risible \RIZ-uh-buhl\, adjective:

1. Capable of laughing; disposed to laugh.

2. Exciting or provoking laughter; worthy of laughter; laughable; amusing.

3. Relating to, connected with, or used in laughter; as, "risible muscles."

Risible comes from Late Latin risibilis, from the past participle of Latin ridere, "to laugh, to laugh at." The noun form is risibility.

Some-sex marriage

• A marriage where a couple participates in minimal sexual activity.

Bill and Wanda's sex life was almost non-existent. They had a some-sex marriage.

Trivia

How many sentences long was Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address?

• Ten.

History

• Chile: Santiago, the capital city, was founded (1541); country declared independence from Spain (1818)
• Lady Jane Grey: was beheaded for treason, after a nine-day reign as queen of England (1554)
• NAACP: early civil rights organization was founded (1909)
• the Last Emperor: the Republic of China banished 7-year-old Qing emperor Puyi to the Forbidden City (1912)
• Dracula: the horror film starring Bela Lugosi premiered at the Roxy Theater in NYC (1931)
• Vietnam War: the first the conflict's American POWs were released (1973)
• Bill Clinton: impeachment trial ended in Senate acquittal (1999)
• NEAR Shoemaker: space probe touched down on Eros, becoming the first craft to land upon an asteroid (2001)
• Mattel: announced the breakup of Barbie and Ken after 43 years (2004)

Birthdays

• Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865): America's 16th president
• Charles Darwin (1809-1882): naturalist who proposed the theory of evolution
• Anna Pavlova (1881[NS]-1931): classical ballerina
• Omar Bradley (1893-1981): WWII general
• Franco Zeffirelli (88): film director, Romeo and Juliet; also, director Constantine Costa-Gavras (78)
• Bill Russell (77): NBA legend; as Celtics' coach in 1967, became the first-ever black NBA head coach; and, sportscaster Joe Garagiola (85)
• Judy Blume (73): author of fiction for young people, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; plus, writer Cotton Mather (1663-1728)
• Chynna Phillips (43): singer, Wilson Phillips; plus, musicians Ray Manzarek (72) and Steve Hackett (61) and Michael McDonald (59)
• Josh Brolin (43): SAG-winner and Oscar nominee for his portrayal of Dan White in Milk; also, actors Joe Don Baker (75), Maud Adams (66), Cliff DeYoung (65), Joanna Kerns (58), Arsenio Hall (56), John Michael Higgins (48), Jesse Spencer (32), and Sarah Lancaster and Christina Ricci (both 31)