Wednesday, February 2, 2011

elide \ih-LAHYD\, verb:

1. To suppress; omit; ignore; pass over.

2. To omit (a vowel, consonant, or syllable) in pronunciation.

3. In law, to annul or quash.

Elide derives from the Latin elidere, "to wound."

Snowbooking

• To constantly update your status or post on Facebook during a snowstorm. Normally, because your stuck inside and bored out of your mind. Also can be used to describe Facebook users who constantly discuss, complain, or post pictures about a snow storm.

Sarah must be snowed in and bored, because she's been snowbooking since the storm started.

The roads haven't been plowed so everyone's snowbooking.

Trivia

How did green-living actor Ed Begley Jr. generate the power needed to operate his toaster on his reality TV show Living with Ed?

• By riding on his stationary bike.

History

• Buenos Aires: was founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain (1536)
• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: agreement ended the Mexican-American War, with Mexico ceding much of the US West and Southwest (1848)
• Cardiff Giant: 10-foot-tall "petrified man" was revealed as a hoax; the figure was made of gypsum (1870)
• F.W. de Klerk: lifted the 30-year ban on the African National Congress and promised to free Nelson Mandela (1990)

Birthdays

• Talleyrand (1754-1838): diplomat, statesman; also, Abba Eban (1915-2002)
• James Joyce (1882-1941): author of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake; plus, writers Ayn Rand (1905-1982) and James Dickey (1923-1997)
• George Halas (1895-1983): football pioneer who founded the Chicago Bears; wide receiver Donald Driver (36) also celebrates a birthday today
• Graham Nash (69): musician, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; also, musicians Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987), Stan Getz (1927-1991), Tom Smothers (74) and Shakira (34)
• Marissa Jaret Winokur (38): Tony Award-winning actor, Hairspray; also, actors Elaine Stritch (85), Robert Mandan (79), Bo Hopkins (69), Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009), Brent Spiner and Jack McGee (both 62), Kim Zimmer (56) and Jennifer Westfeldt (41)