Friday, December 23, 2011

swaddle \SWOD-l\, verb:

1. To bind an infant with long, narrow strips of cloth to prevent free movement.

2. To wrap (anything) round with bandages.

noun:

1. A long, narrow strip of cloth used for swaddling or bandaging.

Swaddle is related to the Old English word swath meaning “a bandage or wrap.”

christmas eve eve

• December 23rd, the day before Christmas eve.

In order to avoid the Christmas eve rush, everybody does their last minute Christmas shopping on Christmas eve eve, the result being that December 23rd is the busiest shopping day of the year.

I never realised the insanity of Christmas eve eve until I worked in retail.

Trivia

How far can a skunk accurately aim its foul-smelling spray?

• 15 feet.

History

• kidney transplant: was successfully performed for first time, in Boston (1954)
• Federal Reserve Act: law signed by President Woodrow Wilson created the Federal Reserve System, a central banking system for the US (1913)
• Immaculate Reception: the Pittsburgh Steelers won an NFL playoff game over the Oakland Raiders with a "miraculous" touchdown (1972)
• Voyager: experimental plane designed by Burt Rutan completed a 9-day flight around the world without refueling (1986)
• Lenny Bruce: comedian who satirized politics, religion and sex was granted by the governor of New York a posthumous pardon for obscenity, for which he had been convicted 40 years earlier (2003)

Birthdays

• Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002): portrait photographer
• Akihito (78): emperor of Japan
• Harry Shearer (68): writer/director/actor, The Simpsons, This is Spinal Tap; also, actors Gerald S. O'Loughlin (90), Ronnie Schell (80), Frederic Forrest (75), Susan Lucci (65), Corey Haim (1971-2010) and Estella Warren (33)
• Eddie Vedder (47): singer/songwriter, frontman for Pearl Jam; plus, musicians Jorma Kaukonen (71), Ron Bushy (66), Dave Murray (55), Jamie Murphy (35) and Irvin Mayfield (34)
• Carla Bruni (44): wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy

Read more: http://www.answers.com/