PRELUDE
It seems my prior dedication to this newsletter has waned
in recent weeks, and for that I am apologetic, not only to
my readers, but to myself. Much has happened recently to set
my life on a different course, hopefully one for the better.
And so I have suffered—and you as well—from healthy
doses of trivial knowledge. To make amends, I am making this
the most interesting Quotidian yet.
Within are answers to questions about which we have all doubtless
wondered from time to time. I hope you will find answers to
yours.
QUOTES
OF THE WEEK
“The
wisest men follow their own direction.”
—Euripides
“Always do right. This will gratify some people and
astonish the rest.”
—Mark Twain
“It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right
sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take
a mean advantage of them.”
—P.G. Wodehouse
“Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of
much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good
for something.”
—Henry David Thoreau
“Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so,
you apologize for truth.”
—Benjamin Disraeli
THIS
WEEK IN HISTORY
SEPT.
21, 1970: Monday Night Football (MNF) airs for the first
time on ABC. The first showdown was between the New York Jets
and the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland, Ohio. The Jets went
down in flames, 31-21. Up to that point, football games had
only been broadcast regionally to the visiting team’s
viewers (thanks to a federal law prohibiting home games from
being broadcast unless all the tickets to that game had already
been sold).
The existence of MNF is largely due to NFL commissioner Pete
Rozelle, who decided to capitalize on the growing popularity
of football in the United States. He approached the big three
networks (NBC, CBS, and ABC) with the idea of moving one NFL
game from Sunday (when most games were and still are played)
to the prime (continued on page 2)
|
 |
4
WORDS
Memorize these by week's end and you shall
quickly develop an enviable lexicon.
This week’s theme: words that make you sound smart.
| rebarbative
(re-BAR-ba-tiv) adj. |
| 1. |
|
extremely
unattractive; repellant; irritating |
Ex.
Her rebarbative demeanor made it difficult
for me to maintain my composure. |
|
confabulate (con-FAB-u-late) v. |
| 1. |
|
to talk informally; CHAT |
| 2. |
|
to fill in gaps in memory by fabrication |
Ex.
Dad is in the parlor confabulating with
a prospective customer. |
|
vertiginous (ver-TIJ-i-nus) adj. |
| 1. |
|
tending to produce vertigo or dizziness |
| 2. |
|
inclined to frequent and often pointless change; inconstant |
| 3. |
|
revolving; whirling; rotary |
Ex.
The ship hurtled along at a vertiginous
speed as it climbed to the very parapets of Heaven. |
|
somnolent (SOM-no-lent) adj. |
| 1. |
|
drowsy; sleepy |
| 2. |
|
inducing or tending to induce sleep |
Ex.
The quiet murmur of the somnolent stream
made vigilance a chore. |
|
|
