Archive for March, 2010

Daily LaParable, March 31,2010

  • Written by Chris LaPara
  • Posted March 31, 2010 at 6:46 am

Word of the Day

EUPHEMISM

Definition: use of an inoffensive word or phrase in place of a more distasteful one

Example: The funeral director preferred to use the EUPHEMISM “sleeping” instead of the word “dead.”

Synonyms: flattery, mellifluousness

This Day in History

March 31, 1976      The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Karen Anne Quinlan could be disconnected from a respirator. Quinlan remained comatose until 1985 when she died.

Daily Chuckle (maybe)

Daily LaParable

Hard things are put in our way, not to stop us, but to call out our courage and strength.

– Anonymous


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Daily LaParable, March 30, 2010

  • Written by Chris LaPara
  • Posted March 30, 2010 at 6:24 am

Word of the Day

SURREPTITIOUS

Definition: characterized by secrecy

Example: I often have to SURREPTITIOUSLY wipe the lipstick off of the milk container when visitors stop by my home unannounced.

Synonyms: furtive, clandestine

This Day in History

March 30, 1870     The 15th amendment, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race, was passed by the U.S. Congress.

Daily Chuckle (maybe)

Daily LaParable

Arrogance is a kingdom without a crown.

–American Proverb

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Daily LaParable, March 29, 2010

  • Written by Chris LaPara
  • Posted March 29, 2010 at 6:37 am

Word of the Day

PILLORY

Definition: device formerly used for publicly punishing offenders consisting of a vertical wooden plane with holes through which the head and hands protruded

Example: Colonial Americans used the PILLORY for various misdemeanors.

Synonyms: stocks, whipping post

This Day in History

March 29, 1867      The British Parliament passed the North America Act to create the Dominion of Canada.

Daily Chuckle (maybe)


Daily LaParable

Celebrate what you’ve accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed.

– Mia Hamm

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Daily LaParable, March 26, 2010

  • Written by Chris LaPara
  • Posted March 26, 2010 at 7:17 am

Word of the Day

DERIDE

Definition: to speak of or treat with contempt; to mock

Example: The awkward child was often DERIDED by his “cooler” peers.

Synonyms: scoff, sneer

This Day in History

March 26, 1953     Dr. Jonas Salk announces a new vaccine to prevent polio, an infectious viral disease of the central nervous system that sometimes results in permanent paralysis.

Daily Chuckle (maybe)


Daily LaParable

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

– John Wooden

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Daily LaParable, March 25, 2010

  • Written by Chris LaPara
  • Posted March 25, 2010 at 6:29 am

Word of the Day

nefarious

DEFINITION: flagrantly wicked or impious

EXAMPLE: We now learn that the two sides may have been working together in nefarious ways in some kind of conspiracy that transcends national boundaries and allegiances.

SYNONYM: evil; malevolent

This Day in History

March 25, 1947     John D. Rockefeller presents a check for $8.5 million to the United Nations for the purchase of land to build the U.N. center upon.

Daily Chuckle (maybe)

Daily LaParable

If success is not on your own terms – if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your own heart – it is no success at all.

– Anna Quindlen

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Daily LaParable, March 24, 2010

  • Written by Chris LaPara
  • Posted March 24, 2010 at 6:40 am

Word of the Day

TABLEAU

Definition: vivid description, striking incident or scene

Example: The tourists admired the famous painter’s lifelike TABLEAU of the Last Supper.

Synonyms: picture, setting

This Day in History

March 24, 1999      NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Vojvodina). The attacks marked the first time in its 50-year history that NATO attacked a sovereign country. The bombings were in response to Serbia’s refusal to sign a peace treaty with ethnic Albanians who were seeking independence for the province of Kosovo.

Daily Chuckle (maybe)

Daily LaParable

It is a good thing to be rich, it is a good thing to be strong, but it is a better thing to be beloved of many friends.

– Euripedes

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Daily LaParable, March 23, 2010

  • Written by Chris LaPara
  • Posted March 23, 2010 at 6:03 am

Word of the Day

copacetic

DEFINITION: very satisfactory

EXAMPLE: Although Julie and Emma were barely on speaking terms last week, they now say that they have patched things up and everything is copacetic.

SYNONYM: acceptable; OK

This Day in History

March 23, 1775     Patrick Henry declared “Give me liberty, or give me death.”

Daily Chuckle (maybe)


Daily LaParable

Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?

– Robert Browning

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Daily LaParable, March 22, 2010

  • Written by Chris LaPara
  • Posted March 22, 2010 at 8:58 am

Word of the Day

BACCHANALIAN

Definition: drunkenly festive

Example: The frat party was BACCHANALIAN, with kegs of beer emptied and spirits high.

Synonyms: revelous, carousing

This Day in History

March 22, 1917      One week after socialist revolutionaries force Russian Czar Nicholas II to abdicate, the United States becomes the first government in the world to recognize Russia’s provincial government.

Daily Chuckle (maybe)

Daily LaParable

The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.

– Carl Jung

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Daily LaParable, March 18, 2010

  • Written by Chris LaPara
  • Posted March 18, 2010 at 7:20 am

Word of the Day

ECLECTIC

Definition: selecting from or made up from a variety of sources

Example: Budapest’s architecture is an ECLECTIC mix of eastern and western styles.

Synonyms: varied, selected

This Day in History

March 18, 1963      The United States Supreme Court handed down its Miranda decision which states that all defendants must be provided with legal counsel.

Daily Chuckle (maybe)

Daily LaParable

If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.

– B.J. Marshall

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Daily LaParable, March 17, 2010

  • Written by Chris LaPara
  • Posted March 17, 2010 at 6:28 am

Word of the Day

NOISOME

Definition: stinking, putrid

Example: The rotting vegetables and meat in the refrigerator had a NOISOME effect.

Synonyms: noxious, foul

This Day in History

March 17, 432 AD      Pope Celestine I appointed Patrick bishop and agreed to send him to  Ireland as a Christian missionary.

Daily Chuckle (maybe)

Daily LaParable

Laughter is the language of the Gods.

– Buddhist saying

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