Spanish Word of the Day
Saturday, August 3, 2013
ropa, noun
clothes
clothes
You’ll already know ropa in the meaning of clothes:
Voy a cambiarme de ropa.
I’m going to change my clothes.
Ropa has other meanings as well:
la ropa deportiva
sportswear
la ropa interior
underwear
No llevaba ropa interior.
She wasn’t wearing any underwear.
la ropa sucia
the dirty washing, the laundry
Lo metieron en el canasto de la ropa sucia.
They put it in the laundry basket.
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© HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2006. All rights reserved.
Spanish Word of the Day
Sunday, August 4, 2013
saber, verb
to know
to know
You’ll already know saber, one of the commonest words in Spanish. Today we’re looking at two special uses of it.
¿Qué sabes de Maribel?
Have you heard from Maribel?
Desde su fiesta no sé nada de ella.
I haven’t heard from her at all since her party.
If you want to ask about someone, or to say that you haven’t heard from someone, you use saber de, as in the examples above.
To say as far as I know, you use the subjunctive of saber, in the following construction:
To say as far as I know, you use the subjunctive of saber, in the following construction:
Que yo sepa, no ha sido aún traducido.
As far as I know, it hasn’t been translated yet.
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© HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2006. All rights reserved.
Word of the Day for Saturday, August 3, 2013
spigot \SPIG-uht\, noun:
1. a small peg or plug for stopping the vent of a cask.
2. a peg or plug for stopping the passage of liquid in a faucet or cock.
3. a faucet or cock for controlling the flow of liquid from a pipe or the like.
4. the end of a pipe that enters the enlarged end of another pipe to form a joint.
2. a peg or plug for stopping the passage of liquid in a faucet or cock.
3. a faucet or cock for controlling the flow of liquid from a pipe or the like.
4. the end of a pipe that enters the enlarged end of another pipe to form a joint.
The gray hut is five feet away, a raised window above the spigot of the hose.
-- Christopher Bram, Gods and Monsters, 1995
He worked his way around the trunk until he found a spigot. He turned it on and caught a little fluid in the palm of one hand. He sipped it.
-- Piers Anthony, Two to the Fifth, 2008
Spigot came to English in the late 14th century from the Latin spica meaning "ear of grain." It shares its root with the word spike.
Word of the Day for Sunday, August 4, 2013
rarefied \RAIR-uh-fahyd\, adjective:
1. extremely high or elevated; lofty; exalted: the rarefied atmosphere of a scholarly symposium.
2. of, belonging to, or appealing to an exclusive group; select; esoteric: rarefied tastes.
2. of, belonging to, or appealing to an exclusive group; select; esoteric: rarefied tastes.
A fire then being made in any chimney, the air over the fire is rarefied by the heat, becomes lighter and therefore immediately rises in the funnel, and goes out...
-- Benjamin Franklin, Observations and Experiments, 1744-1785
She and Adam had one thing in common--they were both fine-drawn and rarefied--not much clogged with fleshly appetites.
-- John Buchan, A Prince of Captivity, 1933
Rarefied entered English in the late 1300s from the Latin rarus + facere meaning "to make rare."
On This Day:
Saturday August 3, 2013
This is the 215th day of the year, with 150 days remaining in 2013.
Fact of the Day: Gray Panthers
The Gray Panthers were founded in August of 1970 by Maggie Kuhn in response to her forced retirement at the age of 65. The original name of the group, Consultation of Older and Younger Adults for Social Change, was changed early on when a television producer came up with the nickname The Gray Panthers. The Gray Panthers have spoken out about many causes throughout the years, ranging from forced retirement to the Vietnam War to current concerns about immigration and Medicare.
Holidays
Feast day of St. Walthen or Waltheof, St. Germanus of Auxerre, and St. Thomas of Hales or Dover.
Guinea-Bissau: Colonization Martyrs Day.
Equatorial Guinea: Armed Forces Day.
Niger: Independence Day.
Guinea-Bissau: Colonization Martyrs Day.
Equatorial Guinea: Armed Forces Day.
Niger: Independence Day.
Events
1492 - Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain, on his first voyage that took him to the present-day Americas.
1610 - Henry Hudson entered the inland sea that was later named Hudson's Bay.
1778 - La Scala opera house opened in Milan, Italy.
1858 - Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile, was discovered by the English explorer John Speke.
1921 - Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis refused to reinstate the former Chicago White Sox players implicated in the"Black Sox" Scandal, despite their acquittals in a jury trial.
1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the United States of America, following the death of Warren G. Harding.
1940 - Latvia was incorporated into the USSR as a constituent republic.
1948 - Whittaker Chambers, an avowed Communist, accused Alger Hiss, a former U.S. State Department official, of being a Communist agent.
1949 - The National Basketball Association was formed.
1958 - The nuclear-powered submarine Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater.
1963 - The Beatles played in the Cavern Club in their hometown, Liverpool, for the last time.
1981 - U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from President Ronald Reagan they would be fired, which they were.
2004 - The Statue of Liberty monument reopened for the first time since the September 11 attacks, but tourists are not allowed into the crown.
1610 - Henry Hudson entered the inland sea that was later named Hudson's Bay.
1778 - La Scala opera house opened in Milan, Italy.
1858 - Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile, was discovered by the English explorer John Speke.
1921 - Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis refused to reinstate the former Chicago White Sox players implicated in the"Black Sox" Scandal, despite their acquittals in a jury trial.
1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the United States of America, following the death of Warren G. Harding.
1940 - Latvia was incorporated into the USSR as a constituent republic.
1948 - Whittaker Chambers, an avowed Communist, accused Alger Hiss, a former U.S. State Department official, of being a Communist agent.
1949 - The National Basketball Association was formed.
1958 - The nuclear-powered submarine Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater.
1963 - The Beatles played in the Cavern Club in their hometown, Liverpool, for the last time.
1981 - U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from President Ronald Reagan they would be fired, which they were.
2004 - The Statue of Liberty monument reopened for the first time since the September 11 attacks, but tourists are not allowed into the crown.
Births
1900 - Ernie Pyle, American journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter.
1905 - Maggie Kuhn, American activist who formed the Gray Panthers.
1920 - P.D. James (Phyllis Dorothy James), British mystery writer.
1926 - Tony Bennett (Benedetto), American Grammy Award-winning singer.
1905 - Maggie Kuhn, American activist who formed the Gray Panthers.
1920 - P.D. James (Phyllis Dorothy James), British mystery writer.
1926 - Tony Bennett (Benedetto), American Grammy Award-winning singer.
Deaths
1924 - Joseph Conrad, British novelist and short-story writer.
1966 - Lenny Bruce, controversial American stand-up comedian.
1966 - Lenny Bruce, controversial American stand-up comedian.
On This Day:
Sunday August 4, 2013
This is the 216th day of the year, with 149 days remaining in 2013.
Fact of the Day: continents
The continents are the world's seven great land masses which are continuously coming together and drifting apart. The earth's outer shell (crust) is made up of nine major moving slabs of rock, called tectonic plates, in which the continents are embedded. Over millions of years, the continents' placement has changed dramatically. Two hundred and twenty million years ago, all the continents were joined into a single 'supercontinent' we refer to as Pangaea. The word continent comes from Latin continens, short for terra continens, meaning "land held together."
Holidays
Feast day of St. Molua or Lughaidh, St. Ia, St. Sezni, and St. John Baptist Vianney.
Burkina Faso: Revolution Day.
Burkina Faso: Revolution Day.
Events
1753 - George Washington became a Master Mason, the highest rank in the Fraternity of Freemasonry.
1790 - The Revenue Cutter service, the forerunner of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, was organized.
1892 - Andrew Borden and Abby Borden were axed to death in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Lizzie Borden, Andrew Borden's daughter from a previous marriage, was accused of the killings, but acquitted at trial.
1914 - Britain declared war on Germany while the United States proclaimed its neutrality.
1916 - The United States purchased the Danish Virgin Islands for $25 million.
1966 - In a U.S. radio interview, John Lennon claimed that the Beatles were probably more popular than Jesus Christ.
1977 - President Jimmy Carter signed a measure establishing the Department of Energy.
1997 - The Teamsters Union went on a 15-day strike against United Parcel Service after talks broke down with nation's largest package delivery service.
1790 - The Revenue Cutter service, the forerunner of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, was organized.
1892 - Andrew Borden and Abby Borden were axed to death in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Lizzie Borden, Andrew Borden's daughter from a previous marriage, was accused of the killings, but acquitted at trial.
1914 - Britain declared war on Germany while the United States proclaimed its neutrality.
1916 - The United States purchased the Danish Virgin Islands for $25 million.
1966 - In a U.S. radio interview, John Lennon claimed that the Beatles were probably more popular than Jesus Christ.
1977 - President Jimmy Carter signed a measure establishing the Department of Energy.
1997 - The Teamsters Union went on a 15-day strike against United Parcel Service after talks broke down with nation's largest package delivery service.
Births
1792 - Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet.
1900 - Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother of Britain's royal family.
1901 - Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong, American jazz musician, Grammy Award-winning singer.
1900 - Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother of Britain's royal family.
1901 - Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong, American jazz musician, Grammy Award-winning singer.
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