[Fictionary] Fw: A.Word.A.Day--defenestrate

[lindafowens at netzero.com]

from linda--note time sequence of month/year/etc.

---------- Forwarded Message ----------
From: "Wordsmith" <wsmith at wordsmith.org>
To: lindafowens at netzero.net
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--defenestrate
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 00:17:48 -0400

 Wordsmith.orgThe Magic of Words 
This week's theme
Words with three letters in alphabetic sequence 

This week's words
defenestrate

Today's word in
Visual Thesaurus 

Defenestrate!  Artist: Adolf Liebscher  Discuss
 Feedback
 RSS/XML
A.Word.A.Daywith Anu Garg

I've been alerted to an event that will take place later this week, something that happens once and only once over the course of history. Shortly after noon on July 8, comes the moment that can be called 12:34:56 7/8/9. To mark this momentous event, this week we'll feature words that have three consecutive letters in order, something that doesn't happen very often either (there are hundreds of everyday words, but we are talking here about unusual and interesting words).

It's not exactly true that this sequence of time/date happens only once. If you follow the day/month/year convention, you can observe the same sequence next month, on August 7. And even though it appears to be a rare occurrence, such interesting patterns aren't that unusual. Consider these from the past:
01:23:45 6/7/89
12:34.56 7/8/90
01:02:03 04/05/06
In a couple of years we'll have 11:11:11 11/11/11. What other unusual patterns can you think of that are in the near future? defenestrate PRONUNCIATION:(dee-FEN-uh-strayt)  MEANING:verb tr.: To throw someone or something out of a window. 

ETYMOLOGY:From Latin de- (out of) + fenestra (window). 

NOTES:There have been many defenestrations over the course of history, but the most famous, and the one that inspired the word defenestration, was the Defenestration of Prague on May 23, 1618 . Two imperial regents and their secretary were thrown out of a window of the Prague Castle in a fight over religion. The men landed on a dung heap and survived. The Defenestration of Prague was a prelude to the Thirty Years' War.
See a Lego sculpture of the Defenestration of Prague. Also, check out the defenestration of various articles of furniture in this unique San Francisco sculpture. 

USAGE:"When someone in a Joe Lansdale novel is defenestrated, you feel like shaking the glass shards out of your lap."
Jeff Salamon; The Further Adventures of Hap and Leonard; The Austin American-Statesman (Texas); Jul 4, 2009 . 

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. -Reinhold Niebuhr, theologian (1892-1971) 

Sponsored by:

delanceyplace.com: thinker's daily quote
A carefully selected non-fiction book excerpt free to your email each day.

WildWords - Not Your Grandma's Game
New tiles, squares, and rules put all words in play. See how. Very cool concepts. How to display your ad here?
Unsubscribe | Subscribe | Update address | Gift subscription | Contact us 

© 2009 Wordsmith.org
____________________________________________________________
Being denied on your credit card?  Click here to receive counseling services to improve your credit.
http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2241/fc/BLSrjpYSPqGZTWQkzwZdV2IVexaHz1stnGlM94BnlcJ0vYXpDlNtvQRRCyU/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.swarpa.net/pipermail/fictionary/attachments/20090706/a6ca1a33/attachment.html