we’re getting a leap second today
because the earth is taking an extra .002 seconds to rotate.
use it wisely.
THE SPARTANS ON CALLING AN ENEMY’S BLUFF: “IF.”
Philip II of Macedon was the father of Alexander the Great. His son would one day conquer the (known) world, but Philip got things started by conquering all the city-states of ancient Greece. Well, almost all. Sparta, on the southernmost tip of the land Philip sought to control, was a strict military culture known for its brutal martial prowess.
In 346 B.C, Philip sent a message to intimidate the Spartans. “You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army on your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people and raze your city.” The term “Laconic wit,” comes from the Spartan region Laconia.
The Spartans employed it to great effect with their one word response to Philip: “If.”
Philip never attempted to conquer Sparta.
the word dates back to the very beginning of modern japan,
the meiji era (1868-1912), and has its origins in a pun.
tsundoku, which literally means reading pile, is written in japanese as 積ん読
tsunde oku means to let something pile up and is written 積んでおく
around the turn of the century they swapped out the
oku (おく) for doku (読) – meaning to read.
because tsunde doku was hard to say,
the word was combined to form tsundoku.
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this is the perfect word to describe certain places in my cottage
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credits: dan colman, mental floss, reddit image
1 more
The challenge from Rob at the VPub is to join in the 1 liner experience. I am up for the challenge!
Rules
1. Write one line in the ongoing story, in italics.
2. Pass the challenge onto the next victim/Nominee.
3. Link back to your nominator.
4. Link back to Me, Waffles, if you could please, this could be very interesting.
5. Copy and paste all the previous story and add your line.
And the story goes…
It was a warm sunny day and sea was a almost transparent shade of blue.
I lay there, watching the waves lap on the shore, a drink in hand, a tear rolling down my cheek.
I stand up yelling at that boy who threw this load of sand into my eyes and my drink when he jumped over me.
I then grabbed my water gun, running fast after him, I was laughing, he was jumping over people to escape. He turned to look at me, but didn’t see the two children in front of him carrying two delicious looking ice cream cones.
As he barreled into the children, knocking the ice-cream from their grasp, I caught one of the scoops of pistachio and hurled it at his head as I fell laughing to the ground!
and what luck, his mouth was open and he gulped down the scoop, spitting nuts rapid-fire style like a rabid squirrel!
My nominee for this challenge is: mark from http://markbialczak.com
What fun! Thanks wendy and rob!