History Schmistory: January 28. “Dear Horace, I just had a happy accident.”
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
1754: The first use of the word “serendipity” in the English language is noted in a letter from Horace Walpole to Horace Mann. A letter between Horaces! Walpole said he formed it from the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip, whose heroes “were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of”. Mann convinced Walpole to truncate the fledgling term from the original; “Serendipity-doo-dah.”
MarcoWord (French): Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas)
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Today’s MarcoWord (French): Joyeux Noël. Merry Christmas. “Joyeux Noël, my French friend. Whoa, change one letter and ‘French friend’ looks like ‘French Fried!’ Cool!”
MarcoWord (German): Fröhliche Weihnachten (Merry Christmas)
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Today’s MarcoWord (German): Fröhliche Weihnachten. Merry Christmas. “Fröhliche Weihnachten! Can I pay in Euros?”
Today’s MarcoWord (Indonesian): Selamat Hari Natal (Merry Christmas)
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Today’s MarcoWord (Indonesian): Selamat Hari Natal. Merry Christmas. “Selamat Hari Natal, fellow Indonesioners!”
Today’s MarcoWord (Croatian): Sretan Bozic (Merry Christmas)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Today’s MarcoWord (Croatian): Sretan Bozic. Merry Christmas. “Sretan Bozic! You think Christmas is Zadar is huge–you should check out Dubrovnik!”
Today’s MarcoWord (Arabic): I’d Miilad said oua sana saida (Merry Christmas)
Monday, December 16, 2013
Today’s MarcoWord (Arabic): I’d Miilad said oua sana saida. Merry Christmas. “I’d Miilad said oua sana saida! Any luck finding a Christmas tree out here in the desert? “
MarcoWord (Finnish): Hyvaa joulua (Merry Christmas)
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Today’s MarcoWord (Finnish): Hyvaa joulua. Merry Christmas. “Hyvaa joulua! Finland, Finland, Finland, that the country for me; pony trekking or camping, or just watching TV. ”
Today’s MarcoWord (Danish): Glædelig Jul (Merry Christmas)
Monday, December 9, 2013
Today’s MarcoWord (Danish): Glædelig Jul. Merry Christmas. “Glædelig Jul! Let’s have a sweet flat pastry thingy for Christmas breakfast. “
MarcoWord (Greek): Kala Christouyenna! (Merry Christmas)
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Today’s MarcoWord (Greek): Kala Christouyenna!. Merry Christmas. “Kala Christouyenna!! Did you know the “X” in Xmas comes from the Greek letter “chi” which represents ‘Christ?’ Well, it does :-)!”
