Fully 91% of American adults own a cell phone and many use the devices for much more than phone calls.  81% of cell phone owners send or receive text messages; 60% of cell phone owners access the internet; 52% send or receive email; 50% download apps; 49% get directions, recommendations, or other location-based information; 48% listen to music; 21% participate in a video call or video chat; 8% “check in” or share their location”.  See Cell Phone Activities 2013, a 16-page report by Maeve Duggan issued Sept. 16, 2013, and based on Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project Spring Tracking Survey, April 17 – May 19, 2013 at:  http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_Cell%20Phone%20Activities%20May%202013.pdf 

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

chimera  (ki-MEER-uh, ky-)  noun 1.  A fanciful fabrication; illusion.  2.  An organism having genetically different tissues.  After Chimera, a fire-breathing female monster in Greek mythology who had a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.  From Greek khimaira (she-goat), ultimately from the Indo-European root ghei- (winter), which is the ancestor of words such as chimera (literally a female animal that is one winter, or one year old), hibernate, and the Himalayas, from Sanskrit him (snow) + alaya (abode).  Earliest documented use:  1382.

aegis  (EE-jis)  noun  Protection, support, guidance, or sponsorship of a particular person or organization.  From Latin aegis, from Greek aigis (goatskin), from aix (goat).  Aigis was the name of the shield or breastplate of Zeus or Athena in Greek mythology.  It was made of goatskin.  Earliest documented use:  1704.

chagal  (CHAH-guhl)  noun  A bag, usually made of canvas or leather, used for carrying water.

From Hindi chhagal, from Sanskrit chhagala (of a goat).  Earliest documented use:  1909.

 

Feedback.to.A.Word.A.Day

From:  Jesse Lansner  Subject:  Goat Week

I had just finished reading this email when I saw a tweet alerting me that today is the start of Goat Week on the Modern Farmer website I can't wait to see what other sites might be celebrating goats this week!

From:  Michael Tremberth  Subject:  Goats

Goat originally meant she-goat and there was a separate word, bucca, which got confused with the word for a male deer, which is why we use he-goat in distinction

From:  Antonio Christopher Dittmann  Subject:  Goats

By the way, aren't goats wonderful?  Ray and I had two for a week to help clear a large swath of our property that had become completely impenetrable because of Siberian Blackberry -- the scourge of the Pac NW!  When the lady came to take them back, we had fallen so in love with them that we momentarily considered chaining ourselves to her truck and chanting, "Heck no! They don't go!"

From: Joan Perrin  Subject:  Chagal

This week's final word derived from goats, chagal, brought to mind one of my favorite artists, Marc Chagall.  Chagall, born in Belarus, Russia in 1887, has been touted as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the 20th century".  An early "Modernist", he was a prolific creator of art in many mediums. He is best known for his fine art prints, book illustrations, and stained glass pieces.  These exquisite windows have adorned cathedrals, the UN building and the Hadassah Hospital in Israel.  Many of his earlier works were based on Eastern European Jewish folk culture, and would occasionally feature goats.  I raise a chagal to toast Chagall!

From:  Allen Foster  Subject:  Chimera

In William Finn's Musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee", one contestant is given the word CHIMERICAL.  The definition given is "unreal, magical, visionary, wildly fanciful, highly unrealistic" which leads her to a beautiful song that is an inner dialogue between herself and her parents, in which they all love one another.  It is called "The I Love You Song" and it is heartbreaking.   from the 2005 Original Broadway Cast Recording. 5:58:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TaVVNC2dt0 )  

Three things mentioned in The Third Secret, a tale of intrigue in the Vatican by Steve Berry

(1)  Though papal infallibility was only set in stone in 1870, the idea had been part of church history and debate as far back as 519 when the notion of the Bishop of Rome as the preserver of apostolic truth was set out in the Formula of Hormisdas.   In 1075 Pope Gregory VII in his Dictatus Papae (The Pope's Memorandum) put it more bluntly.  He set out 27 propositions about the powers of the office of Bishop of Rome.  These included the statement that the papacy "never will err to all eternity according to the testimony of Holy Scripture".  It stated that Pope "when he speaks ex cathedra, that is when exercising the office of pastor and teacher of all Christians" is "possessed of infallibility" when "he defines... a doctrine concerning faith and morals to be held by the whole Church, through the divine assistance promised to him by St Peter".  Once the Pope has spoken, the First Vatican Council agreed, his definitions "are irreformable of themselves".  Routine papal teaching is not therefore infallible and it was not until 1950 that a pope exercised his "infallible magisterium" to declare that the Virgin Mary had been assumed body and soul into heaven.  Pope John Paul II spoke infallibly once:  in 1994 he ruled out the possibility of women ever being ordained and furthermore decreed that Catholics should not even talk about the issue any more.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/pope/infallibility.shtml

(2)  The Catholic insistence on the celibacy of priests dates back to the first centuries of the Church.  The first Church law mandating celibacy was Canon 33, enacted at the Synod of Elvira, now the Spanish city of Granada, around 305-306 AD.  The discipline was definitively reaffirmed at the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century.  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/priestly-celibacy-up-for-debate-popes-deputy/story-fnb64oi6-1226717348660

(3)  Castel Gandolfo is a town located 15 miles (24 kilometres) southeast of Rome in the Lazio region of Italy.  Occupying a height on the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Albano, Castel Gandolfo has a population of approximately 8,834 residents and is considered one of Italy's most scenic towns.  Within the town's boundaries lies the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo which serves as a summer residence and vacation retreat for the pope, the leader of the Catholic Church.  Although the palace is located within the borders of Castel Gandolfo, it has extraterritorial status as one of the properties of the Holy See and is therefore not under Italian jurisdiction.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castel_Gandolfo 

Two comic novels by Robert Ludlum:  The Road to Gandolfo (1975) and The Road to Omaha (1992) In The Road to Gandolfo Ludlum introduced the outrageous General MacKenzie Hawkins and his legal wizard Sam Devereaux. Now the Hawk is back - and shows absolutely no sign of retiring from the world of intrigue and adventure that is his lifeblood.  http://www.iblist.com/book64928.htm 

put your nose out of joint  hurt your feelings or upset your plans

This phrase is quite old and was used by Barnaby Rich in His Farewell to Militarie Profession, 1581:  "It could bee no other then his owne manne, that has thrust his nose so farre out of ioynte."  Link to a list of phrases about parts of the body (including cut off your nose to spite your face) at:   http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/296600.html 

"Don't cut off your nose to spite your face just because your nose is out of joint." 

In the earliest days of golf on the eastern coast of Scotland, players used primitive equipment to play the game in a rather haphazard and casual manner.  The first clubs and balls specifically made for golf were fashioned from wood.  One documented reference is that of a John Daly playing with a wooden ball in 1550.  In 1618 the feather golf ball or 'Featherie' was introduced.  This was a handcrafted ball made with goose feathers tightly packed into a horse or cow hide sphere.  The feathers and leather were fashioned into a ball while wet.  As the assembly dried out the leather shrank and the feathers expanded to create a hardened ball.  The ball was then finished off by painting it and punched with the ball-makers mark.  Quality varied according to the skill of the craftsman.  Unfortunately, the handcrafted nature of the balls meant that they were priced beyond the pockets of the masses, sometimes more expensive than a club. Notable ball-makers of the 1600s were Andrew Dickson, Leith and Henry Mills, St Andrews.  The introduction of the Gutta Percha ball or 'Guttie' in 1848 by Rev Adam Paterson of St. Andrews and the spread of the railways directly contributed to the expansion of golf.   http://www.golfeurope.com/almanac/history/golf_ball.htm 

The List of Conforming Golf Balls will be updated effective the first Wednesday of

each month.  The updates will be available for download the Monday prior to each

effective date.  Visit www.usga.org or www.randa.org for the latest listing. 

"a wise man will learn more from his enemies than a fool will from his friends."--a quote from the 2013 film Rush.  Read about the film at:  http://thefancarpet.com/reviews/rush/  Read about the main actors:  Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo (born 1978) is a Spanish-born German actor.  He began his work at a young age in a German soap opera called Forbidden Love in 1995.  In 2003, his starring role in German tragicomedy film Good Bye, Lenin! received wider recognition and critical acclaim which garnered him the European Film Award for Best Actor and the German Film Award for Best Actor.  Brühl was born in Arenys de Munt, Spain.  His father was the late German TV director Hanno Brühl (1937-2010), who was born in São Paulo, Brazil.  His mother was a Spanish teacher.  He also has a brother and a sister.  Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Cologne, Germany, where he grew up and attended the Dreikönigsgymnasium.  Brought up in a fully multilingual home, he speaks German, Spanish, English, French and Catalan.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Br%C3%BChl  Chris Hemsworth (born 1983) in Melbourne, Australia to Leonie, a teacher of English, and Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counselor.  He was raised both there and in the Northern Territory, in a small Aboriginal community in the Outback called Bulman.  He attended high school at Heathmont College before his family again returned to the Northern Territory, and then moved a few years later to Phillip Island.  He is the middle of three boys; his brothers Luke (older) and Liam (younger) are also actors.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hemsworth