17 June 2014

savvy

[sav-ee]
Informal.

verb (used with object), verb (used without object), sav·vied, sav·vy·ing.
1. to know; understand.

noun, savvy, savviness
2. practical understanding; shrewdness or intelligence; common sense: a candidate who seemed to have no political savvy.

adjective, sav·vi·er, sav·vi·est.
3. shrewdly informed; experienced and well-informed; canny.

Origin:
1775–85; < Spanish sabe, present 3rd singular of saber to know < Latin sapere to be wise; see sapient

Today’s aphorism

War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it.

– George Orwell

On this day

17 June 1631 – Mumtaz Mahal dies in childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I undertakes to build a mausoleum, the Taj Mahal, in her honour. He takes 17 years to do it.

17 June 1958 – birth of Jello Biafra (born Eric Reed Boucher), American musician and spoken word artist, was lead singer of the San Francisco punk rock band, Dead Kennedys.

17 June 1971 – US President Richard Nixon declares a War on Drugs.