18 October 2013

junket

[juhng-kit]

noun

1. a sweet, custardlike food of flavored milk curdled with rennet.
2. a pleasure excursion, as a picnic or outing.
3. a trip, as by an official or legislative committee, paid out of public funds and ostensibly to obtain information.
verb (used without object)
4. to go on a junket.
verb (used with object)
5. to entertain; feast; regale.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English jonket < Old French (dial.) jonquette rush basket, equivalent to jonc (< Latin juncus reed) + -ette -ette

Related forms
jun·ket·er, noun

Today’s aphorism

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

On this day

18 October – Anti-slavery day, created by an act of the U.K. Parliament in 2010. It defines modern day slavery as child trafficking, forced labour, domestic servitude and trafficking for sexual exploitation. It provides an opportunity to draw attention to the subject and to pressure government, local authorities, public institutions and private and public companies to address the scale and scope of human trafficking.

18 October 1776 – the ‘cocktail’ is invented when a customer requests a drink decorated with a bird-tail, in a New York bar.

18 October 1926 – birth of Chuck Berry, legendary American musician and pioneer of rock and roll and famous for songs such as ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ and ‘Johnny B. Goode’.

18 October 1931 – death of Thomas Edison, U.S. inventor. Born 11 February 1847.