25 July 2014

gonzo

[gon-zoh]
Slang.
adjective

1. (of journalism, reportage, etc.) filled with bizarre or subjective ideas, commentary, or the like.
2. crazy; eccentric.

noun
3. eccentricity, weirdness, or craziness.

Origin:
1970–75, Americanism; apparently first used in the phrase Gonzo journalism by U.S. journalist Hunter S. Thompson (born 18 July 1939); perhaps < Italian: simpleton, one easily duped (of uncertain origin) or < Spanish ganso a lazy or dull person, literally, goose (< Germanic; see goose)

Today’s aphorism

Fear is the thief of dreams.

– Brian Krans

On this day

25 July 1603 – James VI, King of Scotland, is crowned as the first King of Great Britain and becomes James I.

25 July 1834 – death of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet.

25 July 1946 – the United States conducts first under-water tests of an atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

25 July 1978 – Bob Dylan booed off stage for using an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival.

25 July 1995 – discovery of minor planet: 43844 Rowling, which was named after author J.K. Rowling in 2006.