8 March 2018
picayune
[pik-ee-yoon, pik-uh-]
adjective, Also, picayunish, Informal.
1. of little value or account; small; trifling:
a picayune amount.
2. petty, carping, or prejudiced:
I didn’t want to seem picayune by criticizing.
noun
3. (formerly, in Louisiana, Florida, etc.) a coin equal to half a Spanish real.
4. any small coin, as a five-cent piece.
5. Informal. an insignificant person or thing.
Origin of picayune
French Provençal
1780-1790; < Provençal picaioun small copper coin (compare French picaillons), derivative of an onomatopoetic base *pikk- beat, here referring to the coining of coppers
Related forms
picayunishly, adverb
picayunishness, noun
Synonyms
1. trivial, insignificant. 2. narrow-minded.
Anagram
epic yuan
a puny ice
Today’s quote
The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself especially when everybody is watching.
– Dave Chappelle
On this day
8 March – International Women’s Day.
8 March 1010 – Abolqasem Ferdowsi completes his epic poem, Shahnameh (The Book of Kings). The poem is 50,000 verses long and tells the story of Persia, from creation to the Islamic conquest in the 7th century. Ferdowsi commenced the poem in 977AD. It is the national poem of Iran and is revered by Zoroastrians. The poem is celebrated every year in Iran and by Persian speakers in surrounding areas, including Afghanistan and Tajikstan.
8 – 12 March 1917 – February Revolution in Russia. Following International Women’s Day celebrations many women march out of factories and encourage male counterparts to participate in the strikes and rallies. The first of two events that formed the Russian Revolution, resulting in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, which ended the Romanov dynasty and saw the creation of the Russian Provisional Government, initially led by Prince George L’vov and then by socialist Alexander Kerensky.
8 March 1973 – Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia, is fire-bombed, killing 15 people. The building was on the corner of Amelia Street and St Paul’s Terrace. It was claimed the fire was part of an extortion attempt of night-club owners. The men found guilty of the crime, continued protesting their innocence from prison, claiming they were verballed.