Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

mountebank  \MOUN-tih-bank\  ~ noun

DEFINITION(s): 1: a person who sells quack medicines from a platform

2: a boastful unscrupulous pretender : charlatan

EXAMPLES: In his newspaper column, Gavin criticized the talk-radio host as "a mountebank whose 'expert' opinions and advice are complete hooey."

"Bring your five-minute tales related to all things fraudulent and pseudo. Flimflammers, mountebanks, poseurs and snake oil salesmen especially welcome." -- From a literary events listing by Gina Webb in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 25, 2011

DID YOU KNOW? "Mountebank" derives from the Italian "montimbanco," which was formed by combining the verb "montare" ("to mount"), the preposition "in" (converted to "im," meaning "in" or "on"), and the noun "banco" ("bench"). Put these components together and you can deduce the literal origins of "mountebank" as someone mounted on a bench -- the "bench" being the platform on which charlatans from the 16th and 17th centuries would stand to sell their phony medicines. Mountebanks often included various forms of light entertainment on stage in order to attract customers. Later, extended uses of "mountebank" referred to someone who falsely claims to have knowledge about a particular subject or a person who simply pretends to be something he or she is not in order to gain attention.

~THE REBATE~

Have a child hooked on the Hasbro Littlest Pet Shop?  Now you can get the special edition Littlest Pet Shop Rooster when you collect 8 stickers from specially-marked packages (look for the green paw print) of The Littlest Pet Shop Pretty Pairs, Shimmer ‘n Shine Pets, Walkables, or Walkable Theme packs. The offer ends 6/30/12 and requests need to be post marked by 7/31/12.  To get yours fill out the rebate form and mail it together with the 8 stickers pasted on the collectors page.  It doesn't say where you can get the books but I am guessing they are in the boxes the toys come with.

I hope everyone is having a great Wednesday!

C.Q.