Latin. Old English. Bikinis?

I love Dictionary dot com. I love getting the "free" Word of the Day in my inbox. I look forward to it every morning, and I am not even a morning person.

I don't know that it helps my vocabulary that much. I still struggle to find the appropriate word lots of times and though I make an effort to incorporate the Word of the Day into my daily vocabulary, it's not as easy as it was when I was seven and my grandfather paid me five dollars a week to learn new words.

The object then was simple, I had only to look up a word, write down its definition and a sentence using the word, then use the word in conversation at least once that day. For all of this I received one dollar per day, don't laugh, in 1985 that was a really big deal.

Fast forward to the present. When I get the word of the day I either know it (usually I do) or I don't. Regardless, I look at the definition only in the most cursory fashion, but no matter whether I already know the word or not, I always spend a few minutes looking at the etymology, thinking through other words that sound similar and pondering their etymologies as well. It's my favorite part.

Similarly, and for those who receive it you'll be aware of this already, the top (and bottom for that matter) often contain a text ad for some pseudo-intellectual pursuit or another, translation software, puzzle games etc. Who knew the nerd market was so big? One of my favorites (101 Questions Answered!) asks three questions:

-What is Hezbollah?
-What are stem cells?
-How'd those swimsuits get so skimpy?

While most Americans probably can and do get by with ignorance on all three counts and while I know that I should want to know more about stem cells and Hezbollah, they are much like the cursory definition glancing I do. I just want to know enough to get by, but the swimsuits, they are different. How did this cultural shift occur? I want more details! I want to know if, as an image on a friend's MySpace page suggests, by way of a picture depciting underwear from the 1800's to the present, this is evidence of global warming (*snicker, snicker). Okay, not seriously, but why?

A quick glance at the KnowledgeNews website hints only that skimpy suits have been around since Roman times. And being cheap frugal enough that paying for a membership seems ludicrous when I have a University library and the entire World Wide Web at my fingertips, I searched and found this site on the history of swimsuits. It's a cute diversion for a Monday, and as an added benefit, much like my beloved etymologies, of little or no value whatsoever in the practical world.