By Jenna Renaud

Word of the Week: Type II Fun 

Maybe you’re thinking, “I know what fun is,” but did you know that there are different types of fun?  

Type II fun usually feels terrible while you’re doing it, like climbing up a mountain in the freezing cold, running an ultra-marathon, or standing in line at Disney World in the blazing sun, but when it’s over, your memory erases the miserable parts, and you would do it again for fun.  

This is all based on the “fun scale,” typically used by outdoor enthusiasts. You can read more about it in this article from REI. But in summary the other types of fun are: 

Type I Fun – Enjoyable when it’s happening. Simply fun. Eating good food with good friends. Celebrating birthdays or holidays with family. Movie nights.  

Type III Fun – Not actually fun at all. While you’re doing it or in retrospect. Maybe you’re waiting for the Type II fun effect to hit, but it never does. 

For many people, Type II fun is the sweet spot. It’s challenging but isn’t actually putting your life at risk. With finals right around the corner, consider planning some Type II adventures for this summer. 

This Week at Falvey  

NOW–Wednesday, Jun. 15th  

“That Fairyland of Ice”: Polar Exploration in Mind and Memory Exhibit | Falvey First Floor & Virtual | Free & Open to the Public 

Tuesday, April 19th  

Polar Voyaging and the Humanities | 4–5 p.m. | Virtual | https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849 

Wednesday, April 20th   

2022 Falvey Forum Workshop Series: Capturing the Web – Introduction to Web Archiving | 12–1 p.m. | Virtual | Register Here 

“The Politics of the Irish Harp Symbol from Henry VIII to Brexit” Lecture & Harp Performance with Mary Louise O’Donnell | 4 p.m. | Speakers’ Corner | Learn More Here 

Thursday, April 21st 

2022 Literary Festival: Tiphanie Yanique | 7–8:30 p.m. | Speakers’ Corner | Free & Open to the Public | Find more info here 

Friday, April 22nd  

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting | 2:30–4:30 p.m. | Speakers’ Corner | Free & Open to the Public 

2022 Falvey Scholars Virtual Research Presentation and Awards Ceremony | 10 a.m. | Virtual | Register Here 

2022 Concept Virtual Recognition Ceremony | 1–2 p.m. | Virtual | Register Here 

This Week in History 

April 22nd, 1970 – First Earth Day was celebrated 

Earth Day is an annual event used to demonstrate support for environmental protection and bring awareness to a wide range of environmental issues. 2022 marks the 52nd celebration of the holiday.  

Earth Day was started by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, an environmentalist who wanted to increase awareness and provide unity to the environmental movement. “The objective was to get a nationwide demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake the political establishment out of its lethargy,” Senator Nelson said, “and, finally, force this issue permanently onto the national political agenda.” 

Earth Day has contributed to the passage of the Clean Water and Endangered Species Act. Each year the holiday is recognized by 192 different countries. 

Read more from History.com. 

Jenna Renaud is a graduate assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a graduate student in the Communication Department.

Word of the Week: Vernal Equinox (also known as: Spring Equinox, March Equinox) 

Yesterday marked the official first day of Spring! Each year spring is marked by the vernal equinox, which falls around March 20 or 21 and is when the Sun crosses the celestial equator going north. 

Equinoxes occur when the axis of rotation of the earth is exactly parallel to the direction of motion of the earth around the sun. Day and night are about the same length on this day, hence the name “equinox.” The name is derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night). 

Now that we’ve passed the vernal equinox, be prepared for earlier sunrises, later sunsets, softer winds, and sprouting plants—all signs that Spring is here.  

This Week at Falvey  

NOW–Wednesday, June 15

“That Fairyland of Ice”: Polar Exploration in Mind and Memory Exhibit | Falvey First Floor & Virtual | Free & Open to the Public 

Monday, March 21 

Mindfulness Mondays | 1–1:30 p.m. | Virtual | https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849 

Monday, March 21 

The Interfaith Human Library: Where Books Talk and We All Learn About Life in a Multi-Faith World | 4:30–6 p.m. | Speakers’ Corner | Register Here 

Tuesday, March 22 

Scholarship@Villanova–Billie Murray, PhD, on Combating Hate: A Framework for Direct Action | 4–5:15 p.m. | Room 205 | Find more info here 

Wednesday, March 23

2022 Falvey Forum Workshop Series: Introduction to Digital Archives and Research | 12–1 p.m. | Virtual | Register Here 

Thursday, March 24  

Spring 2022 Digital Seeds Lecture: Matthew Bui, PhD, on “Toward Urban Data Justice: Auditing the Racial Politics of Data” | 4 p.m. | Virtual | Register Here 

Friday, March 25

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting | 2:30–4:30 p.m. | Speakers’ Corner | Free & Open to the Public 

This Week in History 

March 23, 1839 – “OK” enters national vernacular  

On March 23, 1839, the initials “O.K.” are first published in The Boston Morning Post, partially as a joke. It was meant as an abbreviation for “oll korrect,” a popular slang misspelling of “all correct.” However, “OK” then steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans. 

In the late 1830s, many younger people would misspell words intentionally, then abbreviate them and use them as slang. Some examples include “KY” for “no use” (“know yuse”) and “OW” for all right (“oll wright”).  

OK rose above the rest and made its way into common vernacular even to this day in part thanks to the Boston Morning Post. From there, its popularity continued when it was picked up by politicians at the time. 

Read more from History.com. 

Jenna Renaud is a Graduate Assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a Graduate Student in the Communication Department.

By Jenna Renaud

Word of the Week: March Madness 

This week instead of strictly defining a word, we’re talking about the origin of the phrase March Madness in honor of the tournament kicking off!  

March Madness originated from the phrase “mad as March here”; however, it did not come from the NCAA tournament, but rather Henry Porter, an Illinois high school athletics administrator in 1939. In the 1940s, March Madness was used for Illinois state basketball tournaments, before spreading elsewhere in the Midwest region. 

40 years later in the 1980s, March Madness came to be associated with the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, an association many credit to commentator Brent Musburger. 

This Week at Falvey  

NOW–Wednesday, Jun. 15th  

“That Fairyland of Ice”: Polar Exploration in Mind and Memory Exhibit | Falvey First Floor & Virtual | Free & Open to the Public 

Monday, March 14th 

Mindfulness Mondays | 1–1:30 p.m. | Virtual | https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849 

Wednesday, March 16th 

2022 Falvey Forum Workshop Series: Mastering the Labyrinth: Newspaper–Magazine Archives | 12–1 p.m. | Virtual | https://villanova.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMsfuqsrTsvG9BvwhHkwcD9LIxFsFF0yACe  

Friday, March 18th  

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting | 2:30–4:30 p.m. | Speakers’ Corner | Free & Open to the Public 

This Week in History 

February 15th, 44 B.C. – Assassination of Julius Caesar  

“Beware of the ides of March” 

2,066 years ago on March 15th, Julius Caesar, dictator of Rome, is stabbed to death in the Roman Senate house by 60 conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. This day then infamously came to be known as the “Ides of March.”  

Despite now being associated with a more ominous connotation, the ides of March has a tamer origin. Ides simply referred to the first new moon of a given month, with each month having its own ides, typically falling between the 13th and the 15th. The ides of March was the 74th day in the Roman calendar and traditionally associated with religious celebrations and at one point, the new year. 

Jenna Renaud is a Graduate Assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a Graduate Student in the Communication Department.

By Jenna Renaud

Word of the Week: Wordle 

(n) a name for an electronic image that shows words used in a particular piece of electronic text or series of texts. The words are different sizes according to how often they are used in the text. 

Before Wordle was the game that causes us to forget the English language every morning, it was the name for the word clouds that you’ve probably made at some point in your life. In addition, a wide variety of games with the same moniker have been released over the years although the trademark situation is a bit up in the air at the moment.  

Below is a wordle of the words in a blog post Ethan did about the game Wordle! Wordle-ception!  

This Week at Falvey  

NOW–Wednesday, Jun. 15th  

“That Fairyland of Ice”: Polar Exploration in Mind and Memory Exhibit / Falvey First Floor & Online / Free & Open to the Public 

Monday, Feb. 14th  

Mindfulness Mondays | 1–1:30 p.m. | Virtual | https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849  

Tuesday, Feb. 15th  

The Bible in Black, Part 2 on the New Testament | 12–1 p.m. | Room 205 | More info here 

Tuesday, Feb. 15th  

Robbie Richardson, PhD, on “Death, Bones, and the Rise of the Museum in the Eighteenth Century” | 5:30 p.m. | Room 205 or Virtual| More info here 

Friday, Feb. 18th  

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting | 2:30–4:30 p.m. | Speakers’ Corner | Free & Open to the Public  

This Week in History 

February 14th, 270 A.D. – St. Valentine beheaded 

At the time, Rome was under the rule of Claudius II, also known as Claudius the Cruel, and was involved in many bloody campaigns. Because of the many campaigns, it was imperative that the emperor maintained a strong army; however, he struggled to recruit men. He attributed this difficulty to marriage and the strong attachment men had to their wives and families. In response to this, Claudius banned all marriages in Rome. 

Valentine, a holy priest, saw this decree as unjust and continued to perform marriages in secret. When he was found out, he was put in prison until his execution on February 14. Legend has it that right before his beheading, he wrote a letter to the jailor’s daughter signing it “Love your Valentine.” Following his death, he was made a saint. 

This is just one of the stories that potentially account for the life of St. Valentine and the origins of the holiday. To read more about the theories surrounding Valentine’s Day and St. Valentine, visit History.com.  

Jenna Renaud is a Graduate Assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a Graduate Student in the Communication Department.

By Jenna Renaud

Word of the Week: Hiemal  

(adj) of or related to winter; wintry  

With the heimel temperatures we have been experiencing, it does not surprise me that February is here. If your friends or family are tired of hearing you complain about how cold the weather is, up your cold-weather vocabulary and change it up on them. Here you can find a whole list of synonyms for “extremely cold.” 

This Week at Falvey  

NOW–Wednesday, Jan. 15 

“That Fairyland of Ice”: Polar Exploration in Mind and Memory Exhibit / Falvey First Floor & Online / Free & Open to the Public 

Monday, Jan. 31

Mindfulness Mondays / 1–1:30 p.m. / Virtual / https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849  

Friday, Feb. 4

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting / 2:30–4:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public  

This Week in History 

Feb. 1, 1884– Oxford Dictionary debuts 

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is considered the most comprehensive and accurate dictionary of the English language, including not only present-day, common meanings, but also the histories of words included.  

In 1857 members of London’s Philological Society set out to produce an English dictionary covering all words starting during the Anglo-Saxon period (1150 A.D.). Although planned to be 6,400 pages in four volumes, the Dictionary was published under the imposing name A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles – contained over 400,000 words and phrases in ten volumes. 

In 1984, Oxford University Press began the five-year journey to electronically publish the OED. The project required the power of 170 people – 120 people to type up the pages from the print edition and another 50 people to proofread. The online dictionary has been active since 2000.  

To learn more about the development and history of the OED, read the full History.com article here. 

History.com Editors. (2009, November 24). Oxford dictionary debuts. History.com. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oxford-dictionary-debuts 

Jenna Renaud is a Graduate Assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a Graduate Student in the Communication Department.

By Jenna Renaud

Word of the Week

Every year since 2013 the New York Times has conducted a Vocabulary Video challenge for middle- and high-school students. For the contest, students take a word of the day from the past year and create a video under 15-seconds long that defines or teaches that word. Then, at the end of the year, they select some of the best. Last August, the New York Times posted compilation videos of their best verb, noun, and adjective submissions over the years. Check it out here! Maybe you’ll learn a new word or two.  

Verbs Featured: abscond, amalgamate, defame, distill, exorcise, feign, levitate, scotch, vex

Adjectives Featured: agape, anachronistic, aquiline, cacophonous, callow, dexterous, ghastly, gusty, indolent, macabre, mellifluous, nocturnal, obsequious, piscatorial, puerile, pugnacious, sartorial, Sisyphean, superfluous 

Nouns Featured: acrophobia, alchemy, arrogance, autopsy, bevy, bluff, carafe, cartographer, catalyst, censor, comeuppance, degradation, entrée, equinox, fecundity, finesse, fluke, hallucination, illusion, killjoy, malingerer, mishap, naïveté, nonchalance, onomatopoeia, peregrination, plagiarism, pyromaniac, regicide, serendipity, telekinesis, upstage 

This Week at Falvey  

NOW–Wednesday, Jan. 15 

“That Fairyland of Ice”: Polar Exploration in Mind and Memory Exhibit / Falvey First Floor & Online / Free & Open to the Public 

Monday, Jan. 24

Mindfulness Mondays / 1–1:30 p.m. / Virtual / https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849  

Thursday, Jan. 27

2022 Literary Festival – Jericho Brown / 7 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public

Friday, Jan. 28

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting / 2:30–4:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public  

This Week in History 

Jan. 28, 1986 – The space shuttle Challenger explodes after liftoff 

2021 was a big year for space travel with the first all-civilian space flight taking place in September. Thirty-five years prior, Christa McAuliffe was on her way to becoming the first ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space on the Challenger. McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher, had won a competition that earned her a spot on the Challenger’s crew.  

Seventy-three seconds after take-off, the Challenger exploded leaving no survivors. This disaster was the first major shuttle accident, and NASA refrained from sending astronauts into space for two years as they worked to ensure a similar tragedy would not happen again.  

To learn more about what went wrong with the Challenger and the future of space shuttle travel, read this article from History.com.  

A&E Television Networks. (2009, November 24). Space shuttle challenger disaster. History.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/challenger-explodes

Jenna Renaud is a Graduate Assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a Graduate Student in the Communication Department.

Word of the Week: Air Fryer 

Each year Merriam-Webster dictionary adds new words and definitions to its dictionary, from slang to new science and tech jargon. This year, they have added 455 new words! We don’t have enough “Peeks” to cover the new words, but I decided to share one of the newly added words that also may make the perfect Cyber Monday shopping purchase. 

An air fryer is now defined by Merriam-Webster as, “an airtight, usually small electrical appliance for quick cooking of foods by means of convection currents circulated rapidly by a fan.” Although invented in 2010, in recent years air fryers have become more popular, leading to their addition. Other newly added food-related words include “fluffernutter” and “chicharron.”  

This Week at Falvey  

Monday, Nov. 15–Friday, Jan. 7

Cabinets of Curiosity Exhibit / Falvey First Floor / Free & Open to the Public 

Wednesday, Dec. 1

Fall 2021 Falvey Forum Workshop Series: Introduction to QGIS / 12:30–1:30 p.m. / Virtual / Register Here 

Friday, Dec. 3 

Villanova Gaming Society / 2:30–4:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public 

This Week in History 

Dec. 5, 1945 – Aircraft squadron disappears in the Bermuda Triangle 

On Dec. 5, 1945 at 2:10 p.m., five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers took off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. Two hours later, the squadron leader reported that his compass and back-up compass have both failed. The final communication heard over the radio was the squadron leader telling his team to prepare to leave the aircraft due to a lack of fuel.  

A mariner aircraft with a 13-men crew soon took off to find the five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers, only to never be heard from again. Although naval officials maintained that the remains of the  men were not found because stormy weather destroyed the evidence, the story of the “Lost Squadron” helped cement the legend of the Bermuda Triangle.

Read more about the Bermuda Triangle here. 

A&E Television Networks. (2009, November 24). Aircraft squadron disappears in the Bermuda Triangle. History.com. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/aircraft-squadron-lost-in-the-bermuda-triangle. 

Jenna Renaud is a graduate assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a graduate student in the Communication Department.

Word of the Week: Fika (v/n) 

Staying in Scandinavia for this week’s word of the week (if you haven’t read last week’s Peek at the Week, give it a look) we’re learning about the relaxing Swedish coffee break, “fika.” Although fika is a daily part of people’s lives in Sweden, we could use a little more of it in America.  

Fika is more than just a coffee break. It’s an opportunity to slow down, grab coffee, pick up a sweet treat, and engage in meaningful conversation with friends. I know I’m not very good at the “slowing down” part of a coffee break, but by focusing on engaging in fika throughout my day, I can work to be more mindful and accomplish more the rest of the day.  

Want to learn more about the art of fika? Check out The Little Book of Fika: The Uplifting Daily Ritual of the Swedish Coffee Break by Linda Balslev in Falvey’s collection.  

This Week at Falvey  

Monday, Nov. 15th–Friday, Jan. 7th  

Cabinets of Curiosity Exhibit / Falvey First Floor / Free & Open to the Public 

Monday, Nov. 15th–Friday, Nov. 19th  

Undergraduate Research Symposium Poster Display / 8 a.m.–5 p.m. / Falvey’s Digital Scholarship Lab & Room 205 / Free & Open to the Public 

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week Display / First Floor Display Case

Monday, Nov. 15th–Wednesday, Nov. 17th  

Virtual VuFind® Summit 2021 / 9 a.m.–12 p.m. each day / Virtual / Register Here 

Monday, Nov. 15th  

Mindfulness Mondays / 1–1:30 p.m. / Virtual / https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849 

Wednesday, Nov. 17th  

Fall 2021 Falvey Forum Workshop Series: Creating Interactive GIS Maps with Leaflet and R / 12–1:30 p.m. / Virtual / Register Here 

GIS Day Lecture: Signe Peterson Fourmy, JD, PhD, Villanova University, on “Digital Mapping & Last Seen Ads” / 5:30–6:30 p.m. / Virtual / Register Here 

Thursday, Nov. 18th  

GTU Honor Society Talk & GEV Colloquium Lecture: Gordon Coonfield, PhD, on “How Neighborhoods Remember: Mapping Memory and Making Place in Philadelphia” / 5:30–6:30 p.m. / Mendel 154 & Virtual / Register Here 

Friday, Nov. 19th 

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting / 2:30–4:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public 

This Week in History 

November 19, 1863 – President Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address 

On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln delivered arguably one of the best speeches in the country’s history at the dedication of the Soliders’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The 2-3 minute speech consisting of less than 275 words ended up being exceptionally more powerful than the 2-hour speech delivered by orator Edward Everett.  

Here are the concluding remarks from his little speech: “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” 

A&E Television Networks. (2010, March 10). President Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address. History.com. Retrieved November 10, 2021, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-delivers-gettysburg-address. 

Jenna Renaud is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Memorial Library.

Word of the Week: Hygge  

One of Oxford Dictionaries’ 2016 word of the year finalists was the Danish word Hygge. The word is defined as a “quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.” There is no direct English translation, although the word cozy seems to come the closest to describing hygge. It derives from a sixteenth-century Norwegian term, hugga, meaning “to comfort” or “to console,” which is related to the English word “hug.” The word can be used as a noun, adjective, verb, or compound noun, giving it essentially endless applications.  

As the temperature drops, we are entering into the most hygge time of the year. In between classes, essays, labs, and never-ending readings, take some time to embrace your inner hygge by lighting a candle and curling up under a comfy blanket with a good book.  

Altman, A., Anthes, E., & Heller, N. (2016, December 18). The year of Hygge, the Danish obsession with getting Cozy. The New Yorker. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-year-of-hygge-the-danish-obsession-with-getting-cozy. 

 This Week at Falvey  

Monday, Nov. 8

Mindfulness Mondays / 1–1:30 p.m. / ZOOM / https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849 

Wednesday, Nov. 10

Fall 2021 Falvey Forum Workshop Series: Mapping Demographic Data with Social Explorer / 12:30–1:30 p.m. / ZOOM / Register Here 

Friday, Nov. 12

The 2021 Grade Studies CLAS Research Symposium / 1–4 p.m. / Connelly Center Cinema / Free & Open to the Public 

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting / 2:30–4:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public 

Scholarship@Villanova Talk Featuring Bess Rowen, PhD, on “Impossible Things Happening Every Day: The Possibilities of Impossible Stage Directions” / 3–4:30 p.m. / Room 205 

This Week in History 

Nov. 10, 1969–Sesame Street Debuts 

On Nov. 10, 1969, Sesame Street made its broadcast debut before going on to teach many generations of kids about the alphabet and how to count (with Count von Count, of course!) Sesame Street ultimately became the most viewed children’s television program in the world, airing in more than 120 countries.  

Miss your childhood days of watching Sesame Street? Watch this fun clip to reminisce and find out what the letter of the day is: Sesame Street | Letter of the Day: S | PBS KIDS 

Want to learn more about the psychology behind Sesame Street? Read the chapter on Sesame Street in Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point.  

“Sesame Street” Debuts. (2009, November 24). Retrieved from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sesame-street-debuts

Jenna Renaud is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Memorial Library.