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October 28, 2026
Oct 28, 2026
Word
circuitous
adjective
Definition
  1. having a circular or winding course
  2. not being forthright or direct in language or action
Example
Jenn came up with the same answer I did, but her method was more circuitous, so I showed her how she could do the problem a lot faster.
Origin
If you guessed that "circuitous" is related to "circuit," you're right -- both words come from Latin "circuitus," the past participle of the verb "circumire," meaning "to go around." "Circumire" is derived in turn from Latin "circum," meaning "around," plus "ire," which means “to go.” Other "circum" descendants making the rounds in English include "circumference" ("the perimeter of a circle"), "circumvent" (one meaning of which is "to make a circuit around"), "circumlocution" (the act of "talking around" a subject), and "circumnavigate" ("to go around"). There's also the prefix "circum-," which means "around" or "about," and the familiar word "circumstance," which describes a condition or event that "stands around" another.
Webster's Dictionary
Fun facts
  1. The ZIP in the ZIP code stands for Zone Improvement Plan.
  2. Australia is the only continent without an active volcano.
Snapple's under-the-cap 'Real Facts'
Artist
Wang Hui
1632 - 1717

Wang Hui was a Chinese landscape painter, one of the Four Wangs. He, and the three other Wangs, dominated orthodox art in China throughout the late Ming and early Qing periods. Of the Four Wangs, Wang Hui is considered the best-known today.

Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei museums loaned works for "Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui" in 2008 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historical figure
Chiang Ching-kuo
Apr 27, 1910 - Jan 13, 1988

Chiang Ching-kuo was a Taiwanese politician. The eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China. He served as Premier of the Republic of China between 1972 and 1978, and was the President of the Republic of China from 1978 until his death in 1988.

Chiang Ching-kuo was sent as a teenager to study in the Soviet Union during the First United Front in 1925, when his father's Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party were in alliance. He attended university there, but when the Chinese Nationalists violently broke with the Communists, Stalin sent him to work in a steel factory in the Ural Mountains. There, Chiang met and married Faina Vakhreva. When war between China and Japan was imminent in 1937, Stalin sent the couple to China. During the war Ching-kuo's father gradually came to trust him, and gave him more and more responsibilities, including administration. After the Japanese surrender Ching-kuo was given the job of ridding Shanghai of corruption, which he attacked with ruthless efficiency. The victory of the Communists in 1949 drove the Chiangs and their government to Taiwan.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture
Historic event
Football War
Jul 14, 1969 - Jul 18, 1969

The Football War was a brief war fought between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. Existing tensions between the two countries coincided with rioting during a 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier. The war began on 14 July 1969, when the Salvadoran military launched an attack against Honduras. The Organization of American States negotiated a cease-fire on the night of 18 July, which took full effect on 20 July. Salvadoran troops were withdrawn in early August.

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Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture