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A.Word.A.Day--roman holiday Roman holiday (RO-muhn HOL-i-day) noun An entertainment event where pleasure is derived from watching gore and barbarism. [From the gladiatorial contests held in ancient Rome.] "There were his young barbarians all at play; There was their Dacian mother: he, their sire, Butcher'd to make a Roman holiday!" Lord Byron; Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; Canto iv. Stanza 141. "Perry Ryan: I think maybe the press was a bit sensational because they were disappointed that the female sheriff they thought was going to perform the execution didn't actually do it, and as a consequence, the story became what a Roman holiday that this was in Owensboro." Laurie Howell; Last Public Execution That Was Held in Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1936; Weekly Edition - National Public Radio (Washington, DC); May 5, 2001. This week's theme: toponyms or words derived from place names. X-Bonus Everything is for the eye these days - TV, Life, Look, the movies. Nothing is just for the mind. The next generation will have eyeballs as big as cantaloupes and no brain at all. -Fred Allen

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