Serendipity

a very interesting word with an interesting background.

the definition according to thefreedictionary.com

ser·en·dip·i·ty

n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties

1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.

2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.

3. An instance of making such a discovery.

seren·dipi·tous·ly adv.

Word History: We are indebted to the English author Horace Walpole for the word serendipity, which he coined in one of the 3,000 or more letters on which his literary reputation primarily rests. In a letter of January 28, 1754, Walpole says that "this discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word." Walpole formed the word on an old name for Sri Lanka, Serendip. He explained that this name was part of the title of "a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of...."

my sentence:  When my friend, Nancy and I visited New York City last December, it was serendipitous that we had an early dinner at the restaurant located adjacent to the ice rink at Rockefeller Center, because during our meal, we struck up a conversation with our waiter who informed us that we simply had to go sample the frozen hot chocolate at "Serendipity", a famous NYC restaurant.



inside Serendipity 3




Nancy enjoying her fffffrozen hot chocolate



me enjoying my frozen peanut butter hot chocolate at Serendipity. I'd like to say there were two other people for the two other straws.....but there weren't.  Of course I didn't drink all of it!! 
.....I left at least 4 tablespoons.

 ...and one last tidbit of interesting trivia about the word, serendipity. In 2004, it was voted by a British translation company as one of the 10 most difficult English words to translate!