letter_trainer_0_2 Flashcards
AL_
ALE. Zymology (also called ‘zymurgy’) is the scientific term for fermentation, and is a subject much-studied and understood by brewers.
ON_
ONO. After John Lennon married Yoko Ono in 1969, he changed his name by deed poll, adding ‘Ono’ as a middle name. His official name became John Winston Ono Lennon, as he wasn’t allowed to drop the name ‘Winston’ that was given to him at birth.
_LI
ELI. In the Bible, Eli is a High Priest of Shiloh, and the teacher of Samuel. As such, his story is told in the Book of Samuel.
ER_E
ERIE. Presque Isle State Park is off the coast of Erie, Pennsylvania, sitting on a peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie. The name ‘Presque Isle’ translates from French as ‘peninsula’, or more literally ‘almost an island’.
_LI
ALI. Imam Ali Air Base is a military facility in southeastern Iraq. The base has a security perimeter that extends 22 kilometers. Within that perimeter is located the ancient Babylonian city of Ur, which is reputed to be the birthplace of Abraham.
RN_
RNA. RNA and DNA are very similar in molecular structure. One big difference is that RNA is a single strand structure, whereas DNA is famously a double-helix. Another difference is that RNA contains ribose as a structural unit, and DNA contains deoxyribose, ribose without one oxygen atom. And that ribose/deoxyribose difference is reflected in the name of the two molecules: ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
_DEN
EDEN. According to the Book Of Genesis, Adam and Eve lived in a garden “in” Eden, with Eden being geographically located by reference to four rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates. Some scholars hypothesize that Eden was located in Mesopotamia, which encompasses much of modern-day Iraq.
EP_
EPA. ‘The Simpsons’ television show spawned ‘The Simpsons Movie’ in 2007. The film is all about the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) taking on Homer Simpson after he pollutes the local lake.
_RI
ARI. The male name ‘Ari’ when written backwards spells the name ‘Ira’.
ES_
ESP. Extrasensory perception (ESP)
_RI
ARI. Ari Graynor is an American actress who first came to national attention playing the character of Caitlin Rucker in a few episodes of the HBO series “The Sopranos”.
E_EE
EPEE. The French word for sword is épée. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.
_PA
EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up during the Nixon administration and began operation at the end of 1970.
_TE
ETE. In French, the season of ‘été’ (summer) starts in ‘juin’ (June).
L_E
LEE. Lee Daniels’ The Butler’ is a 2013 movie that is loosely based on the life of Eugene Allen, who worked at the White House for 34 years before retiring as head butler in 1986. Forest Whitaker plays the title role. My wife saw this one, and really enjoyed it …
_SD
LSD. LSD (colloquially known as ‘acid’) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …
EP_
EPA. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
_NT
TNT. TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. The explosive chemical was first produced by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand in 1863, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate, so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.
E_A
ERA. Era was the first liquid laundry detergent produced by Procter & Gamble.
EL_
ELI. Elihu Yale was a wealthy merchant born in Boston in 1649. Yale worked for the British East India Company, and for many years served as governor of a settlement at Madras (now Chennai) in India. After India, Yale took over his father’s estate near Wrexham in Wales. It was while resident in Wrexham that Yale responded to a request for financial support for the Collegiate School of Connecticut in 1701. He sent the school a donation, which was used to erect a new building in New Haven that was named ‘Yale’ in his honor. In 1718, the whole school was renamed to ‘Yale College’. To this day, students of Yale are nicknamed ‘Elis’, again honoring Elihu.
AL_
ALI. Leon Spinks is former professional boxer from St. Louis, Missouri. Spinks’s greatest bout had to be his 1978 fight with Muhammad Ali that Spinks won by a unanimous decision. The fight was for the world heavyweight title, and marked the only time Muhammad Ali lost a title in the ring. However, Spinks was stirpped of his title when he refused to defend it against Ken Norton. Spinks opted instead to have a rematch with Ali in 1979, and this time it was Ali who won by a unanimous decision.
O_R
ORR. Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate any more. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking …
A_IA
ARIA. In music a ‘trill’ is the rapid alternation of two tones that are very close to each other to make a vibrato sound.
AR_
ARI. Ari Fleischer was the White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush. Fleischer now runs his own media consulting firm that specializes in representing sports players and organizations. Fleischer helped Mark McGwire handle the media when he had to admit to the use of steroids, and was briefly hired by Tiger Woods as he planned his return to the PGA after dropping out of the spotlight to handle the problems in his personal life.
ON_
ONO. When the track ‘Revolution 9’ from the Beatles’ ‘White Album’ is played backwards, there is a section that appears to say ‘Turn me on, dead man’. This helped fuel an existing urban legend that Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966 and was replaced by someone who just looked like him.
A_I
ALI. The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favoured the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.
_LI
ELI. In the Bible, Eli is a High Priest of Shiloh, and the teacher of Samuel. As such, his story is told in the Book of Samuel. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, both of whom are described as wicked. As a result of their wayward lifestyle, it is prophesied that all of Eli’s male descendents will die before reaching old age.
I_A
IRA. I have to tell you, when I first came to the US from Ireland it was pretty confusing seeing big signs along the freeway advocating IRA contributions. Back in Ireland, contributing to the IRA was pretty illegal (where IRA stands for the outlawed Irish Republican Army!).
AR_A
ARIA. The Italian operatic term ‘prima donna’ is used for the lead female singer in an opera company. ‘Prima donna’ translates from Italian as ‘first lady’. The lead male singer is known as the ‘primo uomo’. The term ‘prima donna assoluta’ is reserved for a prima donna who is generally accepted as being an outstanding performer.
NR_
NRA. The NRA is the National Rifle Association, an organization that has been around since 1871. The group has had some celebrity presidents, including US President Ulysses S. Grant. It’s often said that the NRA is the most powerful lobbying group in Washington.
_PEE
EPEE. The épée that is used in today’s sport fencing is derived from the old French dueling sword. In fact, the the sport of épée fencing is very similar to the dualing of the 19th century. The word ‘épée’ translates from French as ‘sword’.
_RA
NRA. The National Rifle Association (NRA) used the slogan ‘I’ll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands’. These words became quite famous when they were used at an NRA convention in 2000 by Charlton Heston, who was then president of the NRA. Heston ended a speech he made with the words ‘From my cold, dead hands!’ while holding up into the air a replica of a Sharps rifle.
_TE
ETE. Ete is the French word for summer.
AN_
ANA. The Santa Ana winds are the very dry air currents that sweep offshore late in the year in Southern California. Because these air currents are so dry, they are noted for their influence over forest fires in the area, especially in the heat of the fall. The winds arise from a buildup of air pressure in the Great Basin that lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Under the right conditions, that air spills over the peaks of the Sierra Nevada and basically “falls” down the side of the Sierra range, heading for the ocean. As the air falls it becomes drier and heats up so that relative humidity can fall to below 10% by the time it hits the coast.
_ROS
EROS. The word for “love” in Latin is “amor”, and in Ancient Greek is “eros”.
E_I
ELI. Eli Long served in the Union army during the Civil War and was wounded five times, and decorated five times for bravery.
E_S
ELS. The Chicago “L” is the second largest rapid transit system in the US, with the New York City Subway being the largest. The “L” is also the second oldest, again with the New York City Subway system having the honor of being around the longest. Note that the official nickname for the system is the “L” (originally short for “elevated railroad”), although the term “El” is also in common use (especially in crosswords as “ELS”). The L is managed by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).
_PA
EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up during the Nixon administration and began operation at the end of 1970.
EP_E
EPEE. The French word for sword is “épée”. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to a system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.
ERO_
EROS. Eros was the Greek god of love, the Greek counterpart of the Roman god Cupid.
A_IA
ARIA. “La donna è mobile” is a very famous aria from Verdi’s opera “Rigoletto”.
E_IE
ERIE. Erie is a city in the very north of Pennsylvania, right on the southern shore of Lake Erie. The city takes its name from the Erie Native American tribe that resided in the area. Erie is nicknamed the Gem City, a reference to the ‘sparkling’ Lake Erie.
E_U
EMU. The official symbol of Australia is a coat of arms that features a kangaroo and an emu.
_DEN
EDEN. The Sistine Chapel, in the Pope’s residence in Rome, takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV who was responsible for restoring the old Capella Magna in the 15th century. It was about a century later (1508-1512) that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel under the patronage of Pope Julius II.
EPE_
EPEE. The French clergyman Abbé Charles-Michel de l’Épée is often referred to as the ‘Father of the Deaf’. Épée dedicated much of his life to helping the deaf. He opened the world’s first free school for the deaf in 1760 in Paris, initially using it to provide shelter for those who were poor and hearing-impaired. Épée developed a type of sign language that is believed to be the first example of a formal and complete visual-gesture system for the deaf.
_NA
ANA. All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a Japanese airline, second in size only to Japan Airlines (JAL).
E_I
ELI. Even I know that Eli Manning, and his older brother Peyton, are quarterbacks!
EDE_
EDEN. The word Utopia was coined by Sir Thomas More for his book “Utopia” published in 1516, describing an idyllic fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. More’s use of the name Utopia comes from the Greek “ou” meaning “not” and “topos” meaning “place”. By calling his perfect island “Not Place”, More was apparently making the point that he didn’t think that the ideal could actually exist.
_ROS
EROS. As always seems to be the case with Greek gods, Eros and Aphrodite have overlapping spheres of influence. Aphrodite was the goddess of love between a man and a woman, but Eros was the god who stirred the passions of the male.
_DE
ODE. ‘Alexander’s Feast, or the Power of Music’ is a 1697 ode written by English poet John Dryden. The poem tells of a great feast hosted by Alexander the Great in Persia after his forces defeated those of the Persian king.
AL_
ALE. The alcoholic drink known as a ‘half-and-half’ is 50-50 mix of two different types of beer. Back in Ireland a half-and-half is made from an Irish ale on the bottom with Guinness floated on top. Over here you might see that combination referred to as a ‘Black and Tan’, but we tend to avoid that reference in my homeland. The Black and Tans were British paramilitary units deployed in Ireland in the early 1920s to suppress the movement for independence. They weren’t very good guys …
_TE
ETE. One might spend the summer (été) under the sun (le soleil) in France.
OR_
ORR. The bomber pilot called Orr has no other name, just “Orr”, in Joseph Heller’s “Catch 22”.
AL_
ALI. Ali Khamenei has been the Supreme Leader of Iran since 1989.
_LI
ALI. The Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq is a holy site for the Shia branch of Islam. The site is the final resting place of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad who ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661 CE. Many also believe that the remains of Adam and Noah are buried within the mosque.
_RI
ARI. Ari Shapiro is the very able White House correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR).
E_EN
EDEN. Sir Anthony Eden served as Britain’s Foreign Secretary during WWII, and then as Prime Minister from 1955-57. I think it’s fair to say that Eden doesn’t have a great reputation as a statesman. He was proud of his stance in favor of peace over war, so his critics characterized him as an appeaser. His major stumble on the world stage occurred with the Suez Crisis in 1956. Egypt’s President Nasser unilaterally nationalized the Suez Canal causing war to be declared on Egypt by Britain, France and Israel. Within a few months political pressure from the US and the USSR caused the allies to withdraw, bolstering Egypt’s national reputation. Eden never recovered from the loss of face at home, and it is felt that the stress even affected his health. Eden resigned in January 1957.
A_E
ABE. Abe Burrows was an author, composer and director who won four Tony Awards over his career, as well as a Pulitzer Prize for the musical adaptation of the book ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’.
EN_
ENS. Ensign is (usually) the most junior rank of commissioned officer in the armed forces. The name comes from the tradition that the junior officer would be given the task of carrying the ensign flag.
A_E
ABE. Shinzō Abe is the current Prime Minister of Japan, and has been in office since 2012. Abe also served as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007.
OSL_
OSLO. Oslo is the capital of Norway. The city of Oslo burns trash to fuel half of its buildings, including all of its schools. The problem faced by the city is that it doesn’t generate enough trash. So, Oslo imports trash from Sweden, England and Ireland, and is now looking to import some American trash too.
N_E
NEE. “Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.
EL_
ELI. Eli Manning plays as quarterback for the New York Giants. Eli’s brother Peyton Manning is a former quarterback for the Denver Broncos. Eli and Peyton’s father is Archie Manning, who was also a successful NFL quarterback.
_MU
EMU. The emu has had a tough time in Australia since man settled there. There was even an “Emu War” in Western Australia in 1932 when migrating emus competed with livestock for water and food. Soldiers were sent in and used machine guns in an unsuccessful attempt to drive off the “invading force”. The emus were clever, breaking their usual formations and adopting guerrilla tactics, operating as smaller units. After 50 days of “war”, the military withdrew. Subsequent requests for military help for the farmers were ignored. The emus had emerged victorious …
E_A
ETA. Expected time of arrival (ETA)
LS_
LSD. LSD (colloquially known as ‘acid’) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …
EPE_
EPEE. The sword known as an épée has a three-sided blade. The épée is similar to a foil and sabre, both of which are also thrusting weapons. However, the foil and saber have rectangular cross-sections.
AN_
ANA. Ana Ivanovic is a Serbian tennis player, and former world number one. As well as playing tennis, she also studied finance at university in her native Belgrade.
SN_
SNL. “Saturday Night Live” (SNL)
NE_
NEE. “Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.
E_OS
EROS. As always seems to be the case with Greek gods, Eros and Aphrodite have overlapping spheres of influence. Aphrodite was the goddess of love between a man and a woman, and Eros was the god who stirred the passions of the male.
_NL
SNL. Paul Shaffer is the bandleader and sidekick for David Letterman on his late-night talk show, and has been for the show’s entire run from 1982 until 2015. From 1975 to 1980, Schaffer played the piano as part of the house band on ‘Saturday Night Live’.
E_E
ETE. In France one has time off from school (ecole) during summer (ete).
IR_
IRA. T. Rowe Price is an investment company based in Baltimore that was founded in 1937 by Thomas Rowe Price, Jr.
SN_
SNL. NBC first aired a form of “Saturday Night Live” in 1975, under the title “NBC’s Saturday Night”. The show was actually created to give Johnny Carson some time off from “The Tonight Show”. Back then “The Tonight Show” had a weekend episode, and Carson convinced NBC to pull the Saturday or Sunday recordings off the air and hold them for subsequent weeknights in which Carson needed a break. NBC turned to Lorne Michaels and asked him to pull together a variety show to fill the vacant slot, and he come up with what we now call “Saturday Night Live”.
_IO
RIO. Rock in Rio is a music festival that originated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1985. The festival continued annually with the title ‘Rock in Rio’, even though it has also been held in Lisbon, Portugal and Madrid, Spain. 1.5 million people attended the first event in Rio, making it the largest music festival in the world.
EPE_
EPEE. The original pentathlon of the ancient Olympic games consisted of a foot race, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discus. When a new pentathlon was created as a sport for the modern Olympic Games, it was given the name the ‘modern pentathlon’. First introduced in 1912, the modern pentathlon consists of:
A_I
ALI. Howard Cosell was one of the most popular of all sports journalists. With his high profile came a lot of controversy as Cosell wasn’t afraid to express his personal opinions. For example, he came out against professional boxing in 1982 after witnessing a one-sided fight between Larry Holmes and Tex Cobb. Two weeks earlier South Korean boxer Duk Koo Kim had died after a match against Ray Mancini.
_SD
LSD. LSD (colloquially known as ‘acid’) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …
ED_N
EDEN. According to the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve lived in a garden “in” Eden, with Eden being geographically located by reference to four rivers including the Tigris and the Euphrates. Some scholars hypothesize that Eden was located in Mesopotamia, which encompasses much of modern-day Iraq.
_NL
SNL. Since 2005, the “Saturday Night Live” comedy show has been airing a feature called “SNL Digital Shorts”. These spots break away from the “live” format of the show, and are pre-recorded for airing during the Saturday broadcast. The Digital Shorts are filmed on consumer-grade digital cameras, and are edited on personal computers. They can feature members of the regular cast, musical guests, and celebrity cameos.
NR_
NRA. The NRA is the National Rifle Association, and has been around since 1871. The group was founded as the American rifle Association, and had some celebrated presidents, including President Ulysses S. Grant. It’s often been said that the NRA is the most powerful lobbying group in Washington.
_DEN
EDEN. Sir Anthony Eden served as Britain’s Foreign Secretary during WWII, and then as Prime Minister from 1955-57. I think it’s fair to say that Eden doesn’t have a great reputation as a statesman. He was proud of his stance in favor of peace over war, so his critics characterized him as an appeaser. His major stumble on the world stage occurred with the Suez Crisis in 1956. Egypt’s President Nasser unilaterally nationalized the Suez Canal causing war to be declared on Egypt by Britain, France and Israel. Within a few months political pressure from the US and the USSR caused the allies to withdraw, bolstering Egypt’s national reputation. Eden never recovered from the loss of face at home, and it is felt that the stress even affected his health. Eden resigned in January 1957.
_NO
ENO. Brian Eno started out his musical career with Roxy Music. However, Eno’s most oft-played composition (by far!) is Microsoft’s “start-up jingle”, the 6-second sound you hear when the Windows operating system is booting up. Eno might have annoyed the Microsoft folks when he stated on a BBC radio show:
E_S
ELS. The Chicago “L” is the second largest rapid transit system in the US, with the New York City Subway being the largest. It is also the second oldest, again with the New York Subway system having the honor of being the oldest. Note that the official nickname for the system is the “L”, although the term “El” is also in common use (especially in crosswords as “ELS”). The L is managed by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).
_AE
RAE. Charlotte Rae is an American actress, best known for playing the character Edna Garrett on two sitcoms from the seventies and eighties: “Diff’rent Strokes” and “The Facts of Life”. Towards the end of the series, the Edna Garrett character operated her own gourmet food shop called ‘Edna’s Edibles’.
OSL_
OSLO. The Kon-Tiki was a raft used by Thor Heyerdahl in 1947 to cross the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. The original raft used in the voyage is on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway (Heyerdahl was a native of Norway).
_NL
SNL. ‘Saturday Night Live’ (SNL)
EM_
EMU. Emu eggs are very large, with a thick shell that is dark-green in color. One emu egg weighs about the same as a dozen chicken eggs.
_NL
SNL. ‘Saturday Night Live’ (SNL)
LE_
LEE. Peggy Lee was a jazz and popular music singer from Jamestown, North Dakota. ‘Peggy Lee’ was a stage name, and she was born Norma Egstrom. She was a successful songwriter as well as singer, and supplied several numbers for the Disney movie ‘Lady and the Tramp’. Lee also sang in the film and voiced four of the characters.
ARI_
ARIA. “Diva” comes to us from Latin via Italian. “Diva” is the feminine form of “divus” meaning “divine one”. The word is used in Italy to mean “goddess” or “fine lady”, and especially is applied to the prima donna in an opera. We often use the term to describe a singer with a big ego.
_NT
TNT. TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.
I_A
IRA. A 401(k) account is similar to an IRA in that contributions can be made from a paycheck prior to the deduction of income taxes. Additionally, contributions can be fully or partially matched by an employer.
E_S
ELS. The Chicago “L” is the second largest rapid transit system in the US, with the New York City Subway being the largest. It is also the second oldest, again with the New York Subway system having the honor of being around the longest. Note that the official nickname for the system is the “L” (originally short for “elevated railroad”), although the term “El” is also in common use. (especially in crosswords as “ELS”). The L is managed by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).
ERO_
EROS. Eros, the Greek god of love, was also known as Amor.
_NA
ANA. Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County, California, taking its name from the Santa Ana River that runs through the city. The Santa Ana winds are the very dry air currents that sweep offshore late in the year in Southern California. Because they are so dry, they are noted for their influence over forest fires in the area, especially in the heat of the fall. The winds arise from a buildup of air pressure in the Great Basin that lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Under the right conditions, that air spills over the peaks of the Sierra Nevada and basically “falls” down the side of the Sierra range, heading for the ocean. As the air falls it becomes drier and heats up, so that relative humidity can fall to below 10% by the time it hits the coast.
_NT
TNT. TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. The explosive chemical was first produced by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand in 1863, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate, so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.
_LI
ALI. Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. was born in 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. He changed his name to Muhammed Ali when he converted to Islam in 1964. Who can forget Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic flame for the 1996 games in Atlanta? Ali won a gold medal in the 1960 games, which he threw into the Ohio River after being refused service at a “whites only” restaurant. He was presented with a replacement medal during the 1996 Games.
_LI
ALI. The Disney animated feature “Aladdin” was released in 1992, and is one of the best features to come out of the studio, I think, largely due to the great performance by Robin Williams who voiced the Genie. “Aladdin” was the most successful film of 1992, earning over $500 million worldwide, an unusual feat for an animated movie.
_RA
ERA. The ‘silent’ of film was right at the beginning, when movies were first produced in 1894. The era ended in 1929 when silent movies were ousted by ‘talking pictures’.
AR_
ARI. “Exodus” is a wonderful novel written by American writer Leon Uris, first published in 1947. The hero of the piece is Ari Ben Canaan, played by Paul Newman in the 1960 film adaptation directed by Otto Preminger.
R_A
RNA. Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by what is called transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA.
_NO
ENO. Brian Eno started out his musical career with Roxy Music. However, Eno’s most oft-played composition (by far!) is Microsoft’s “start-up jingle”, the 6-second sound you hear when the Windows operating system is booting up.
_NA
ANA. The Santa Ana winds are the very dry air currents that sweep offshore late in the year in Southern California. Because these air currents are so dry, they are noted for their influence over forest fires in the area, especially in the heat of the fall. The winds arise from a buildup of air pressure in the Great Basin that lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Under the right conditions, that air spills over the peaks of the Sierra Nevada and basically ‘falls’ down the side of the Sierra range, heading for the ocean. As the air falls it becomes drier and heats up so that relative humidity can fall to below 10% by the time it hits the coast.
A_E
ALE. The brand most closely associated with ginger ale is Canada Dry. ‘Canada Dry Pale Ginger Ale’ was first formulated in 1904 by a Canadian chemist called John McLoughlin from Ontario. Prohibition in the United States helped sales of the drink as it was particularly effective in masking the taste of illegally-produced homemade liquor.
A_A
ANA. Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County, California, taking its name from the Santa Ana River that runs through the city. The Santa Ana winds are the very dry air currents that sweep offshore late in the year in Southern California. Because they are so dry, they are noted for their influence over forest fires in the area, especially in the heat of the fall. The winds arise from a buildup of air pressure in the Great Basin that lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Under the right conditions, that air spills over the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, and basically “falls” down the side of the Sierra range, heading for the ocean. As the air falls, it becomes drier and heats up, so that relative humidity can fall to below 10% by the time it hits the coast.
E_E
ETE. One might spend the summer (été) under the sun (le soleil) in France, and “juillet” is French for July (note that the name of months aren’t capitalized in French).
O_R
ORR. Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate any more. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking …
EDE_
EDEN. The city of Eden Prairie lies just outside downtown Minneapolis. If you live there, congratulations! Eden Prairie was ranked by “Money Magazine” in 2010 as the best place to live in America.
_SLO
OSLO. The Storting is the Norwegian parliament and is located in Oslo, Norway’s capital city. The Storting differs in structure from say the US Congress and the British Parliament in that is “unicameral”, it has only one legislative chamber.
ET_
ETE. In French, summer (été) is hot (chaud).
R_E
RAE. Rae Sremmurd is hip hop act consisting of two brothers from Tupelo, Mississippi: Khalif ‘Swae Lee’ Brown and Aaquil ‘Slim Jxmmi’ Brown. The pair used to perform as Dem Outta St8 Boyz, with the brothers using the names Kid Krunk and Caliboy, along with a third brother known as Lil Pantz. Sometimes I think I over-complicate things by using the name ‘Bill’ …
E_O
ENO. Brian Eno was one of the pioneers of the ‘ambient’ genre of music. Eno composed an album in 1978 called ‘Ambient 1: Music for Airports’, the first in a series of four albums with an ambient theme. Eno named the tracks somewhat inventively: 1/1, 2/1, 2/1 and 2/2.
L_D
LSD. LSD (colloquially known as ‘acid’) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …
O_LO
OSLO. Oslo is an ancient city, founded around 1048. The medieval city was destroyed by fire in 1624 and was rebuilt by the Danish-Norwegian King Christian IV and renamed Christiana. In 1877, there was an official change of the name’s spelling to Kristiana, and then more recently in 1925 the name was restored to the original Oslo. Things have gone full circle, for now the center of Oslo, the area that would have been contained by the original medieval walls, has been renamed Christiana.
_LI
ELI. The Eli Young Band is a country group from Texas founded by Mike Eli and James Young when they were roommates in the University of North Texas.
_BE
ABE. Before Abraham Lincoln was elected president, his political campaign used the nick-name “the Rail-Splitter” to emphasize his humble upbringing. Lincoln had worked at splitting fence rails in his youth.
_TA
ETA. Expected time of arrival (ETA)
_RI
ARI. Ari Emanuel is a very successful talent agent based in Beverly Hills, California. Among those listed as his client are Conan O’Brien, Matt Damon, Michael Moore, Martin Scorsese and Mark Wahlberg. Emanuel is the real-life inspiration for the characters Stevie Grant on the “The Larry Sanders Show” and Ari Gold on the HBO series “Entourage”. Oh, and the White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, that’s Ari’s Brother.
AR_
ARI. Ari Graynor is an American actress who first came to national attention playing the character of Caitlin Rucker in a few episodes of the HBO series “The Sopranos”.
ST_
STE. In the summer of 2010 I spent a very interesting afternoon watching ships make their way through the Soo Locks and Soo Canal between Lake Superior and the lower Great lakes. The name “Soo” comes from the US and Canadian cities on either side of the locks, both called Sault Ste. Marie.
ES_
ESP. Extrasensory Perception (ESP)
O_O
ONO. John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a very public honeymoon in a hotels in Amsterdam and then Montreal, when they staged their famous “bed-in” for peace. In answering questions from reporters Lennon found himself often repeating the words “give peace a chance”. While still in bed, he composed his famous song “Give Peace a Chance” and even made the original recording of the song in the Montreal hotel room, with reporters present, and with a whole bunch of friends. The song was released later in 1969 and became a smash hit.
TN_
TNT. TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.
E_I
ELI. Eli Roth is one of a group of directors of horror movies known quite graphically as “The Splat Pack”. I can’t stand “splat” movies and avoid them as best I can. Roth is also famous for playing Donny Donowitz in the Quentin Tarantino movie “Inglourious Basterds”, a good film I thought, if you close your eyes during the gruesome bits.
LE_
LEE. Robert E. Lee is renowned as a southern officer in the Civil War. Lee was a somewhat reluctant participant in the war in that he opposed the secession of his home state of Virginia from the Union. At the beginning of the war, President Lincoln invited Lee to take command of the whole Union Army but he declined, choosing instead to stay loyal to his home state. During the Civil War, Lee’s men referred to him affectionately as ‘Marse Robert’, with ‘marse’ being slang for ‘master’.
AR_
ARI. Aristotle Onassis was born to a successful Greek shipping entrepreneur in Smyrna in modern-day Turkey. However, his family lost its fortune during WWI and so Aristotle worked with his father to build up a new business empire centered on the importation of tobacco. In 1957, Aristotle founded the Greek national airline, what is today called Olympic Air, and he also got into the business of shipping oil around the world. He married Athina Livanos in 1946, the daughter of a wealthy shipping magnate. They had two children, including the famous Christina Onassis. Livanos divorced Onassis on discovering him in bed with the opera singer Maria Callas. Onassis ended his affair with Callas in order to marry Jackie Kennedy in 1968.
EDE_
EDEN. The Sistine Chapel, in the Pope’s residence in Rome, takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV who was responsible for restoring the old Capella Magna in the 15th century. It was about a century later (1508-1512) that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel under the patronage of Pope Julius II.
A_A
ANA. Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County, California and takes its name from the Santa Ana River that runs through the city.
_NS
ENS. Ensign (ens.)
O_LO
OSLO. Oslo, the capital of Norway, is an ancient city that was founded around 1048. The medieval city was destroyed by fire in 1624 and was rebuilt by the Danish-Norwegian king Christian IV and renamed to Christiana. In 1877 there was an official change of the spelling od the city’s name to “Kristiana”, and then more recently in 1925 the name was restored to the original Oslo. Things have almost gone full circle and now the center of Oslo, the area that would have been contained by the original medieval walls, has apparently been renamed to Christiana.
E_OS
EROS. Eros, the Greek god of love, was also known as Amor.
_NN
ANN. There was no such woman as “Ann Taylor” associated with the Ann Taylor line of clothes. The name was chosen by the marketing professionals because “Ann” was considered to be “very New England” back in 1954 when the stores first opened, and “Taylor” suggested that clothes were carefully “tailored”.
E_EE
EPEE. The French word for sword is épée.
_RI
ARI. Jackie Kennedy Onassis was born into a privileged family, the daughter of a Wall Street stock broker, John Vernou Bouvier III. Ms. Bouvier moved in the same social circles as the Kennedy clan, and first met the then-US Representative John Kennedy at a dinner party hosted by mutual friends. After she saw her husband assassinated, and then her brother-in-law Bobby Kennedy, she declared that she feared for the life of her children as they bore the Kennedy name. She left the country, eventually meeting and marrying Aristotle Onassis. Reportedly she was very satisfied that the Greek shipping magnate was able to provide privacy and security for her children.
_NA
ANA. Ana Ivanovic is a Serbian tennis player, and former world number one. As well as playing tennis, she also studied finance at university in her native Belgrade.
_NO
ONO. John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a very public honeymoon in a hotels in Amsterdam and then Montreal, when they staged their famous “bed-in” for peace. In answering questions from reporters Lennon found himself often repeating the words “give peace a chance”. While still in bed, he composed his famous song “Give Peace a Chance” and even made the original recording of the song in the Montreal hotel room, with reporters present, and with a whole bunch of friends. The song was released later in 1969 and became a smash hit.
E_EE
EPEE. The French word for sword is “épée”. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to a system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.
AN_
ANN. Ann Davies knew Mitt Romney way back in elementary school, and the pair started dating when Ann was 16 and were married in 1968 when she was 19 years old. Ann Romney was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998, and she has been very active with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
ED_N
EDEN. In the Christian tradition, the ‘fall of man’ took place in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, against the bidding of God. As a result, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden to prevent them becoming immortal by eating from the tree of life. The first humans had transitioned from a state of innocent obedience to a state of guilty disobedience.
E_A
EPA. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
_LI
ELI. Eli Wallach appeared consistently and made great performances on the big and small screens since the 1950s. Wallach’s most famous role was probably as ‘the Ugly’ in ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’. More recently he gave a very strong performance in 2006’s ‘The Holiday’. Sadly, Wallach passed away in june 2014, at the age of 98.
S_L
SNL. NBC first aired a form of “Saturday Night Live” in 1975, under the title “NBC’s Saturday Night”. The show was actually created to give Johnny Carson some time off from “The Tonight Show”. Back then “The Tonight Show” had a weekend episode, and Carson convinced NBC to pull the Saturday or Sunday recordings off the air and hold them for subsequent weeknights in which Carson needed a break. NBC turned to Lorne Michaels and asked him to pull together a variety show to fill the vacant slot, and he come up with what we now call “Saturday Night Live”.
E_A
EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency was set up during the Nixon administration, and began operation at the end of 1970.
_NO
ENO. Brian Eno composed an album in 1978 called ‘Ambient 1: Music for Airports’, the first in a series of four albums with an ‘Ambient’ theme. Eno named the tracks somewhat inventively: 1/1, 2/1, 2/1 and 2/2.
E_IE
ERIE. Lake Erie is the second smallest of the Great Lakes (after Lake Ontario). The lake takes its name from the Erie tribe of Native Americans that used to live along its southern shore. Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, something for which nearby residents must be quite grateful. Being relatively shallow, Erie freezes over part way through most winters putting an end to the lake effect snow that falls in the snow belt extending from the lake’s edge.
E_U
EMU. The official symbol of Australia is a coat of arms that features a kangaroo and an emu.
E_EE
EPEE. The épée that is used in today’s sport fencing is derived from the old French dueling sword. In fact, the the sport of épée fencing is very similar to the dualing of the 19th century. The word ‘épée’ translates from French as ‘sword’.
ARI_
ARIA. “Diva” comes to us from Latin via Italian. “Diva” is the feminine form of “divus” meaning “divine one”. The word is used in Italy to mean “goddess” or “fine lady”, and especially is applied to the prima donna in an opera. We often use the term to describe a singer with a big ego.
E_P
ESP. Extrasensory perception (ESP)
R_O
RIO. “Notorious” is an interesting Hitchcock film made in 1946, and starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. I find it interesting as it is such a different, dramatic role for Cary Grant, and a more gritty role for the lovely Ingrid Bergman. And the great Claude Rains is in there for good measure. It’s a story of espionage, love and intrigue set in Rio de Janeiro where there is a group of Nazi Germans hiding out after WWII. Definitely worth a rental if you’ve never seen it …
EN_
ENO. Will Eno is an American playwright working in Brooklyn, New York. That said, Eno’s plays are mainly produced across the pond in the UK.
E_P
ESP. “The Gift” is a film produced in 2000, written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson. The movie is a supernatural thriller starring Cate Blanchett, and is inspired by the apparent psychic experiences of Thornton’s mother.
S_E
STE. Sault Ste. Marie is both a city in Ontario, Canada, and a city in Michigan. The two are divided by the Saint Mary’s River, along with the US-Canada border runs.
R_O
RIO. Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). ‘Rio de Janeiro’ translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Years Day in 1502.
_NO
ENO. Brian Eno started out his musical career with Roxy Music. However, Eno’s most oft-played composition (by far!) is Microsoft’s “start-up jingle”, the 6-second sound you hear when the Windows operating system is booting up.
A_I
ALI. The boxer Muhammad Ali is recognized on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the greatest sports figures of the 1900s. In 1999, Ali was named ‘Sportsman of the Century’ by ‘Sports Illustrated’ and ‘Sports Personality of the Century’ by the BBC.
LE_
LEE. Bruce Lee was born not far from here in San Francisco although he was raised in Hong Kong, returning to the US to attend college. Sadly, Bruce Lee died when he was only 32 years old, due to cerebral edema (a swelling of the brain) attributed to adverse reactions to the pain killing drug Equagesic.
ERO_
EROS. Eros, the Greek god of love, was also known as Amor. The Roman counterpart to Eros was Cupid.
_NA
ANA. The Santa Ana winds are the very dry air currents that sweep offshore late in the year in Southern California. Because these air currents are so dry, they are noted for their influence over forest fires in the area, especially in the heat of the fall. The winds arise from a buildup of air pressure in the Great Basin that lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Under the right conditions, that air spills over the peaks of the Sierra Nevada and basically “falls” down the side of the Sierra range, heading for the ocean. As the air falls it becomes drier and heats up so that relative humidity can fall to below 10% by the time it hits the coast.
_RA
ERA. There were concerted efforts to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages in the US from the 1840s right up until the lobbyists achieved success with ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution in 1919. While there were several factors that influenced legislators at that time, one was the perceived need to take political power away from German-based brewing industry during WWI.
ON_
ONO. Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist. Ono actually met her future husband John Lennon for the first time while she was preparing her conceptual art exhibit called ‘Hammer a Nail’. Visitors were encouraged to hammer in a nail into a wooden board, creating the artwork. Lennon wanted to hammer in the first nail, but Ono stopped him as the exhibition had not yet opened. Apparently Ono relented when Lennon paid her an imaginary five shillings to hammer an imaginary nail into the wood.
T_T
TNT. TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. The chemical was first produced by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand in 1863, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.
NE_
NEE. Jackie Kennedy Onassis was born into a privileged family, the daughter of a Wall Street stock broker, John Vernou Bouvier III. Ms. Bouvier moved in the same social circles as the Kennedy clan, and met the then-US Representative John Kennedy at a dinner party hosted by mutual friends. After she saw her husband assassinated, and her brother-in-law Bobby Kennedy, she declared that she feared for the life of her children, who bore the Kennedy name. She left the country, eventually meeting and marrying Aristotle Onassis. Reportedly she was very satisfied that the Greek shipping magnate was able to provide privacy and security for her children.
EL_
ELI. (14A. Maker of the old Speed Wagon : REO)
L_D
LSD. LSD (also known as ‘acid’) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a development project aimed at finding medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …
EN_
ENO. Brian Eno was one of the pioneers of the ‘ambient’ genre of music. Eno composed an album in 1978 called ‘Ambient 1: Music for Airports’, the first in a series of four albums with an ambient theme. Eno named the tracks somewhat inventively: 1/1, 2/1, 2/1 and 2/2.
LS_
LSD. “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out” is a phrase popularized in the sixties by Timothy Leary, the psychologist and writer. Leary was an icon of the sixties counterculture, a promoter of the use of LSD. On his death, some of his ashes were “buried” in space, launched aboard a rocket that contained the ashes of 24 other people including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry.
ET_
ETA. Estimated time of arrival (ETA)
I_A
IRA. “Science Friday” is an excellent talk show broadcast every Friday on NPR, and hosted by Ira Flatow. Flatow is known to television audiences as the host of ‘Newton’s Apple’, which ran from 1983 to 1998.
L_E
LEE. Peggy Lee was a jazz and popular music singer from Jamestown, North Dakota. ‘Peggy Lee’ was a stage name, and she was born Norma Egstrom. She was a successful songwriter as well as singer, and supplied several numbers for the Disney movie ‘Lady and the Tramp’. Lee also sang in the film and voiced four of the characters.
E_A
EPA. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
EP_
EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up during the Nixon administration and began operation at the end of 1970.
_LI
ELI. The inventor Eli Whitney is a best known for inventing the cotton gin. Whitney also came up with the important concept of ‘interchangeable parts’. Parts that are interchangeable can be swapped out of equipment or perhaps used in related designs.
_SD
LSD. LSD was sold in tablet form, with the tablets having varied shapes and sizes. The most famous were the small pills that were commonly called ‘microdots’.
RA_
RAE. Carly Rae Jepsen is a singer/songwriter from Mission, British Columbia. Jepsen got her start on TV’s ‘Canadian Idol’ when she placed third in the show’s fifth season.
RN_
RNA. Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by what is called transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA.
OD_
ODE. The great English poet William Wordsworth lived in the Lake District in the north of England, a beautiful part of the country. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Dove Cottage in Grasmere a couple of times, where Wordsworth lived with his wife, Dorothy.
R_O
RIO. The Zika virus causes the disease known as Zika fever, and is mainly spread by the yellow fever mosquito. While the majority of cases of infection result in minor symptoms or even no symptoms at all, Zika virus infections of pregnant women may be linked to newborn microcephaly. Microcephaly is a birth defect in which a baby’s head is smaller than normal.
_EE
NEE. “Née” is the French word for “born”, when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”
E_U
EMU. The emu has had a tough time in Australia since man settled there. There was even an ‘Emu War’ in Western Australia in 1932 when migrating emus competed with livestock for water and food. Soldiers were sent in and used machine guns in an unsuccessful attempt to drive off the ‘invading force’. The emus were clever, breaking their usual formations and adopting guerrilla tactics, operating as smaller units. After 50 days of ‘war’, the military withdrew. Subsequent requests for military help for the farmers were ignored. The emus had emerged victorious …
S_L
SNL. NBC first aired a form of “Saturday Night Live” in 1975, under the title “NBC’s Saturday Night”. The show was actually created to give Johnny Carson some time off from “The Tonight Show”. Back then “The Tonight Show” had a weekend episode, and Carson convinced NBC to pull the Saturday or Sunday recordings off the air and hold them for subsequent weeknights in which Carson needed a break. NBC turned to Lorne Michaels and asked him to come up with a variety show to fill the vacant slot, and he created what we now call “Saturday Night Live”.
RA_
RAE. Rae Dawn Chong is the daughter of Tommy Chong, of “Cheech and Chong” fame. Rae Dawn acted in quite a few films in the eighties and nineties, including “The Color Purple” and “Commando”.
RN_
RNA. The two most common nucleic acids are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which play crucial roles in genetics. The DNA contains the genetic instructions used to keep living organisms functioning, and RNA is used to transcribe that information from the DNA to protein “generators” called ribosomes.
I_A
IRA. As well as writing novels, Ira Levin was a dramatist and a songwriter. Levin’s first novel was “A Kiss Before Dying”, and his most famous work was “Rosemary’s Baby” which became a Hollywood hit. His best known play is “Deathtrap”, a production that is often seen in local theater (I’ve seen it a couple of times around here). “Deathtrap” was also was a successful movie, starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve. My favorite of Levin’s novels though are “The Boys from Brazil” and “The Stepford Wives”.
ON_
ONO. Yoko Ono was born into a prosperous Japanese family, and is actually a descendant of one of the emperors of Japan. Ono’s father moved around the world for work and Yoko lived the first few years of her life in San Francisco. The family returned to Japan before moving on to New York, Hanoi and back to Japan just before WWII. There Yoko lived through the great fire-bombing of Tokyo in 1945. Immediately after the war the family was far from prosperous. While Yoko’s father was being held in a prison camp in Vietnam, her mother had to resort to begging and bartering to feed her children. When her father was repatriated, life started to return to normal and Yoko was able to attend university. She was the first woman to be accepted into the philosophy program of Gakushuin University.
_NO
ONO. John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a very public honeymoon in a hotels in Amsterdam and then Montreal, when they staged their famous “bed-in” for peace. In answering questions from reporters Lennon found himself often repeating the words “give peace a chance”. While still in bed, he composed his famous song “Give Peace a Chance” and even made the original recording of the song in the Montreal hotel room, with reporters present, and with a whole bunch of friends. The song was released later in 1969 and became a smash hit.
A_I
ALI. Who can forget Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic flame for the 1996 games in Atlanta? Ali won a gold medal in the 1960 games, which he threw into the Ohio River after being refused service at a “whites only” restaurant. He was presented with a replacement medal during the 1996 Games.
E_A
ERA. Baseball pitcher Greg Maddux won the Cy Young Award for the four consecutive years of 1992-1995, a record that wasn’t matched until Randy Johnson did the same thing in 1999-2002.
ON_
ONO. The Plastic Ono Band was a so-called super-group, brought together by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969. Members of the group included John and Yoko, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Keith Moon.
EL_
ELS. Ernie Els is a South African golfer. Els a big guy but he has an easy fluid golf swing that has earned him the nickname “The Big Easy”. He has a child who suffers from autism and so Els has been very effective in raising money for charities that focus on the condition.
_EE
NEE. “Née” is the French word for “born”, when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”
_ROS
EROS. As always seems to be the case, the Greek gods Eros and Aphrodite have overlapping spheres of influence. Aphrodite was the goddess of love between a man and a woman, but Eros was the god who stirred the passions of the male.
E_IE
ERIE. Erie is a city in the very north of Pennsylvania, right on the southern shore of Lake Erie. The city takes its name from the Erie Native American tribe that resided in the area.
A_I
ALI. In the folk tale ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’, the title character is a poor woodcutter who discovers the magic words ‘Open Sesame’ that open the thieves’ den.
OSL_
OSLO. The 1952 Winter Olympic Games took place in Oslo, Norway. The games is remembered as the first time a purpose-built athletes’ village was constructed.
E_I
ELI. Eli is the nickname for a graduate of Yale University, a term used in honor of the Yale benefactor Elihu Yale.
EP_E
EPEE. The sword known as an épée has a three-sided blade. The épée is similar to a foil and sabre, both of which are also thrusting weapons. However, the foil and saber have rectangular cross-sections.
_TE
STE. Suite (ste.)
