letter_trainer_1_0 Flashcards
1
Q
OR_
A
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 anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking.
2
Q
AST_
A
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
3
Q
_LK
A
ELK. The Michigan State Flag is made up of the state’s coat of arms on a dark blue background. The coat of arms consists of a shield, supported on the left by an elk, and on the right by a moose.
4
Q
ESA_
A
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother, Rebekah, gave birth to the twins “the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)”. As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father’s wealth (it was his “birthright”). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a “mess of pottage” (a meal of lentils).
5
Q
I_CA
A
INCA. The Inca Empire was known as the Tawantinsuyu, which translates as ‘land of the four quarters’. The Inca Empire was a federal organization having a central government that sat above four ‘suyu’ or ‘quarters’, four administrative regions.
6
Q
E_IC
A
ERIC. Eric Cantor is a US Representative from Virginia, and has been the House Majority Leader since 2011.
7
Q
IR_
A
IRS. The IRS logo has to be one of the most poorly-designed logos used by the US government. The main components are a branch, scales and eagle … but … you have to look very closely to make out those features.
8
Q
_NE
A
ONE. In a fraction, the number above the line is the numerator, and the number below the line is the denominator. A common numerator is the number one, as in ½, ¼, ⅓ etc.
9
Q
NER_
A
NERO. The Julio-Claudian dynasty was made up of the first five Roman Emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. All five emperors were members of either the Julius family, the Claudius family or both. The dynasty collapsed when Nero committed suicide in 68 AD.
10
Q
_ED
A
TED. ‘Ted’ is a movie written, directed, produced and starring Seth MacFarlane. In the story, MacFarlane voices a teddy bear who is the best friend of a character played by Mark Wahlberg.
11
Q
NER_
A
NERO. The brand name Reebok was adopted as the new company name for Foster Shoes of the UK in 1960. The name Reebok (more commonly ‘Rhebok’) is an Afrikaans word for an antelope, and comes from the term “roe buck”.
12
Q
O_E
A
ONE. Three, two, one … Happy New Year!
13
Q
IO_A
A
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use it to portray something very small, as it is the smallest letter in the alphabet.
14
Q
R_NE
A
RENE. René Préval is a politician who served as President of Haiti from 1996 to 2001, and again from 2006 to 2011.
15
Q
_SI
A
CSI. The TV show “CSI” gets a lot of criticism from law enforcement agencies for its unrealistic portrayal of the procedures and science of criminal investigation. I don’t care though, as I just think it’s fun television. The original “CSI” set in Las Vegas seems to have “gone off the boil”, but the addition of Sela Ward to the cast of “CSI: NY” has really, really raised the level of the sister show set in New York City.
16
Q
_ES
A
LES. Leslie Moonves had many senior positions in the television industry, especially with CBS and Viacom. Early in his career he was an actor and played tough guy roles on “Cannon” and “The Six Million Dollar Man”. Moonves is the great-nephew of David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, and he is married to TV news personality Julie Chen.
17
Q
AN_
A
ANN. Carol Ann Duffy is a poet and playwright from Scotland. Duffy is the current poet laureate in Britain and is the first Scot to hold the position as well as the first openly gay person to be so honored.
18
Q
TE_
A
TED. Ted Sorensen was John F. Kennedy’s speech-writer, and he wrote a biography about the President called “Kennedy”. President Kennedy once referred to Sorensen as his ‘intellectual blood bank’.
19
Q
_STI
A
ASTI. Asti is a sparkling white wine from the Piedmont region of Italy, and is named for the town of Asti around which the wine is produced. The wine used to be called Asti Spumante, and it had a very bad reputation as a ‘poor man’s champagne’. The ‘Spumante’ was dropped in a marketing attempt at rebranding associated with a reduction in the amount of residual sugar in the wine.
20
Q
_RCA
A
ORCA. The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name “orca”, rather than “killer whale”, is becoming more and more common. The Latin word “Orcinus” means “belonging to Orcus”, with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.
21
Q
_KE
A
IKE. Ike Taylor is a retired NFL cornerback who spent his entire professional career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Taylor took a job as an analyst with the NFL Network after he quit the game.
22
Q
_BI
A
OBI. The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. The obi can be tied in what is called a butterfly knot.
23
Q
T_O
A
TAO. The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
24
Q
A_A
A
ABA. The American Bar Association was founded back in 1878, and is a voluntary association for lawyers and law students. The main focus of the ABA is setting academic standards for law schools, and setting ethical codes for the profession.
25
_STI
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
26
OR_
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 anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking ...
27
_NCA
INCA. Machu Picchu is known as "The Lost City of the Incas", and it can be visited on a mountain ridge in Peru, 50 miles northwest of the city of Cuzco in the southeast of the country. The name Machu Picchu means "old peak".
28
C_I
CSI. I quite enjoy the 'CSI' franchise of television shows, except 'CSI: Miami'. I find the lead character played by David Caruso to be extremely annoying. The show was cancelled in 2012. No loss ...
29
ES_U
ESAU. The whole text of the Esau Wood tongue twister is (all together now!):
30
OB_
OBI. The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. The obi can be tied in what is called a butterfly knot.
31
R_NE
RENE. René Lacoste was a French tennis player who went into the clothing business, and came up with a more comfortable shirt that players could use. This became known as a 'tennis shirt'. When it was adopted for use in the sport of polo, the shirts also became known as 'polo shirts'. And then the 'golf shirt' is basically the same thing.
32
I_TA
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use it to portray something very small, as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
33
ES_U
ESAU. (31D. Biblical twin : JACOB)
34
_DE
ODE. Here's the first verse of the poem 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' by John Keats:
35
_MO
EMO. The musical genre of "emo" originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from "emotional hardcore". Not my cup of tea ...
36
_DE
ODE. William Collins was an 18th-century English poet who is perhaps most famous for writing lyrical odes.
37
_AN
IAN. Ian Fleming is most famous for writing the 'James Bond' series of spy novels. You might also know that he wrote the children's story 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', which was made into a cute movie released in 1968 and even a stage musical that opened in 2002.
38
E_ON
ETON. Captain Hook is the bad guy in 'Peter Pan', the famous play by J. M. Barrie. Hook is Peter Pan's sworn enemy, as Pan cut off Hook's hand causing it to be replaced by a 'hook'. It is implied in the play that Hook attended Eton College, just outside London. Hook's last words are 'Floreat Etona', which is Eton College's motto.
39
_MAN
OMAN. Oman is lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, neighbored by the OAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The city of Muscat, with its strategic location, has a history of invasion and unrest. Centuries of occupation by the Persians ended in 1507 when the Portuguese took the city in a bloody attack. The Portuguese held Muscat for much of the next century until finally ousted by local Omani forces in 1648. A Yemeni tribe invaded the area in 1741 and set up a monarchy that has been in place ever since.
40
_OTA
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use it to portray something very small, as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
41
E_K
ELK. Male elk are called bulls, and females are known as cows. Bull elk are known for their very loud screaming, which is called bugling. Cow elk are attracted to bulls that bugle more often and most loudly.
42
LE_
LES. Aix-les-Bains is an old Roman spa town in Eastern France.
43
C_A
CIA. Burn Notice" is an action drama TV series that originally aired from 2007 to 2013 on the USA Network. The show's title refer to 'burn notices' issued by intelligence agencies, a document that discredits a source or agent that has become unreliable.
44
_ED
NED. Ned Stark is the protagonist in George R. R. Martin's fantasy novel 'A Game of Thrones', although his character doesn't exactly come out on top by the end of the story. Stark is played by actor Sean Bean in the HBO television adaptation of the novel.
45
_MAN
OMAN. Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula and is neighbored by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The capital city of Muscat has a strategic location on the Gulf of Oman and has a history of invasion and unrest. Centuries of occupation by the Persians ended in 1507 when the Portuguese took the city in a bloody attack. The Portuguese held Muscat for much of the next one hundred years until finally ousted by local Omani forces in 1648. A Yemeni tribe invaded the area in 1741 and set up a monarchy that has been in place ever since.
46
LE_
LES. 'Les États-Unis d'Amérique' is what French speakers call 'the United States of America'.
47
_ES
LES. The 1980 musical "Les Miserables" is an adaptation of the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. It opened in London in 1985, and is the longest running musical in the history of London's West End. My wife and I saw "Les Miz" in the Queen's Theatre in London quite a few years ago, but were only able to get tickets in the very back row. The theater seating is very steep, so the back row of the balcony is very high over the stage. One of the big events in the story is the building of a street barricade, over which the rebels fight. At the height we were seated we could see the stagehands behind the barricade, sitting drinking Coke, even having a cigarette. On cue they would get up and catch a dropped rifle, or an actor that had been shot. It was pretty comical. I didn't really enjoy the show that much, to be honest. Some great songs, but the storyline just didn't seem to hang together for me.
48
SO_
SOS. The singer Rihanna was born and grew up on the island of Barbados and moved to the US when she was 16-years-old to pursue a singing career.
49
EA_
EAU. (8. See 52-Across : SEINE)
50
IA_
IAN. I've always thought Ian Woosnam to be the most unlikely-looking of golfers. He is just over 5' 4' tall and yet is noted as a very powerful hitter of the ball. Woosnam is a Welshman, and was ranked the world's number one golfer for most of 1991.
51
_STI
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. It is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine. Moscato d'Asti is produced from the same grape (Moscato Bianco) but is a much sweeter wine with a lower alcohol content. It is usually served as a dessert wine.
52
AL_
A LA. In French, "à la mode" simply means "fashionable". In America, the term has also come to describe a way of serving pie, usually with ice cream, or as I recall from when I lived in Upstate New York, with cheese.
53
A_A
A LA. In French, "à la mode" simply means "fashionable". In America, the term has come to describe a way of serving pie, usually with ice cream, or as I recall from when I lived in Upstate New York, with cheese.
54
ERI_
ERIC. Eric Church is a country singer/songwriter from Granite Falls, North Carolina. In fact, Church's second album is called 'Carolina'.
55
ERI_
ERIC. Can you believe that Eric Clapton only had one chart-topper in the US? In 1974 he released a cover version of the Bob Marley classic "I Shot the Sheriff", and ended up selling more copies of that song than Bob Marley did himself.
56
_TARI
ATARI. At one point, the electronics and video game manufacturer Atari was the fastest growing company in US history. However, Atari never really recovered from the video game industry crash of 1983.
57
ETO_
ETON. John Maynard Keynes was a British economist. Keynes argued that a country's economy could and should be managed by fiscal and monetary policy in order to mitigate the effects of inevitable recessions and depressions.
58
_EI
LEI. "Lei" is the Hawaiian word for "garland, wreath", although in more general terms a "lei" is any series of objects strung together as an adornment intended to be worn.
59
_SR
SSR. Estonia is one of the former Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs) and is located in Northern Europe on the Baltic Sea, due south of Finland. Estonia has been overrun and ruled by various empires over the centuries. The country did enjoy a few years of freedom at the beginning of the 20th century after a war of independence against the Russian Empire. However, Estonia was occupied again during WWII, first by the Russians and then by the Germans, and then reoccupied by the Soviets in 1944. Estonia has flourished as an independent country again since the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
60
ATA_I
ATARI. I remember being really addicted to the Atari video arcade game called 'Asteroids' back in the early eighties. Apparently I wasn't the only one, as 'Asteroids' turned out to be Atari's best selling game of all time.
61
OR_
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 anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking ...
62
AD_
ADA. I think the reference here is to the 1969 novel by Vladimir Nabokov. "Ada". The story is about a man called Van Veen who, when 14 years old, meets for the first time his cousin, 11-year-old Ada. The two cousins eventually have an affair, only to discover later that they are in fact brother and sister.
63
NE_
NED. Ned Land was one of the protagonists in Jules Verne's classic "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". In the famous movie adaptation from 1955, Ned Land was played by Kirk Douglas.
64
_OL
AOL. Moviefone is a movie listing service, available by telephone in many parts of the country.
65
_SI
CSI. The 'CSI' franchise of TV shows has been tremendously successful, but seems to be winding down. 'CSI: Miami' (the 'worst' of the franchise, I think) was cancelled in 2012 after ten seasons. 'CSI: NY' (the 'best' of the franchise) was cancelled in 2013 after nine seasons. The original 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', set in Las Vegas, is still going strong and has been doing so since 2000.
66
_BI
OBI. An obi is a sash worn in from dress in Japan, both by men and women, although there tend to be many different ornate versions for women.
67
_MO
EMO. The musical genre of "emo" originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from "emotional hardcore". Not my cup of tea ...
68
OMA_
OMAN. The Arabian Peninsula is shaped like a boot, with the Sultanate of Oman occupying the toe of that boot.
69
IN_A
INCA. The Inca Empire was known as the Tawantinsuyu, which translates as 'land of the four quarters'. The Inca Empire was a federal organization having a central government that sat above four 'suyu' or 'quarters', four administrative regions.
70
EV_
EVA. Despite the English sounding name, Eva Green is a French actress. She played Bond girl Vesper Lynd in the 2006 movie "Casino Royale", opposite Daniel Craig.
71
_BA
ABA. The American Bar Association was founded back in 1878, and is a voluntary association for lawyers and law students. The main focus of the ABA is setting academic standards for law schools, and setting ethical codes for the profession.
72
IR_
IRS. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was set up during the Civil War to raise money to cover war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, the government was funded by levies on trade and property.
73
EV_
EVA. Eva Cassidy was a singer and guitarist who sang many genres of music including jazz, blues, gospel, country and pop. Cassidy was from the East Coast of the US, but was extremely popular in the UK and Ireland. Sadly, she passed away in 1996 when she was just 33 years old.
74
OR_
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 anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking ...
75
E_IC
ERIC. George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, the famous British author of the classics "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and "Animal Farm".
76
_MO
EMO. The musical genre of "emo" originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from "emotional hardcore". Not my cup of tea ...
77
N_A
NSA. The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organization's nickname ... 'No Such Agency'.
78
NE_O
NERO. The emperor Nero had quite the family life. When Nero was just 16-years-old he married his stepsister, Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.
79
O_I
OBI. An obi is a sash worn in some formal of dress in Japan, both by men and women, although the styles for women tend to be more ornate.
80
CI_
CIA. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the successor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) formed during WWII. The CIA was chartered by the National Security Act of 1947.
81
_ES
LES. 'Les Girls' is a 1957 MGM musical that was scored by Cole Porter. Stars of the film are Gene Kelly and Mitzi Gaynor.
82
_RCA
ORCA. The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name "orca", rather than "killer whale", is becoming more and more common. The Latin word "Orcinus" means "belonging to Orcus", with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.
83
_DA
ADA. "Ada" is a 1969 novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The story takes place in the 1800s on Antiterra, an Earth-like planet that has a history similar to ours but with interesting differences. For example, there is a United States, but the country covers all of North and South America. What we call eastern Canada is a French-speaking province called "Canady", and western Canada is a Russian-speaking province called "Estody". The storyline is about a man called Van Veen who, when 14 years old, meets for the first time his cousin, 11-year-old Ada. The two cousins eventually have an affair, only to discover later that they are in fact brother and sister.
84
AL_
A LA. In French, "à la mode" simply means "fashionable". In America, the term has come to describe a way of serving pie, usually with ice cream, or as I recall from when I lived in Upstate New York, with cheese.
85
_EO
LEO. Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio is from Los Angeles, California. DiCaprio's mother was visiting a museum in Italy when she was pregnant and felt the first kick of her unborn child. At the moment of that first kick, Mama DiCaprio was looking at a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and so named her son Leonardo.
86
AO_
AOL. Founded as Quantum Computer Services in 1983 the company changed its name in 1989 to America Online. As America Online went international, the acronym AOL was used in order to shake off the "America-centric" sound to the name. During the heady days of AOL's success the company could not keep up with the growing number of subscribers, so people trying to connect often encountered busy signals. That's when users referred to AOL as "Always Off-Line".
87
_ED
TED. 'How I Met Your Mother' is a sitcom that CBS has been airing since 2005. The main character is Ted Mosby, played by Josh Radnor. Mosby is also the narrator for the show looking back from the year 2030 (the live action is set in the present). As narrator, the older Mosby character is voiced by Bob Saget.
88
O_IS
OTIS. Jay-Z, as well as being a successful and very rich rap artist, is married to singer Beyonce.
89
OR_O
OREO. The Oreo cookie was introduced in 1912. The Oreo was intended to be a competitor to the very similar Hydrox cookie which had debuted four years earlier. The Oreo won the resulting battle on the grocery store shelves ...
90
_KE
IKE. Mike and Ike is a brandname of fruit-flavored candy made by Just Born starting in 1940. Just Born launched quite a clever marketing campaign in 2012 asserting that Mike and Ike had 'split up due to creative differences'. The campaign involved production of two different boxes for the candy showing one or the other name scratched out. Clever ...
91
TE_
TED. The acronym TED stands for Technology Entertainment and Design. TED is a set of conferences held around the world by a non-profit group called the Sapling Foundation. The conference subjects are varied, and the meetings are often led by big names such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates and Jane Goodall. The Sapling Foundation then makes recordings of the conferences available for free online with the intent of disseminating the ideas globally. These conferences are known as 'TED talks'.
92
_BA
ABA. The American Bar Association (ABA) was founded back in 1878 and is a voluntary association for lawyers and law students. The ABA focuses on setting academic standards for law schools and setting ethical codes for the profession.
93
E_O
ELO. If you listen to the song "Rockaria" on the 1976 ELO album "A New World Record", you'll hear an "oops". The introduction to the track features an opera singer who starts the vocals too early in the first take. The band decided to use that first take anyway, complete with the singer saying "oops".
94
OR_O
OREO. The Oreo was the best-selling cookie in the 20th century, and almost 500 billion of them have been sold since they were introduced in 1912 by Nabisco. In those early days the creme filling was made with pork fat, but today vegetable oils are used instead. If you take a bite out of an Oreo sold outside of America you might notice a difference from the homegrown cookie, as coconut oil is added in the overseas version to give a different taste.
95
_NE
ONE. Area codes were introduced in the 1940s. Back then the 'clicks' one heard when dialling a number led to mechanical wear on various pieces of equipment. In order to minimize overall mechanical wear, areas with high call volumes were given the most efficient area codes (lowest number of clicks). That led to New York getting the area code 212, Los Angeles 213 and Chicago 313.
96
E_O
EMO. The musical genre of "emo" originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from "emotional hardcore". Not my cup of tea ...
97
AL_
A LA. On a restaurant menu items that are "à la carte" are priced and ordered separately, as opposed to "table d'hôte" (also called "prix fixe") which is a fixed-price menu with limited choice.
98
EM_
EMO. The musical genre of "emo" originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from "emotional hardcore". Not my cup of tea ...
99
EM_
EMO. The musical genre of "emo" originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from "emotional hardcore". Not my cup of tea ...
100
_ED
TED. The acronym TED stands for Technology Entertainment and Design. TED is a set of conferences held around the world by a non-profit group called the Sapling Foundation. The conference subjects are varied, and the meetings are often led by big names such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates and Jane Goodall. The Sapling Foundation then makes recordings of the conferences available for free online with the intent of disseminating the ideas globally. These conferences are known as 'TED Talks'.
101
_SAU
ESAU. Esau, was the grandson of Abraham and the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When Esau was born to Isaac and Rebekah, the event was described, 'Now the first came forth, red all over like a hairy garment'. Esau is portrayed later in life as being very different from his brother, as a hunter and someone who loves the outdoor life.
102
A_NE
ANNE. Anne Hutchinson arrived in Boston from England in 1634, along with her husband and ten surviving children (five others had died). Anne and her family became members of the Boston church, but soon her religious views diverged from the church leaders. She became a major contributor to the religious tension in the colony that became known as the Antinomian or Free Grace Controversy. The leader of the free grace movement was Puritan minister John Cotton, with Anne Hutchinson being his most charismatic preacher.
103
A_P
ASP. The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It is so venomous that the asp was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. When the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was therefore her chosen method.
104
LE_
LEI. "Lei" is the Hawaiian word for "garland, wreath", although in more general terms a "lei" is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.
105
AN_E
ANNE. Anne Rice is an American author of erotic and Gothic novels. She was born Howard Allen O'Brien (no wonder she changed her name!). Her series of novels "The Vampire Chronicles" centers on her character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman who was turned into a vampire in the 18th century. One of the stories, "Interview with the Vampire", was adapted for the big screen in 1994 and features Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and others in a star-studded cast. Not my kind of movie though, as I don't do vampires ...
106
_AU
EAU. Back in 1709, an Italian perfume-maker moved to Cologne in Germany. There he invented a new fragrance that he named Eau de Cologne after his newly adopted hometown. The fragrance is still produced in Cologne, using a secret formulation. However, the terms Eau de Cologne and cologne, are now used generically.
107
AL_
A LA. On a restaurant menu, items that are "à la carte" are priced and ordered separately. A menu marked "table d'hôte" (also called "prix fixe") is a fixed-price menu with limited choice.
108
REN_
RENE. The word "stethoscope" comes from the Greek word for "chest examination". The stethoscope was invented back in 1816 in France by René Laennec, although back then it looked just like an ear trumpet, a wooden tube with flared ends.
109
OT_S
OTIS. Lex Luthor is the arch-nemesis of Superman in comics. Luthor has been portrayed in a number of guises in the comic world as well in movies and on the small screen. For example, he appeared as Atom Man in the 1950 film series "Atom Man vs. Superman", and was played by actor Lyle Talbot, opposite Kirk Alyn's Superman.
110
L_I
LEI. "Lei" is the Hawaiian word for "garland, wreath", although in more general terms a "lei" is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.
111
I_TA
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word "iota" to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
112
E_ON
ETON. The world-famous Eton College is just a brisk walk from Windsor Castle, which itself is just outside London. Eton is noted for producing many British leaders including David Cameron who took power in the last UK general election. The list of Old Etonians also includes Princes William and Harry, the Duke of Wellington, George Orwell, and the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming (as well as 007 himself as described in the Fleming novels).
113
_OS
SOS. The combination of three dots - three dashes - three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots - pause - three dashes - pause - three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship" are also mnemonics, introduced after the "SOS" signal was adopted.
114
L_O
LEO. Leo Kottke is an acoustic guitarist. He had to move away from his signature, aggressive picking style in the early eighties as the repetitive motions caused severe tendinitis and nerve damage. But, he is still playing ...
115
_RR
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 anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking ...
116
_MA
UMA. Robert Thurman was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter "Uma" as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name "Dbuma".
117
O_CA
ORCA. The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name "orca", rather than "killer whale", is becoming more and more common. The Latin word "Orcinus" means "belonging to Orcus", with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.
118
_RR
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 anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking ...
119
RH_
RHO. Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter "p".
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O_EO
OREO. The Oreo cookie was the biggest seller in the 20th century, and almost 500 billion of them have been produced since they were introduced in 1912 by Nabisco. In those early days the creme filling was made with pork fat, but today vegetable oils are used instead. If you take a bite out of an Oreo sold outside of America you might notice a difference from the homegrown cookie, as coconut oil is added to give a different taste.
121
_DE
ODE. A Horatian Ode is an ode with a specific structure, designed to resemble the odes of the Roman poet, Horace.
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ET_N
ETON. The world-famous Eton College is just a brisk walk from Windsor Castle, which itself is just outside London. Eton is noted for producing many British leaders including David Cameron who took power in the last UK general election. The list of Old Etonians also includes Princes William and Harry, the Duke of Wellington, George Orwell, and the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming (as well as 007 himself as described in the Fleming novels).
123
IK_
IKE. 'I Like Ike' was a political slogan that originated with the grassroots movement to get Dwight D. Eisenhower to run for president in the 1952 presidential election.
124
L_I
LEI. "Lei" is the Hawaiian word for "garland, wreath", although in more general terms a "lei" is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.
125
O_IS
OTIS. Elevators (simple hoists) have been around for a long time. What Elisha Otis did was come up with the "safety elevator", a design that he showcased at the 1853 World's Fair in New York. At the Fair, Otis would stand on an elevated platform in front of onlookers and order his assistant to cut the single rope holding up the platform. His safety system kicked in when the platform had only fallen a few inches, amazing the crowd. After this demonstration, the orders came rolling in.
126
AB_
ABA. The American Bar Association.
127
_IA
CIA. Argo' is a 2012 movie that is based on the true story of the rescue of six diplomats hiding out during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film was directed by and stars Ben Affleck and is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, the same pair who produced the excellent 'Good Night, and Good Luck'. I saw 'Argo' recently and recommend it highly, although I found the scenes of religious fervor pretty frightening ...
128
I_E
IKE. The Eisenhower dollar was issued from 1971 to 1978. It commemorated the life of President Dwight D. Eisenhower who passed away in 1969. 1969 was also the year of the Apollo moon landing, so the mission insignia appears on the reverse of the coin.
129
AB_
ABA. The Virginia Squires were a team in the American Basketball Association (ABA), a team that fell through the cracks during the ABA-NBA merger and was shut down. The Squires had been founded as the Oakland Oaks in 1967, and were partly owned by singer Pat Boone.
130
_EO
LEO. Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 13 to August 23 are Leos.
131
_ED
TED. 'Ted' is a movie written, directed, produced and starring Seth MacFarlane. In the story, MacFarlane voices a teddy bear who is the best friend of a character played by Mark Wahlberg.
132
_LA
A LA. A dish served "à la diable" is relatively hot and spicy, with the meat coated in mustard and hot pepper. The term "à la diable" translates from French as 'in the style of the devil'.
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O_CA
ORCA. 'Jaws' is a thrilling 1975 movie directed by Steven Spielberg that is based on a novel of the same name by Peter Benchley. The film has a powerful cast, led by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw. 'Jaws' was perhaps the first 'summer blockbuster' with the highest box office take in history, a record that stood until 'Star Wars' was released two years later.
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IOT_
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word "iota" to portray something very small, as iota is the smallest of all Greek letters.
135
I_E
IKE. 'I Like Ike' was a political slogan that originated with the grassroots movement to get Dwight D. Eisenhower to run for president in the 1952 presidential election.
136
ORE_
OREO. The McFlurry is the ice cream dessert from McDonald's. Cleverly, a McFlurry is mixed on a machine with the mixing blade then doubling as a spoon with which one eats it.
137
_TNA
ETNA. Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Mt Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius.
138
_OTA
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word "iota" to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
139
_STI
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
140
A_NE
ANNE. Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII of England. Anne was found guilty of high treason after about a thousand days of marriage to Henry, accused of adultery and incest (probably trumped-up charges). She was executed, but perhaps her legacy lived on in her only child, as her daughter reigned for 45 very prosperous years as Queen Elizabeth I.
141
SS_
SSN. Social Security Number (SSN)
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_AO
TAO. The Chinese character "tao" translates as "path", but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
143
AS_
ASP. The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It is so venomous that the asp was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. When the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was therefore her chosen method.
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_ES
LES. 'Les États-Unis d'Amérique' is what French speakers call 'the United States of America'.
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I_E
IKE. There doesn't seem to be any good reason why President Eisenhower was called "Ike". However, it is known that the nickname dates back to his childhood as his parents called him "Ike" as well as 'Dwight'.
146
_IA
CIA. "The Bourne Identity" is a great spy novel written by Robert Ludlum, and first published in 1980. It has been ranked as the second best spy novel of all time, just behind the even more enjoyable "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" by John le Carre. I'll agree with that sentiment. Ludlum wrote two sequels, and all three parts of the Bourne Trilogy have been made into very successful movies now, starring Matt Damon in the title role. Ludlum died before he could write more than three novels featuring Jason Bourne, but five more titles in the series have been published, written by Eric Van Lustbader. I must check them out ...
147
_EL
EEL. Eel pie is a traditional dish associated with the working classes in London, England especially during the Victorian era. Eel was chosen as an ingredient as it was one of the few fish that could live in the polluted River Thames.
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N_RO
NERO. "I, Claudius" is a 1934 novel written by Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of Emperor Claudius of Rome. He wrote a sequel in 1935, "Claudius the God". Both books were adapted by the BBC into a fabulous series that went by the name "I, Claudius".
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_OS
SOS. The combination of three dots - three dashes - three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots - pause - three dashes - pause - three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship" are also mnemonics, introduced after the "SOS" signal was adopted.
150
NE_
NED. Ned Flanders lives next door to Homer on TV's "The Simpsons". Ned is voiced by actor Harry Shearer and has been around since the very first episode aired in 1989.
151
SO_
SOS. The combination of three dots - three dashes - three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots - pause - three dashes - pause - three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship" are simply mnemonics, introduced after the SOS signal was adopted.
152
ET_N
ETON. The world-famous Eton College is just a brisk walk from Windsor Castle, which itself is just outside London. Eton is noted for producing many British leaders, including David Cameron who took power in the recent UK general election. The list of Old Etonians also includes Princes William and Harry, the Duke of Wellington, George Orwell, and the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming.
153
NE_O
NERO. The Roman emperor Nero had quite the family life. When Nero was just 16-years-old he married his stepsister, Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.
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_SN
SSN. Social Security number (SSN)
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ET_A
ETNA. Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy, about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt Vesuvius.
156
_ERO
NERO. Seneca the Younger was a playwright as well as a tutor and advisor to the Emperor Nero of Ancient Rome. Although maybe innocent, Seneca was forced to commit suicide by Nero as it was alleged that Seneca participated in a plot to kill the emperor. To kill himself, Seneca cut into a number of veins in order to bleed to death.
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EVA. Eva is the second largest airline based in Taiwan, after China Airlines.
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I_N
IAN. Ian Frazier is a writer and humorist for 'The New Yorker'. Frazier also wrote two respected travel books: 'Great Plains' and 'Travels in Siberia'.
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O_CA
ORCA. The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name 'orca', rather than 'killer whale', is becoming more and more common. The Latin word 'Orcinus' means 'belonging to Orcus', with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.
160
_LK
ELK. The elk (also known as the wapiti) is the one of the largest species of deer in the world, with only the moose being bigger. Early European settlers were familiar with the smaller red deer back in their homelands, so when they saw the "huge" wapiti they assumed it was a moose, and incorrectly gave it the European name for a moose, namely "elk". The more correct name for the beast is "wapiti", which means "white rump" in Shawnee. It's all very confusing ...
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O_EO
OREO. The Oreo cookie was introduced in 1912. The Oreo was intended to be a competitor to the very similar Hydrox cookie which had debuted four years earlier. The Oreo won the resulting battle on the grocery store shelves ...
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I_N
IAN. Ian Fleming is most famous of course for writing the "James Bond" series of spy novels. You might also know that he wrote the children's story "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", made into a cute movie released in 1968, and even a stage musical that opened in 2002.
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_NN
ANN. Cape Ann is 30 miles north of Boston and is on the northernmost edge of Massachusetts Bay. The Cape was first mapped by the explorer John Smith. Early in his adventurous life Smith had been captured and enslaved by the Ottoman Empire. His "owner" in his days of slavery was a woman called Tragabigzanda, and apparently the slave and owner fell in love. Smith originally called Cape Tragabigzanda in her memory, but King Charles I changed the name to Cape Ann in honor of his own mother, Anne of Denmark.
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ATAR_
ATARI. At one point, the electronics and video game manufacturer Atari was the fastest growing company in US history. However, Atari never really recovered from the video game industry crash of 1983.
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_EO
LEO. Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.
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AS_I
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
167
L_I
LEI. "Lei" is the Hawaiian word for "garland, wreath", although in more general terms a "lei" is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.
168
S_S
SOS. The combination of three dots - three dashes - three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots - pause - three dashes - pause - three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship" are also mnemonics, introduced after the "SOS" signal was adopted.
169
_TON
ETON. The world-famous Eton College is just a brisk walk from Windsor Castle, which itself is just outside London. Eton is noted for producing many British leaders including David Cameron who took power in the last UK general election. The list of Old Etonians also includes Princes William and Harry, the Duke of Wellington, George Orwell, and the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming (as well as 007 himself as described in the Fleming novels).
170
ORE_
OREO. Apparently Oreo Ice Cream flavors were introduced relatively recently, in 2010.
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N_RO
NERO. The Roman emperor Nero had quite the family life. When Nero was just 16-years-old he married his stepsister, Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.
172
LE_
LEI. "Lei" is the Hawaiian word for "garland, wreath", although in more general terms a "lei" is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.
173
A_A
A LA. The phrase 'in the style of' can be translated in 'alla' in Italian and 'à la' in French.
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E_K
ELK. The elk (also known as the wapiti) is the one of the largest species of deer in the world, with only the moose being bigger. Early European settlers were familiar with the smaller red deer back in their homelands, so when they saw the "huge" wapiti they assumed it was a moose, and incorrectly gave it the European name for a moose, namely "elk". The more correct name for the beast is "wapiti", which means "white rump" in Shawnee. It's all very confusing ...
175
_BI
OBI. The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. The obi can be tied in what is called a butterfly knot.
176
R_NE
RENE. René Clément was a director and screenwriter from France. Clément won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film on two occasions: 'The Walls of Malapaga' (1949) and 'Forbidden Games' (1952).
177
_BI
OBI. Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the more beloved of the 'Star Wars' characters. Kenobi was portrayed by two fabulous actors in the series of films. As a young man he is played by Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, and as an older man he is played by Alec Guinness.
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I_S
IRS. The Chicago gangster Al Capone was eventually jailed for tax evasion. He was given a record 11-year sentence in federal prison, of which he served 8 years. He left prison suffering dementia caused by late-stage syphilis. Capone suffered through 7-8 sickly years before passing away in 1947.
179
_LK
ELK. Ruminants are animals that 'chew the cud'. Ruminants eat vegetable matter but cannot extract any nutritional value from cellulose without the help of microbes in the gut. Ruminants collect roughage in the first part of the alimentary canal, allowing microbes to work on it. The partially digested material (the cud) is regurgitated into the mouth so that the ruminant can chew the food more completely exposing more surface area for microbes to do their work.
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A_A
ADA. Fluoridation is the addition of a fluoride salt to the public drinking water system, a measure taken to reduce tooth decay. What I find interesting is that bottled water usually has no added fluoride, and most domestic water filters remove the fluoride from the water coming out of the faucet.
181
CS_
CSI. The TV show "CSI" gets a lot of criticism from law enforcement agencies for its unrealistic portrayal of the procedures and science of criminal investigation. I don't care though, as I just think it's a fun show to watch. The original CSI set in Las Vegas seems to have "gone off the boil" lately, but the addition of Sela Ward to the cast of CSI: NY has really, really raised the level of the sister show set in New York City.
182
_RS
IRS. April 15th wasn't always Tax Day in the US. The deadline for returns was March 1st from 1913-18, when it was moved to March 15th. Tax Day has been April 15th since 1955.
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LE_
LES. The 1980 musical "Les Misérables" is an adaptation of the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The show opened in London in 1985, and is the longest running musical in the history of London's West End. My wife and I saw "Les Miz" in the Queen's Theatre in London quite a few years ago, but were only able to get tickets in the very back row. The old theater's seating is very steep, so the back row of the balcony is extremely high over the stage. One of the big events in the storyline is the building of a street barricade over which the rebels fight. At the height we were seated we could see the stagehands behind the barricade, sitting drinking Coke, even smoking cigarettes. On cue, the stagehands would get up and catch a dropped rifle, or an actor that had been shot. It was pretty comical. I didn't really enjoy the show that much, to be honest. Some great songs, but the musical version of the storyline just didn't seem to hang together for me.
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ATA_I
ATARI. At one point, the electronics and video game manufacturer Atari was the fastest growing company in US history. However, Atari never really recovered from the video game industry crash of 1983.
185
I_N
IAN. Ian Harding is an actor best known for playing Ezra Fitz in the teen drama TV series 'Pretty Little Liars'.
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ORCA. "Blackfish" is a 2013 documentary film that examines the dangers of keeping orca in captivity.'Star' of the movie is a killer whale (orca) called Tilikum who was responsible in whole or in part for the deaths of three people. Tilikum was captured in 1983 and has been a 'guest' of SeaWorld since 1992. Most recently, Tilikum killed a 40-year old trainer called Dawn Brancheau in 2010.
187
UM_
UMA. Uma Thurman's father, Robert Thurman, was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter "Uma" as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name "Dbuma".
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ESA_
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
189
E_O
EMO. The musical genre of 'emo' originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from 'emotional hardcore'. 'Emo' is also the name given to the associated subculture. Not my cup of tea ...
190
ATA_I
ATARI. At one point, the electronics and video game manufacturer Atari was the fastest growing company in US history. However, Atari never really recovered from the video game industry crash of 1983.
191
EM_
EMO. Emo originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from "emotional hardcore". Not my cup of tea ...
192
OMA_
OMAN. Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula and is neighbored by the OAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Oman is a monarchy, and the official name of the state is the Sultanate of Oman. All of the country's legislative, executive and judiciary power resides with the hereditary sultan.
193
A_L
AOL. Patch Media (owned by AOL) is the company that operates the website Patch.com, which uses a concept the company calls 'hyperlocal journalism'. Patch.com employs a network of local community news editors that manage local community news websites. There are over 500 such websites live on Patch.com today.
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L_O
LEO. Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio is from Los Angeles, California. DiCaprio's mother was visiting a museum in Italy when she was pregnant and felt the first kick of her unborn child. At the moment of that first kick, Mama DiCaprio was looking at a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and so named her son Leonardo.
195
A_L
AOL. Jerry Yang and David Filo called their company Yahoo! for two reasons. Firstly, a Yahoo is a rude, unsophisticated brute from Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels". Secondly, Yahoo stands for "Yet another Hierarchical Officious Oracle".
196
ETO_
ETON. The world-famous Eton College is just a brisk walk from Windsor Castle, which itself is just outside London. Eton is noted for producing many British leaders, including David Cameron who took power in the recent UK general election. The list of Old Etonians also includes Princes William and Harry, the Duke of Wellington, George Orwell, and the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming.
197
_SN
SSN. The main purpose of a Social Security Number is to track individuals for the purposes of taxation, although to me, it is looking more and more like an "identity number" these days. The numbering system was introduced in 1936. Before 1986, a SSN was required only for persons with substantial income, so many children under 14 had no number assigned. There was concern that a lot of people were claiming children as dependents on their tax forms who did not actually exist, so from 1986 onwards it was a requirement to get a SSN for any dependents over the age of 5 years. Sure enough, in the following year's tax returns, seven million dependents "disappeared".
198
AN_
ANN. Lee Ann Womack is a country music singer and songwriter from Jacksonville, Texas.
199
L_I
LEI. "Lei" is the Hawaiian word for 'garland, wreath', although in more general terms a 'lei' is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.
200
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LES. 'Les' is French for 'the', and is used with a plural noun.
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AN_E
ANNE. Anne, Princess Royal was born in 1950 and is the only daughter of British Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Anne has been in the public spotlight for many things, including her success as an equestrian. Princess Anne was the first member of the British Royal Family to have competed in an Olympic Games. Her daughter Zara Phillips continued the tradition and competed as a member of the British equestrian team in the 2012 Olympic Games. Zara's medal was presented to her by her own mother, Princess Anne.
202
N_A
NSA. Red Storm Rising' is the best of Tom Clancy's novels, in my humble opinion. It tells of a Third World War that breaks out between NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries. Although the cover of the book usually shows just Tom Clancy as the author, it was actually co-written by Larry Bond.
203
ORC_
ORCA. The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name "orca", rather than "killer whale", is becoming more and more common. The Latin word "Orcinus" means "belonging to Orcus", with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.
204
ORE_
OREO. The Oreo cookie was developed by Nabisco in its Chelsea factory in New York City in 1912. It was introduced mainly for the British market, but became a huge hit in the US.
205
ATAR_
ATARI. The kids today probably don't realize that we had a video game console back in the seventies, and it wasn't a Nintendo nor was it a PlayStation. The Atari 2600 game system introduced the idea of separating out computing hardware (the console) from the game code (a cartridge). The same concept persists to this day, although cartridges have been displaced by discs and downloads.
206
A_L
AOL. Founded as Quantum Computer Services in 1983, America Online changed its name in 1989. As the company went international, the acronym AOL was used in order to shake off the "America-centric" image. During the heady days of AOL's success, the company could not keep up with the growing number of subscribers, so people trying to connect often encountered busy signals. That's when users called AOL "Always Off-Line".
207
S_N
SSN. The main purpose of a Social Security Number (SSN) is to track individuals for the purposes of taxation, although given its ubiquitous use, it is looking more and more like an "identity number" to me. The social security number system was introduced in 1936. Prior to 1986, an SSN was required only for persons with substantial income so many children under 14 had no number assigned. For some years the IRS had a concern that a lot of people were claiming children on their tax returns who did not actually exist. So, from 1986 onward, it is a requirement to get an SSN for any dependents over the ago of 5. Sure enough, in 1987 seven million dependents "disappeared".
208
_OS
SOS. The combination of three dots - three dashes - three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots - pause - three dashes - pause - three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship" are also mnemonics, introduced after the "SOS" signal was adopted.
209
L_S
LES. Les Paul was a guitarist, songwriter and inventor. When he was 33 years old, Paul was involved in a near-fatal car crash that left his right arm and elbow shattered. Surgeons offered him the choice of amputation or a rebuilding of the limb that would leave him unable to bend his elbow. He told them to set his arm at just under 90 degrees so that he could at least hold his guitar and perhaps play it.
210
_KE
IKE. 'I Like Ike' was a political slogan that originated with the grassroots movement to get Dwight D. Eisenhower ('Ike) to run for president in the 1952 presidential election.
211
_ENE
RENE. The lovely and very talented actress Rene Russo is a native of Burbank, California. Russo went to high school with actor/director Ron Howard, but dropped out in tenth grade. At seventeen she was given the opportunity to train as a model, and within a very short time appeared on the cover of 'Vogue'. As her modelling jobs slowed down in her early thirties, she made a career change and studied theater and acting. I am so glad she did, as Rene Russo is one of my favorite actresses ...
212
_ED
TED. 'How I Met Your Mother' is a sitcom that CBS has been airing since 2005. The main character is Ted Mosby, played by Josh Radnor. Mosby is also the narrator for the show looking back from the year 2030 (the live action is set in the present). As narrator, the older Mosby character is voiced by Bob Saget.
213
IK_
IKE. When the future president was growing up, the Eisenhower family used the nickname 'Ike' for all seven boys in the family, as 'Ike' was seen as an abbreviation for the family name. 'Big Ike' was Edgar, the second oldest boy. 'Little/Young Ike' was Dwight, who was the third son born. Dwight had no sisters.
214
ET_A
ETNA. Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy, about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt Vesuvius.
215
E_AU
ESAU. Esau, was the grandson of Abraham and the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When Esau was born to Isaac and Rebekah, the event was described, 'Now the first came forth, red all over like a hairy garment'. Esau is portrayed later in life as being very different from his brother, as a hunter and someone who loves the outdoor life.
216
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 anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking ...
217
_NCA
INCA. Quechua was the existing Native American language that was adopted by the Incan Empire and favored over other dialects.
218
E_IC
ERIC. Eric Holder is the Attorney General of the United States, and is the first African American to hold the position. Holder was close to President Obama during the presidential campaign. He was the campaign's legal advisor and was also one of the three members on the Obama vice-presidential selection committee, which of course opted for Vice-President Joe Biden.
219
_OL
AOL. The Huffington Post' is a news website founded in 2005 by Arianna Huffington. It's a very active site, with 3,000 people contributing blog posts (including many celebrities and politicians), and readers leaving over one million comments every month. 'The Huffington Post' was sold to AOL in 2011 for $315 million, with Arianna Huffington staying on as editor-in-chief.
220
IR_
IRS. Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
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_NCA
INCA. Machu Picchu is of course known as "The Lost City of the Incas", and it can be visited on a mountain ridge in Peru, 50 miles northwest of Cuzco. The name Machu Picchu means "old peak".
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ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
223
_AN
IAN. Ian Poulter is a golfer from England who for a while was ranked number five in the world.
224
O_EO
OREO. The Oreo was the biggest selling cookie in the 20th century, and almost 500 billion of them have been produced since they were introduced in 1912 by Nabisco. In those early days the creme filling was made with pork fat, but today vegetable oils are used instead. If you take a bite out of an Oreo sold outside of America you might notice a difference from the homegrown cookie, as coconut oil is added to give a different taste.
225
UM_
UMA. Uma Thurman's father, Robert Thurman, was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter "Uma" as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name "Dbuma".
226
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ONE. The Beaufort wind scale is named after Irishman Sir Francis Beaufort, a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy. Beaufort was a hydrographer as well as a career navy man.
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O_AN
OMAN. Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula and is neighbored by the OAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Oman is a monarchy, and the official name of the state is the Sultanate of Oman. All of the country's legislative, executive and judiciary power resides with the hereditary sultan.
228
TA_
TAO. The Chinese character "tao" translates as "path", but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
229
O_I
OBI. An obi is a sash worn in from dress in Japan, both by men and women, although there tend to be many different ornate versions for women.
230
IN_A
INCA. The Inca Empire was known as the Tawantinsuyu, which translates as 'land of the four quarters'. The Inca Empire was a federal organization having a central government that sat above four 'suyu' or 'quarters', four administrative regions.
231
_EL
EEL. Sushi is a Japanese dish that has as its primary ingredient cooked, vinegared rice. The rice is often topped with something, usually fish, and can often be served in seaweed rolls. If you want raw fish by itself, then you have to order "sashimi".
232
EL_
ELO. "Out of the Blue" is a double album released in 1977 by ELO. All the tracks were written by band leader Jeff Lynne in just three weeks in a rented chalet in the Swiss Alps. Creative environment I guess ...
233
ES_U
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
234
N_RO
NERO. Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective and the hero of many stories published by author Rex Stout. There are 33 Nero Wolfe novels for you to read, and 39 short stories. There are also movie adaptations of two of the novels: " Meet Nero Wolfe" (1936) which features a young Rita Hayworth, and "The League of Frightened Men" (1937).
235
_TNA
ETNA. Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Mt Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. The third of the trio is Stromboli.
236
O_IS
OTIS. Otis Redding is often referred to as the "King of Soul", and what a voice he had. Like so many of the greats in the world of popular music it seems, Redding was killed in a plane crash, in 1967 when he was just 26 years old. Just three days earlier he had recorded what was to be his biggest hit, "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay".
237
NER_
NERO. The Great Fire of Rome raged for five and a half days in 64 AD. Of the fourteen districts of Rome, three were completely destroyed, and seven more suffered serious damage. The emperor at the time was of course Nero, although reports that he fiddled, played his lyre or sang while the city burned, those accounts are probably not true. In fact, Nero was staying outside of Rome when the fire started, and rushed home on hearing the news. He organized a massive relief effort, throwing open his own home to house many of the citizens who were left living on the street.
238
_OS
SOS. The combination of three dots - three dashes - three dots is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots - pause - three dashes - pause - three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship" are also mnemonics, introduced after the "SOS" signal was adopted.
239
IR_
IRS. April 15th wasn't always Tax Day in the US. The deadline for returns was March 1st from 1913-18, when it was moved to March 15th. Tax Day has been April 15th since 1955.
240
_AU
EAU. 'Eau' is a French word for 'water'.
241
EL_
ELO. "Telephone Line" was released as a single in 1977, and hit the top ten listings on both sides of the Atlantic. ELO of course stands for the Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group from the north of England. Their manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
242
_RS
IRS. April 15th wasn't always Tax Day in the US. The deadline for returns was March 1st from 1913-18, when it was moved to March 15th. Tax Day has been April 15th since 1955.
243
AO_
AOL. CompuServe was the predominant online service in the 1980s, and indeed the first such service in the US. I was a big CompuServe user back in the day ...
244
EL_
ELO. The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) is a symphonic rock group from the north of England. The band's manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
245
A_L
AOL. MapQuest is a very popular Internet site, one that provides driving directions and maps. MapQuest is actually owned by AOL.
246
O_E
ONE. The first transcontinental telephone call was made in 1915 by Alexander Graham Bell, from New York City to San Francisco. The call took 23 minutes to connect as five telephone operators were involved.
247
INC_
INCA. The Inca people emerged as a tribe around the 12th century, in what today is southern Peru. The Incas developed a vast empire over the next 300 years, extending along most of the western side of South America. The Empire of course fell to the Spanish, finally dissolving in 1572 with the execution of Tupac Amaru, the last Incan Emperor.
248
I_TA
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word "iota" to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
249
E_L
EEL. Gulper eels aren't eels at all, but are ray-finned fish.
250
_AN
IAN. Ian Fleming is most famous of course for writing the "James Bond" series of spy novels. You might also know that he wrote the children's story "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", which was made into a cute movie released in 1968 and even a stage musical that opened in 2002.
251
_SA
NSA. The National Security Agency was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense since 1949. The agency has always been clouded in secrecy. Even the 1952 letter from President Truman that set up the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation.
252
E_NA
ETNA. Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy, about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt Vesuvius.
253
_SAU
ESAU. I saw Esau kissing Kate.
254
A_NE
ANNE. Anne, Princess Royalwas born in 1950 and is the only daughter of British Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Anne has been in the public spotlight for many things, including her success as an equestrian. Princess Anne was the first member of the British Royal Family to have competed in an Olympic Games. Her daughter Zara Philips continued the tradition and competed as a member of the British equestrian team in the 2012 Olympic Games. Zara's medal was presented to her by her own mother, Princess Anne.
255
A_A
ADA. The reference here is to the 1969 novel by Vladimir Nabokov called "Ada". The story takes place in the 1800s on Antiterra, an Earth-like planet that has a history similar to ours but with interesting differences. For example, there is a United States, but the country covers all of North and South America. What we call eastern Canada is a French-speaking province called "Canady", and western Canada is a Russian-speaking province "Estody". The plot-line is about a man called Van Veen who, when 14 years old, meets for the first time his cousin, 11-year-old Ada. The two cousins eventually have an affair, only to discover later that they are in fact brother and sister.
256
L_I
LEI. "Lei" is the Hawaiian word for "garland, wreath", although in more general terms a "lei" is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.
257
O_CA
ORCA. The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name "orca", rather than "killer whale", is becoming more and more common. The Latin word "Orcinus" means "belonging to Orcus", with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.
258
A_A
A LA. The phrase 'in the style of' can be translated in 'alla' in Italian and 'à la' in French.
259
UM_
UMA. Robert Thurman was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter "Uma" as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name "Dbuma".
260
SS_
SSN. A Social Security number (SSN) is divided into three parts i.e AAA-GG-SSSS, Originally, the Area Number (AAA) was the code for the office that issued the card. Since 1973, the Area Number reflects the ZIP code from which the application was made. The GG in the SSN is the Group Number, and the SSSS in the number is the Serial Number. However, this is all moot, as since 2011 SSN's are assigned randomly.
261
OR_A
ORCA. The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name "orca", rather than "killer whale", is becoming more and more common. The Latin word "Orcinus" means "belonging to Orcus", with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.
262
T_D
TED. US Senator Ted Cruz served as Solicitor General for the state of Texas before heading to Washington. Cruz was appointed Solicitor General in 2003 at the age of 32, making him the youngest Solicitor General in the country. Famously, Cruz is an opponent of the Affordable Care Act and made a speech in 2013 in the US Senate on the subject that lasted for 21 hours and 19 minutes. It was the fourth longest speech in the history of the Senate.
263
AST_
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
264
A_NE
ANNE. (25D. See 56-Across : KLEIN)
265
L_S
LES. The 1949 Albert Camus play called 'Les Justes' has a title that is usually translated as 'The Just Assassins', although a more literal meaning would be 'The Just' or 'The Righteous'.
266
ERI_
ERIC. Can you believe that Eric Clapton only had one chart-topper in the US? In 1974 he released a cover version of the Bob Marley classic "I Shot the Sheriff", and ended up selling more copies of the song than Bob Marley did himself.
267
AS_I
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. It is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
268
SO_
SOS. The combination of three dots - three dashes - three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots - pause - three dashes - pause - three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship" are also mnemonics, introduced after the "SOS" signal was adopted.
269
ER_C
ERIC. Eric Holder is the Attorney General of the United States, and is the first African American to hold the position. Holder was close to President Obama during the presidential campaign. Holder was the campaign's legal advisor and was also one of the three members on the Obama vice-presidential selection committee, which of course opted for Vice-President Joe Biden.
270
_MA
UMA. Uma Thurman's father, Robert Thurman, was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and called his daughter "Uma" as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name, Dbuma.
271
EA_
EAU. Eau Claire translates from French to English as "clear water". There are locations all over Canada and the United State with the name Eau Claire.
272
NS_
NSA. The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organization's nickname ... "No Such Agency".
273
S_S
SOS. "SOS" is a dance-pop song released by Rihanna in 2006.
274
_OL
AOL. MapQuest is a very popular Internet site, one that provides driving directions and maps. MapQuest has been owned by AOL since 2000. One nice feature of MapQuest is a page where gas prices are recorded by users, allowing others to find the lowest price in their area.
275
_VA
EVA. Carole King and her longtime partner Gerry Goffin have been writing hit songs since the early sixties. Carole and Gerry had a babysitter, one Eva Narcissus Boyd, who was always bopping around the house in an unusual dance style. They wrote a song about her dance and they called it "The Loco-Motion". Then they gave it to the babysitter to record. Ms. Boyd chose as a stage name a character in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" called Little Eva ...
276
_IA
CIA. "The Bourne Identity" is a great spy novel written by Robert Ludlum, and first published in 1980. It has been ranked as the second best spy novel of all time, just behind the even more enjoyable "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" by John le Carre. I'll agree with that sentiment. Ludlum wrote two sequels, and all three parts of the Bourne Trilogy have been made into very successful movies now, starring Matt Damon in the title role. Ludlum died before he could write more than three novels featuring Jason Bourne, but five more titles in the series have been published, written by Eric Van Lustbader. I must check them out ...
277
_AN
IAN. Sir Ian McKellen is a marvelous English actor, someone who is comfortable playing anything from Macbeth on stage to Magneto in an 'X-Men' movie. On the big screen, McKellen is very famous for playing Gandalf in "The Lord of Rings". In the UK Sir Ian is noted for being at the forefront of the campaign for equal rights for gay people, a role he has enthusiastically embraced since the eighties.
278
ET_N
ETON. The world-famous Eton College is just a brisk walk from Windsor Castle, which itself is just outside London. Eton is noted for producing many British leaders including David Cameron who took power in the last UK general election. The list of Old Etonians also includes Princes William and Harry, the Duke of Wellington, George Orwell, and the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming (as well as 007 himself as described in the Fleming novels).
279
_TARI
ATARI. At one point Atari was the fastest growing company in US history, but the company never really recovered from the video game crash of 1983.
280
IOT_
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word "iota" to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
281
_EL
EEL. Sushi is a Japanese dish that has as its primary ingredient cooked, vinegared rice. The rice is usually topped with something, most often fish, and can be served in seaweed rolls. If you want raw fish by itself, then you have to order "sashimi".
282
_STI
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. It is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
283
_LK
ELK. The elk (also known as the wapiti) is the one of the largest species of deer in the world, with only the moose being bigger. Early European settlers were familiar with the smaller red deer back in their homelands, so when they saw the 'huge' wapiti they assumed it was a moose, and incorrectly gave it the European name for a moose, namely 'elk'. The more correct name for the beast is 'wapiti', which means 'white rump' in Shawnee. It's all very confusing ...
284
U_A
UMA. Uma Thurman's father, Robert Thurman, was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and gave his daughter Uma her name as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name, Dbuma.
285
A_P
ASP. A clever misdirection, pointing us towards the Agatha Christie novel 'Death on the Nile'.
286
OTI_
OTIS. Elevators (simple hoists) had been around for a long time. What Otis did was come up with the "safety elevator". He showcased his design at the 1853 World's Fair in New York. He would stand on an elevated platform in front of onlookers and order his assistant to cut the single rope holding up the platform. His safety system kicked in when the platform had only fallen a few inches, amazing the crowd. After this display at the fair, the orders came rolling in.
287
S_S
SOS. The combination of three dots - three dashes - three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots - pause - three dashes - pause - three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship" are also mnemonics, introduced after the "SOS" signal was adopted.
288
L_O
LEO. Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio is from Los Angeles, California. DiCaprio's mother was visiting a museum in Italy when she was pregnant and felt the first kick of her unborn child. At the moment of that first kick, Mama DiCaprio was looking at a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and so named her son Leonardo.
289
_ENE
RENE. René Leibowitz was a French composer who had been born in Warsaw, Poland. Liebowitz studied with Maurice Ravel in Paris in the 1930s, but then studied with Anton Webern and became part of the Second Viennese School and embraced the concept of atonality. Not my cup of tea ...
290
_SN
SSN. A Social Security number (SSN) is divided into three parts i.e AAA-GG-SSSS, Originally, the Area Number (AAA) was the code for the office that issued the card. Since 1973, the Area Number reflects the ZIP code from which the application was made. The GG in the SSN is the Group Number, and the SSSS in the number is the Serial Number. However, this is all moot, as since 2011 SSN's are assigned randomly.
291
OR_O
OREO. The Oreo was the best-selling cookie in the 20th century, and almost 500 billion of them have been sold since they were introduced in 1912 by Nabisco. In those early days the creme filling was made with pork fat, but today vegetable oils are used instead. If you take a bite out of an Oreo sold outside of America you might notice a difference from the homegrown cookie, as coconut oil is added in the overseas version to give a different taste.
292
_NNE
ANNE. Anne Frank has to be one of the most famous victims of the Holocaust. This is largely because the story of this young girl lives on in her widely published diary, and in adaptations of the diary for stage and screen. Anne Frank was a German until she lost her nationality in 1941 when the Nazis came to power. By this time she was living with her family in Amsterdam, as the Franks chose to flee Germany in 1933. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands, the family went into hiding in the attic of Otto Frank's office building (Otto was Anne's father). There the family hid for two whole years until they were betrayed. The family was split up, and Anne and her sister died from typhus in a concentration camp in 1945.
293
E_O
ELO. ELO of course stands for the Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group from the north of England. Their manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
294
TE_
TED. Ted Baxter was the pompous and shallow TV newsman on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', played by the actor Ted Knight. Baxter was always concerned that he was going to lose his job, so in a nice twist in the storyline Baxter was the only character not to be laid off from the newsroom in the final episode of the show.
295
E_IC
ERIC. Eric Dickerson is a former NFL running back. Dickerson holds the single-season rushing record, a record that he set back in 1984.
296
E_U
EAU. Waterloo is a small municipality in Belgium. The name 'Waterloo' originated with the Dutch and is probably an anglicization of 'wet clearing in a forest'. The town is famous for the Battle of Waterloo that took place nearby in 1815.
297
AO_
AOL. Even though instant messaging had been around since the 1960s, it was AOL who popularized the term 'instant message' in the eighties and nineties.
298
A_P
ASP. The venomous snake called an asp was a symbol of royalty in Ancient Egypt.
299
SS_
SSR. Latvia is one of the former Soviet Socialist Republics. People from Latvia are called Letts.
300
I_E
IKE. South Park' is an adult-oriented cartoon series on Comedy Central. I don't do 'South Park' ...
301
U_A
UMA. Robert Thurman was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter "Uma" as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name "Dbuma".
302
O_E
ODE. A paean is a poem or song that expresses triumph or thanksgiving. 'Paean' comes from the ancient Greek 'paian' meaning "song of triumph'.
303
EL_
ELK. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) was founded in 1868, and is a social club that has about a million members today. It started out as a group of men getting together in a "club" in order to get around the legal opening hours of taverns in New York City. The club took on a new role as it started to look out for poor families of members who passed away. The club now accepts African Americans as members (since the seventies) and women (since the nineties), but atheists still aren't welcome.
304
_STI
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
305
O_EO
OREO. Apparently Oreo Ice Cream flavors were introduced relatively recently, in 2010.
306
_EL
EEL. Electrophorus electricus is the biological name for the electric eel. Despite its name, the electric "eel" isn't an eel at all, but rather what is called a knifefish, a fish with an elongated body that is related to the catfish. The electric eel has three pairs of organs along its abdomen, each capable of generating an electric discharge. The shock can go as high as 500 volts with 1 ampere of current (that's 500 watts), and that could perhaps kill a human.
307
_LO
ELO. The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) is a symphonic rock group from the north of England. The band's manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
308
I_E
IKE. There doesn't seem to be any good reason why President Eisenhower was called "Ike". However, it is known that the nickname dates back to his childhood as his parents called him "Ike" as well as 'Dwight'.
309
_RCA
ORCA. A group of whales is referred to as a pod, or a gam.
310
_AO
TAO. The Chinese character "tao" translates as "path", but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
311
O_AN
OMAN. Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula and is neighbored by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The capital city of Muscat has a strategic location on the Gulf of Oman and has a history of invasion and unrest. Centuries of occupation by the Persians ended in 1507 when the Portuguese took the city in a bloody attack. The Portuguese held Muscat for much of the next one hundred years until finally being ousted by local Omani forces in 1648. A Yemeni tribe invaded the area in 1741 and set up a monarchy that has been in place in Oman ever since.
312
A_A
ADA. The American Dental Association is the largest and oldest national dental association in the world. Today it is based in Chicago, but the association was founded in Niagara Falls, New York in 1859. The ADA started out as a group of 26 dentists, and it now has more than 152,000 members.
313
O_E
ODE. The great English poet William Wordsworth is intrinsically linked with the Lake District in the north of England, where he lived from much of his life. The Lake District is a beautiful part of the country, and I've been fortunate enough to visit Dove Cottage in Grasmere a couple of times, where Wordsworth lived with his wife Dorothy ...
314
_DE
ODE. In poetry, a 'foot' is the natural unit of stressed and unstressed syllables which make up the work. For example, an iambic foot consists of an unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable.
315
ESA_
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
316
A_NE
ANNE. What a cleverly worded clue ... an Anne Rice book might be on your bookshelf.
317
_MAN
OMAN. Muscat is the capital of Oman, and lies on the northeast coast of the state on the Gulf of Oman, a branch of the Persian Gulf.
318
_MAN
OMAN. Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, neighbored by the OAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Oman is a Sultanate, headed by a hereditary sultan. The current head of state is Qaboos bin Said Al Said. He rules with the help of an elected advisory council (instituted in the early nineties), but here are no legal political parties.
319
_SI
CSI. The 'CSI' franchise of TV shows has been tremendously successful, but seems to be winding down. 'CSI: Miami' (the 'worst' of the franchise, I think) was cancelled in 2012 after ten seasons. 'CSI: NY' (the 'best' of the franchise) was cancelled in 2013 after nine seasons. The original 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', set in Las Vegas, hung in there until 2015 when it ended with a two-hour TV movie. The youngest show in the series is 'CSI: Cyber', and it's still on the air.
320
O_E
ONE. 42. See 34-Across and 45-Across : PAR
321
T_O
TAO. The Chinese character "tao" translates as "path", but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
322
NE_
NED. Ned Flanders lives next door to Homer on TV's 'The Simpsons'. Ned is voiced by actor Harry Shearer and has been around since the very first episode aired in 1989.
323
_LA
A LA. The phrase 'in the style of' can be translated in 'alla' in Italian and 'à la' in French.
324
U_A
UMA. Robert Thurman was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter "Uma" as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name "Dbuma". Uma's big break in movies came with her starring role in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 hit 'Pulp Fiction'. My favorite Uma Thurman film is the wonderful 1996 romantic comedy 'The Truth About Cats and Dogs'.
325
ON_
ONE. The New York Yankees retired the uniform with the number 1 in 1986, the number worn by second baseman and manager Billy Martin.
326
OTI_
OTIS. William Otis invented the steam shovel, a precursor to our modern excavator or digger. The patent for the invention was issued in 1839. William was a cousin of Elisha Otis, the inventor of a safety device that prevents elevators from falling.
327
U_A
UMA. "The Truth About Cats & Dogs" is one of my favorite movies of all time, and Janeane Garofalo one of my favorite actresses. You just have to see this one, a romantic comedy involving mistaken identity. The "sexy" role is played by Uma Thurman, but the real gal to get in this movie is Janeane.
328
_SR
SSR. The former Soviet Union (USSR) was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution of 1917 that overthrew the Tsar. Geographically, the new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent to the old Russian Empire, and was comprised of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs).
329
SS_
SSN. Form 1040 was originally created just for tax returns for the years 1913, 1914 and 1915, but it just would not go away ...
330
_BI
OBI. The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. The obi can be tied in what is called a butterfly knot.
331
IA_
IAN. Ian Fleming is most famous of course for writing the "James Bond" series of spy novels. You might also know that he wrote the children's story "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", made into a cute movie released in 1968, and even a stage musical that opened in 2002.
332
R_NE
RENE. René Lacoste was a French tennis player known for being very tenacious on court. This tenacity earned him the nickname 'the Crocodile'. When he went into the clothing business, specializing in tennis apparel, his Lacoste brand became famous for its green crocodile logo.
333
E_AU
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
334
NER_
NERO. The Great Fire of Rome raged for five and a half days in 64 AD. Of the fourteen districts of Rome, three were completely destroyed, and seven more suffered serious damage. The emperor at the time was of course Nero, although reports that he fiddled, played his lyre or sang while the city burned; those accounts are probably not true. In fact, Nero was staying outside of Rome when the fire started, and rushed home on hearing the news. He organized a massive relief effort, throwing open his own home to give shelter to many of the citizens who were left living on the street.
335
AS_I
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. It is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
336
L_S
LES. 'Les Amants' ('The Lovers') is a 1958 French movie directed by Louis Malle when he was just 25 years old. The film was a great success in France but when it was first shown here in the US, a theater manager was actually convicted of distributing obscene material.
337
U_A
UMA. 'Gattaca' is a science fiction movie starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman that was released in 1997. Set in the not-too-distant future, the film describes a society in which potential children are preselected so that they inherit the most desirable traits from their parents. The title 'Gattaca' is the space agency featured in the storyline. I saw this one relatively recently, and found it very absorbing ...
338
I_CA
INCA. The Inca people emerged as a tribe around the 12th century, in what today is southern Peru. The Incas developed a vast empire over the next 300 years, extending along most of the western side of South America. The Empire fell to the Spanish, finally dissolving in 1572 with the execution of Tupac Amaru, the last Incan Emperor.
339
E_O
ELO. ELO of course stands for the Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group from the north of England. Their manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
340
SO_
SOS. The combination of three dots - three dashes - three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots - pause - three dashes - pause - three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship" are also mnemonics, introduced after the "SOS" signal was adopted.
341
IA_
IAN. Ian Fleming is most famous of course for writing the "James Bond" series of spy novels. You might also know that he wrote the children's story "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", which was made into a cute movie released in 1968 and even a stage musical that opened in 2002.
342
_OTA
IOTA. (11D. Letter before 23-Across : THETA)
343
A_A
ABA. The American Bar Association was founded back in 1878, and is a voluntary association for lawyers and law students. The main focus of the ABA is setting academic standards for law schools, and setting ethical codes for the profession.
344
E_IC
ERIC. Eric Idle was one of the founding members of the Monty Python team. Idle was very much the musician of the bunch, and is an accomplished guitarist. If you've seen the Monty Python film "The Life of Brian", you might remember the closing number, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". It was sung by Idle, and was indeed written by him. The song made it to number 3 in the UK charts in 1991.
345
I_N
IAN. The name 'John' translates into Scottish as 'Ian', and into Irish as 'Seán'.
346
I_CA
INCA. Manco Capac was the head of the Incan Kingdom of Cusco (also Cuzco). He introduced what we might call some sensible laws, including abolishing human sacrifice, and outlawing marriage to one's sister. However, through a loophole in the law,as he managed to marry his own sister and had a son with her who became his successor.
347
_TIS
OTIS. Otis Campbell is the town drunk on the sitcom 'The Andy Griffith Show', and was played by actor Hal Smith. The Campbell character was dropped in the late sixties as sponsors became concerned about being associated with heavy drinking.
348
_ED
NED. I loved the Nancy Drew mysteries as a kid (I know, as a boy I "shouldn't" have been reading them!). They were written by a number of ghost writers, but the character was introduced by Edward Stratemeyer in 1930. Nancy Drew's boyfriend was Ned Nickerson, a college student from Emerson.
349
OTI_
OTIS. Elevators (simple hoists) have been around for a long time. What Elisha Otis did was come up with the "safety elevator", a design that he showcased at the 1853 World's Fair in New York. At the Fair, Otis would stand on an elevated platform in front of onlookers and order his assistant to cut the single rope holding up the platform. His safety system kicked in when the platform had only fallen a few inches, amazing the crowd. After this demonstration, the orders came rolling in.
350
AN_E
ANNE. Anne, Princess Royal was born in 1950 and is the only daughter of British Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Anne has been in the public spotlight for many things, including her success as an equestrian. Princess Anne was the first member of the British Royal Family to have competed in an Olympic Games. Her daughter Zara Phillips continued the tradition and competed as a member of the British equestrian team in the 2012 Olympic Games. Zara's medal was presented to her by her own mother, Princess Anne.
351
NE_O
NERO. The Roman emperor Nero had quite the family life. When Nero was just 16-years-old he married his stepsister, Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.
352
_MA
UMA. Robert Thurman was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter "Uma" as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name "Dbuma". Uma's big break in movies came with her starring role in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 hit 'Pulp Fiction'. My favorite Uma Thurman film is the wonderful 1996 romantic comedy 'The Truth About Cats and Dogs'.
353
_AO
TAO. The Chinese character "tao" translates as "path", but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
354
EL_
ELK. The elk (also known as wapiti) is the one of the largest species of deer in the world, with only the moose being bigger. Early European settlers were used to seeing the smaller red deer back in their homelands, so when they saw the "huge" wapiti they assumed it was a moose, and gave it the European name for a moose, namely "elk". The more correct term then is "wapiti", the Shawnee name for the animal, which means "white rump". Very confusing ...
355
_RCA
ORCA. The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name "orca", rather than "killer whale", is becoming more and more common. The Latin word "Orcinus" means "belonging to Orcus", with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.
356
EV_
EVA. Eva Mendes play the female lead in the movie "Hitch" opposite Will Smith.
357
LE_
LEO. The constellation called Leo can be said to resemble a lion. Others say that it resembles a bent coat hanger. 'Leo' is the Latin for 'lion', but I'm not sure what the Latin is for 'coat hanger' ...
358
NE_
NED. Ned Beatty is probably best remembered for the rather disturbing "squeal like a pig" scene in the movie "Deliverance". He also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1976 movie 'Network'.
359
SS_
SSN. The main purpose of a Social Security Number (SSN) is to track individuals for the purposes of taxation, although given its ubiquitous use, it is looking more and more like an "identity number" to me. The social security number system was introduced in 1936. Prior to 1986, an SSN was required only for persons with substantial income so many children under 14 had no number assigned. For some years the IRS had a concern that a lot of people were claiming children on their tax returns who did not actually exist. So, from 1986 onward, it is a requirement to get an SSN for any dependents over the age of 5. Sure enough, in 1987 seven million dependents "disappeared".
360
A_TI
ASTI. Barbera d'Asti is a red wine from Italy. Barbera d'Asti is produced not only in the famed Asti wine region of northern Italy, but also in neighboring Alexandria.
361
_NE
ONE. 1 x 1 = 1
362
_DE
ODE. "Ode to Joy" is a poem written in 1785 by German poet Friedrich Schiller. Ludwig van Beethoven gave the poem great notoriety when he used it in his Ninth "Choral" Symphony that was first performed in 1824.
363
OMA_
OMAN. The Arabian Peninsula (also 'Arabia') is part of Western Asia that is located just north-east of Africa. The peninsula is bordered to the west by the Red Sea, to the northeast by the Persian Gulf, and to the southeast by the Indian Ocean. Most of the Arabian Peninsula is taken up by Saudi Arabia, but also included are Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen.
364
O_E
ONE. George Washington didn't appear on the first one-dollar bill. Instead, the bills printed from 1862 to 1869 featured Salmon P. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury who served under Abraham Lincoln.
365
_BI
OBI. Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" is the most-performed opera in the US. The opera that we see today is actually the second version that Puccini produced. The original version was first staged in 1904 at La Scala in Milan where it received a very poor reception. Puccini reworked the piece, breaking the second act into two new acts and making some other significant changes. The opera was relaunched a few months later and it was a resounding success.
366
RH_
RHO. Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter "p".
367
_NCA
INCA. The three Children of Llullaillaco are three mummified remains of Incan children, sacrificed about 500 years ago. The bodies were not preserved artificially, bit rather by the dry and cold conditions in which they were abandoned, high up on the side of the volcano Llullaillaco on the border of Argentina and Chile.
368
AS_
ASP. The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It is so venomous that the asp was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. When the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was therefore her chosen method.
369
L_I
LEI. "Lei" is the Hawaiian word for "garland, wreath", although in more general terms a "lei" is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.
370
E_A
EVA. I best know the actress Eva Mendes as the female lead in the movie "Hitch", playing opposite Will Smith. Mendes was known off the screen for dating actor Ryan Gosling from 2011 to 2013.
371
A_A
A LA. The phrase 'in the style of' can be translated in 'alla' in Italian and 'à la' in French.
372
E_A
EVA. EVA Airlines is an international airline based Taipei, Taiwan that was founded in 1989. The intended name for the company was Evergreen Airways, but this was changed to EVA to avoid a potential conflict with another business.
373
_KE
IKE. There doesn't seem to be any good reason why President Eisenhower was called "Ike". However, it is known that the nickname dates back to his childhood as his parents called him "Ike" as well as 'Dwight'.
374
N_RO
NERO. "I, Claudius" is a 1934 novel penned by Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of Emperor Claudius of Rome. Graves wrote a sequel in 1935 called "Claudius the God". Both books were adapted by the BBC into a fabulous television series that went by the name of the first book "I, Claudius".
375
I_E
IKE. 'I Like Ike' was a political slogan that originated with the grassroots movement to get Dwight D. Eisenhower to run for president in the 1952 presidential election.
376
I_TA
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word "iota" to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
377
ET_N
ETON. The world-famous Eton College is just a brisk walk from Windsor Castle, which itself is just outside London. Eton is noted for producing many British leaders including David Cameron who took power in the last UK general election. The list of Old Etonians also includes Princes William and Harry, the Duke of Wellington, George Orwell, and the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming (as well as 007 himself as described in the Fleming novels).
378
_MO
EMO. Emo Philips is a stand-up comedian from Chicago. He's had a long and successful career, and listed on his resume is a small part in the 1992 hit movie "Meet the Parents", as well his role of executive producer for that very same film. I'd say that made him a few pennies ...
379
AB_
ABA. American Bar Association(ABA)
380
_SAU
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
381
OM_N
OMAN. Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, neighbored by the OAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The capital city of Muscat has a strategic location on the Gulf of Oman, and has a history of invasion and unrest. Centuries of occupation by the Persians ended in 1507 when the Portuguese took the city in a bloody attack. The Portuguese held Muscat for much of the next century until finally ousted by local Omani forces in 1648. A Yemeni tribe invaded the area in 1741 and set up a monarchy that has been in place ever since.
382
C_A
CIA. I found Steve Coll's book 'Ghost Wars' to be a fascinating account of the CIA's work in Afghanistan. It covers the history of CIA operations from the days of the Soviet invasion of the country right up to September 11, 2001.
383
_NNE
ANNE. Anne Frank has to be one of the most famous victims of the Holocaust. This is largely because the story of this young girl lives on in her widely published diary, and in adaptations of the diary for stage and screen. Anne Frank was a German until she lost her nationality in 1941 when the Nazis came to power. By this time, she was living with her family in Amsterdam, as the Franks chose to flee Germany in 1933. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands, the family went into hiding in the attic of Otto Frank's office building (Otto was Anne's father). There the family hid for two whole years, until they were betrayed. The family was split up, and Anne and her sister died from typhus in a concentration camp in 1945.
384
E_O
EMO. The musical genre of "emo" originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from "emotional hardcore". Not my cup of tea ...
385
R_NE
RENE. I have no interest in shoes, but I found it interesting that in 2007 Harrods hired a live cobra to sit in a display protecting some ruby, diamond and sapphire encrusted sandals designed and launched by Rene Caovilla.
386
ESA_
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
387
A_A
ABA. The American Basketball Association (ABA) merged with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976. The ABA used a ball with the colors red, white and blue. The NBA uses a more traditional orange ball.
388
IO_A
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word "iota" to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
389
_LA
A LA. Eggs à la Suisse is a recipe date back at least to the mid-1800s. The eggs are prepared with Gruyère cheese, double cream and spices.
390
E_O
ELO. ELO of course stands for the Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group from the north of England. Their manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
391
L_O
LEO. There has be a lion in the logo of the MGM studio and its predecessors, dating back to 1924. The original lion was an Irishman (!), a lion name Slats who was born in Dublin Zoo in 1919. However, it wasn't until lion Jackie took over from Slats, in 1928, that the roar was heard, as the era of silent movies was coming to an end. The current lion is called Leo, and he has been around since 1957.
392
ET_A
ETNA. Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Mt Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius.
393
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 anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking ...
394
_VA
EVA. Eva Gabor was the youngest of the Gabor sisters, all three of whom were celebrated Hollywood actresses and socialites (her siblings were Zsa-Zsa and Magda). The Gabor sisters were born in Budapest and immigrated to the United States separately, with Eva being the first to arrive. Eva broke into movies, but her most famous role was on the TV sitcom "Green Acres" in which she played the lovely character Lisa Douglas opposite Eddie Albert. One of Eva's claims to fame is the unwitting promotion of the game called "Twister", the sales of which were languishing in 1996. In an appearance on "The Tonight Show" she got on all fours and played the game with Johnny Carson. Sales took off immediately, and Twister became a huge hit.
395
_MO
EMO. The musical genre of "emo" originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from "emotional hardcore". 'Emo' is also the name given to the associated subculture. Not my cup of tea ...
396
_LA
A LA. The term 'in the style of' can be translated in 'alla' in Italian and 'à la' in French.
397
_LA
A LA. In French, a la mode simply means "fashionable". In America it has come to describe a way of serving pie, usually with ice cream, or as I recall when I lived in Upstate New York, with cheese.
398
A_P
ASP. The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It is so venomous that the asp was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. When the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was therefore her chosen method.
399
S_N
SSN. That Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax (FICA) was introduced in the 1930s as part of the New Deal.
400
_AU
EAU. In French, an island (île) is a piece of ground (terre) surrounded by water (eau).
401
E_O
EMO. Emo originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from "emotional hardcore". Not my cup of tea ...
402
_MO
EMO. Dashboard Confessional is an emo band from Boca Raton, Florida.
403
AL_
A LA. The phrase 'in the style of' can be translated in 'alla' in Italian and 'à la' in French.
404
C_I
CSI. The TV show "CSI" gets a lot of criticism from law enforcement agencies for its unrealistic portrayal of the procedures and science of criminal investigation. I don't care though, as I just think it's a fun show to watch. The original "CSI" set in Las Vegas seems to have "gone off the boil" lately, but the addition of Sela Ward to the cast of "CSI: NY" has really, really raised the level of the sister show set in New York City.
405
I_E
IKE. President Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas and given the name David Dwight Eisenhower, but by the time he made it to the White House he was going by the name Dwight D. Eisenhower. Growing up, his family called him Dwight, and when "Ike" enrolled in West Point he himself reversed the order of his given names.
406
C_A
CIA. 'The World Factbook' is a publication produced by the CIA. It is intended primarily for use by government employees but, as it is in the public domain, it is now used by just about anyone. The first edition of 'Factbook' came out in 1962 and, as it was classified, it had limited distribution. It was decided to make 'Factbook' public in 1975, and it has been freely available on the World Wide Web since 1994.
407
_KE
IKE. South Park' is an adult-oriented cartoon series on Comedy Central. I don't do 'South Park' ...
408
TE_
TED. US Senator Ted Cruz served as Solicitor General for the state of Texas before heading to Washington. Cruz was appointed Solicitor General in 2003 at the age of 32, making him the youngest Solicitor General in the country. Famously, Cruz is an opponent of the Affordable Care Act and made a speech in 2013 in the US Senate on the subject that lasted for 21 hours and 19 minutes. It was the fourth longest speech in the history of the Senate.
409
I_CA
INCA. The Inca people emerged as a tribe around the 12th century, in what today is southern Peru. The Incas developed a vast empire over the next 300 years, extending along most of the western side of South America. The Empire of course fell to the Spanish, finally dissolving in 1572 with the execution of Tupac Amaru, the last Incan Emperor.
410
_DA
ADA. The reference here is to the 1969 novel by Vladimir Nabokov called "Ada". The story takes place in the 1800s on Antiterra, an Earth-like planet that has a history similar to ours but with interesting differences. For example, there is a United States, but the country covers all of North and South America. What we call eastern Canada is a French-speaking province called "Canady", and western Canada is a Russian-speaking province "Estody". The plot-line is about a man called Van Veen who, when 14 years old, meets for the first time his cousin, 11-year-old Ada. The two cousins eventually have an affair, only to discover later that they are in fact brother and sister.
411
E_U
EAU. The color known as 'eau de nil' is a pale yellowish green. The name translates from French as 'water of the Nile'.
412
_ENE
RENE. 'René' and 'Renée' are French for the adjective 'reborn', when applied to masculine and feminine nouns.
413
_ENE
RENE. René Auberjonois is an American actor. Auberjonois' most famous role on the big screen was Father Mulcahy in the movie "M*A*S*H".
414
E_U
EAU. In French, boats (bateaux) move across water (eau).
415
E_K
ELK. Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada is located high in the Canadian Rockies and is a popular tourist destination. The town of Banff and the surrounding park were given their name in 1884 by then president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, George Stephen. He named Banff for his birthplace of Banffshire in Scotland.
416
EA_
EAU. One might boil water (eau) in Bordeaux in France.
417
SS_
SSR. The country that we now know as Belarus was called the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in the days of the Soviet Union.
418
S_S
SOS. The combination of three dots, three dashes, three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress signal in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS, although there is no pause between the letters, so this is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship" are also only mnemonics, introduced after the Morse signal was adopted.
419
_MAN
OMAN. Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula and is neighbored by the OAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The capital city of Muscat has a strategic location on the Gulf of Oman and has a history of invasion and unrest. Centuries of occupation by the Persians ended in 1507 when the Portuguese took the city in a bloody attack. The Portuguese held Muscat for much of the next one hundred years until finally being ousted by local Omani forces in 1648. A Yemeni tribe invaded the area in 1741 and set up a monarchy that has been in place in Oman ever since.
420
ET_A
ETNA. Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Mt Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius.
421
_SR
SSR. The former Soviet Union (USSR) was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution of 1917 that overthrew the Tsar. Geographically, the new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent to the old Russian Empire, and was comprised of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs).
422
R_O
RHO. Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter "p".
423
ESA_
ESAU. Esau, was the grandson of Abraham and the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When Esau was born to Isaac and Rebekah, the event was described, 'Now the first came forth, red all over like a hairy garment'. Esau is portrayed later in life as being very different from his brother, as a hunter and someone who loves the outdoor life.
424
LE_
LEI. "Lei" is the Hawaiian word for "garland, wreath", although in more general terms a "lei" is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.
425
E_IC
ERIC. Eric Holder is the Attorney General of the United States, and is the first African American to hold the position. Holder was close to President Obama during the presidential campaign. Holder was the campaign's legal advisor and was also one of the three members on the Obama vice-presidential selection committee, which of course opted for Vice-President Joe Biden.
426
A_P
ASP. The venomous snake called an asp was a symbol of royalty in Ancient Egypt.
427
LE_
LES. The 1980 musical "Les Miserables" is an adaptation of the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. It is now the longest running musical in the history of London's West End, and is playing at the Queen's Theater. I saw Les Miz in the Queen's Theater, only able to get tickets in the very back row. The theater seating is very steep, so the back row of the balcony is very high over the stage. One of the big events in the show is the building of a street barricade, and the fighting over it. At that height we could see the stagehands behind the barricade, sitting drinking Coke, even having a cigarette. On cue they would get up and catch a dropped rifle, or an actor that had been shot. It was pretty comical. I didn't really enjoy it that much, to be honest. Some great songs, but the story didn't grab me as it is portrayed in the musical.
428
_RIC
ERIC. Eric Church is a country singer/songwriter from Granite Falls, North Carolina. In fact, Church's second album is called 'Carolina'.
429
_TIS
OTIS. 'The Adventures of Milo and Otis' is a movie about and orange tabby cat called Milo, and a fawn-colored pug called Otis. The film was originally released in Japanese in 1986, and then was revamped for English audiences in a version released in 1989.
430
_RIC
ERIC. "Layla" is one of the great rock anthems of the seventies, released by Derek and the Dominos in December of 1970. It is a masterpiece of composition, with the first half of the song a great vehicle for the guitar-playing talents of Eric Clapton. The second half is a beautifully melodic piano coda (a coda ... taking up half the length of the track!). To top things off we have the "unplugged" version recorded by Clapton in 1992, a fabulous and inventive variation on the original.
431
AO_
AOL. Jerry Yang and David Filo called their company "Yahoo!" for two reasons. Firstly, a Yahoo is a rude, unsophisticated brute from Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels". Secondly, Yahoo stands for "Yet another Hierarchical Officious Oracle".
432
I_N
IAN. Ian Somerhalder had his big break as an actor in the TV drama "Lost", and now has a part in TV's "The Vampire Diaries".
433
O_EO
OREO. National Oreo Cookie Day is March 6th each year. There is an urban legend that the particular day was chosen as this was the day that the name 'Oreo' was registered as a trademark. However, that's not the case. The application was filed on March 14, 1912 and registration took place on August 12, 1913. So, who knows why it's March 6th?
434
SS_
SSR. Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR)
435
I_CA
INCA. The Inca people emerged as a tribe around the 12th century, in what today is southern Peru. The Incas developed a vast empire over the next 300 years, extending along most of the western side of South America. The Empire fell to the Spanish, finally dissolving in 1572 with the execution of Tupac Amaru, the last Incan Emperor.
436
_ED
NED. Actor Ned Beatty is probably best remembered for the rather disturbing 'squeal like a pig' scene in the movie 'Deliverance'. Beatty also earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1976 movie 'Network'.
437
_SN
SSN. The main purpose of a Social Security Number (SSN) is to track individuals for the purposes of taxation although, given its ubiquitous use, it is looking more and more like an "identity number" to me. The social security number system was introduced in 1936. Prior to 1986, an SSN was required only for persons with substantial income, so many children under 14 had no number assigned. There was concern that a lot of people were claiming children as dependents on their tax returns who did not exist, so from 1986 onwards it was a requirement to get a SSN for any dependents over the ago of 5. Sure enough, in the following year's returns, seven million dependents "disappeared".
438
C_I
CSI. (54. See 40-Down : DNA TESTS)
439
_OL
AOL. Netscape's flagship product was its browser, which eventually came to be known as Netscape Navigator. Navigator had a huge impact on computing, basically bringing the Net to the masses by offering an intuitive, user-friendly interface. So popular was the product, that when the company had its IPO, the initial stock price set at $14 a share had to be doubled to $28 at the last minute. At the end of the first day's trading, the stock closed at $75, and there were a lot of very rich people as a result (at least on paper!).
440
_LO
ELO. The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) is a symphonic rock group from the north of England. The band's manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
441
AN_E
ANNE. What we call "Queen Anne's Lace" over here in the US is known by many in the British Isles as the "wild carrot". The roots of Queen Anne's Lace are indeed edible, just like carrots, but only when they are very young because later in life they get very woody. The wild carrot was given the name Queen Anne's Lace when it was introduced into America as the flowers do resemble white lace. There is one small red flower in the center of the plant which is said to be a drop of blood that Queen Anne spilled when she pricked herself as she was making the lace.
442
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 anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking ...
443
_EO
LEO. Despite rumors to the contrary, I am pretty sure that Barack Hussein Obama II was indeed born in Hawaii. President Obama was born on August 4, 1961 at Kapi'olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii.
444
R_NE
RENE. 'René' and 'Renée' are French for the adjective 'reborn', when applied to masculine and feminine nouns respectively.
445
ETN_
ETNA. Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Mt Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius.
446
_SI
CSI. The TV show "CSI" gets a lot of criticism from law enforcement agencies for its unrealistic portrayal of the procedures and science of criminal investigation. I don't care though, as I just think it's a fun show to watch. The original "CSI" set in Las Vegas seems to have "gone off the boil" lately, but the addition of Sela Ward to the cast of "CSI: NY" has really, really raised the level of the sister show set in New York City.
447
E_K
ELK. The elk (also known as the wapiti) is the one of the largest species of deer in the world, with only the moose being bigger. Early European settlers were familiar with the smaller red deer back in their homelands, so when they saw the "huge" wapiti they assumed it was a moose, and incorrectly gave it the European name for a moose, namely "elk". The more correct name for the beast is "wapiti", which means "white rump" in Shawnee. It's all very confusing ...
448
_RCA
ORCA. The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name "orca", rather than "killer whale", is becoming more and more common. The Latin word "Orcinus" means "belonging to Orcus", with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.
449
_DE
ODE. Ben Jonson was a contemporary of William Shakespeare, and just like Shakespeare, Jonson was a dramatist, poet and actor. Jonson's work was very well received from 1605 to 1620, but his reputation began to wane in the 1620s. He wrote a play called "The New Inn" which was received so badly, the actors were hissed off the stage. Immediately afterwards, Jonson wrote about the failure in his poem "Ode to Himself".
450
ON_
ONE. Three ... two ... one ... liftoff!
451
_NCA
INCA. Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro discovered the Incas in 1526, the beginning of the end for the ancient civilization, ravaged by force and by imported smallpox.
452
_RS
IRS. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) came into being during the Civil War, to raise money to cover war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, the government was funded by levies on trade and property.
453
E_K
ELK. Elk Island National Park is located 35 km east of Edmonton, Alberta. The park was established in 1913.
454
_SI
CSI. The 'CSI' franchise of TV shows has been tremendously successful, but seems to be winding down. 'CSI: Miami' (the 'worst' of the franchise, I think) was cancelled in 2012 after ten seasons. 'CSI: NY' (the 'best' of the franchise) was cancelled in 2013 after nine seasons. The original 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', set in Las Vegas, is still going strong and has been doing so since 2000.
455
SO_
SOS.
456
I_N
IAN. Ian Somerhalder had his big break as an actor in the TV drama "Lost", and now has a part in TV's "The Vampire Diaries".
457
_OTA
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word "iota" to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
458
SS_
SSR. The former Soviet Union (USSR) was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution of 1917 that overthrew the Tsar. Geographically, the new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent to the old Russian Empire, and was comprised of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs).
459
IA_
IAN. James Bond was of course the creation of the writer Ian Fleming. Fleming 'stole' the James Bond name from an American ornithologist. The number 007 was 'stolen' from the real-life, 16th century English spy called John Dee. Dee would sign his reports to Queen Elizabeth I with a stylized "007" to indicate that the reports were for 'her eyes only'.
460
_IA
CIA. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the successor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) formed during WWII. The CIA was chartered by the National Security Act of 1947.
461
T_D
TED. 'Ted' is a movie written, directed, produced and starring Seth MacFarlane. In the story, MacFarlane voices a teddy bear who is the best friend of a character played by Mark Wahlberg.
462
_SAU
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother, Rebekah, gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
463
_STI
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. It is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine. Moscato d'Asti is produced from the same grape (Moscato Bianco) but is a much sweeter wine with a lower alcohol content. It is usually served as a dessert wine.
464
L_O
LEO. Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.
465
_ED
NED. Ned Beatty is probably best remembered for the rather disturbing "squeal like a pig" scene in the movie "Deliverance". Beatty also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1976 movie 'Network'.
466
IA_
IAN. Ian McEwan is an English author with a track record of writing well-received novels. McEwan's most famous work at the moment I would say is "Atonement" which has benefited from the success of the fabulous movie adaptation released in 2007.
467
AD_
ADA. The American Dental Association (ADA) is the largest and oldest national dental association in the world. Today the ADA is based in Chicago, but the association was founded in Niagara Falls, New York in 1859. The ADA started out as a group of 26 dentists and it now has more than 152,000 members.
468
_SAU
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
469
_ES
LES. "Au revoir, les enfants" ("Goodbye, Children") is a French film released in 1987. The film is based on real events from the childhood of director Louis Malle who witnessed a Gestapo raid on his school in which three Jewish students and a Jewish teacher were taken and transported to Auschwitz, where they were gassed upon arrival.
470
OMA_
OMAN. Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, neighbored by the OAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The capital city of Muscat has a strategic location on the Gulf of Oman, and has a history of invasion and unrest. Centuries of occupation by the Persians ended in 1507 when the Portuguese took the city in a bloody attack. The Portuguese held Muscat for much of the next century until finally ousted by local Omani forces in 1648. A Yemeni tribe invaded the area in 1741 and set up a monarchy that has been in place ever since.
471
LE_
LEO. Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.
472
SO_
SOS. The combination of three dots - three dashes - three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots - pause - three dashes - pause - three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases "Save Our Souls" and "Save Our Ship" are also mnemonics, introduced after the "SOS" signal was adopted.
473
_RIC
ERIC. I used to visit Google a lot when I was in the industry. It is an amazing place, but the culture wouldn't suit an old fogey like me. It is a great company that produces wonderful products though. Eric Schmidt was brought in as CEO in 2001 as the "grown up" needed by Google's young co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Not too long ago Google announced that Page and Brin are "all grown up" now, and so Schmidt stepped down as CEO in April 2011, with Page taking over the the reins. Schmidt is now Executive Chairman of the company.
474
OR_O
OREO. How the Oreo cookie came to get its name seems to have been lost in the mists of time. One theory is that it comes from the French 'or' meaning 'gold', a reference to the gold color of the original packing. Another suggestion is that the name is the Greek word 'oreo' meaning 'beautiful, nice, well-done'.
475
_OL
AOL. Founded as Quantum Computer Services in 1983, the company changed its name in 1989 to America Online. As America Online went international, the acronym AOL was used in order to shake off the "America-centric" sound to the name. During the heady days of AOL's success the company could not keep up with the growing number of subscribers, so people trying to connect often encountered busy signals. That's when users referred to AOL as "Always Off-Line".
476
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 anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking ...
477
OR_A
ORCA. The orca that starred in the 1993 movie "Free Willy" was actually called Keiko, with Willy being his "stage name". Keiko had a sad life. He was captured near Iceland in 1979 and sold to a local aquarium. Subsequently he was sold on to Marineland in Ontario, and then Six Flags Mexico in 1985. After starring in the movie, his fans raised money with the intent of returning Keiko to the wild. Keiko had become very ill, partly from being confined in a small tank in Mexico, so a lot of money had to be spent returning him to good health. He was purchased by the Oregon Coast Aquarium who undertook the task of treating him and preparing him for the wild. You might recall the dramatic journey he took from Mexico to Oregon in US Air Force transport plane in 1996. Having regained his health, he was flown to Iceland and there was gradually reintroduced into the wild. Sadly, Keiko did not fare too well back in the ocean. He was never adopted by a pod, so lived a solitary life. He lost weight, would sometimes follow fishing boats and play with any humans who would give him attention. In 2003 he beached himself in Taken Bay in Norway, where he died.
478
_RCA
ORCA. The orca that starred in the 1993 movie "Free Willy" was actually called Keiko, with Willy being his "stage name". Keiko had a sad life. He was captured near Iceland in 1979 and sold to a local aquarium. Subsequently he was sold on to Marineland in Ontario, and then Six Flags Mexico in 1985. After starring in the movie, his fans raised money with the intent of returning Keiko to the wild. Keiko had become very ill, partly from being confined in a small tank in Mexico, so a lot of money had to be spent returning him to good health. He was purchased by the Oregon Coast Aquarium who undertook the task of treating him and preparing him for the wild. You might recall the dramatic journey he took from Mexico to Oregon in US Air Force transport plane in 1996. Having regained his health, he was flown to Iceland and there was gradually reintroduced into the wild. Sadly, Keiko did not fare too well back in the ocean. He was never adopted by a pod, so lived a solitary life. He lost weight, would sometimes follow fishing boats and play with any humans who would give him attention. In 2003 he beached himself in Taken Bay in Norway, where he died.
479
ET_A
ETNA. Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Mt Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. Etna is home to a 110-km long narrow-guage railway, and two ski resorts.
480
R_O
RHO. "Revenge of the Nerds" was released in 1984, a tale of college nerds who get out from under the harassment of the jocks.
481
_MA
UMA. Robert Thurman was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter "Uma" as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name "Dbuma". Uma's big break in movies came with her starring role in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 hit 'Pulp Fiction'. My favorite Uma Thurman film is the wonderful 1996 romantic comedy 'The Truth About Cats and Dogs'.
482
E_L
EEL. Electrophorus electricus is the biological name for the electric eel. Despite its name, the electric "eel" isn't an eel at all, but rather what is called a knifefish, a fish with an elongated body that is related to the catfish. The electric eel has three pairs of organs along its abdomen, each capable of generating an electric discharge. The shock can go as high as 500 volts with 1 ampere of current (that's 500 watts), and that could perhaps kill a human.
483
_LK
ELK. The elk (also known as the wapiti) is the one of the largest species of deer in the world, with only the moose being bigger. Early European settlers were used to seeing the smaller red deer back in their homelands, so when they saw the "huge" wapiti they assumed it was a moose, and gave it the European name for a moose, namely "elk". The more correct term then is "wapiti", the Shawnee name for the animal, which means "white rump". It's all very confusing ...
484
_SI
CSI. The 'CSI' franchise of TV shows has been tremendously successful, but seems to be winding down. 'CSI: Miami' (the 'worst' of the franchise, I think) was cancelled in 2012 after ten seasons. 'CSI: NY' (the 'best' of the franchise) was cancelled in 2013 after nine seasons. The original 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', set in Las Vegas, is still going strong and has been doing so since 2000.
485
ATA_I
ATARI. At one point, the electronics and video game manufacturer Atari was the fastest growing company in US history. However, Atari never really recovered from the video game industry crash of 1983.
486
E_AU
ESAU. Esau, was the grandson of Abraham and the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When Esau was born to Isaac and Rebekah, the event was described, 'Now the first came forth, red all over like a hairy garment'. Esau is portrayed later in life as being very different from his brother, as a hunter and someone who loves the outdoor life.
487
_IA
CIA. The CIA headquarters is located in Langley, Virginia in a complex called the George Bush Center for Intelligence, named for former Director of the CIA and US President George H. W. Bush.
488
_SN
SSN. Social Security number (SSN)
489
_ERO
NERO. The Roman emperor Nero had quite the family life. When Nero was just 16-years-old he married his stepsister, Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.
490
E_AU
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
491
IK_
IKE. Ike & Tina Turner were together as a husband/wife duo recording music for 16 years in the sixties and seventies. Their biggest hit has to be "Proud Mary", released in 1971. The partnership ended, along with their marriage in the late seventies with Tina making accusations of abuse by her drug-addicted husband.
492
_MO
EMO. The musical genre of "emo" originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from "emotional hardcore". Not my cup of tea ...
493
EA_
EAU. The Loire River is so long that it drains one-fifth of France's land mass. The Loire rises in the southeast, in the Cevennes mountain range, then it heads north and then due west, emptying into the Bay of Biscay at the city of Nantes.
494
O_E
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.
495
T_O
TAO. The Tao of Steve' is a romantic comedy film released in 2000. The story is all about a guy who's a bit of a slob but who is taught 'the Tao of Steve' by friends, a remarkably effective system for seducing women.
496
_AU
EAU. Back in 1709, an Italian perfume-maker moved to Cologne in Germany. There he invented a new fragrance that he named Eau de Cologne after his newly adopted town. The fragrance is still produced in Cologne, using a secret formulation. However, the terms "Eau de Cologne" and "cologne", are now used generically.
497
_SAU
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
498
_STI
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
499
_SP
ASP. The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It is so venomous that the asp was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. When the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was therefore her chosen method.
500
E_AU
ESAU. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother, Rebekah, gave birth to the twins "the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)". As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father's wealth (it was his "birthright"). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a "mess of pottage" (a meal of lentils).
