letter_trainer_1_3 Flashcards
_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.
_RIC
ERIC. According to Icelandic tradition, Erik the Red was the man responsible for founding the first Nordic settlement in Greenland. Erik had a famous son, the explorer Leif Ericson.
_LO
ELO. ELO of course stands for the Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group from the north of England. The band’s manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
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.
INC_
INCA. Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro discovered the Incas in 1526, marking the beginning of the end for an ancient civilization that was to be ravaged by brutal Spanish colonists and by imported smallpox. The last leader of the Inca was Atahualpa. Pizarro staged a mock trial and then condemned Atahualpa to execution by burning. A Spanish friar intervened on behalf of the condemned man, as Atahualpa believed that if he was burned his soul would not move on to the afterlife. Pizarro, was kind enough to have Atahualpa garroted instead.
CI_
CIA. “Alias” is a TV show that was aired from 2001 to 2006, and starred Jennifer Garner as a CIA agent. Much as I love Jennifer Garner as an actress, I never saw the show …
AT_RI
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.
ETN_
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.
_DA
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.
EL_
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).
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.
AN_
ANN. There was no actual person called Ann Taylor associated with the Ann Taylor line of clothes. The name was chosen by the marketing professionals because “Ann” was considered to be “very New England” back in 1954 when the stores first opened, and “Taylor” suggested that clothes were carefully “tailored”.
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”.
IO_A
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use “iota” to portray something very small, as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
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.
A_ARI
ATARI. Do you remember the arcade video game that was like a game of tennis, with paddles moved up and down to hit what looked like a ball, over what looked like a net? Well, that was Pong.
ORC_
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.
_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 …
AB_
ABA. American Bar Association(ABA)
AD_
ADA. Back in 1889, Jeff Reed was hired to carry the mail between the two communities of Stonewall and Center in what was then called the Indian Territory. Reed had moved to the area from Texas and he bought some land in between the two limits of his mail route and built himself a log cabin. Pretty soon other settlers built homes nearby and in 1891 the settlement got its own post office. As postman, Reed got to name the new post office and he called it Ada, after his oldest daughter. Ada is now a county seat and has over 17,000 residents. One of the sons of the city of Ada was the televangelist Oral Roberts.
_HO
RHO. Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter ‘p’.
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.
AO_
AOL. AOL was a leading Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the 1980s and 1990s. The company does still provide dial-up access to the Internet for some subscribers, but most users now access AOL using faster, non-AOL ISPs.
S_N
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.
_REO
OREO. There’s a smartphone app featuring the Oreo cookie. It’s a game in which one twists Oreo cookies apart, ‘licks’ the cream from the center and then dunks the remainder of the cookie in a glass of milk.
E_L
EEL. The Eel River in California was named in 1850 by an explorer Josiah Gregg after he made a trade with some Native Americans, swapping a frying pan for a large catch of eels.
O_E
ONE. A one (dollar bill) is a bit of “bread” (money).
AST_
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
ATAR_
ATARI. At one point Atari was the fastest growing company in US history, but it never really recovered from the video game crash of 1983.
ATA_I
ATARI. Centipede is an arcade game from Atari (it was my favorite!). The game was designed by Ed Logg and Dona Bailey, with Bailey being one of the few female game designers back then (it was released in 1980). Perhaps due to Bailey’s influence, Centipede was the first arcade game to garner a significant female following.
A_A
A LA. The term ‘in the style of’ can be translated in ‘alla’ in Italian and ‘à la’ in French.
EA_
EAU. Fish (in French, “des poissons”) need water (“eau”) to survive.
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 …
E_U
EAU. In French, a bottled water (eau) might be Perrier, for example (par exemple).
I_N
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.
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.
I_CA
INCA. Inti was the sun god worshiped by the Incas. Images depicting Inti are featured on the national flags of several nations, including Argentina and Uruguay.
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.
E_O
ELO. The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) released a fabulous cover version of Chuck Berry’s hit ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ in 1973. The ELO version was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and cleverly melds elements of the Chuck Berry song with elements of Beethoven’s ‘Symphony No. 5’.
A_TI
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. It is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
_LA
A LA. The phrase ‘in the style of’ can be translated in ‘alla’ in Italian and ‘à la’ in French.
T_D
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.
EE_
EEL. The fish called a barracuda is large and dangerous-looking, with a fierce looking jaw filled with fang-like teeth. I was surrounded by a large school of barracuda once, many years ago while scuba diving. A scary experience …
_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 …
_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.
_RIC
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.
_ED
NED. Ned Kelly was an Irish-Australian outlaw, regarded by many as a symbol of resistance against the British ruling class in Australia in the 19th century. There have been two famous films made of his life story. ‘The Story of the Kelly Gang’ was released in 1906, and is recognized today as the first feature film ever made. We might be more familiar with the film called ‘Ned Kelly’ released in 1970, as it starred Mick Jagger in the title role.
OTI_
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”.
E_AU
ESAU. According to the Bible’s Book of Genesis, Esau married Judith and Basemath, the daughters of two Hittites.
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.
_SA
NSA. ‘Snowden’ is a 2016 film co-written and directed by Oliver Stone. It tells the story of computer professional Edward Snowden, who leaked information from the NSA to ‘The Guardian’ newspaper in 2013. The bulk of the leaked material revealed extensive illegal cyber-snooping by the NSA on millions of American citizens, without the knowledge of the US Congress. The title role was played by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
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.
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 …
_LA
A LA. Chicken à la King is a dish made with diced chicken in a cream sauce served over rice or pasta. There are several claims about the origin of the dish, but the most credible (to me) is that it was created in the 1890s in the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia by the hotel’s chef William King.
_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.
_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.
_ERO
NERO. Following the great fire of 64 AD in Rome, many large homes on the slopes of Palatine Hill in the center of the city were burned to the ground. The emperor Nero cleared the area completely and used the land to construct an extravagant villa called the Domus Aurea (Latin for ‘Golden House’).
L_S
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 extremely 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.
EM_
EMO. Fall Out Boy is a rock band from Chicago that formed in 2001. And then, I lost interest …
_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. 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”.
_LA
A LA. When a meal is served ‘à la russe’ (in the Russian style), courses are brought to the table sequentially. This contrasts with a meal served ‘à la française’ (in the French style), in which all the courses are brought to the table at the same time.
O_I
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.
_LO
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).
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.
T_O
TAO. The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
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”.
SS_
SSR. The Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia is the world’s largest landlocked country. Kazakhstan was the last of the former Soviet Republics to declare itself independent from Russia.
ER_C
ERIC. South Park’ is an adult-oriented cartoon series on Comedy Central. I don’t do ‘South Park’ …
O_EO
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.
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 …
_MA
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”.
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).
ERI_
ERIC. Eric Bana is an Australian actor who enjoyed a successful career in his home country before breaking into Hollywood playing an American Delta Force sergeant in “Black Hawk Down”. A couple of years later he played the lead in Ang Lee’s 2003 movie “The Hulk”, the role of Dr Bruce Banner. More recently he played the Romulan villain Nero, in the 2009 “Star Trek” movie.
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.
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.
NE_
NED. In contemporary usage, a ‘Luddite’ is someone who is slow to adopt new technology. This usage has even been extended to ‘Neo-Luddism’, meaning the active opposition to some technologies. It has been suggested that the term ‘Luddism’ commemorates a youth called Ned Ludd, who smashed two mechanical knitting machines in 1779, in the belief that they represented automation that took away jobs. In the following decades, Luddism became an active movement, with Luddites going on rampages, smashing equipment that was deemed to create unemployment.
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.
_EO
LEO. The first pope named Leo is now known as Pope Saint Leo the Great. Leo I is famous for meeting with the feared Attila the Hun and persuading him to turn back his invading force that was threatening to overrun Western Europe.
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.
_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).
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.
_LK
ELK. Elk County in Pennsylvania was created in 1843. The county was named for the eastern elk that used to live in the area. Sadly, the subspecies is now extinct, with the last eastern elk being shot and killed in 1877.
ATAR_
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.
EV_
EVA. Eva Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón who was in office from 1946 to 1955. The Argentine First Lady was known affectionately by the people as ‘Evita’, the Spanish language diminutive of ‘Eva’. “Evita” was also the follow-up musical to “Jesus Christ Superstar” for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and was based on the life of Eva Perón.
OB_
OBI. An obi is a sash worn in some forms of dress in Japan both by men and women, although the styles for women tend to be more ornate.
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.
I_CA
INCA. Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro discovered the Incas in 1526, marking the beginning of the end for an ancient civilization that was to be ravaged by brutal Spanish colonists and by imported smallpox. The last leader of the Inca was Atahualpa. Pizarro staged a mock trial and then condemned Atahualpa to execution by burning. A Spanish friar intervened on behalf of the condemned man, as Atahualpa believed that if he was burned his soul would not move on to the afterlife. Pizarro, was kind enough to have Atahualpa garroted instead.
SO_
SOS. The ABBA song “S.O.S.” was originally titled “Turn Me On”. In the movie “Mama Mia!”, it is performed by Meryl Streep (brilliantly) and by Pierce Brosnan (terribly).
_BA
ABA. The American Basketball Association.
E_O
ELO. ELO of course stands for the Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group from the north of England. ELO’s manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
CI_
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 …
_REO
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 in the overseas version to give a different taste.
N_A
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.
_IA
CIA. “Burn After Reading” is a 2008 black comedy from the Coen Brothers that really disappointed, I thought. It had a great cast, headed by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich and the lovely Frances McDormand, but it just did not deliver. Die-hard Coen Brothers fans might want to take a look though.
OTI_
OTIS. Otis Campbell is the town drunk on the sitcom ‘The Andy Griffith Show’. Campbell was played by actor Hal Smith. The character was dropped in the late sixties as sponsors became concerned about being associated with heavy drinking.
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.
_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.
_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 and 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.
EE_
EEL. On a calculator, the number 733 reads EEL when turned upside down.
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.
LE_
LEI. What’s known as May Day around the world is also called Lei Day in Hawaii. Lei Day started in the twenties and is a celebration of native Hawaiian culture.
OB_
OBI. An obi is a sash worn in some forms of dress in Japan both by men and women, although the styles for women tend to be more ornate.
_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 SSNs are assigned randomly.
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”.
O_IS
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.
E_A
EVA. Despite the English-sounding name, Eva Green is a French actress. Green played Bond girl Vesper Lynd in the 2006 movie “Casino Royale”, opposite Daniel Craig.
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).
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.
O_E
ONE. “One” is “one” of the big numbers in the hit musical “A Chorus Line”.
ORE_
OREO. The Oreo was the best-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 in the overseas version to give a different taste.
C_A
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 …
U_A
UMA. Uma Thurman started her working career as a fashion model, at the age of 15. She appeared in her first movies at 17, with her most acclaimed early role being Cécile de Volanges in 1988’s ‘Dangerous Liaisons’. Thurman’s career really took off when she played the gangster’s ‘moll’ in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’ in 1994. My favorite of all Thurman’s movies is ‘The Truth About Cats & Dog’s’, a less acclaimed romcom released in 1996. She took a few years off from 1998 until 2002, doing very little work in favor of motherhood. It was Tarantino who relaunched her career, giving her the lead in the ‘Kill Bill’ films.
A_A
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 now has more than 152,000 members.
AB_
ABA. The ABA team called the Utah Stars folded in 1975 having run out of money. The team had been founded as a charter member of the ABA in 1967 when it played in California as the Anaheim Amigos. In 1968 the franchise became the Los Angeles Stars, and finally the Utah Stars in 1970.
IA_
IAN. Ian Schrager is a hotelier and property developer who is very much associated with boutique hotels. Along with Steve Rubell, Schrager opened New York’s Studio 54 in 1977. However, the two partners fell foul of the law for skimming unreported income from the club’s receipts. Rubell and Schrager were both sentenced in 1980 to three and a half years in prison.
AO_
AOL. AIM stands for AOL Instant Messenger.
_ED
NED. Ned Vizzini is an American author of books aimed at young adults. His most famous novel is “Be More Chill”, a science fiction tale about a nerdy kid who takes a “magic” pill that makes him cool.
E_A
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.
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.
A_A
ADA. The American Dental Association.
OR_A
ORCA. Shamu was the name of the third orca, or killer whale, ever to be featured in a public exhibition. Shamu starred in a popular SeaWorld show in San Diego in the sixties. After she died in 1971, her name lived on as the name “Shamu” is still used by SeaWorld for its killer whale shows. That original Shamu was retired after she grabbed and refused to let go of the leg of one of her trainers.
NE_
NED. Ned Sparks was a Hollywood character actor noted for his grumpy deadpan expression as he chewed on a cigar. Sparks became so enamoured with his facial expression that the story is he insured his face for $100,000.
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.
IK_
IKE. I don’t do “South Park” …
EV_
EVA. I best know the actress Eva Mendes as the female lead in the movie “Hitch”, opposite Will Smith. Mendes was known off the screen for dating actor Ryan Gosling from 2011 to 2013.
NER_
NERO. Peter Nero is a pianist and conductor of ‘pops’ orchestral concerts. He had a huge hit in the pop music charts in 1971 with the theme tune from the movie ‘Summer of ‘42’.
_ED
TED. As well as playing in left field for the Boston Red Sox, Ted Williams served as a pilot in the Marine Corps in World War II and the Korean War.
L_O
LEO. Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.
_DE
ODE. Pindar was an Ancient Greek poet, best known perhaps for composing a series of Victory Odes that celebrated triumph in competition, most notably the Olympian Games of the day.
_EL
EEL. You might be able to order a caterpillar roll in your local sushi restaurant. A caterpillar is an inside-out sushi roll topped with thinly sliced avocado.
E_ON
ETON. Aldous Huxley was a writer from England whose best-known work is the novel ‘Brave New World’. Huxley was noted for his interest in parapsychology and mysticism, as well as for his promotion of the idea of taking psychedelic drugs ‘in a search for enlightenment’.
A_NE
ANNE. Anne, Queen of Great Britain ruled England, Scotland and Ireland from 1702 to 1707. Anne was the daughter of James II of England. It was during Queen Anne’s reign that the kingdom of England and Scotland were united, forming the sovereign state of Great Britain. Anne passed away without having an heir, despite seventeen pregnancies! That made Anne the last monarch of the House of Stuart.
SS_
SSR. The former Soviet Union was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution that overthrew the Tsar in1917. Geographically, the new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent to the old Russian Empire, and was made up of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics.
_HO
RHO. Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”.
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.
LE_
LEO. Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 13 to August 23 are Leos.
A_A
ADA. American Dental Association (ADA)
_REO
OREO. There’s a smartphone app featuring the Oreo cookie. It’s a game in which one twists Oreo cookies apart, ‘licks’ the cream from the center and then dunks the remainder of the cookie in a glass of milk.
LE_
LES. The 1980 musical “Les Miserables” 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 theater 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 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 seemed to get lost …
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).
_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 …
_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 for the body.
_VA
EVA. Despite the English-sounding name, Eva Green is a French actress. Green played Bond girl Vesper Lynd in the 2006 movie “Casino Royale”, opposite Daniel Craig.
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.
LE_
LEO. Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 13 to August 23 are Leos.
NS_
NSA. ‘Citizenfour’ is a 2014 documentary about Edward Snowden and his leaking of classified NSA information. Much of the film consists of footage that director Laura Poitras shot while interviewing Snowden in a hotel room in Hong Kong before the story broke.
TA_
TAO. The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
_RS
IRS. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigates tax shelters.
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.
REN_
RENE. Rene Coty was the President of France from 1954 to 1959, and notably presided over the Algerian War. Coty resigned after five years, making way for the 7-year term of Charles de Gaulle.
_STI
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
O_AN
OMAN. The Arabian Peninsula is shaped like a boot, with the Sultanate of Oman occupying the toe of that boot.
CS_
CSI. ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ is apparently the most-watched television show worldwide.
_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.
_OL
AOL. AOL was a leading Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the 1980s and 1990s. The company does still provide dial-up access to the Internet for some subscribers, but most users now access AOL using faster, non-AOL ISPs.
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 …
_TARI
ATARI. Missile Command’ is a fun arcade game that was introduced by Atari in 1980. Playing the game involves protecting six cities that are being attacked by ballistic missiles. The original game’s design featured six cities in California, namely Eureka, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Diego.
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.
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.
_STI
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
_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 …
AN_E
ANNE. Anne, Queen of Great Britain ruled England, Scotland and Ireland from 1702 to 1707. Anne was the daughter of James II of England. It was during Queen Anne’s reign that the kingdom of England and Scotland were united, forming the sovereign state of Great Britain. Anne passed away without having an heir, despite seventeen pregnancies! That made Anne the last monarch of the House of Stuart.
_IA
CIA. “Burn After Reading” is a 2008 black comedy from the Coen Brothers that really disappointed (I thought). It had a great cast, headed by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich and the lovely Frances McDormand, but it just did not deliver. Die-hard Coen Brothers fans might want to take a look though.
A_A
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.
A_L
AOL. An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is just what its name indicates, a company that provides its customers with access to the Internet. One way that ISPs differentiate themselves from each other is in the way that the end users are connected to the ISPs network. So, there are cable ISPs, DSL ISPs, dial-up ISPs and satellite ISPs. I’d go with cable if I were you, if it’s available in your area …
_ED
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.
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.
_RS
IRS. The IRS came into being during the Civil War, to raise money to pay for war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, taxation was limited to levies on trade and property.
_HO
RHO. Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”.
O_E
ONE. The game of Scrabble has been around since 1938, the invention of an architect named Alfred Moshoer Butts. Butts determined the optimum number of tiles of each letter, and the appropriate point value of each tile, by analyzing letter distributions in publications like “The New York Times” …
ATA_I
ATARI. The kids today probably don’t realize that we had a video game console back in the seventies, but it wasn’t a Nintendo nor 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.
_AU
EAU. In the world of perfumery, Eau de Parfum (EdP) is generally more concentrated than Eau de Toilette (EdT), which in turn is generally more concentrated than Eau de Cologne (EdC).
TA_
TAO. The ‘Tao Te Ching’is a classical Chinese text, fundamental to the philosophy of Taoism.
N_RO
NERO. Peter Nero is a pianist and conductor of ‘pops’ orchestral concerts. Nero had a huge hit in the pop music charts in 1971 with the theme tune from the movie ‘Summer of ‘42’.
_KE
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.
E_O
ELO. ELO of course stands for the Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group from the north of England. The band’s manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
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.
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 age of 5. Sure enough, in 1987 seven million dependents ‘disappeared’.
ORE_
OREO. The McFlurry is the ice cream dessert from McDonald’s. Would you believe that it is mixed on a machine with the mixing blade then doubling as a spoon with which one eats it?
_NNE
ANNE. The actress Anne Hathaway is a favorite of mine, I must say. She starred in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ in 2006 and in 2007’s ‘Becoming Jane’, a film I particularly enjoyed.
_BA
ABA. The three-point field goal was adopted first by the American Basketball League (ABA), in 1961. It was instituted by the NBA in the 1979-80 season.
R_O
RHO. (7D. Greek letter : TAU)
EL_
ELK. Male elk are called ‘bulls’ and female elk are called ‘cows’.
O_E
ODE. ‘Ode to Psyche’ was one of the so-called ‘1819 Odes’ written by the poet John Keats, a collection that included famous poems such as ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ and ‘Ode on Melancholy’.
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 called his daughter “Uma” as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name, Dbuma.
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 now has more than 152,000 members.
EV_
EVA. Little Eva is a character in the 1852 novel ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Eva’s full name is Evangeline St. Clare.
_BA
ABA. I think that the reference here is to the American Booksellers Association (ABA), but I’m not positive …
_ERO
NERO. Arrigo Boito was an Italin poet and librettist who completed one opera of his own (“Mefistofele”) and left one other opera partially complete “Nerone”. This incomplete opera is the one that tells the story of Rome at the time of Emperor Nero. The opera was completed after Boito’s death by a trio of musicians, including Arturo Toscanini, and “Nerone” was premiered at La Scala in 1924, six years after Boito died.
CI_
CIA. Homeland’ is a psychological drama shown on Showtime about a CIA officer who is convinced that a certain US Marine is a threat to the security of the United States. The show is based on a series from Israeli television called ‘Hatufim’ (Prisoners of War’). I’m going to have to check this one out …
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.
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 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 …
OMA_
OMAN. The Gulf of Oman isn’t actually a gulf, and rather is a strait, connecting the Arabian Sea to the Strait of Hormuz and onto the Persian Gulf.
TA_
TAO. The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
OR_A
ORCA. ‘Orca’ is a 1977 horror movie based on an Arthur Herzog novel of the same name. The film stars Richard Harris and Charlotte Rampling. ‘Orca’ is often compared to ‘Jaws’, which was released just two years earlier. ‘Orca’ tends to lose out in that comparison.
L_S
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.
T_O
TAO. The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
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 television. 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.
NE_O
NERO. The Circus Maximus was an ancient stadium used for chariot racing in Rome. It was the first such stadium built by the Romans, and was the largest ever to be built in the whole of the Roman Empire. The Circus Maximus was over 2,000 feet long and just under 400 feet wide, and could house about 15,000 spectators. There is very little of the original structure remaining and the site is now used as a major park.
CS_
CSI. CSI gets a lot of criticism from the law enforcement agencies for its unrealistic portrayal of the procedures and science of criminal investigation. I don’t care though. It’s a fun show to watch.
_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).
_DE
ODE. ‘Ode on Melancholy’ was one of the so-called ‘1819 Odes’ written by the poet John Keats, a collection that included famous poems such as ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ and ‘Ode to Psyche’.
_OTA
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.
_BA
ABA. American Bar Association (ABA)
_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.
R_NE
RENE. René Clair was a film director from Paris who made movies in France, the UK and in the US. I must admit, the only René Clair film that I’ve seen is 1945’s ‘And Then There Were None’, an adaptation of the Agatha Christie mystery novel that stars Barry Fitzgerald and Walter Huston.
CI_
CIA. ‘Homeland’ is a psychological drama shown on Showtime about a CIA officer who is convinced that a certain US Marine is a threat to the security of the United States. The show is based on a series from Israeli television called ‘Hatufim’ (Prisoners of War’). I saw the first series of this show and highly recommend it …
EE_
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.
E_NA
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.
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”.
ER_C
ERIC. George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, the famous British author of the classics “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and “Animal Farm”.
_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.
OR_O
OREO. The Oreo was the best-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 in the overseas version to give a different taste.
S_N
SSN. Social Security number (SSN)
_REO
OREO. A competitor has to take several steps to finish an OREO Lick Race:
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. The third of Italy’s famous volcanoes is Stromboli.
INC_
INCA. The potato was first grown as a crop in what is now southern Peru. After the Spanish conquered the Incas, they introduced the potato to Europe, in the second half of the 16th century.
R_O
RHO. Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”. Rho is the symbol used for density, i.e. mass/volume.
LE_
LES. Les Paul was a guitarist, songwriter and inventor. When he was 33 years old, he 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.
_SI
CSI. ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ is apparently the most-watched television show worldwide.
_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.
L_O
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’ …
_NE
ONE. 20 divided by 20 equals 1.
AS_
ASP. A sarcophagus is a stone or wooden box in which a body is interred. “Sarcophagus” is Greek for ‘flesh eating stones’. The name was applied as a sarcophagus was often made from a kind of limestone that was believed to cause the flesh of corpses to decompose.
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.
S_R
SSR. The Soviet Socialist Republics were part of the USSR.
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 …
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.
L_O
LEO. Baseball player and manager Leo Durocher was noted for being outspoken, and was given the nickname “Leo the Lip”. In 1946, while he was manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Durocher expressed the opinion that teams like his successful Dodgers would always do better that teams replete with personable individuals (naming Mel Ott in particular). He used his most memorable phrase to encapsulate the sentiment … “nice guys finish last”.
_LA
A LA. The phrase ‘in the style of’ can be translated in ‘alla’ in Italian and ‘à la’ in French.
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.
_TARI
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 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.
IO_A
IOTA. Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use “iota” to portray something very small, as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.
O_AN
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.
R_NE
RENE. The lovely and very talented actress Rene Russo is a native of Burbank, California. She 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 she is one of my favorite actresses …
ERI_
ERIC. True Blood’ is a television drama made by HBO. The series is based on novels written by Charlaine Harris that describe human and vampires who co-exist in a small town in Louisiana. I don’t do vampires …
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 called his daughter “Uma” as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name “Dbuma”.
_SR
SSR. The former Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia is now an independent country. Supposedly, the Georgian people were given their name because they especially revered St. George. The flag of Georgia does indeed feature five St. George’s crosses.
_LO
ELO. The title song of the 1980 movie ‘Xanadu’ was performed by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and Olivia Newton-John (who starred in the film). Despite the popularity of ELO around the world, the song ‘Xanadu’ was the band’s only number one hit back in their homeland of the UK.
_LO
ELO. The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) is a symphonic rock group from the north of England.
_SR
SSR. The former Soviet Union was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution of 1917 that overthrew the Tsar. The new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent geographically to the old Russian Empire, and was made up of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics.
E_K
ELK. Yellowstone was the first National Park to be established in the world, when it was designated as such by President Grant in 1872. What a great tradition it started! The American National Parks truly are a treasure.
ESA_
ESAU. The whole text of the Esau Wood tongue twister is (all together now!):
NE_O
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). One of Wolfe’s endearing traits is his love of good food and beer, so he is a pretty rotund character.
AB_
ABA. You might recognize the chorus of the 1914 song called ‘Aba Daba Honeymoon’. It goes:
_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’.
OTI_
OTIS. Escalators have an advantage over elevators in that they can move larger numbers of people in the same time frame. They can also be placed in just about the same physical space that would be needed for a regular staircase. Patents for escalator-type devices were first filed in 1859, but the first working model wasn’t built until 1892 by one Jesse Reno. It was erected alongside a pier in Coney Island, New York, with the second escalator being placed at an entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. Soon after, Elisha Otis and the Otis elevator company purchased the necessary patents and went into the business.
_OL
AOL. The iconic phrase ‘You’ve got mail’ was first used by AOL in 1989. The greeting was recorded by voice actor Elwood Edwards. Edwards has parlayed his gig with AOL into some other work. He appears in an episode of ‘The Simpsons’ as a doctor who says the line ‘You’ve got leprosy’. Edwards also worked as a weatherman for a while and got to use the line ‘You’ve got hail’ …
O_E
ONE. Pepsi ONE is so called as it has one calorie per eight-ounce serving. The artificial sweetener known as Ace-K was approved by the FDA for use in our food in 1998, and one hour after the approval was given, PepsiCo announced the introduction of Pepsi ONE …
_KE
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.
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.
E_A
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 …
ANN_
ANNE. ‘The Three Musketeers” were Athos, Porthos and Aramis, and their young protégé was D’Artagnan. A musketeer was an infantry soldier who was equipped with a musket. Paradoxically, Alexandre Dumas’ three musketeers really didn’t use their muskets, and were better known for their prowess with their swords.
CS_
CSI. Actor Gary Sinise was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing Lieutenant Dan Taylor in the 1994 film “Forrest Gump”. Senise has been playing the lead in television’s “CSI: NY” since 2004. The actor was awarded the Presidential citizen medal by President Bush for his work helping Iraqi school children and his work with the USO.
_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.
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.
E_U
EAU. ‘Eau’ is the French word for ‘water’; ‘Mer’ is the French word for ‘sea’.
L_S
LES. The definite article in French can be ‘le’ (with masculine nouns), ‘la’ (with feminine nouns), and ‘les’ (with plurals of either gender).
_BI
OBI. Sir Alec Guinness played many great roles over a long and distinguished career, but nowadays is best remembered for playing the original Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Star Wars”.
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 …
I_S
IRS. Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
A_A
ADA. Back in 1889, Jeff Reed was hired to carry the mail between the two communities of Stonewall and Center in what was then called the Indian Territory. Reed had moved to the area from Texas, and he bought some land in between the two limits of his mail route and built himself a log cabin. Pretty soon other settlers built homes nearby, and in 1891 the settlement got its own post office. As postman, Reed got to name the new post office and he called it Ada, after his oldest daughter. Ada is now a county seat and has over 17,000 residents. One of the sons of the city of Ada was the televangelist Oral Roberts.
REN_
RENE. Belgian artist René Magritte was a surrealist. His most recognized work maybe is “The Son of Man”, a painting he created as a self-portrait. It is the work that shows a man in a bowler hat with his face covered by an apple. The image features prominently in the great movie, the 1999 remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair”.
OMA_
OMAN. The Arabian Peninsula is that almost rectangular piece of land that lies at the junction of Africa and Asia. At the most southerly point (the toe) is the country of Oman.
A_A
ADA. Back in 1889, Jeff Reed was hired to carry the mail between the two communities of Stonewall and Center in what was then called the Indian Territory. Reed had moved to the area from Texas and he bought some land in between the two limits of his mail route and built himself a log cabin. Pretty soon other settlers built homes nearby and in 1891 the settlement got its own post office. As postman, Reed got to name the new post office and he called it Ada, after his oldest daughter. Ada is now a county seat and has over 17,000 residents. One of the sons of the city of Ada was the televangelist Oral Roberts.
U_A
UMA. I”m not a big fan of director Quentin Tarantino. His movies are too violent for me, and the size of his ego just turns me right off. Having said that, I think “Pulp Fiction” is a remarkable film. If you can look past the violence it’s really well written. And what a legacy it has. John Travolta’s career was on the rocks and he did the film for practically no money, and it turned out be a re-launch for him. Uma Thurman became a top celebrity overnight from her role. Even Bruce Willis got some good out of it, putting an end to a string of poorly received performances.
A_P
ASP. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is, in my humble opinion, the best of the Indiana Jones franchise of movies. This first Indiana Jones film was released in 1981, produced by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. Harrison Ford was Spielberg’s first choice to play the lead, but Lucas resisted as he was concerned that he would be too closely associated with the actor (as Ford played Han Solo in “Star Wars”, and also appeared in Lucas’s “American Graffiti”). Tom Selleck was offered the role but couldn’t get out of his commitments to “Magnum, P.I.” Eventually Spielberg got his way, and that was a good thing I’d say …
O_E
ONE. (ALL IN) ONE
AL_
A LA. Carte is a word sometimes used in French for a menu. Menu items that are “à la carte” are priced and ordered separately, as opposed to “table d’hôte” which is a fixed price menu with limited choice.
AO_
AOL. GTE was a rival to AT&T, the largest of the independent competitors to the Bell System. GTE merged with Bell Atlantic in 2000 to form the company that we know today as Verizon.
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.
O_CA
ORCA. Shamu was the name of the third orca, or killer whale, ever to be featured in a public exhibition. Shamu starred in a popular SeaWorld show in San Diego in the sixties. After she died in 1971, her name lived on as the name “Shamu” is still used by SeaWorld for its killer whale shows. That original Shamu was retired after she grabbed and refused to let go of the leg of one of her trainers.
T_O
TAO. The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
_EL
EEL. Conger eels can grow to be very, very large, perhaps up to 10 feet in length.
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.
AB_
ABA. American Bar Association (ABA)
_TIS
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.
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.
_LK
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.
EA_
EAU. ‘Eau’ is French for ‘water’. The word ‘eau’ sounds like the letter O.
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).
EL_
ELO. ELO of course stands for the Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group from the north of England. ELO’s manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy). “Ole ELO” is a compilation album the band released in 1976.
_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’ a while back and recommend it highly, although I found the scenes of religious fervor pretty frightening …
ANN_
ANNE. The lovely actress Anne Bancroft was born Anna Italiano in the the Bronx, New York. Bancroft was probably best known for her performances in the 1962 movie ‘The Miracle Worker’ (for which she won a Best Actress Oscar) and in the 1967 movie ‘The Graduate’. She was married for 40 years to Mel Brooks, right up till her passing in 2005.
A_A
ADA. Ada Lovelace’s real name was Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace. She was the only legitimate child of Lord Byron, the poet. Lovelace was fascinated by mathematics and wrote about the work done by Charles Babbage in building his groundbreaking mechanical computer. In some of her notes, she proposed an algorithm for Babbage’s machine to compute Bernoulli numbers. This algorithm is recognized by many as the world’s first computer program and so Lovelace is sometimes called the first ‘computer programmer’.
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).
_SR
SSR. The former Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) of Georgia is now an independent country. Supposedly, the Georgian people were given their name because they especially revered St. George. The flag of Georgia does indeed feature five St. George’s crosses.
E_NA
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.
L_S
LES. ‘Les’ is French for ‘the’, when used with a plural noun.
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.
CS_
CSI. ‘CSI: NY’ is the best of the CSI franchise of television shows, in my humble opinion, since the original ‘CSI’ set in Las Vegas went off the boil a few years ago. Stars of the New York show are Gary Sinise and Sela Ward.
INC_
INCA. Quechua was the existing Native American language that was adopted and by the Incan Empire and favored over other dialects. 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.
R_O
RHO. Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”.
NE_O
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”.
EE_
EEL. Flotsam and Jetsam are characters in the Disney movie called ‘The Little Mermaid’, released in 1989. Both are moray eels in the service of Ursula, the sea witch.
S_R
SSR. I think that this clue might be a little misleading. Moldavia is a geographic and historical region lying partly in Romania and partly in the Republic of Moldova. The Republic of Moldova (usually referred to as ‘Moldova’) was the Moldavian Socialist Republic before the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
UM_
UMA. The 1990 movie “Henry & June” is loosely based on the book of the same name by Anais Nin. The book is based on diaries writtten by Nin telling of her part in a love triangle with American author Henry Miller and his wife June, played by Uma Thurman.
L_I
LEI. The currency of Romania is the leu (plural: lei), a word meaning “lion”. The leu is also the name of the currency of neighboring Moldova. Romania joined the European Union in 2007, and is planning on moving to the Euro in 2014.
EE_
EEL. Flotsam and Jetsam are characters in the Disney movie called ‘The Little Mermaid’, released in 1989. Both are moray eels in the service of Ursula, the sea witch.
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.
_LA
A LA. The term ‘in the style of’ can be translated in ‘alla’ in Italian and ‘à la’ in French.
S_R
SSR. Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR)
NS_
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 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 nickname given to the NSA: “No Such Agency” …
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.
_OS
SOS. S.O.S is a brand name of scouring pads made from steel wool impregnated with soap. The product was invented as a giveaway by an aluminum pot salesman in San Francisco called Ed Cox. His wife gave it the name “S.O.S” as an acronym for “Save Our Saucepans”. Note the punctuation! There is no period after the last S, and that is very deliberate. When Cox went to register the trademark, he found that S.O.S. could not be a trademark because it was used as an international distress signal. So, he dropped the period, and I hope made a lot of money for himself and his wife.
_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.
AST_
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
_DA
ADA. Back in 1889, Jeff Reed was hired to carry the mail between the two communities of Stonewall and Center in what was then called the Indian Territory. Reed had moved to the area from Texas, and he bought some land in between the two limits of his mail route and built himself a log cabin. Pretty soon other settlers built homes nearby, and in 1891 the settlement got its own post office. As postman, Reed got to name the new post office and he called it Ada, after his oldest daughter. Ada is now a county seat and has over 17,000 residents. One of the sons of the city of Ada was the televangelist Oral Roberts.
_TON
ETON. Eton College is named for the town of Eton in which it is located. The name ‘Eton’ comes from the Old English word for ‘river town’. Eton lies opposite the town of Windsor, on the other side of the River Thames. Windsor is home to Windsor Castle.
A_A
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.
_DE
ODE. Thomas Gray was an 18th-century poet from England. Gray’s most famous work is his ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’, which is the source of many oft-quoted phrases, including:
_IA
CIA. Homeland’ is a psychological drama shown on Showtime about a CIA officer who is convinced that a certain US Marine is a threat to the security of the United States. The show is based on a series from Israeli television called ‘Hatufim’ (Prisoners of War’). I’m going to have to check this one out …
_AN
IAN. (10A. See 41-Across : ANDERSON)
O_IS
OTIS. ‘The Canterville Ghost’ is a short story by Oscar Wilde about a ‘Mr. Otis’ and family who move into a home that is haunted by the Canterville Ghost. The most famous of many adaptations of the story is probably the 1944 film of the same name, starring Charles Laughton as the ghost.
_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.
O_AN
OMAN. Oman is lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, neighbored by the OAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
SS_
SSN. Social Security number (SSN)
SO_
SOS. The Police were a trio formed in London in 1977, with Sting being the most famous member and lead singer. The band released “Message in a Bottle” in 1979, a song telling of a castaway “sending out an SOS” by sending off a “message in a bottle”.
TA_
TAO. The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
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 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).
AN_
ANN. The television journalist Ann Curry is perhaps best known for the time she spent as co-host on NBC’s ‘Today’ show. NBC executives asked Curry to resign from the ‘Today’ show because ratings were low. I just read online that Curry was also pushed out because of the way she insisted on dressing and because she refused to dye her gray hair. I hope that isn’t true …
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.
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 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.
O_I
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.
_DA
ADA. Holly Hunter plays the mute Ada McGrath in the highly acclaimed 1993 movie “The Piano”. It is worth mentioning that Holly Hunter played all her piano pieces in the film herself.
SS_
SSR. The Republic of Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located east of Poland and north of Ukraine. Belarus didn’t exist as an entity until the Russian Revolution when it was created as one of the Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR) that made up the USSR. The Republic of Belarus was formed soon after the USSR dissolved in 1990, but unlike many of the former Soviet Republics, Belarus has retained many of the old Soviet policies. Alexander Lukashenko is the country’s president and he believes in state ownership of the economy. Belarus and Russia have formal agreements in place that pledge cooperation.
L_S
LES. Les Échos’ is a daily financial newspaper published in Paris. ‘Les Échos’ grew out of a monthly publication with the name ‘Les Échos de l’Exportation’ that was produced from 1880 until the daily ‘‘Les Échos’ was introduced in 1908.
_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”.
I_N
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.
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.
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. 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.
NE_O
NERO. ‘Quo Vadis’ is an epic drama made in 1951, an adaptation of the 1896 novel of the same name written by Henryk Sienkiewicz. At the top of the bill were Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr, with Peter Ustinov playing the Emperor Nero. There was also an uncredited extra making her first appearance on the screen, a young lady by the name of Sophia Loren.
_OTA
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.
_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.
TE_
TED. ‘Dilbert’ is a comic strip written by Scott Adams, a ‘neighbor’ of mine here in the Bay Area, and the owner of a nice restaurant down the end of my street.
I_S
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.
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.
_ED
TED. As well as playing for the Boston Red Sox, Ted Williams served as a pilot in the Marine Corps in World War II and the Korean War.
_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 and 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.
E_A
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.
OT_S
OTIS. Elevators (simple hoists) had been around for a long time. What Otis invented was 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 his dramatic display at the fair, the orders came rolling in.
ATA_I
ATARI. Do you remember the arcade video game that was like a game of tennis, with paddles moving up and down to hit what looked like a ball, over what looked like a net? Well, that was “Pong”.
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.
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 …
AS_
ASP. The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. In Ancient Egypt, the asp was a symbol used by royalty. The snake was also used a means of execution.
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 …
_BI
OBI. Kobe is a city on the island of Honshu in Japan, and yes, basketball star Kobe Bryant is named after the Japanese city.
I_N
IAN. “Beverly Hills, 90210” is a drama that aired on Fox from 1990 to 2000. The show follows the lives of little rich kids in Beverly Hills. Many of the cast members have made it big following their appearances on “90210”, including Jason Priestly, Luke Perry, Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling. I’ve never even seen one episode …
OT_S
OTIS. Elevators (simple hoists) had been around for a long time. What Elisha 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.
T_O
TAO. The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
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”.
ORE_
OREO. The National Biscuit Company was formed in 1898 with the merger of three existing bakery businesses. The company name today is Nabisco, an abbreviated form of National Biscuit Company.
_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 ancient Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. Therefore, when the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was her chosen method.
_RS
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.
S_N
SSN. (64D. See 65-Down : TAX)
I_N
IAN. Ian Rankin is crime writer from Scotland. Rankin’s most famous novels feature his hero ‘Inspector Rebus’ and are set in and around Edinburgh.
LE_
LEO. The constellation called Leo of course 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’ …
_AN
IAN. Ian McEwan is an English novelist with a long track record of writing well-received novels. His 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.
O_E
ONE. In trigonometry, the tangent is the ratio of the length of the opposite side over the adjacent side of a right-angled triangle. When the angle being measured is 45 degrees, then the lengths of the opposite and adjacent sides in the right-angled triangle are the same. So, the tangent of 45 degrees is opposite/adjacent = 1.
_SI
CSI. I’m told that the TV show “CSI” gets a lot of razzing by law enforcement professionals 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 centered around New York City.
OT_S
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.
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.
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 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, in the Fleming novels).
N_D
NED. NED/DEN
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.
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 …
ET_N
ETON. In the incredibly successful period drama ‘Downton Abbey”, the patriarch of the family living at Downton is Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham or Lord Grantham. The character is played by Hugh Bonneville.
ON_
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.
_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 for the body.
_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.
_RIC
ERIC. Eric Stoltz is an actor from Whittier, California who is best known for playing the disfigured Rocky Dennis in the 1985 movie ‘Mask’ opposite Cher.
EM_
EMO. Panic! at the Disco is a band from Los Vegas that got together in 2004. Originally a 4-man group, Panic! at the Disco now tours and records as a duo.
RE_E
RENE. The great French philosopher Rene Descartes made the famous statement in Latin, “Cogito ergo sum”. This translates into French as ‘Je pense, donc je suis’ and into English as “I think, therefore I am”.
OD_
ODE. Percy Bysshe Shelley was an English Romantic poet. Shelley had strong views on vegetarianism. He was dedicated to the cause of all sentient beings, believing that the slaughter of animals by humans for the use of food was a barbaric practice. He wrote a famous essay on the subject called “A Vindication of Natural Diet” in 1813.
S_R
SSR. The former Soviet Union 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 made up of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics.
_DA
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 now has more than 152,000 members.
_EL
EEL. The Eel River in California was named in 1850 by an explorer Josiah Gregg after he made a trade with some Native Americans, swapping a frying pan for a large catch of eels.
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.
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’.
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.
NER_
NERO. The emperor Nero had quite the family life. When he was just 16-years-old he married his stepsister, Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and stepbrother executed .
ETN_
ETNA. Typhon was known as the ‘father of all monsters’ in Greek mythology, and he was married to the ‘mother of all monster’, Echidna. Typhon had a huge human torso with a hundred dragon heads. His lower body was made up of gigantic viper coils. Although all the gods feared Typhon, Zeus finally defeated him and trapped him underneath Mount Etna.
E_O
EMO. An ‘emo’ is a person associated with the ‘emotional hardcore’ rock music subculture.
TA_
TAO. The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.
_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 …
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 …
_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).
C_I
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.
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.
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”.
A_P
ASP. In William Shakespeare’s play ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, the heroine of the piece addresses the asp as she uses the snake to commit suicide:
AD_
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.
A_NE
ANNE. Anne Rice is the American author of erotic and Gothic novels, and was born Howard Allen O’Brien (no wonder she changed her name!). Here series of novels “The Vampire Chronicles” centers on her character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French noble 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 starred Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, as well as others in a star-studded cast. Not my kind of movie though …
_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.
OR_A
ORCA. ‘Orca’ is a 1977 horror movie based on an Arthur Herzog novel of the same name. The film stars Richard Harris and Charlotte Rampling. ‘Orca’ is often compared to ‘Jaws’, which was released just two years earlier. ‘Orca’ tends to lose out in that comparison.
R_O
RHO. Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”. Rho is the symbol used for density, i.e. mass/volume.
R_O
RHO. Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”.
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.
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.
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.
_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. 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”.
LE_
LES. ‘Les Sylphides’ is a 1909 ballet choreographed by Michel Fokine with music by Frédéric Chopin. The ballet is described as non-narrative meaning that it has no story but simply showcases the dancing.
_SA
NSA. National Security Agency (NSA)
N_D
NED. Ned Jarrett is retired now, a two-time NASCAR champion and father of NASCAR drivers Dale and Glenn Jarrett.
_LO
ELO. ELO of course stands for the Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group from the north of England. ELO’s manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
N_RO
NERO. Nero was Emperor of Rome from 54 to 68 CE, and he had quite the family life. When he was just 16-years-old Nero married his step-sister Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.
C_A
CIA. ‘Homeland’ is a psychological drama shown on Showtime about a CIA officer who is convinced that a certain US Marine is a threat to the security of the United States. The show is based on a series from Israeli television called ‘Hatufim’ (Prisoners of War’). I saw the first series of this show and highly recommend it …
SS_
SSR. Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR)
ERI_
ERIC. Eric Holder was the Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015, 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.
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.
A_N
ANN. Ann Miller was a dancer and actress who appeared in several successful Hollywood musicals in the forties and fifties. The most famous of these were ‘Easter Parade’ (1948), ‘On the Town’ (1949) and ‘Kiss Me Kate’ (1953).
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”.
O_EO
OREO. Dirt cake is a dessert usually made by breaking up Oreo cookies and scattering the pieces over chocolate pudding, and then adding gummy worms on top. Sounds delicious …
LE_
LEO. Baseball player and manager Leo Durocher was noted for being outspoken, and was given the nickname “Leo the Lip”. In 1946, while he was manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Durocher expressed the opinion that teams like his successful Dodgers would always do better than teams replete with personable individuals (naming Mel Ott in particular). He used his most memorable phrase to encapsulate the sentiment … “nice guys finish last”.
EV_
EVA. Eva Longoria is a fashion model and an actress with a regular role on “Desperate Housewives”, playing Gabrielle Solis.
EA_
EAU. In French, one might fight a fire (feu) with water (eau).
_ERO
NERO. Peter Nero is a pianist and conductor of ‘pops’ orchestral concerts. Nero had a huge hit in the pop music charts in 1971 with the theme tune from the movie ‘Summer of ‘42’.
OMA_
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.
LE_
LES. The definite article in French can be ‘le’ (with masculine nouns), ‘la’ (with feminine nouns), and ‘les’ (with plurals of either gender).
C_A
CIA. The Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti (KGB) was the national security agency of the Soviet Union until 1991. The KGB was dissolved after the agency’s chairman led a failed attempt at a coup d’état designed to depose President Mikhail Gorbachev.
ORC_
ORCA. Shamu was the name of the third orca, or killer whale, ever to be featured in a public exhibition. She starred in a popular SeaWorld show in San Diego in the sixties. After she died in 1971, her name lived on as the name “Shamu” was still used by SeaWorld for its killer whale shows. It is notable given a recent tragedy, that the original Shamu was retired after she grabbed and refused to let go of the leg of a female employee at SeaWorld.
IN_A
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.
E_U
EAU. ‘Eau de toilette’ (toilet water) is a diluted perfume.
_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.
_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 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 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 tax returns, seven million dependents “disappeared”.
_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.
O_E
ONE. The Pledge of Allegiance of the US was composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and was adopted by Congress in 1942. The actual words used in the pledge have changed over time. Here is the original 1892 version shown in comparison to the current version that was adopted in 1954:
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.
I_S
IRS. The Sixteenth Amendment to the US Constitution gives the US Congress the right to levy a personal income tax without the need to reapportion the funds collected to the States proportionally based on Census results. Prior to the amendment, taxes collected had to be returned to the States based on population.
_ES
LES. Les Paul was a guitarist, songwriter and inventor. When he was 33 years old, he 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.
_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 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 who didn’t exist as dependents on their tax forms, so from 1986 onwards it was a requirement to get a SSN for any dependents over the age of 5. Sure enough, in the following year’s tax returns, seven million dependents “disappeared”.
AL_
A LA. A dish prepared “a la king” (usually chicken or turkey), is food prepared in a cream sauce, with mushrooms, pimentos, green peppers and sherry.
O_AN
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 occupation. Centuries of occupation by the Persians ended in 1507 when the Portuguese took the city in a bloody invasion. The Portuguese held the city for much of the next century until finally ousted by local Omani forces in 1648.
L_S
LES. “Les Jeunes de Paris” is a recurring sketch on ‘Saturday Night Live’ (SNL). The sketch features a French TV series called “Les Jeunes de Paris”, in which angry teens break into dance. Star of the piece is SNL cast member Taran Killam as François.
_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, the SSN is looking more and more like an “universal identity number” to me. The social security number system was introduced in 1936. Prior to 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 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 tax returns, seven million dependents “disappeared”.
E_A
EVA. Eva Marie Saint is an American actor, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing Edie Doyle in the 1954 movie “On the Waterfront”. My favorite of Saint’s movies is the 1959 Hitchcock classic, “North by Northwest”, in which she starred opposite Cary Grant. She ratcheted back her career at its height, right after her success in “North by Northwest”. Saint opted instead to spend more time with her husband and children, taking very few acting roles. That marriage is still going strong, and she has two children and three grandchildren.
ATAR_
ATARI. The kids today probably don’t realize that we had a video game console back in the seventies, but it wasn’t a Nintendo nor 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.
CS_
CSI. ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ is apparently the most-watched television show worldwide.
EA_
EAU. ‘Water’ in Spanish is ‘agua’, and in French is ‘eau’.
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.
UM_
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 a Buddhist name, Dbuma.
_NN
ANN. Ann Rule is a true-crime writer who comes from a crime-fighting family, with sheriffs, a medical examiner and a prosecutor around her as she grew up. She started off writing with a male pen name (Andy Stack) as it was perceived that she would have more success in the genre, after a virtual “sex change”.
_REO
OREO. There’s an iPhone app featuring the Oreo cookie. It’s a game in which one twists Oreo cookies apart, ‘licks’ the cream from the center and then dunks the remainder of the cookie in a glass of milk.
LE_
LEO. Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.
_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.
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.
NE_
NED. Ned Kelly was an Irish-Australian outlaw, regard by many as a symbol of resistance against the British ruling class in Australia in the 19th century. There have been two famous films made of his life story. ‘The Story of the Kelly Gang’ was released in 1906, and is recognized today as the first feature film ever made. We might be more familiar with the film called ‘Ned Kelly’ released in 1970, as it starred Mick Jagger in the title role.
EA_
EAU. In French, ice (glace) is frozen water (eau).
_VA
EVA. Eva Marie Saint is an American actress, who won the Best Supporting Actress for playing Edie Doyle in the 1954 movie “On the Waterfront”. My favorite of her movies is the 1959 Hitchcock classic, “North by Northwest”, in which she starred opposite Cary Grant. Eva Marie ratcheted back her career at its height, right after her success in “North by Northwest”. She opted instead to spend more time with her husband and children, taking very few roles. That marriage is still going strong, and she has two children and three grandchildren.
_KE
IKE. There doesn’t seem to be any good reason why President Eisenhower was called “Ike”. It is known however, that it goes back to his childhood, because that’s what his parents called him.
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”.
I_CA
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.
_ERO
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.
E_L
EEL. The Eel River in California was named in 1850 by an explorer Josiah Gregg, after he made a trade with some Native Americans, swapping a frying pan for a large catch of eels.
_DE
ODE. Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet born on the Greek island of Lesbos. Sappho was much admired for her work, although very little of it survives today. She was renowned for writing erotic and romantic verse that dealt with the love of women as well as men. It was because of this poetry that the word ‘lesbian’ (someone from Lesbos) is used to describe a gay woman.
_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).
_NCA
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.
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.
_EL
EEL. Corals are invertebrates found in the sea that live in compact colonies. Some corals secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard exoskeleton, and these type of corals make up the basic infrastructure of coral reefs.
RH_
RHO. Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”.
_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. 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”.
A_TI
ASTI. Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. It is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.
E_U
EAU. The Seine, the river that flows through Paris, is full of “eau” (water).
_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).
_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.
_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.
_LO
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).
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.
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”.
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)”.
A_A
A LA. The phrase ‘in the style of’ can be translated in ‘alla’ in Italian and ‘à la’ in French.
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.
C_I
CSI. I’m told that the TV show “CSI” gets a lot of razzing by law enforcement professionals 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 centered around New York City.
_REO
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.
_ED
NED. “Waking Ned Devine” is an entertaining comedy film from 1998 set in Ireland. It’s all about Ned Devine who wins a fortune from the National Lottery but also who dies before he can claim the prize. The whole village conspires to “keep him alive” so that the winnings will be delivered and the locals can share the loot. Worth a rental …
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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.
L_S
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. During the raid, three Jewish students and a Jewish teacher were taken and transported to Auschwitz, where they were gassed upon arrival.
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.
_ED
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.
OD_
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 first performed in 1824.
A_A
ABA. American Bar Association(ABA)
ES_U
ESAU. Esau, was the grandson of Abraham and the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. Esau is portrayed as being very different from his brother, as a hunter and someone who loves the outdoor life.
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”.
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 Osbourne), and celebrity panelist on “America’s Got Talent”.
REN_
RENE. Dr. René Belloq is the main ‘bad guy’ in the movie ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’. Belloq is a French character, but is played by English actor Paul Freeman.
_DA
ADA. American Dental Association (ADA)
_EO
LEO. In Latin, the king (rex) of the jungle is the lion (leo).
_ES
LES. Alsatia is the Latin name for the region in France known as Alsace. Alsace is home to Strasbourg, a beautiful city that I had the privilege to visit some years ago. Strasbourg is home to many international organizations, including the European Court of Human Rights.
L_O
LEO. There has been a lion in the logo of the MGM studio since 1924. The original was an Irishman (!), a lion named Slats who was born in Dublin Zoo in 1919. However, it wasn’t until 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.
EL_
ELO. The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) recorded the song ‘Evil Woman’ in 1975. ‘Evil Woman’ was written by the band’s lead vocalist Jeff Lynne, in just thirty minutes!
EE_
EEL. The Eel River in California was named in 1850 by an explorer Josiah Gregg after he made a trade with some Native Americans, swapping a frying pan for a large catch of eels.
_LK
ELK. Male elks are called bulls, and females are known as cows. Bull elks are known for their very loud screaming, which is called bugling. Cow elks are attracted to bulls that bugle more often and most loudly.
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. ‘Rihanna’ is her stage name, as she was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty. The name ‘Rihanna’ is derived from the Welsh name ‘Rhiannon’.
S_R
SSR. Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR)
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 stepbrother executed.
_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.
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).
AD_
ADA. The American Dental Association.
A_NE
ANNE. Famously, King Henry VIII had six queens consort. There is a rhyme that is commonly used to help remember the fates of each of his wives, which goes:
_SP
ASP. The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It was 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.
