Newsies Terms

Question 1

Above the Fold

Answer 1

The prominent placement of an article on the front page of a newspaper; if a headline is above the middle fold, it is the first thing a reader will see when buying the paper.

Question 2

Acquitted

Answer 2

Declared not guilty of a criminal charge.

Question 3

Alfred Dreyfus

Answer 3

A French artillery officer who was charged with treason in a highly controversial trial in 1894; he was acquitted in 1899

Question 4

Am-scray

Answer 4

Pig Latin for “scram;” a phrase telling someone to leave quickly

Question 5

Aptitude

Answer 5

Innate or acquired ability or talent.

Question 6

Aspirin

Answer 6

A drug that reduces inflammation, pain, and fever, invented by the firm Bayer and released in 1899.

Question 7

Auspicious

Answer 7

Promising success.

Question 8

Begrudgingly

Answer 8

Reluctantly or resentfully.

Question 9

Betsy Ross

Answer 9

The creator of the first American flag

Question 10

Borough

Answer 10

A district or municipality within a city; New York’s boroughs are Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island (known as Richmond in 1899).

Question 11

Bottle Alley

Answer 11

An alley that was part of Mulberry Bend, an area in the Five Points neighborhood of Lower Manhattan that had particularly poor living conditions.

Question 12

Bowery

Answer 12

A neighborhood in Lower Manhattan; in 1899, the Bowery was an immigrant neighborhood famous for its vaudeville-style plays and musicals.

Question 13

Brighton Beach

Answer 13

An oceanside neighborhood in the southern portion of Brooklyn.

Question 14

Bulls

Answer 14

Slang for “police officers.”

Question 15

Cavalry

Answer 15

A group of mounted soldiers

Question 16

Congress

Answer 16

The lawmaking wing of the U.S. federal government.

Question 17

Constituents

Answer 17

People who authorize someone to act on their behalf.

Question 18

Destitute

Answer 18

Lacking the basic necessities of life.

Question 19

Distribution Wagon

Answer 19

The location (a window, historically) at which newsies would purchase their papers for the day; each newspaper publisher had its own distribution window.

Question 20

Excursionists

Answer 20

Individuals who take short trips with a specific intent.

Question 21

Exploited

Answer 21

Taken advantage of or used unfairly

Question 22

Fish-Eye

Answer 22

A suspicious or unfriendly look.

Question 23

Flushing

Answer 23

A neighborhood in Queens

Question 24

Gratis

Answer 24

French for “free”

Question 25

Gripe

Answer 25

A complaint

Question 26

Grand Central Station

Answer 26

A major rail terminal in midtown Manhattan.

Question 27

Harlem

Answer 27

A neighborhood in the northern section of Manhattan.

Question 28

Hawks

Answer 28

Sells by calling aloud in public.

Question 29

Highfalutin

Answer 29

Pompous or bombastic.

Question 30

Hoi polloi

Answer 30

An Ancient Greek expression meaning “the many,” which refers to the masses; Race ironically uses this phrase incorrectly, referring to the elite.

Question 31

Impudence

Answer 31

Disrespect

Question 32

Ingenuity

Answer 32

Cleverly resourceful

Question 33

Joseph Pulitzer

Answer 33

Publisher of the New York World from 1883 to 1911.

Question 34

Kingmaker

Answer 34

A person who brings leaders to power through political influence.

Question 35

Mile-a-Minute Murphy

Answer 35

Charles Minthorn Murphy, an American cyclist who in 1899 became the first man ever to bike a mile in less than a minute.

Question 36

Montreal Shamrocks

Answer 36

An amateur men’s ice hockey club based in Canada that existed from 1886 to 1924. They became a permanent team in 1895 when they merged with the Montreal Crystals.

Question 37

Muckity-Mucks

Answer 37

Slang referring to those in a position of authority or status

Question 38

Navy Yard

Answer 38

The U.S. Navy Yard, also known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard; a shipyard located in Brooklyn on the East River, built in 1801 and in use until 1966.

Question 39

New Richmond tornado

Answer 39

An 1899 tornado that left a 45-mile path of destruction in and around the city of New Richmond, Wisconsin.

Question 40

Newsies

Answer 40

Young newspaper vendors who purchased their goods from the publisher and re-sold them for a profit; some newsies were as young as six years old and worked long hours on the streets of American cities.

Question 41

Nickelangelo Dervinci

Answer 41

A misstatement and combining of the names of two separate famous Italian Renaissance artists, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.

Question 42

Nobbin'

Answer 42

Slang for “hobnobbing,” or mixing socially.

Question 43

Nom de plume

Answer 43

French for “pen name,” or a fake name used when publishing written work.

Question 44

Palomino

Answer 44

A type of horse with a yellow or gold coat, originally bred in the southwestern U.S.

Question 45

Pastrami

Answer 45

A meat product that is usually made from beef and often used in sandwiches.

Question 46

Polio

Answer 46

A disease, usually affecting children and young adults, that can cause paralysis in all or parts of the body.

Question 47

Prospect Park

Answer 47

A large public park in Brooklyn.

Question 48

Richmond

Answer 48

One of New York’s five boroughs; now known as Staten Island.

Question 49

Sante Fe

Answer 49

The capital city of New Mexico; it attracted a number of artists and writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to its cultural richness and natural beauty.

Question 50

Scabs

Answer 50

A slang term for individuals who take work when the regular employees are on strike.

Question 51

Sheepshead Races

Answer 51

The Sheepshead Bay Race Track, a horse racing facility in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn; opened in 1880 and operational until 1910, it was converted to an automobile racetrack in 1915.

Question 52

Skunks

Answer 52

Slang term referring to defeating an opponent badly.

Question 53

Soak

Answer 53

Slang for both “take money from” and “beat up.”

Question 54

Spanish-American War

Answer 54

A war between Spain and the United States in 1898 as a result of U.S. intervention in the Cuban Revolution and the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in the Havana harbor

Question 55

Strike

Answer 55

A refusal to work in order to compel an employer to agree to workers’ demands.

Question 56

Sweatshop

Answer 56

A factory where manual workers receive low wages for long hours under poor conditions.

Question 57

Theodore Roosevelt

Answer 57

A progressive reformer who was Governor of New York from 1899-1900 and President of the U.S. from 1901-1909.

Question 58

Trolley

Answer 58

A passenger vehicle that runs on a track embedded in the street, also called a streetcar; New York had an extensive trolley system throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Question 59

Troupers

Answer 59

Members of a performing company.

Question 60

Union

Answer 60

An association of employees that collectively bargains with employers to protect the interests of the workers.

Question 61

Vaudeville

Answer 61

A theatrical genre popular between the 1880s and 1930s that involves performances made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts of varying types.

Question 62

Veve la résistance

Answer 62

French for “long live the resistance.”

Question 63

William Randolph Hearst

Answer 63

The founder of Hearst Communications, which published the New York Journal

Question 64

Woodside

Answer 64

A neighborhood in western Queens.