WEEK OF APRIL 14, 2008
Word of the week: "schadenfreude," pronounced "SHAH-den-froy-duh." Derived from the German words for "harm" and "joy," it is satisfaction felt at another's misfortune. The word was used in the final rounds of the 2007 AARP National Senior Spelling Bee. This year's bee will be held June 13-14 in Cheyenne, Wyo. More info can be found at www.seniorspellingbee.com.
Speaking of spelling, are books not edited and fact-checked as carefully as they used to be? With computerized spell-checkers keeping out most misspelled dictionary words, we think publishers have gotten a bit lazy with everything else. It seems like every book on popular culture we've read recently has multiple misspelled names and incorrect facts. If you come across any particularly egregious examples, please let us know.
Arquette ancestry update: After reading here that actress Rosanna Arquette's father was named Lewis after his ancestor of Lewis and Clark fame, Jim Dickie of Livermore, Calif., wrote us to add to the story. Jim knew Russ Arquette, Rosanna's great-uncle and Cliff "Charlie Weaver" Arquette's brother. Russ' son, Lewis Arquette's cousin, is named "Clark." Coincidence? We don't think so.
Nearly 30 years before his starring role in the sitcom "Green Acres," Eddie Albert wrote and starred in what is believed to be television's first original drama. In October 1936, Albert and co-star Grace Brandt appeared in "The Love Nest," which was broadcast from a transmitter atop the Empire State Building, and received in the RCA Building, about a mile away.
David Rosen of Bethesda, Md., asks about the origin of "John Doe" and "Richard Roe" as the names of unknown men in legal proceedings. The book "What's in a Name?" by our word-expert friend Paul Dickson has the answer. Both names come from a famous 14th-century English legal document from the reign of King Richard III. It's just a coincidence that both surnames are terms for deer.
Much-deserved raise? In 1972, Bill Cosby was signed to a lifetime $1-per-year contract with the Harlem Globetrotters. Cosby once played briefly for the Globetrotters. In 1986, his yearly stipend was increased to $1.05. Earvin "Magic" Johnson was signed to a similar $1-per-year Globetrotters contract in 2003. No word yet on a raise for Magic.
Small-town celebrity birthplace of the week: Newton, in northwestern New Jersey (current population about 8,000). Actress Janeane Garofalo was born there in 1964. Your humble trivia author lived in Newton for a time in the 1970s, while an instructor in the mathematics department of a nearby community college.
Is the last name of casino mogul Steve Wynn just a coincidence? Not exactly. His father Michael changed the family name to Wynn when Steve was a child. Why? At least in part, as a promotional tie-in for the string of bingo parlors he operated. Bingo was Steve's first taste of the gaming business, the profits from which provided his first stake in a Vegas casino in the 1960s.
If you've eaten an omelette recently, you might wonder where the "ette" is. In other words, what's so small about an omelette? The answer is: its thickness. The word is ultimately derived from the Latin for "small plate," because of an omelette's flat shape.
Founded in 1935, Republic Pictures is best remembered by trivia fans as the producer of B movies, Westerns and serials. The only Republic film ever nominated for an Academy Award was "Dark Command" (1940), for Art Direction and Original Score. "Dark Command" was also the only film whose cast included both John Wayne and Roy Rogers.
TRIVIA
1) To date, about 475 people have visited outer space, which is defined in the U.S. as having reached an altitude greater than 80 kilometers. To date, about how many people have been to the deepest part of the world's oceans -- the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the North Pacific?
A) 2
B) 20
C) 200
D) 2,000
2) The tune "Eye of the Tiger," performed by the rock group Survivor, was written for the 1982 film "Rocky III" and was #1 on the U.S. Billboard pop music chart for six weeks that year. The version of the song heard in the film has what element missing from the Billboard single?
A) Sylvester Stallone playing the drums
B) A spoken introduction
C) The growls of a tiger
D) An extended guitar solo
3) Three current national flags feature a series of 10 or more alternating red and white horizontal stripes: the United States, Liberia and:
A) Malaysia
B) Australia
C) Slovenia
D) Zimbabwe
4) In the tepees constructed by Native Americans across the Great Plains, the entryway flaps generally faced:
A) North
B) South
C) East
D) West
5) Eighteenth-century Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is known as the "Father of Modern Taxonomy" for laying the foundation of the scheme for naming species of organisms. Linnaeus gave the name "food of the gods" to the species of plant from which we get:
A) Blueberries
B) Chocolate
C) Onions
D) Aspirin
ANSWERS
1) To date, only two people have been to the deepest part of the world's oceans -- the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the North Pacific. In January 1960, a U.S. Navy lieutenant and a Swiss explorer/engineer got there in a Navy bathyscaph, reaching a depth of 35,813 feet.
2) The version of the tune "Eye of the Tiger" heard in the film "Rocky III" features the growls of a tiger that are missing from the Billboard single.
3) The three current national flags that feature a series of 10 or more alternating red and white horizontal stripes are the United States (13 stripes), Liberia (11) and Malaysia (14). While the design of Malaysia's flag and the American flag are similar, there is believed to be no connection between them.
4) In the tepees constructed by Native Americans in the Great Plains region, the entryway flaps generally faced east, to be away from the typical prevailing winds and toward the morning sun.
5) Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus gave the name "theobroma," Latin for "food of the gods," to the cacao tree, from which we get chocolate.
STAN'S WEEKLY TRIVIA CHALLENGE CONTEST NO. 81
What American presidential library is the repository for the archives of two Pulitzer Prize-winning authors?
HOW TO WIN: Send your answer, with your full name and address, either by e-mail to TriviaBits@gmail.com, or on a postcard to Stan Newman's Trivia Challenge No. 81, P.O. Box 69, Massapequa Park, NY 11762. Only one submission per person, please. Answers must be received within seven days of publication. One winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries, who will receive a copy of Stan's new book "15,003 Answers: The Ultimate Trivia Encyclopedia," courtesy of Random House. Answer and winner will be announced in a future issue.
ANSWER TO TRIVIA CHALLENGE CONTEST NO. 74
The letters in the word MEMORIALS can be rearranged to spell "Serial Mom," the title of a 1994 film starring Kathleen Turner. Winner: Shali Mulligan of Miami, Tex.
