WEEK OF APRIL 28, 2008
Word of the week: "zucchetto," pronounced "zoo-KETT-oh." Derived from the Italian for "little head," it is the small, round skullcap worn by Roman Catholic officials. 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.
Trivia detective alert: We happened to notice recently that the 11-letter name of actor Alec Baldwin contains each of the first five letters of the alphabet. So we wonder if there's a celebrity with a shorter name that has these five letters, and another celebrity whose name has all the letters from A through F. If you can help, please let us know.
Our industrious Oscar researcher, Lance Richmond of Seattle, has returned with a brand-new chart of films that have featured the most Academy Award performers. Not counting documentaries and films where the stars portrayed themselves, the two films with the most Oscar actors are the first "Around the World in 80 Days" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told," both with eight. More goodies from Lance's list in future columns.
Gideons International update: Thanks to all the Gideons members who wrote to let us know that the organization doesn't mind at all if hotel patrons take home Gideon Bibles. They told us that Gideons visit hotels at least once a year to replace "lost" or damaged Bibles. In all, it has distributed more than one billion Bibles worldwide since its founding in 1899.
Australia follows British rather than American spelling conventions, with only one exception that we know of: The Labor Party, the current governing party of Australia. Why not "Labour?" In an effort to "modernise" the name, it was changed from Labour to Labor in 1912, influenced by the American labor movement. (Thanks to Byron Walden of Santa Clara, Calif.)
The book "Please Stand By," a history of early television, is riddled with errors. A few of the many: The surnames of TV announcer Johnny Olson and comedian Ole Olsen are interchanged, George Gershwin is listed as an attendee of the 1939 World's Fair (he died in 1937), and composer Burt Bacharach is mentioned as the host of a 1940s game show (it was his father). The aptly named publisher of this woebegone book: Overlook Press.
Small-town celebrity birthplace of the week: Colwyn Bay, Wales (current population about 10,000). Former James Bond portrayer Timothy Dalton was born there in 1946, and Monty Python member Terry Jones was born in the neighboring Old Colwyn (current population about 8,000) in 1942.
Hello/goodbye update: Thanks to Billie Shaffer of Clarendon, Texas, who let us know about the Navajo word "yatahey," which can mean "hello" or "goodbye." Don Hansen of Issaquah, Wash., told us about the Danish oddity of "hej" (pronounced "hi") meaning "hello" and "hej-hej" meaning "goodbye."
You probably learned some tongue twisters like "six thick thistle sticks" in elementary school. Did you know virtually every world language has its own tongue twisters? One example: The French "Un chasseur sachant chasser chassait sans son chien de chasse" means "A hunter who knows how to hunt knows how to hunt without his hunting dog." (Thanks to Roger Lucas of Seattle.)
The score for one of the most reverent films ever made, "The Ten Commandments" (1956) and two of the most irreverent films ever made, "National Lampoon's Animal House" and "Airplane!" were all composed by the same person. The scores of other scores of Elmer Bernstein (no relation to Leonard) include "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Great Escape."
TRIVIA
1) The motto of the New York City borough of Brooklyn means "In Unity There is Strength," in what language?
A) Latin
B) Dutch
C) French
D) Spanish
2) The set of waterfalls that make up Niagara Falls, located on the U.S./Canadian border in New York and Ontario, is part of what river?
A) Mohawk
B) St. Lawrence
C) North York
D) Niagara
3) You're all familiar, we're sure, with the word "ruthless," meaning "without pity." The "less" part means "without," as in many other English words, but who or what is the "ruth" in "ruthless?"
A) A sprite from Scandinavian folklore
B) A word meaning "pity"
C) A legendary pirate
D) A region of Eastern Europe
4) A recent Bit mentioned that a resident of Sydney, Australia, is called a Sydneysider. That reminded us of the word "sillysider," which is Canadian slang for a:
A) Left-hander
B) Comedian
C) Clumsy sailor
D) Rickety building
5) A, HAM, HE, MOPE, POT and TOT are all:
A) Rivers in Great Britain
B) Russian words with different meanings from English
C) People mentioned in the Old Testament
D) Japanese brands of chewing gum
ANSWERS
1) The motto of the New York City borough of Brooklyn is "Een Draght Mackt Maght,'' Dutch for "In Unity There is Strength." The Dutch were the first Europeans to colonize the area. (Thanks to Adam Cohen of Brooklyn, N.Y.)
2) The set of waterfalls that make up Niagara Falls is part of the Niagara River.
3) The "ruth" in "ruthless" is a word meaning "pity."
4) "Sillysider" is a Canadian slang term for a left-hander.
5) A ("and" or "but"), HAM ("us"), HE ("not"), MOPE ("sea"), POT ("mouth") and TOT ("that") are all Russian words that look like English words, but with unrelated meanings. (Thanks to Ken Clark of Kent, Wash.)
STAN'S WEEKLY TRIVIA CHALLENGE CONTEST NO. 83
One of the stone steps outside a certain U.S. state's Capitol building features a five-word engraved message, the first word of which is "ONE" In what city is this building?
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. 83, 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. 76
The two states' most populous cities named for presidents are Jackson, Miss., and Jacksonville, Fla., both named for Andrew Jackson. Winner: Chuck Walker of Lewiston, Idaho.
Stanley Newman is the editor of the Newsday Crossword and author/editor of more than 125 books on crosswords, word games and trivia, including "15,003 Answers: The Ultimate Trivia Encyclopedia" (Random House). To find out more about Stanley Newman visit StanXwords.com, or e-mail him at StanTrivia@aol.com
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