WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 22, 2008
Word of the week: "nudiustertian," pronounced "noo-dee-uh-STIR-shun." You've probably never heard of it, but we think it ought to be brought back from its undeserved obscurity. Derived from the Latin phrase "nunc dies tertius est" ("it is now the third day"), it's an adjective meaning "of the day before yesterday," or, by extension, "the latest."
Which weighs more: an ounce of bread or an ounce of water? It's not a silly question, since fluid ounces measure volume, not weight. A gallon of water (128 fluid ounces) weighs about 8 pounds, 5.5 ounces, which works out to a weight of 1.04 ounces for an ounce of water. It can't be a coincidence, for water at least, that the two measures are nearly identical. If you can explain how the definition of a fluid ounce was developed, please let us know.
At sixes and sevens: There were two technological obstacles to the rolling out of area codes nationwide. One was the new switching equipment that was needed to dial outside one's local area without an operator. The other was the mixture of six- and seven-digit telephone numbers in some locales. For example, Toronto and Montreal, which introduced direct dialing in 1958, had this mix from 1951 to 1957.
Those scenes in the 2006 film "The Da Vinci Code" set in the Louvre were actually shot at the French museum, for which the Louvre was paid about $2.5 million. A far, far bigger payment is coming to the Louvre for the construction of a Louvre museum in downtown Abu Dhabi, scheduled for completion in 2012. Total for the use of the Louvre name and the loan of art works: in the very nice neighborhood of $1.5 billion.
April Burstedt of Danville, Calif., wants to know how to coin a word. Well, first you need to find out if it's really new, which you can assume if a Google search yields no hits (as it does on "TriviaBitting.") Next, you must define it (TriviaBitting means "reading this column"). To make sure that you're credited with the word, you must publicize it as your own and trademark it, to be sure you'll get your share of the T-shirt revenue and movie rights. Good luck!
Before George Washington created the military medal known today as the Purple Heart in 1782, medals were awarded only to officers. Gen. Washington's previous preferred reward to deserving common soldiers, a battlefield commission or promotion, had just been stopped by Congress because it didn't have any money for soldier salaries, let alone for salary increases.
Eponym of the week: John B. Bibb, a War of 1812 veteran, Kentucky state representative and amateur horticulturist. He developed Bibb lettuce (the traditional salad of Kentucky Derby Day brunch) in the backyard of his Frankfort home circa 1865. Bibb lettuce is considered intermediate in form and taste between leaf lettuces and iceberg.
Though Spanish-style bullfighting isn't legal in the U.S., there are Americans earning their living in the U.S. as bullfighters, aka "matadors." They're the brave folks also known as rodeo clowns, whose job it is to protect bull riders in rodeos. At rodeos, "freestyle bullfighting" is a 70-second competition in which rodeo clowns are judged by how well they avoid contact with the bull, and by their skill in doing so.
Look up "harebrained" in most dictionaries, and you'll find "hairbrained" as an acceptable alternate spelling. If you study the history of the word, you'll see that "harebrained" came first (circa 1550), referring to the behavior of the four-legged beast. Back then, "hair" was another way to spell "hare," and "hairbrained" first appeared circa 1580. These days, "harebrained" is used more often in America.
Thanks to Brian Templeton of Des Moines, Wash., for pointing out additional starring threesomes in multiple films, with different roles each time. There's Bogart/Greenstreet/Lorre; Woody Allen, Mia Farrow and Tony Roberts in Allen-directed films, Sinatra/Davis Jr./Martin in Rat Pack films; and Mel Brooks/Madeline Kahn/Harvey Korman in Brooks-directed films.
TRIVIA
1) Which of these cities is closest (in "as the crow flies" miles) to Chicago, Ill.?
A) Anchorage, Alaska
B) Havana, Cuba
C) Mexico City, Mexico
D) San Diego, California
2) Grindstone, Silver Charm and Real Quiet are all the names of:
A) Brands of vacuum cleaners
B) Characters in the Harry Potter book series
C) Professional wrestlers
D) Horses that have won the Kentucky Derby
3) As spoken by the main character in the Jane Austen novel "Mansfield Park," "the best recipe for happiness" is a:
A) Large income
B) Thanksgiving feast
C) Good book
D) House cat
4) A map of the "lower 48" U.S. states can be found on the commemorative quarter of what U.S. state?
A) Arizona
B) Delaware
C) Louisiana
D) Oregon
5) Someone visiting the website www.chemistry.com would most likely be looking for:
A) A science tutor
B) A spouse
C) Lab equipment
D) Research on global warming
ANSWERS
1) Chicago is about 1,300 air miles from Havana, about 1,700 miles from Mexico City and San Diego, and about 2,800 miles from Anchorage.
2) Grindstone, Silver Charm and Real Quiet are the names of the horses that won the Kentucky Derby from 1996 through 1998, respectively.
3) As spoken by the main character in the Jane Austen novel "Mansfield Park," a large income is "the best recipe for happiness."
4) A map of the "lower 48" U.S. states can be found on the commemorative quarter of Louisiana, in which the region of the Louisiana Purchase is outlined.
5) The website www.chemistry.com is an online dating service.
STAN'S WEEKLY TRIVIA CHALLENGE CONTEST NO. 104
What famous four-word proverb can be spelled entirely with the letters in the colloquial expression "no sweat?"
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. 104, 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. 97
The 50th anniversary of Roger Bannister's breaking of the four-minute mile was commemorated with a 2004 British 50-pence coin that depicts the lower body of a runner and a stopwatch that reads 3 minutes, 59 seconds. Winner: Barry Stinson of Coral Springs, Fla.
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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