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.
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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.
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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.
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IKE. I don’t do “South Park” …
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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.
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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’.
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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.
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LEO. Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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CSI. ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ is apparently the most-watched television show worldwide.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
