Word of the Week - 2-25-2008

Word of the Week
TRICE
Pronunciation: \ˈtrīs\

Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): triced; tric·ing
Etymology: Middle English trisen, tricen to pull, trice, from Middle Dutch trisen to hoist, from trise windlass
Date: 15th century
: to haul up or in and lash or secure (as a sail) with a small rope

Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English trise, literally, pull, from trisen
Date: 15th century
: a brief space of time : instant —used chiefly in the phrase in a trice


Interesting Fact
Ajax is a ghost town located in the Rush Valley area of southeastern Tooele County, Utah, USA. The town grew up around a unique department store started in 1869 by a Welsh immigrant named William Ajax. He operated the Ajax Underground Store until his death in 1899, and the settlement came to an end as the other residents left by 1900. All that remains today is a hole in the ground, with a historical marker standing nearby.

The area was first settled in 1863 by a group of Welsh farmers, who called their little settlement "Centre". As numerous mines were being developed in eastern Tooele County in the 1860s, small towns began to dot the region. In 1869, William Ajax, whose department store business in Salt Lake City was failing, moved his family to a dugout in the Centre area. He had learned of the growing market and started growing hay to sell to the mines. He built a two-room adobe house as a permanent shelter close to the hay crop. More accustomed to keeping a shop than raising a crop, Ajax soon began stocking the kitchen shelf with dry goods and supplies to sell to passing travelers. Business boomed; by 1870 a post office was set up in his store, which had outgrown the Ajax home and needed its own location.

Having lived in an underground home, William Ajax chose to construct an underground store. He began digging into the desert soil and lining the hole with cedar timbers. When he had a chamber around 1800 square feet (160 m²) in area and 10–15 feet (3–4.5 m) deep, he added roof beams and an earthen roof, with a south-facing skylight. The Ajax Underground Store was open for business.

From the beginning the store operated as much more than a mere general store, offering expensive textiles and fine imported tableware in addition to the necessities of frontier life. Local miners and ranchers could buy supplies to last through the winter, while their wives browsed through elegant cut crystal glassware and ornate figurines in comfort, protected from the harsh elements of the desert. The store became a gathering place for residents of such nearby communities as Mercur, Stockton, and Ophir, and an important stopping point for overland travelers. An above-ground hotel was soon added, with stables and corrals that could hold 100 horses, 300 cattle, and 6,000 sheep. As it began to grow into a town in its own right, the settlement was named Puckerville, but the name didn't stick. Although the post office kept the name of Centre, people called the place Ajax.

William soon found need for further expansion; he kept digging until the store's main room stretched 80 feet (24 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) wide. Additional branching rooms eventually brought the Ajax Underground Store to a total area of 11,000 square feet (1000 m²), with over $75,000 worth of merchandise in stock. It was reported that the "Big Store", as locals called it, did more business than any similar Salt Lake City emporium.

The store began to lose business when the railroad was built nearby and people could easily travel to Salt Lake for a variety of errands. When William Ajax died in 1899 he left the store to his sons, but the town of Ajax quickly dissolved. By 1900 only the Ajax family remained, continuing to run the store in the face of increasing competition. The rise of mail order catalogs was especially bad for business. The closure of Mercur in 1913 was the final blow; the Ajax Underground Store was finally forced to close in 1914. Most of the above-ground buildings were moved to other locations, but the underground store had to stay in place. In the 1920s it became a popular refuge for passing hoboes, but one of their fires burned it completely, leaving only a depression in the ground to mark the site of Ajax.


Trivial Pursuit
Here are the questions:
Global View (Geography):
What Asian nation tempts locals with kare-kare oxtail stew cooked at a roadside turo-turo?

Entertainment:
Who starred in Dragon Lord, Dragons Forever and Twin Dragons?

News:
What city’s new U.S. Embassy did diplomats refuse to enter in 1987, when it was found to be crawling with electronic bugs?

Written Word:
Who did author Mitch Albom spend Tuesdays with, according to his bestseller’s title?

Life & Science:
How many websites make up the “dark net” no browser can reach, according to Arbor Networks – 1 million, 10 million, or 100 million?

Games & Sports:
What famed sports trophy did an angry Maori activist bludgeon with a sledgehammer in 1997?

And finally, last week’s answers:
Global View (Geography):
What eastern U.S. state’s town of Bradford is the epicenter of National Zippo Day festivities? Pennsylvania

Entertainment:
What pint-sized mini-rapper titled his debut album Beware of Dog? Lil Bow Wow

News:
What politician’s mom sent reporters care packages that included Tylenol, lip balm and Manishewitz bagel chips, in 2000? Joe Lieberman

Written Word:
What illustrator, famed for restyling Spider-Man, left Marvel to spawn Image comics? Todd McFarlane

Life & Science:
What DVD was the first to baost a “Revoice Studio” so viewers could sub their own voices for those of Cameron Diaz and Mike Myers? Shrek

Games & Sports:
Who was the first player to have a Padres logo on his plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame? Dave Winfield

Word of the Week - 2-18-2008

Word of the Week
ADVENTURESOME
Pronunciation: \ahd-ˈven-chuhr-suhm\
Function: adjective
Date: circa 1731
: inclined to take risks : venturesome

Interesting Fact
As millions around the world dress to go to work each day or to go out for the evening, most probably do not realize that a major accessory of their wardrobe originated in Croatia. The necktie, or kravata, is Croatia's contribution to the world of fashion. The use of the necktie in Croatia dates back to as early as the mid-1600s. During the European Thirty Year War (1618-1648), Croatian soldiers were also drawn into battle and sent to fight in various regions of Europe. At that time, the traditional Croatian military dress included a scarf tied around the neck in a manner which is very similar to the style in which the necktie is worn today. The word "'cravat" is derived from the word “Croat” and neckties are descended from what those Croatians wore. Because some Croatian soldiers were stationed in Paris, this "Croatian style" greatly impressed their French counterparts. French men adopted this new fashion during the reign of Louis XIV and referred to it as "a la Croate". Eventually, it became known by the French word "cravate".

Trivial Pursuit

Here are the questions:
Global View (Geography):
What eastern U.S. state’s town of Bradford is the epicenter of National Zippo Day festivities?

Entertainment:
What pint-sized mini-rapper titled his debut album Beware of Dog?

News:
What politician’s mom sent reporters care packages that included Tylenol, lip balm and Manishewitz bagel chips, in 2000?

Written Word:
What illustrator, famed for restyling Spider-Man, left Marvel to spawn Image comics?

Life & Science:
What DVD was the first to baost a “Revoice Studio” so viewers could sub their own voices for those of Cameron Diaz and Mike Myers?

Games & Sports:
Who was the first player to have a Padres logo on his plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

And here are last week’s answers:
Global View (Geography):
What Bavarian city is said to have five seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter and Oktoberfest? Munich

Entertainment:
What’s the name of the Animal Planet’s effusive Crocodile Hunter? Steve Irwin

News:
What cult flick did Ronald Reagan screen at Camp David while hosting a birthday party for Michael Deaver’s young daughter? Bedtime for Bonzo

Written Word:
What cartoonist routinely depicted Ronald Reagan as Max Headroom clone Ron Headrest? Garry Trudeau

Life & Science:
What surgery is the only sure way to end male pattern baldness, according to the book Hair! Man’s Historic Quest to End Baldness? castration

Games & Sports:
What tennis star was forced to do sit-ups in her crib, according to her proud dad Stefano? Jennifer Capriati

Word of the Week - 2-11-2008

Word of the Week
COETANEOUS
Pronunciation: \kō-uh-tā-nē-uhs\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin coaetaneus, from co- + aetas age
Date: 1608
: of the same or equal age, antiquity, or duration

Interesting Fact
Fortune cookies are an American invention. They originated in California, but who the actual inventor was, and which city in California is the true home of the fortune cookie, has continued to be a matter of debate.

One history of the fortune cookie claims that David Jung, a Chinese immigrant living in Los Angeles and founder of the Hong Kong Noodle Company, invented the cookie in 1918. Concerned about the poor he saw wandering near his shop, he created the cookie and passed them out free on the streets. Each cookie contained a strip of paper with an inspirational Bible scripture on it, written for Jung by a Presbyterian minister.

Another history claims that the fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco by a Japanese immigrant named Makoto Hagiwara. Hagiwara was a gardener who designed the famous Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. An anti-Japanese mayor fired him from his job around the turn of the century, but later a new mayor reinstated him. Grateful to those who had stood by him during his period of hardship, Hagiwara created a cookie in 1914 that included a thank you note inside. He passed them out at the Japanese Tea Garden, and began serving them there regularly. In 1915, they were displayed at the Panama-Pacific Exhibition, San Francisco's world fair.

Fortune cookies became common in Chinese restaurants after World War II. Desserts were not traditionally part of Chinese cuisine, and the cookies thus offered Americans something familiar with an exotic flair. Early fortunes featured Biblical sayings, or aphorisms from Confucius, Aesop, or Ben Franklin. Fortune cookies were originally made by hand using chopsticks. In 1964, Edward Louie of San Francisco's Lotus Fortune Cookie Company, automated the process by creating a machine that folds the dough and slips in the fortune. Today, the world's largest fortune cookie manufacturer, Wonton Food Inc. of Long Island CIty, Queens ships out 60 million cookies a month.

Trivial Pursuit
Well, thanks to those Falcons in black, a number of folks are down a week, leaving the door open for those crafty enough to avoid the Sports question. Will that add up to victory? Only time will tell.
Here are the questions:
Global View (Geography):
What Bavarian city is said to have five seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter and Oktoberfest?
Entertainment:
What’s the name of the Animal Planet’s effusive Crocodile Hunter?
News:
What cult flick did Ronald Reagan screen at Camp David while hosting a birthday party for Michael Deaver’s young daughter?
Written Word:
What cartoonist routinely depicted Ronald Reagan as Max Headroom clone Ron Headrest?
Life & Science:
What surgery is the only sure way to end male pattern baldness, according to the book Hair! Man’s Historic Quest to End Baldness?
Games & Sports:
What tennis star was forced to do sit-ups in her crib, according to her proud dad Stefano?

And here are the answers to last week’s questions:
Global View (Geography):
What nation leads the world in per capita fat consumption – France, Switzerland or the U.S.? France
Entertainment:
Who was the other face of Elton John’s Face to Face tour, in 2001? Billy Joel
News:
What portrait artist snaps the group photo at the annual confab of Wall Street and Hollywood bigwigs in Sun Valley, Idaho? Annie Leibovitz
Written Word:
What Love Medicine author is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa? Louise Erdrich
Life & Science:
What web site did American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United launch to hawk tickets, under the motto "Visit Planet Earth"? Orbitz.com
Games & Sports:
What NFL team suits up for home games in black jerseys and black helmets with black logos? The Atlanta Falcons