Word of the Week - 3-24-2008

Word of the Week
ZANY
Pronunciation: \ˈzā-nē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural zanies
Etymology: Italian zanni, a traditional masked clown, from Italian dialect Zanni, nickname for Italian Giovanni John
Date: 1588
1: a subordinate clown or acrobat in old comedies who mimics ludicrously the tricks of the principal : merry-andrew
2: a slavish follower : toady
3 a: one who acts the buffoon to amuse others b: nut, kook

Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): za·ni·er; za·ni·est
Date: 1609
1 : being or having the characteristics of a zany
2 : fantastically or absurdly ludicrous


Interesting Fact
There is no firm agreement among neurologists as to the number of senses because of differing definitions of what constitutes a sense. One definition states that an exteroceptive sense is a faculty by which outside stimuli are perceived. The conventional five senses are sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste: a classification traditionally attributed to Aristotle. However, humans have at least nine different senses (including interoceptive senses), like: thermoception (heat, cold), nociception (pain), equilibrioception (balance, gravity), proprioception & kinesthesia (joint motion and acceleration) and sense of time. There are at least two other senses in other organisms (amongst them: electroreception, echolocation, magnetoception, pressure detection, polarized light detection).

Trivial Pursuit
Here are the questions:
Global View (Geography):
What conflict that killed 55,000 U.S. soldiers finally got its own Washington D.C. memorial in 1995?

Entertainment:
What did Deniece Williams want to “hear it for” in her 1984 number-one hit?

News:
What U.S. state was home to the one-foot-square “Whitewater Micro-Acres” that rancher Carry Carpenter hawked on the Net for $35?

Written Word:
What Pulitzer-winner gave readers a taste of his new Western series with Boone’s Lick?

Life & Science: What did University of Washington physicists discover weghs 5.972 sextillion metric tons, not 5.98 sextillion metric tons as was once thought?

Games & Sports:
What did Pacers hoopster Reggie Miller fling at a referee Ed Rush in 2001, to earn a suspension?


Here are last week’s answers:
Global View (Geography):
What president is clean-shaven and skinny as a rail, in a 30-foot-tall Springfield, Illinois statue? Abraham Lincoln

Entertainment:
What rapper boasts a tattoo on his tomach that reads, “KIM: ROT IN PIECES”? Eminem

News:
What military conflict inspired the U.S. Air Force to develop the deep-penetration air-to-ground missile dubbed “Bunker-Buster”? The Gulf War

Written Word:
Which X-Men member’s eye color is listed on Marvel Comics’ web site as: “glowing red”? Scott Summers or Cyclops

Life & Science: What percentage of folks told a Luntz poll in 2000 that gabbing on a cell phone during church was “totally appropriate” – 2, 12, or 22 percent? 2

Games & Sports:
What word was excised from the jerseys of major league baseball’s Tampa Bay franchise in 2001?”? Devil