Word of the Week - 4-28-2008

Word of the Week
BEDAZZLE
Pronunciation: \bi-ˈda-zəl, bē-\
Function: transitive verb
Date: 1596
1 : to confuse by a strong light : dazzle
2 : to impress forcefully : enchant


Interesting Fact
DID THE ROMANS TURN THUMBS DOWN ON GLADIATORS?
Everybody knows how a crowd in ancient Rome told one gladiator to kill another -- by the thumbs-down gesture.
But then everybody may be wrong, Anthony Philip Corbeill figures. The University of Kansas associate professor of classics, having slogged through hundreds of references to ancient Roman thumbs in literature and art, has concluded that the thumbs-up gesture was the kill signal.
Moreover, Corbeill thinks that the raised thumb was probably in motion, reminiscent of gangsters ordering someone out of a room or of modern umpires declaring a runner out rather than safe.

When the crowd wanted to spare a gladiator's life, Corbeill said, its members closed their fists and pressed the thumb down on the index finger.

Corbeill also has examined ancient artworks to grasp the thumb as the Romans understood its meanings. In summer 1997, with help from a KU Hall Center for the Humanities grant, Corbeill did more library research in Rome. He also traveled to southern France to study a medallion from the second or third century A.D. The medallion is crucial evidence for Corbeill's contention that the thumb pressed against the index finger of a closed fist signified a crowd's desire to spare a gladiator's life. The medallion shows two warriors who've quit fighting. A referee stands nearby pressing a thumb against his closed fist. An inscription above the scene reads, "Those standing should be released."


Trivial Pursuit
Here are the questions:
Global View (Geography):
What Asian nation passed the U.S. in the 1990s as the world’s biggest consumer of gold jewelry?

Entertainment:
Who got to ad-lib ad nauseam as the voice of the genie in Aladdin?

News:
What religeous leader was the only U.S. resident to appear on every Gallup Poll of Most Admired Men in the 1980s and 1990s?

Written Word:
Whose story Gertrude McFuzz did Robert Kapilow turn into a children’s musical work?

Life & Science: What European automaker rolled out 60,000 of its A2 model in 1999, billing it as the world’s first volume production aluminum car?

Games & Sports:
Who became the oldest man in major league history to blast an All-Star Game homer, in 2001?


Here are last week’s answers:
Global View (Geography):
What eastern U.S. state’s Rural Route 22 was the site of the world’s first drive-thru strip joint? Pennsylvania

Entertainment:
What CBS sitcom’s finale had 121,624,000 viewers on February 28, 1983? M*A*S*H

News:
Whose 1998 election as Oakland mayor had San Francisco’s Willie Brown joking: “You may see the two of us docking with Mir”? Jerry Brown

Written Word:
What disease does bioweapons expert Jonathan Tucker chillingly describe in Scourge? Smallpox

Life & Science: What industry giant built the tiniest computer logic circuit in 2001, a two-transistor component made from a single carbon molecule? IBM

Games & Sports:
How many rebounds did Detroit grab in a 2001 game, to set an NBA all-time low – 3, 9, or 18? 18