Word of the Week - 8-11-2008

Word of the Week
STEREOTYPE
Pronunciation: \ˈster-ee-uh-ˌteyp, ˈstir-\
Function: transitive verb
Date: 1804
1: to make a stereotype from
2 a: to repeat without variation : make hackneyed b: to develop a mental stereotype about

Function: noun
Etymology: French stéréotype, from stéré- stere- + type
Date: 1817
1: a plate cast from a printing surface
2: something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially : a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment


Interesting Fact
Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive pouch (called the marsupium), in which females carry their young through early infancy. The continent of Australia is home all of the world’s marsupials except the possum.


Trivial Pursuit
Here are this week’s questions:
Global View (Geography):
What Montana park will need a name change as a result of global warming, according to some rangers?

Entertainment:
What Boys Don’t Cry co-star did Jay McInerney christen the new “It Girl”?

News:
What Arab leader sued Le Nuovel Observateur for libel in 1997, for calling him a “poor simpleton”, a “cretin” and a “monster”?

Written Word:
What author donned a white suit, white gloves and white homburg for a 1998 Time cover?

Life and Science:
What technological marvel did investor John Doerr credit with sparking “the greatest legal creation of wealth in the history of the planet”?

Games and Sports:
What state hosted the first U.S. bullfights with matadors wielding velcro-tipped banderillas?


Here are last week’s answers:
Global View (Geography):
What was the only nation besides the U.S. with at least 59 active nuclear power reactors, in 2000? France

Entertainment:
Who insisted: “I have no interest in producing a ‘B. Pitty’ clothing line”? Brad Pitt

News:
What continent were Ranulph Fiennes and Mike Stroud the first two people to cross on foot without animals or machines, in 1993? Antarctica

Written Word:
What staple is referred to as “Uncle Fred” in a Cockney slang translation of the Bible? Bread

Life and Science:
What fairy-tale name do astronomers give to planetary orbits in “a region of space that is not too hot and not too cold” for life to evolve? Goldilocks orbits

Games and Sports:
What ominous image, repeated three times on the 2001 Titanic slot machine, means a jackpot? An iceberg