GTW Game X Answer
Here is the answer to the Guess The Word Game X
Author: HotForWords
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NAW…something so stupid as that would NEVER happen again…we humans have evolved – don’t ya know…
Youth manias, random lesson and the bulb will generate more bulbs of tulips. 2lips…Culture is a craze. The hollanders love flowers and related to tulips and my word request POPPY flower. California poppies? or do vegetable or lettuce, winter blues need fresh foods
thank you, we all like it when you do foods 
A smal shout out for our nice teacher, and the good work she does !!!
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=F4OXrmxDp44&feature=related
hmmm…… about the mania that becomes a sad memory would be Second City Television (a comedy show). It become a franchise show then it became a sad haunted past because of maybe lack of materials or it doesn’t click with the audience any more. That’s what I can say…
I just discovered your site tonight and I already love it. Your energy is amazing, unfortunately, my understanding of the word “yummy” escapes me. Can you help me, sin- Tim Veridian
How ’bout “Beanie Babies”
http://littlecarotte.com/2007/04/28/i-talk-too-much/
Thanks again for another great lesson. +5
gr8<n
Why is it saying the video is no longer available? I couldn’t watch it yesterday, I waited and waited but it wouldn’t load
.
Marina,
lost for words
Greg
Marina,
The Seed in 1859 was used in A British Tennis Match
Greg
Marina,
My guess would be a clothing line when parading through the run way to the high end first purchases to the department store new look rack then the discount for the manican had lost its figure and it started getting every dayish out of style discount.
Greg
Hi Marina, whew
Homework. I can think of the .coms of the nineties. People were buying these stocks like crazy and they were not making any money at all. Then the bottom fell out and everybody lost their money.
Can’t wait til the next lesson.
callipygian
Nice
Hotforwords, here is my reply to your request about things that are overpriced. Oil, because we have so many other ways to produce power. We seem to use it for everything, when we have so many other fuels to choose from. Even people power, as in bicycling instead of driving or even just plain old fashioned walking to the store. We could benefit from the exercise.
I may be wrong or this might just be a case of someone who has just reached his cash flow limit. Just like a lot of other people these days.
nascent
The Bar-Bars are nine hours late
What’s going on
Regarding the homework: Does anyone remember the Cabbage Patch craze? Those “have to have” which landed up under the bed or in the basement?
My late Grand dad who besides boxing for extra money, worked as a signalman on the railways. I remember him saying that many people invested in the new service, in the early 1900’s but only as with Tulips, the value tumbled soon after leaving many out of pocket.
Be well
Hi MARINA,
You know I started trying to think of a cool word for you to make into a lesson, because without words you would be without shows! And then it hit me. I am shocked that you have not made a lesson about the word “hot”! I mean your hotforwords, at should only make sense to do a lesson of how “hot” turned into what it is now. And a bet that your lesson, when you do the one on the word “hot”, will be “HOT”!
Thanks lsimpa
since you dove into the greek origins i thought that you might like to do the word ” Idiot ” all the best, Klaus.
mariana, how did the word egg become to mean to urge someone on .
That’s a good one!
And, it’s weird…someone can actually be “a good egg” and a “bad egg.” I might be walking on eggshells here, but someone can egg a good egg and a bad egg on in a fight, and when it’s over, one of them will have egg on their face. Hopefully, one of them won’t put all of their eggs in one basket, and lay an egg. It might be like teaching one’s grandmother to suck eggs, but heck, you can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs!
Ha!
Eggsactly!
Hey marina u beauty
I would like to say that your a good teacher and i learn alot of things.
I would like to request this word “Vita luna” a friend of mine says it means crazy life but i would like to know if its right and in that case where its from
Thank u
hola marina
what is the meaning of the phrase that the irish use “top of the morning to you”, to say good morning?
gracias,
jlu
What is the origin of the word “angel”?
It’s Latin or Hebrew?
Whats the origin of the word “indeed”?
thank you,
jojo,greece.
The phrase “red up” is commonly used in Western Pennsylvania when talking about cleaning. One might say “I’m going to red up the house today” or if their child has a messy room they might say “go red up your room”.
What is the origin of the phrase “red up”.
Are there a lot of people of Scandinavian ancestry in the area?
It sounds to me like a corruption of Norwegian / Danish “rydde opp” or Swedish “rede ut” meaning “to clear up”.
Sounds like a short version of “ready up” to me. Go ready up your room…
Marina, what is the origin of the term”off the hook”? It is used as hyperbole to mean something is great, and it has the negative conotation of someone being in trouble or being blamed for something. If the person is vindicated of any wrongdoings, they are said to be left off the hook.
On an unrelated word request topic,; have you yhought about putting out an audio only version of your lessons. I know you have the CDs coming out, but the covers, as well as your youtube vidieos, would blow a fuse in a pre-pubecent 12 year old boy. Is there any way to tame down the video portion of your lessons so that kids can learn from you as well. Please keep doing what you’ve been doing videowise. I just thought you cold reach more people, kids and prudish adults.LOL You might be surprised at the responses you get from everyone, including teachers.
The word I request is “Cornhusker”.
im not trying to be a smart ass but what is the origion of the word “word”?
any help marina?
thanks
For my request, I have not a word but an expression.
As a pilot, I knew of “cockpit” and “balls to the wall”.
As sailor, I have been told of the origins of “Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.”
Can you verify what I believe is the origin of this expression??
And BTW Marina, as an airline pilot who flies for the love of it, I too have experienced my employer using this “love of the profession ‘to their advantage by trying to work me for long hours for low pay.
Matt Culpepper
My dearest Marina, I need your help. What word would a man a quarter century a womans elder use to tell her that her intelligence and remarkable beauty makes him wish he were half as smart as he thought he was and half as old.
Hi lovely Marina!
I really enjoy your lessons as well as your wonderful outfits.
I was just thinking of a new field of phrases, which are completely unexplained, but could connect you to a really high range of new students. What I am talking about is the Poker vocabulary.
Down there are some of really nice expressions for combionations od cards, you could have druing a poker game. But where does these words all come from? Perhaps you wanna do some Poker ethymology?
AA: Pocket Rockets; Bullets; American Airlines
KK: Cowboys; King Kong
QQ: Ladies, Whores, Siegfried & Roy
JJ: Fishhooks; hooks
TT: Dimes
99: German Virgin; Barbara Feldon (Get Smart Agent 99)
88: Snowmen; Doggie Balls; Piano Keys
77: Sunset Strip
66: Route 66
55: Speed Limit
44: Magnum; Sailboats
33: Crabs
22: Ducks
AK: Big Slick; Santa Barbara
AQ: Big Chick; Walking Back to Houston
AJ: Ajax
A8: Dead Man’s hand
KQ suited Marriage
KQ offsuit Mixed Marriage
KJ: Kojak
K9: Fido Canine What a Dog
K3: Commander Crab; King Crab
QJ: Maverick
QT: Quint; Varkony
Q7: Computer hand
Q3: Gay Waiter; San Francisco Busboy (queen with a tray)
J5: Motown; Jackson Five
J4: Flat ties (what’s a jack for?)
T5: Woolworth’s; Five and Dime
T4: Broderick Crawford; Convoy; Good Buddy
T2: Texas Dolly
98: Oldsmobile
69: Big Lick; Dinner for Two
95: Dolly Parton
92: Montana Banana
76: Union Oil
57: Heinz
45: Jessie James; Jane Russell
39: Jack Benny
38: Raquel Welch
29: Twiggy
I’m doing a project in my philosophy class called “The 6 questions of Socrates” and my question is “What is Moderation?” So my word request is Moderation. I think a video from you would be a great introduction. Thanks.
Well, I don´t think people will ever learn…
People have gone crazy and payed way too much for things like stocks in computer and internetcompanies not soo long ago…
as allways, soo nice to wake up to your lessons….
your dear student / Swedehunter
difference bertween CV RESUME BIODATA, …….u r reaallly HOTT!!! u make the words coooooolll!!!!
I jut thought of another word I heard in the beer ad. The word is “Dude.” The guy in the ad said it in many different inflections to convay the many meanings. here is a link to the ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ6YiNOknHw
Thanks
Can you please define “Defenestrate” for me, thanks! =)
what’s the origin of the word “candy”
I’m enjoying your lessons and earning a lot. I have a word that I would like you to look up. The word is “Spoon.” Also I have an expresson I would like you to look up. ‘Whats up!”
Thanks
P.S. You are Beautiful
Dear lovely and most beautiful teacher marina, “Hot for Words”
magnetpeoples here.
If you could possibly explain how the word: pie or pi becomes a pastry to a Mathematics transcendental number represented by the symbol π.
You are the only one that can explain this to us all, thanks for your time.
Marina is such a sweety π !!!
The stick market is in “free-fall”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyGHHxUFY6w
Is there really a difference between fall and free-fall?
Thank you Marina. Lovely always.
What’s the origin of the word “lady” ?
For the homework, I think pet rocks were a mania that for a while took something worthless, throw in a little art and then somehow everyone should have or needed one, Sure, everyone needs a rock with some color painted on it.
HOMEWORK:
Other ‘bubbles’, or over-valued items, included Pet Rocks, Florida swamp land, religious relics (not the Russian icon type) and, actually, the whole art world is full of them; hanging on walls are pieces that were once vogue but now are out of fashion and worth (a little) less. But the granddy is “black tuesday” when the New York exchanged dropped in 1929. Someday they may laugh about us and diamonds, well, maybe that’s just a cheap dudes excuse…
I see you haven’t done
Socialism
Communism
Fascism
Capitalism
Liberalism
Conservatism
Would be VERY helpful with all this election stuff coming up. Also think you’re a pretty woman
Thanks a lot,
CT90
I love watching Bill O’Reilly every night, but I LUV watching you !!! Do you do any private tutoring???? Thanks, Joe
Awesome videos! Very entertaining and informative.
I’m curious where the word “Sneeze” comes from? It seems someone just decided to make that word up
hey, teach. i would like to know the origin of the word pajamas (pyjamas?)
in portuguese we use both singular and plural, but in english i guess it’s only plural, right?
Love your lessons.
What is the origin of the word “cacophony”?
In my home province in Canada, the government Issued BRIC Shares in the provincial government corperation to fund big projects, for super highway & power dam construcrion thinking it would make the economy boom. After an initial boom in actual purchases of the shares people lost interest & invested in private enterprises or new cars or hoola hoops etc. The documents, affectionatly known now as Brick shares, sunk faster in value than real bricks in water. The shares were then put to good use as drawer liners & doggy toilets as they were cheeper now than newsprint. Ironicly today, if you can find some in good condition, collectors will pay more than their value ever rose too. Governments never learn to not assume the public will always oblige. As the famous philosopher “Benny Hill” used to say to assume makes an “Ass” of “U” & “Me”
Warning: Canadian Content http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixM8jkmQnRQ
My girlfriend and I were watching some scary videos today and she popped the question, “why are people who speak with ghosts called mediums?” I immediately thought of you and was hoping you could investigate.
Thanks!
Why is it that we abbreviate the word “number” as “No.”? I assume it is capitalized and with a full stop to distinguish it from the word “no”, but why “No.”? Why not “num” or “nr”? The letter “o” is not even in the original word!
Two quick points –
1. Another economic “mania” or “bubble” was the “SOUTH SEAS BUBBLE” ,see definition below:
The South Sea Company (1711 – c1850s) was an English company granted a monopoly to trade with South America under a treaty with Spain. Following the South Sea Company Act of 1720, it became better known for the “South Sea Bubble”, an economic bubble that occurred through overheated speculation in the company shares. The stock price collapsed after reaching a peak in September 1720
This mania costs many people, including Sir Issac Newton, enormous amounts of money and lead to legislation regarding public held company’s known as the “South Seas Act”.
2. Regarding the “Tulip Mania” Alexander Dumas wrote a novel based on it call “The Black Tulip’ about the competition for a then priceless black tulip.
Thank you
Homework: Bird feathers for hats: also wiped out a few bird speices, someone beat me to peppercorn, housing market, cabbage patch dolls, and peonies in China.
X’s & O’s
Another quinte-stellar performance, thanks again Marina. Your Bill O’Reilly appearance, although entertaining, was far too short, and like most TV hosts, he cut you off and started over every time you were about to get rolling. Typical for American TV. You should host Saturday Night Live sometime. Now that would be something to see!
My word request today is USUFRUCT.
Thanks again for being my favorite teacher. You won’t tell any of my professors, I hope.
-barefoot schoolboy
pennsyltucky9 needs a new pair of shoes!!!
Salutations Teacher….
The breadth of your show is wonderful. As a neophyte to your show, I love the format.
Question: I would like to know the origin of the word, “Epiphany”.
Thank you….
Homework:
Hey Marina, well during a war Iron value goes UP UP UP. And whenever the war is over, it goes back down.
Also a “painting” from a well know artist, it’s price can go up thousands, but if they find out it’s a fake(or not from the artist), then its worth nothing. Specially if the real artist is still alive.
Can you please tell me where the word “Lottery” came from.
Thank You Marina
u are so fineeeee!
my request is to find out the origin of the words- purse, handbag and wallet and why we use different words for the same item – like East coast calls a handbag a pocketbook
Also, I have a question; how do you choose which words you make into videos?
Homework: It hasn’t happened yet, but I’d say that eventually, it’s going to happen with diamonds. They’re not as valuable as you think, it’s all the mania of buying diamonds as a romantic gift. Hopefully people will clue in as to the actual value.
I would like to know the origin of “Antipathy”. I came across this word in a political story. I believe O’Reilly used it a few times. I wondered without looking it up if pathy comes from Latin use of pathetic or pathos
Dearest Marina,
Thank you for your excellent work. My friend and I are unclear about how a particular phrase came to be. The phrase is “Kitten-Kabootle” it means “all in one” or something that includes everything. But alas it’s origins are cloaked in mystery, Could it be that it similar to flock or gaggle except refering to kittens?
Thank You,
James.
No. It’s “Kit and Kaboodle.” Kit, as you are no doubt aware, has significance as a noun meaning an assembly of items intended for a specific purpose, like a mess kit or a first-aid kit. It has nothing to do with kittens.
Kaboodle, on the other hand, was probably structured to fit together poetically with ‘kit’ by sharing the initial letter, but has no real meaning except to extend the idea of a kit into something larger and with secondarily or tertiarily related attributes.
So if your first aid kit normally includes some aspirin and a bandage box, the ‘entire kit & kaboodle’ might also incorporate a scalpel, suture, splints, disinfectant, a gurney, an IV drip, an oxygen tank and a traction bed.
So it means “the entire kit as well as anything else one could possibly associate with it” or the extended tool kit including the proverbial ‘kitchen sink’ as it were.
Marina,
Please do something about the Podcasts!
What’s a nondualist?
I’m a new student, and I would like to know what the of origin of bistro is, is it a italian origin or russian. I lived in Italy and always wondered that, thanks
here in France, the popular origin is that one :
during 1870 war, when german/prussian troops invaded east of France way up to Paris, those troops included Russian regiments.
Being russian, those soldiers used to walk to french bars, order strong alcohol, and ask in russian to be served very fast (быстро ! быстро !)
fearing their officers could catch them drinking …
We french say we kept the phonetic быстро –> bistro,
familiar for bar, pub
privet priepodavatel’ , ya hachu znayet kak slova “harasho”.
sorry for my beginner russian : )
Hello pretty pretty teacher!
I would like for you to investigate the origin of the work “married” please. Many thanks.
Commonsense here.
Where does the word foreplay come from?
Although I still don’t know what happend to your presence in iTunes
, I got another word for you Marina:
Why and when did ’shrink’ became another word for a psychiatrist?
Grateful to you, teacher (or indeed to anybody with an answer/suggestion). X
Because they can shrink megalomania???
Hello my teacher!
I recently found you on YouTube by pure luck. I am in love your lessons. Thanks for posting them! I want to ask if you know anything about the expression “Chip on your Shoulder.” I know what it means, but it’s an awfully strange way to put it. Can you give us some back round information on it where it comes from? Thank you so much, and keep the videos coming! 
Homework – How about Silver. While it does have value, a few people cornered the market in Silver in the 1980s jacking the price to nearly $50 an once, and cashed out with hundreds of millions. Not long after that it crashed back to around $5 an once.
WORD REQUEST – With the political landscape of this year in America, I request a word relevant to everything on TV. “Scurrilous”. I know the general definition, but not the history of the word.
When he was running against Huckabee, John McCain would scamper about delivering speeches. But now that he’s the Republican pick, you notice that he tends to (ahem) scurry less.
Hey Marina!
I was wondering about the word “serenity” where does it come from? what does it mean?
You have a nice day!
thanks for answering!!!
Heyyy teacher
You mentioned tulip as for a turban
But speaking of flowers, I like flowers soo much…… Can you find out where the Rose gets its name of?
It’s such a wonderful flower!!
And by the way I got a poem for you!
Roses are red, Violets are blue, grapes are sweet and so are you
Phrase – Brevity is the soul of wit… and the related word – pleonastic.
I would like to know why no. is an abbreviation for the word number, thank you. I thought the origin and definition of antidisestablishmentarianism was very fascinating
We all want an explanation for this. So take a number and wait in line!
That deserved no response
Marina!
I want to be your favorite student but i dont know how! I mean i watch everyday and really try hard to learn new things. Plus you are my most favorite teacher ever! what should i do?? I guess i could give you something to figure out. Maybe that will help. Okay.. how bout knock knock jokes. Who the heck started that and how did they start it?? I think that is a good one. Maybe i can be your favorite! please
You want Marina to explain knockers?
Dear teacher,
I humbly ask your help to solve a mystery. My question is about linguistic, so I don’t know if you ll accept to answer (please do!). Two years ago, I had a talk with a friend who is a German and English teacher. She made me notice something: for the indo european langage, there is a couple of words that always look alike: night and eight, nahrt und ahrt (in german), nuit et huit (in french, and i like your french accent a lot!). Is there any reason? Is there a question of symbolism out there? In mathematics the infinity symbol is a lying eight, perhaps there is a link?
no symbolisms. no link.
Is it an eight or maybe a ribbon that crosses over and looks like an eight,the ribbon has no beginning or end and could symbolize time,or maybe infinite universes or multi-verses. Brian Lumley explains it way way better than I can in His Necroscope Series of vampire novels. The Hero,Harry Keogh,is quite the vampire fighter and the vampires have plenty of talent too,I recomment the 1st 6-7 books in the series.
Two of my fave words are imbroglio and brouhaha. I work them into a conversation whenever I can.
Natalie Imbroglio is a pretty good singer.
natalie imbruglia is a pretty singer.
Yes, aLx, I agree – I was playing on words.
I am in full agreement with you: http://www.facade.com/celebrity/photo/Natalie_Imbruglia.jpg
I stay with Tarja (Turunen), the finish soprano
http://therockblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/tarja-hair-low-res-blog.jpg
As for me, I would never tangle with a word like imbroglio.
Also can you discuss on our next class the word “Jabberwocky”
My homework is the story of the time when ciggarettes were expensive and when they figured out it caused deaths and so on . The prices went down and not much people were buying them anymore
Hello Marina,
Keep up the great work!
Could you tell us about the word: Nippy
Long time viewer, first time poster.
I’ve a word request: onomatopoeia
What is the origin of “Soda” or “Soda-Pop”? Thanks!
Soda water is (1) a weak solution of NaHCO3 (sodium bicarbonate) with some acid added to cause effervescence, or (2) a beverage consisting of water highly charged with carbon dioxide. Soda pop is a beverage consisting of soda water, flavoring, and a sweet syrup. The word “soda” comes (by way of Italian) from the Arabic word suwwād, any of several saltworts from the ashes of which sodium carbonate is obtained. Digging further, saltwort refers to any genus (Salsola) of plants (as the RUSSIAN thistle) of the goosefoot family of which some have been used in making soda ash. I think I’l stick to juice…
Actually, verbose would be a better word. Gregarious implies sociability attibutes, and I don’t know if he has any of those.
Great job on Bill O’Reilly, he can be a very gregarious and opinionated person, so I’m glad he was nice to you.
Hello Marina
Hysteria is an interesting word with a long history…how about it?
Great boobs…intelligent by design?
hi!
why on earth does “manhandle” mean to handle something roughly? -crazy!?
Thanks for the great site!
Santeri
Finland
Did someone manhandle your love handles?
I haven’t been to Finland, but I have a PowerPoint presentation full of photos from Finland. What a beautiful country!!
What about the origin of the word “flirt”?
Plenty of room for a sexy explanation there, isn’t it?
Hi Marina
I was wondering about the origin of the term ’splitting hairs’ and how this came about…any ideas?
Thanks, loving the shows
Haz
Hello there,
Im from from Sweden and I give you the word: tolchock.
In some forums I have been hated only couse I use that word as a name, dont really know what the word means.
So now, give me a sexy explanation!
Marina, I have a word for you: misandry.
Thanks,
Joe
Hi, Marina i am hoping you could do a easy word but a word used alot. The word i want to know more about is “never” becuase alot of people say there is no such this as never so hope u can help. Keep up the great show.
Marina…I just stumbled on your interview with Bill O’Rielly at the Foxnews website. You are amazing! So, I had to pay you a visit here. I could watch video after video after video.
I think you are a great teacher…your humor…insight…knowledge…and you know how to get the attention of the class!
Are you “Dr. Marina” yet? (Good luck to you!)
Anyway, I do have a word request. It comes from a friend who once described herself as “callipygian.”
I had to look it up. I’m a professional writer and an amateur philologist and etymologist and I never heard the term before.
Well, she was very accurate about the word to describe herself.
What can you tell me about it?
Thanks.
-Diego
Hey diego_in_disquise, BillyB_ casually_dressed. I like your style.
Just curious. What kind of Writer, Jounalist, Novelist…?
Not trying to be offensive, or too personal, just curious?
I looked the word up after I posted
Have a great day, I’m laughing now I have a new word to use. \o/
здравствулте!
Teacher Marina, can you please explain to my fanatical football audience the origins of friendly as used in football/soccer:?:
Many people think football or futbol or soccer (or by whatever name you acknowledge the greatest sporting event on earth) is not the most “friendly” game once you consider it can,
start wars
empty saloons
convert virgins
quelle uprisings
run governments
destroy bridges
and finally organize orgies
Oh might mistress of the Word (hmm that should be in the religious section), oh please Marina, explain the usage and origin of ‘friendly’ in football.
Ciao
Serie A Talk
Dear Marina,
I just finished reading ‘Frindle’ by Andrew Clements. It’s a children’s book, but a must-read for anyone who loves words. Let me know if you want a copy and I’ll send mine to you.
Part of the story includes a history of the word ‘quiz’. A news anchor in the story explains that ‘quiz’ is the only word in the English language “that was invented by one person for no particular reason”.
I did some brief research on the word, and it looks like the word’s back story isn’t true. Even so, it does bring up two questions:
1) How did ‘quiz’ acquire its current meaning if its original definition was ‘an odd person’?
2) Are there any words in the dictionary that *do* match the news anchor’s description? That is, a word that was created by someone solely for the purpose of making a word – and not a portmanteau word, for instance?
I look forward to hearing from you!…
Excellent request. I recently purchased “Frindle,” but haven’t read it yet. The book is used in some 5th Grade classes!
Hey I’m kinda curious to know how the term fired came into play when losing your job.
hey.. Im curious too!… why we say “fired”? …. fire …. fired… O_O
I can think of two items that commanded very hign prices that eventually crashed. One is the lowly pepper corn and the other would be salt.
In eastern Canada a number of Indian tribes traded off vast tracks of land along the St. Lawerence River to obtain three pepper corns per year for a very short period of time. Kind of a repeat of Europe many years earlier when pepper and salt arrived there out of Africa and the far east.
Of course there was the bead trade, fish oil, and shells…..but that is a bit of a stretch back and not worth diving into here.
In modern times….the eight track tape player, and recently HDDVD.
OK enough of that already.
Hello Marina.
I love your videos
ilearn alot!
Can you do the word bikini please!
Yes, “bikini” should be closely studied and scrutinized, from top to bottom. I second the motion!
By popular demand, I’m going to post this reply one more time…
Bikini was originally the name of an island atoll in the South Pacific.
It was a low-lying ring of coral islands that formed as coral grew from the remains of a volcanic seamount that rainfall and wave action had eroded away to the point where it no longer rose above the ocean surface. It was a perfect place for coral polyps to thrive, where the water was shallow enough to transmit plenty of sunlight and form what we call a reef. This went on for some thousands of years or so. The happy coral polyps multiplied and multiplied in this environment.
Finally, the reef grew large and enough sand washed up on it that some coconuts floated ashore and palm trees finally began to grow there. Although tiny, it looked like a tropical paradise.
Then came WWII. By the close of the war, many terms relating to armaments and munitions had made their way into the mainstream of American slang. One of these terms was “bombshell,” a word of highest praise usually reserved for only the most stunningly beautiful movie actresses, similar to a “knockout” or someone we might call “drop-dead gorgeous” today.
Then one day some US military personnel decided they needed a place to test out their new weapon, the hydrogen bomb. They had already gotten into trouble by testing them in the continental US. The nuclear explosions sent too much radioactive material floating high into the atmosphere, which would then slowly “fall out” over cities, forests, rivers, and farms to the east of the testing grounds, causing mutations and illness.
Being far from the mainland and too small to support a large human population, Bikini Atoll was (in their view) a perfect spot to try out their new toy. So they blew it up.
It made history. So much so, in fact, that the new bathing suit that French fashion designers were unleashing at the time was named after it. It was, after all, a fashion “bombshell.” Its impact can still be felt today… but now there’s no longer a coral reef we can point to as its origin. This gave rise to the expression, “Look! She’s wearing NO BIKINI ATOLL!”
Thanks , Again
I think that you’re the cat’s meow.
But what exactly does that mean?
It means, “the bee’s knees.”
Marina,
It’s nice that you are recognising a “Top Student” in your video, but do you think you could also give a brief reason as to what they did to deserve the accolade? That way the rest of us will have a better idea of how spicy we have to be to flavour your curry – er … I mean to curry your favour.
So now I have two word requests for your investigation:-
1. Curry – a word with many diverse meanings; it can mean a spicy Indian stew, to add spices to some food, to colour or dress leather after curing, to groom a horse, to give someone a hiding, to employ flattery and to deliver mail (? … not sure about that last one).
What’s going on here?
2. Accolade – how did this word come to mean an award and what does it have to do with necking?
Longing for an accolade from my delightful teacher,
Bob
If they are a member of my website and make comments! So that would mean that you will probably be one of those “Top Students” shortly Bob
Hi Marina
Hmm … I think ill just have to file a formal complaint with the school administrator.
You were great and sexy as always but i’m gonna change my name to Exit so you will always be thinking of me when u see my new name.
I,m disappointed. Here i went and researched this guess the word game answer, presented a valid reference source and even gave you a wacky and kooky complement and i didn’t even get graded on my comment. I guess with all the fans you have its impossible to acknowledge everyone.grrrr
Just kidding
Hopefully a friend
John
Oh while i’m here howabout Kooky and wacky as word requests.
Marina, My apologies, You did grade my response, I must have been so flustered by you beauty and melodious voice I didn’t listen carefully enough?
Marina will correct me if I’m wrong, but one theory is that “curry” is an eponym of Tim Curry, star of stage and screen, and best known for his role as Dr. Frankenfurter on The Rocky Horror picture show. Another theory is that it’s from the Old English “cur” meaning “smelly, mean dog” which lent itself to the strong smell of curry flavored foods.
The word accolade is of fairly late origin, and is from 1950’s United States. It arose out of the transition in American culture from lemonade stands to Koolade stands. Customers would phonetically order “a cool ade” which was later contracted to acoolade and by 1968 it became “accolade.” It’s present meaning is based on the fact that someone buying you a Koolade was a very nice and complimentary thing to do. Receiving accolades is now, of course, considered a very nice and complimentary thing to do, and very refreshing as well.
Define the word Beatlemania
There are a ton of words I hear that make me scrunch my eyebrows and say, “Huh?” They also tend to be my favorite words, too. But since you ask for one, I shall give you one, and it is one that always brings a smile to my face when I hear it. Where does the word “nincompoop” come from? Is it a compound word? Nincom + Poop? Is “poop” in there for a reason? I’ve always wanted to know. =P
Hello Marina, the same thing happened with Internet adresses – there was something called the dot-com-crash.
Anyway, I am in a quintessential quirky quagmire, Marina, a veritable quandary. I would like to know the origin of equivocation. It should also make for a great video ^_^
Hey Marina
I have a word request
Can You tell me something more obout Hardware and Software
I mean …why is it hard and soft …
Thanks
Hi Marina – Will you be able to post your Bill O’Reilly segment on your site? I missed it.
For my homework, I would say:
Beanie babies
After seeing your pretty outfit (I’m sorry, it’s hard -pun not intended- to stay focused on the lesson), I started to wonder where the expression ‘feeling blue’ or ‘I’m blue’ comes from.
I saw you on Bill O’Reilly! Awesome!! My request is for a word that an Air Force Colonel challenged me with. I thought I would never forget it but I did. It means: “The contemplation of ones navel”. If you could give me the word I would appreciate it! Thanks
It is easy to see how one may forget a word like Omphaloskepsis. I can’t even pronounce it.
What is the origin of the phrase ” Blood on the highway “
I already mentioned the Dot-com boom in my answer to GTW Game X.
The other one that springs to mind is the South Sea Bubble in the early 1700s when a market was created for shares in a trading company which had agreed to re-finance Britain’s national debt in exchange for exclusive trading rights.
Greedy people saw value which didn’t exist or, at least, was never taken advantage of, and a bidding frenzy for the shares ensued which eventually led to lost fortunes when the folly of the situation was realised.
Sadly, many people don’t learn from history and from the mistakes of others; there will always be greedy and naive people who will subscribe to such schemes and there will always be greedy and unscrupulous people ready to take the money and run away with it.