Answers to pop quiz in preceding post

In the preceding post ("They say good things come in threes"), I included a pop quiz at the end. So far, in my vast reading audience of maybe a dozen folks tops, two comments have been left on that post. One was from a woman in England and the other was from a woman in Australia *waves to Janice and kylie*. I'm hoping to hear from Emma, another regular leaver of comments who lives in Iowa, but so far she hasn't shown up.

I listed 16, count 'em, 16 things that occur in groups of three. Below are items 12 and 13 from the list:

12. first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen
13. of the people, by the people, and for the people

You can look up the entire list later if you like. I thought it was a very interesting, if somewhat eclectic, list.

At the end of the blogpost, after we had discussed at length the three stars in Orion's belt, I included a pop quiz. Here it is:

Pop Quiz Time:
1. To whom does item 12 refer?
2. In what document is item 13 found?
3. Who starred in Beetlejuice?

Janice didn't answer any of the questions. kylie guessed Jack Nicholson but didn't say which question she was answering. Jack Nicholson is not the correct answer to any of the questions.

I am somewhat disappointed in the lack of participants, but I'll get over it. I suppose my list skewed heavily American, and I apologize (British, apologise) for that. English and Australian folks would not necessarily be familiar with things like Kukla, Fran, and Ollie (a puppet act on television in the 1950s) or Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (a railway company), I suppose, but I thought everyone would know items 12 and 13.

The answer to pop quiz question 1 about list item 12 is George Washington, the first president of the United States. It was spoken in a eulogy at his funeral in 1799.

The answer to pop quiz question 2 about list item 13 is Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Gettysburg Address.

And the answer to pop quiz question 3, which I threw in because Betelgeuse is one of the stars in the constellaion of Orion (not in his belt), is Michael Keaton, and you would have received extra credit if you had included Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis.

I just hate it when I have to explain everything.

Maybe Emma will still show up. I'm counting on you, Emma.

Deconstructing George

The following facts about our first president were published today by The Writer’s Almanac:

1. His favorite foods were mashed sweet potatoes with coconut, string beans with mushrooms, cream of peanut soup, salt cod, and pineapples.

2. He lost all of his teeth except for one by cracking Brazilian nuts between his jaws.

3. He got dentures made out of a hippopotamus tusk, designed especially to fit over his one remaining real tooth. But the hippo dentures were constantly rubbing against that real tooth so that he was constantly in pain.

4. He used opium to alleviate the pain.

5. He snored very loudly.

6. He put powder on his own hair, which was naturally a reddish brown, instead of wearing a powdered wig like other fashionable people.

7. He was not good at spelling and he had a speech impediment.

8. His inaugural address was the shortest inaugural address in U.S. history: It was only 133 words long and took him just 90 seconds to deliver.

I have several reactions:

Shame on them.
If you can’t say something good about somebody, don't say anything at all.
I always thought his false teeth were made of wood.
Mitt Romney he wasn’t.

Do you have a reaction that you would care to share?

Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye...

Back on November 5, 2009, we played a little game I invented -- if someone else invented it, I don’t want to know -- and since this seems to be a slow week (one tires of watching the Winter Olympics), I thought we might play it again.

Here’s how it works: I write down the first letters of the words of a well-known song, and you guess the song. By “well-known” I mean songs written before 1950. They might be nursery rhymes or folk ditties or hymns or Christmas carols or patriotic songs. But no pop music. I don’t think any of the following songs ever made it to Your Hit Parade. Oops, one did.

1. MBLOTO, MBLOTS, MBLOTO, OBBMBTM
2. OGMAHWTBR, WTDATAP, WSIHADWATSANCAD (H, HOTR...)
3. MCTOT, SLOL, OTIS, LWMFD, LOTPP, FEMS, LFR (Brits get a pass)
4. MEHSTGOTCOTL, HITOTVWTGOWAS, HHLTFLOHTSS, HTIMO (GGH, GGH, GGH, HTIMO)
5. SN, HN, AIC, AIB, RYVMAC, HISTAM, SIHP, SIHP
6. IDOAWC, JLTOIUTK, WTTGACLTHSBITS (think “Bing Crosby”)
7. RRRYB, GDTS, MMMM, LIBAD (you’ve been singing it your whole life)
8. DTHWBOH, FLLLL, LLLL, TTSTBJ, FLLLL, LLLL (and this one)
9. HBTY, HBTY, HBD_, HBTY (and this one, too)
10. OCS, MATW, WTCOJGOB, CTRMLATF, FIBSHBG
11. SLSC, CFTCMH, SLSC, CFTCMH
12. TACITVBTW, NLSITD, NPISDTMC, ATLBCITV (for Jeannelle)
13. A, GA, A, JTP (this one’s in French)
14. AF, LT, V, VIB (this one’s in Latin)
15. OBFSS, FAWOG, FPMMATFP, A, A, GSHGOT, ACTGWBFSTSS
17. OMR, DOMR, HMKSBDSN, HJKR, HKORA
18. MHALL, LL, LL, MHALL, IFWWAS
19. DDMOH, IHTBAR, DDVTS, IRWAS, G, HIE, G, HIE (especially for Brits)
20. IDOJWTLBH, BLAVOTSA (helpful hint: think “Stephen Foster”)

OK, I mean okay! I think that’s enough to keep you occupied for a while. I’ll provide the answers later.

By the way, today is this fellow’s birthday:


Somebody really ought to finish that portrait.

Me crossing the Wabash at Vincennes, Indiana

I’m just kidding.

According to Wikipedia, this painting depicts Washington cruzando el rio Delaware. No, really, this time I'm not kidding. Wikipedia actually says it in several languages:

English: Washington Crossing the Delaware
Български: Джордж Вашингтон прекосява р. Делауеър.
Español: Washington cruzando el rio Delaware.
Deutsch: 1776: Washington überquert mit seinen Truppen den Delaware River
Slovenščina: Washington prečka Delaware

The German title includes the date, not of the painting, but of the crossing, and also the fact that Washington was not just Truppen den Delaware River but that he was überquert mit seinen Truppen it. The phrase “the devil is in the details” suddenly and inexplicably comes to mind.

I don’t know why the German title includes the date, but another interesting date is 1851. That’s the year Emanuel Leutze (1816-1868) created this famous work of art. The original hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

I wonder whether Джордж Вашингтон became the father of his country before or after прекосява р. Делауеър.

The way I see it, an international perspective is good and a little culture never hurt anybody.

[Editor’s note: On June 4, Anonymous left the following comment:

As an expat in Germany for the last three years, I can help a bit on the German. ‘Truppen’ is not crossing, but troops. ‘überqueren’ is crossing. Therefore, the German literally reads:

“Washington is crossing with his troops the Delaware River”

Maybe that helps a bit. The German is not saying something else about his crossing, rather that those in the boat are his troops.

Thanks for the correction. Point taken. So much for my feeble attempt to be humorous. I should have said, “...the fact that Washington did not just überquert den Delaware River, but that he überquert mit seinen Truppen it.” Much funnier.

I would just add that “Washington is crossing with his troops the Delaware River” sounds a lot like “Throw Mama from the train a kiss” to me. Doesn’t roll trippingly off the tongue. Placement of those darned prepositional phrases will get you every time. --RWP]