Words! Words! Words!

Let’s Chat Over a Soda

Posted by Phil Jamieson   Mar 12, 2021 7:30:00 AM

On March 12, 1933, eight days after his first inauguration, FDR delivered his first nationwide radio address – or fireside chat. He started out with “I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking.” Ninety percent of American homes had radios. FDR delivered thirty more fireside chats between March 1933 and June 1944.

On this day in 1969 the London drug squad appeared at the home of Beatle George Harrison with a warrant and drug-sniffing canines. Harrison came home to find his house ransacked, and told the officers, “You needn’t have turned the whole bloody place upside down. All you had to do was ask me and I would have shown you where I keep everything.” On this date in 1894, Coca-Cola came out in bottles for the first time. It had previously been available only as a fountain drink. Let's see how calm you can be as you raid your brain for answers that refresh.






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Topics: word test, vocabulary test, word quiz, vocabulary quiz

The Name Game

Posted by Phil Jamieson   Oct 9, 2020 8:47:38 AM

We recently proofed some documents for a Hollywood writer who was putting together a book about famous singers and actors. A teaser article mentioned a John Deutschendorf Jr. One of the first thoughts of the proofreader was how did someone with a moniker like that make it past the turnstile at the talent agency. She dug deeper into the text and it turns out it’s the given name of the very famous late singer, John Denver (RIP).

Lots of people seeking fame and fortune change their birth names. After all, would you go see a movie starring Issur Herschelevitch Danielovitch? Or Tom Mapother? Probably not. But you’ve likely seen more than one movie starring Kirk Douglas or Tom Cruise. Check out the list here as we take a turn from the usual vocabulary words. If you get them all, let us know your new stage name. (Note: the more you recognize, the older you are, no doubt.)

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Topics: word test, vocabulary test, word quiz, vocabulary quiz

Can You Weather These Words?

Posted by Phil Jamieson   Oct 2, 2020 9:20:09 AM

It was Mark Twain who is widely credited for writing “Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.” Some sources say, however, it was actually his writing partner Charles Dudley Warner, with whom Twain wrote the novel, The Gilded Age, who gave us that adage. Well, as much as we wish we could do something about the droughts that are occurring in the U.S. and Canada, we’re here only to talk about weather some more, in the form of today’s vocab words.

What’s your forecast of your score? See how you weathered this quiz by checking the table below.

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Topics: word test, vocabulary test, word quiz, vocabulary quiz

Still on the Road With ProofreadNOW.com

Posted by Phil Jamieson   Jun 25, 2020 9:41:34 AM

We’re still on the road across the rugged West and beautiful Midwest of the U.S.A. Some fields are corn, some are wheat, some are barley, some are hay, and some are something else. There are cows, horses, sheep, buffalo, and antelope roaming and grazing as far as the eye can see. Every field is an awesome sight. If you’re one who thinks corn, steaks, sausage, and flour magically originate at the grocery store, you’ll be at a disadvantage in this week’s quiz. Try hard anyway, and be sure to look for a local farm stand next time you need some eggs or milk.

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Topics: vocabulary test, vocabulary, word quiz, vocabulary quiz

On the Road With ProofreadNOW.com

Posted by Phil Jamieson   Jun 19, 2020 9:26:52 AM

St. Louis, Missouri ArchWe’re literally on the road this week, traveling across this great country called America. As we travel the highways and byways, we are often curious about how geographical names came about. Ever wonder, for example, where the word ‘Appalachia’ came from? We find this on Wikipedia: “While exploring inland along the northern coast of Florida in 1528, the members of the Narváez expedition, including Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, found a Native American village near present-day Tallahassee, Florida, whose name they transcribed as Apalchen or Apalachen. The name was soon altered by the Spanish to Apalachee and used as a name for the tribe and region spreading well inland to the north." And you thought it was French for ‘toothless banjo player.’ Well, try your hand at our non-extensive list of some well-known places, and see where you end up. (Definitions according to Wikipedia.)

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Topics: vocabulary, word quiz, vocabulary quiz

TOTE (Take Our Test - Encore)

Posted by Phil Jamieson   Jun 12, 2020 11:01:48 AM

We got great emails about last week’s post, all about acronyms and initialisms. Well, we’re going to do it again this week. List some more. Get you guessing. Answering your lifelong wonderments. LTIP (Last time, I promise).

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Topics: vocabulary test, vocabulary, word quiz, vocabulary quiz

Because It's There

Posted by Phil Jamieson   May 29, 2020 7:30:00 AM

On this day in 1953, Mt. Everest, the highest point on the surface of the earth, was conquered by Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal. They were the first people to reach the top of the mountain. On this day in 1848, Wisconsin became the 30th state in the United States. On this day in 1917, future U.S. President John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. And in 2005, Danica Patrick became the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500. She did not win, but finished in fourth place. Let’s see what wordy heights you can climb today and at what speed, asking not what you can do for your vocabulary but what your vocabulary can do for you. (We hope that wasn’t too cheesy.)

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Topics: vocabulary test, word quiz, vocabulary quiz

Paint Your Wagon, Rose

Posted by Phil Jamieson   May 22, 2020 9:47:10 AM

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/symvol-129976/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=244261">Александр Летягин</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=244261">Pixabay</a>On May 22, 1843, the first major wagon train to the Northwest US departed from Elm Grove, Missouri, on the Oregon Trail. In England, the Manchester Arena was bombed during an Ariana Grande concert. In 1455, in the opening battle of England’s War of the Roses, the Yorkists defeated King Henry VI’s Lancastrian forces at St. Albans, 20 miles northwest of London. On this day in 1859, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the fictional Sherlock Holmes, was born in Scotland.

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Topics: word quiz, vocabulary quiz

Let's Play

Posted by Phil Jamieson   May 15, 2020 11:28:12 AM

On May 15, 1982, “Ebony and Ivory,” sung by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, began its seven-week run at #1 on the pop charts. Without the black keys, the white keys on a piano would pretty much be stuck playing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and “Do Re Mi.” Thank goodness for the ebony keys. On this day in 1942, gasoline rationing began in 17 Eastern states as an attempt to help the American war effort. Rationing eventually spread throughout the country. In 1941, the Allies successfully tested the jet-propelled Gloster-Whittle E 28/39 aircraft. It was the first Allied aircraft using jet propulsion.  In 1756, the Seven Years War, a global conflict known in America as the French and Indian War, began when England declared war on France.

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Topics: word quiz, vocabulary quiz

“Murder, She Did”

Posted by Phil Jamieson   May 8, 2020 7:00:00 AM

On May 8, 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrated Victory in Europe Day. In 1884, Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri. Sometime after becoming a haberdasher, he became president of the United States. In 1963, with the release of Dr. No, moviegoers got their first look at the super-spy James Bond, played by Sean Connery. (All other actors fall short of the role. Everyone knows that.) And in 1988, in Seattle, Washington, Stella Nickell was convicted on two counts of murder after she put cyanide in Excedrin capsules in an effort to kill her husband. She killed him and a complete stranger. (This was roughly 12 years after the first “Tylenol murders” in Chicago.) Let’s see if you can spy a victory today in our quiz and thereby rise to heights unheard of. We’ll leave it at that.

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Topics: word quiz, vocabulary quiz

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