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The Conundrum Known as Mr. Mystery

Growing up I was addicted to the Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys mystery series. I loved all of the clues and trying to figure out the who done it,...

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email RSS syndication

Why is it called a jukebox? Although no one is really sure, the popular theory is that "jukebox" comes from the word "jook," an African word meaning "mischievous" or "wicked." In the American South, descendents of African slaves used the term "jook house" for a shack that was used for dancing, celebrating and carousing. On this date in 1889, Louis Glass and William S. Arnold placed a coin-operated Edison cylinder phonograph in the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. The cabinet had been refitted with a coin mechanism: the customer would drop in a nickel and hear a tune. It was called a Nickel-in-the-Slot, later shortened to "nickelodeon." There were no speakers; patrons listened to the music through one of four listening tubes, which looked like stethoscopes. Manufacturers of the item called them "automatic phonographs" or "coin-operated phonographs." Use of the word jukebox only dates back to sometime around the 1930s.

Quote: "Ninety-nine percent of the world's lovers are not with their first choice. That's what makes the jukebox play." Willie Nelson
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Doctor Who and TARDIS circa 1981
Doctor Who and TARDIS
circa 1981

Today in History:

Harpo Marx
Harpo Marx

Today's Birthdays:

Word of the Day:

bedizen
(bi-DY-zuhn)

verb tr.
To dress or decorate in a showy or gaudy manner.

Etymology
From be- + dizen, from [possibly Low German] disen (to put flax on a distaff for spinning), from dis- (bunch of flax)

Today's word and the word distaff share the same origin, dis- (a bunch of flax). A distaff is a staff with a cleft for holding wool, flax, etc. from which thread is drawn while being spun by hand. In olden times, spinning was considered a woman's work, so distaff figuratively referred to women. Distaff side (also spindle side) refers to the female side of a family. The corresponding male equivalent of the term is spear side (also sword side). Distaffs and spears are long gone -- what would be the modern stereotypical replacements of these terms?

Usage
"When Daisy wants to bedizen herself to impress tout San Francisco, she has her servants add the crowning touch by dusting her with gold." — Dennis Drabelle; Frisco Business; The Washington Post; Jan 24, 1992.

"It was still basically 'Krausmeyer's Alley,' but it was a 'Krausmeyer's Alley' adorned and bedizened with reminiscences of every other burlesque-show curtain raiser and afterpiece in the repertory." — H.L. Mencken; Stare Decisis (later renamed A Bum's Christmas); New Yorker; Dec 30, 1944.
Wordsmith.org)
Miscellaneous words

The Conundrum Known as Mr. Mystery

Growing up I was addicted to the Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys mystery series. I loved all of the clues and trying to figure out the who done it, with what and where before it was spelled out for you ? literally. But regardless of whether or not you were a cunning sleuth or a failed miserably detective, in the end you?d always know exactly what was behind the ambiguous plots. Nancy, Frank and Joe would cleverly solve the mysteries at hand. If you didn?t see the twists and turns coming, you?d feel better knowing. You wouldn?t obsess over the unknown and you could sleep better at night. I wish I could say the same about the baffling nature of this week?s Featured Contributor. Introducing Mr. Mystery. Who is this masked wiki-er, you ask? I wish I could tell you. I have tried ? to no avail ? to solve this…(ahem)…mystery. But he?s just not budging. He remains an enigma, a riddle, a puzzle in awesome contributor form. So I?ll continue to ask?to search for clues?to pester to no end?and just maybe..on a bright and sunny day…the conundrum known as Mr. Mystery will be solved.

I wasn’t able to pick up on any, but see if you can discover any clues below!.. Click here to read more



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What’s hot in the world of answers.

November 23rd, 2009 by Liz

Hot Topic: Not just a store I used to shop at 10 years ago.

Hot topics are the Q&A categories everyone’s dying to get involved in… So where are you?

I’m sharing a sampling below - but make sure to check out the rest at http://wiki.answers.com... Click here to read more

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