美国国家公共电台 NPR Stump Jonathan Coulton

 

JONATHAN COULTON: From NPR and WNYC, coming to you from a studio in a skyscraper¹ in midtown Manhattan, it's NPR's hour of puzzles, word games and trivia, ASK ME ANOTHER. I'm Jonathan Coulton. Now, here's your host, Ophira Eisenberg.

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST: 

Thank you, Jonathan. Today, we're taking a break from our usual home at The Bell House, and we are broadcasting out of NPR's beautiful studios in New York City. Why? Well, because we have listeners all over the country who want to play our games but they can't or won't travel to New York. Today, we're opening up our phone lines to them across the United States.

COULTON: And even though we are not taping in a bar this week, I have graciously volunteered to be our house mixologist.

EISENBERG: Excellent.

COULTON: So I have some - puzzle guru Art Chung, if you want me to make you a drink, I'm happy to make you something. What would you like?

ART CHUNG: I'll have a vodka martini with a little lemon twist.

COULTON: OK. I can do that. Ophira, is there something you would like?

EISENBERG: Yeah, I'll have a bourbon, bitters and a shot of Robitussin.

COULTON: Oh, yeah, the Ophira special?

EISENBERG: Yeah, lucky cocktail².

COULTON: Sure. Here's the thing - this is just a fake, prop³ cocktail shaker, so I don't actually have any ingredients to make.

EISENBERG: Don't worry about it. I have my own shaker. By the way, later in the show, we'll be joined by our special guest, Pablo Hidalgo. Pablo is a creative executive at Lucasfilm where he keeps track of all things "Star Wars." But first, it's time for a game we call Stump⁴ Jonathan Coulton. This is where we ask our in-house mixologist and all-around smarty pants Jonathan Coulton about a piece of trivia we found on the internet. Here is your question, Jonathan.

COULTON: OK.

EISENBERG: It was the year 1004.

COULTON: OK.

EISENBERG: What relatively⁵ new handheld object was derided⁶ by clergy⁷ as being sinfully decadent⁸?

COULTON: (Laughter).

EISENBERG: It now sounds like it's a commercial for whatever I'm talking about...

COULTON: I know.

EISENBERG: ...But back then it was bad, denounced.

COULTON: Was it a brownie?

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: It sounds like you're describing a dessert.

EISENBERG: Right, exactly.

COULTON: A handheld object.

EISENBERG: Handheld object.

COULTON: This is in 1004.

EISENBERG: 1004.

COULTON: It probably wasn't any sort of tool that had an important purpose because that's - there's nothing decadent about holding something you actually need. So it wasn't, say, a hammer.

EISENBERG: Right, exactly. You decadent hammer.

COULTON: So perhaps some sort of a leisure time device?

CHUNG: Part of the clue is that it was relatively new in 1004, so people were doing fine without it.

EISENBERG: Yeah, you could deal without it.

CHUNG: But would you want to?

EISENBERG: Well, depending on the culture.

COULTON: A spatula⁹ - no.

EISENBERG: Well, you know what (unintelligible).

COULTON: Does a kitchen - a kitchen implement¹⁰ of some kind?

EISENBERG: Sure.

COULTON: Something for food preparation?

EISENBERG: Close.

COULTON: Is it - Ophira, is it a fork?

EISENBERG: Yes. So the niece of the Byzantine emperor used a golden fork - of course it was golden, right...

COULTON: Sure, well.

EISENBERG: ...At her wedding feast in Venice. Said one clergy member, God in His wisdom has provided man with natural forks - his fingers.

COULTON: Gross.

EISENBERG: Disgusting. So back then, it was common to eat with one's hands and using a knife only if you needed to cut something. The idea of using a fork was an affront¹¹ to the Almighty¹². But get this - that bride died of the plague a few years later.

COULTON: Sure.

EISENBERG: So they were like, ha ha, you know why that happened? Because you used a fork.

COULTON: Jokes on her.

EISENBERG: Yeah, that's right. And I'm sure it was all about that fork.

COULTON: Yeah, probably.

EISENBERG: So if you heard a piece of trivia that you think will stump Jonathan Coulton, share it with us on Facebook or Twitter.

1 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。

2 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

3 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

4 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 derided   

v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His views were derided as old-fashioned. 他的观点被当作旧思想受到嘲弄。
• Gazing up to the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity. 我抬头疑视着黑暗，感到自己是一个被虚荣心驱使和拨弄的可怜虫。 来自辞典例句

7 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

8 decadent   

adj.颓废的，衰落的，堕落的

参考例句：

• Don't let decadent ideas eat into yourselves.别让颓废的思想侵蚀你们。
• This song was once banned, because it was regarded as decadent.这首歌曾经被认定为是靡靡之音而被禁止播放。

9 spatula   

n.抹刀

参考例句：

• He scraped the mixture out of the bowl with a plastic spatula.他用塑料铲把盆里的混合料刮了出来。
• She levelled the surface of the cake mixtured with a metal spatula.她用金属铲抹平了蛋糕配料。

10 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

11 affront   

n./v.侮辱，触怒

参考例句：

• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
• This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。

12 almighty   

adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的

参考例句：

• Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
• It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。