From a Speaker's Tongue
The language of the Romans, it is the progenitor of French, Italian, Spanish, and Romanian. "Veni, vidi, vici!"
Phew! Princeton dodged a bullet by not inviting this problematic rapper — who could be misconstrued as the namesake of our two colleges south of Poe Field — to perform at Lawnparties.
Who is Kanye West?
San Franciscans and Philadelphians alike might've been frustrated at this "All Too Well" singer's repeated cameos at the two most recent Super Bowls.
Who is Taylor Swift?
Name the Relation: She was an engineering student, a car and insurance salesperson, and is currently a paraeducator at Franklin Elementary School. Oh, and don't forget: she cooks the best Brussels sprouts and fettuccine alfredo!
Who is my mom (Melissa Basas)?
Riddle Me This: He's a salad, cipher, month (well, his abbreviated first name), section (well, in his adjectival form), and pizza (if he was small and plural)!
Who is Julius Caesar?
The official language of Nigeria, and not the United States. "Oops, I forgot to put a quote!"
What is English?
He was the husband of Laura Spelman - yes, the Spelman of Spelman Hall. His corporation, once the largest in the United States, was split into 34 different entities - successors include ExxonMobil and Chevron.
Who is John D. Rockefeller?
Not to be confused with its Maclaurin equivalent (a special case of this concept), this approximation of a function with a polynomial sometimes stumps MAT104 students.
What is a Taylor Series?
Name the Relation: In 1989, he guarded the Berlin Wall at Checkpoint Charlie. He's the former janitor at the UC Davis Medical Center, and campus supervisor of Toby Johnson Middle School.
Who is my father (Raul Basas)?
Riddle Me This: In a game of Catan, Sophia rolls two six-sided dice, and finds the sum of the two dice rolls. What are the INDIVIDUAL probabilities of her rolling a 7, a 12, and a 1 respectively?
What are 1/6 (or 6/36), 1/36, and 0/36?
Oink! This is not the language of Orwell's Cicero or Caesar - though speaking of Caesar, this is a childhood cipher. "Igspay oday otnay eakspay atinlay."
What is Pig Latin?
Gale Boetticher's favorite W.W. - and no, not Walter White - who wrote Leaves of Grass (1855). When he heard the "learned astronomer," he "look'd up in perfect silence at the stars."
Who is Walt Whitman?
This "California Love" rapper's feud with the Notorious B.I.G.'s in the 1990s escalated further and further, leading to the deaths of both artists.
Who is Tupac Shakur?
Filipino Facts: A long time ago, in November of this specific year, the category 5 Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines.
What is 2013?
From Taxonomic to Colloquial: The apis mellifera is the most common species of this insect, which should not be able to fly according to all known laws of aviation, and Jerry Seinfeld starred as one in 2007.
What is a honeybee?
This language, whose name originates from the Arabic word for "coast," is the lingua franca on parts of the East African coast. "Fuata nyuki ule asali."
What is Swahili?
What's that buzz? It'd bee awful if you didn't know this feminist academic, known for their notoriously dense writing style, who argued that gender is performative in Gender Trouble (1990).
Who is Judith Butler?
A leader of the Radical Republicans, this Congressman's plans during Reconstruction often distressed moderates and Democrats alike - though he is often lauded as a hero today.
Who is Thaddeus Stevens?
It's Not Rizz, It's a Book Quote: It was my favorite book from AP Lit. Published in 1987, it contains the quote "You your best thing, Sethe. You are."
What is Beloved?
70s Music: This palindromic band, named after Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid, inspired the 2008 film Mamma Mia!
Europe basks in a vast basket of Indo-European languages - except for this language isolate, spoken in an area straddling France and Spain! "Martinek egunkariak erosten dizkit."
What is Basque?
Middle Name Required: This Massachusetts JFK served in the Vietnam War, lost the 2004 election against George W. Bush, and was President Obama's 2nd Secretary of State - oh, and don't forget, he won three Purple Hearts!
Who is John Forbes Kerry?
For years, scientists struggled to synthesize this element with an atomic number of 117 - it was a Vanderbilt professor who discovered it, and named it after a state.
What is Tennessine?
It's Not Rizz, It's a Book Quote: I'm currently reading this 1847 book, which contains the quote "He is more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."
What is Wuthering Heights?
Difficult Descriptions of Obvious Things: Harriet Beecher Stowe is (mythologically) credited with starting this domestic conflict - a war which spawned the songs "Marching through Georgia," "John Brown's Body," and "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
What is the Civil War?