Answer of the Day
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

Doctor Who and TARDIS circa 1981

Today in History

• Battle of Chattanooga: huge battle at a railway junction began during the US Civil War, ending with a Union victory (1863)
• Life: US magazine known for its photography and photojournalism was first published (1936)
• Doctor Who: debut of the British sci-fi TV programme about a doctor who time-travels in a TARDIS; it is still running (1963)
• China: the People's Republic took over Taiwan's seat in the UN Security Council (1971)

Harpo Marx

Today's Birthdays

• John Wallis (1616-1703): mathematician
• Franklin Pierce (1804-1869): South-leaning Northern POTUS; other world leaders born on this date include Otto I (912-973), Hjalmar Branting (1860-1925) and José Napoleon Duarte (1925-1990)
• William H. Bonney (1859-1881): gunslinging outlaw Billie the Kid
• Harpo Marx (1888-1964): silent member of the Marx Brothers
• Jerry Bock (81): composer, Fiddler on the Roof; plus, composer Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
• Miley Cyrus (17): actor/singer superstar, Hannah Montana; also, actors Boris Karloff (1887-1969), Michael Gough (92), Franco Nero (68), Steve Landesberg (64), Bruce Vilanch (61), Salli Richardson-Whitfield (42), Oded Fehr (39), Page Kennedy (33), Kelly Brook (29) and Lucas Grabeel (25)

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)

Get Today's Highlights by email: