Ask Mr. Know It All

By Gary Clothier

Q. Target has a wonderful TV commercial in which people jump out of a hot-air balloon and spread color around the landscape to the French song “Alouette.” What is the English translation of the tune?

M.U.

A. “Alouette” means “lark” in English. Here is the English translation of the first stanza — it’s not quite as pretty as in French:

Lark, nice lark (or Lark, lovely lark)

Lark, I shall pluck you

I shall pluck your head

(I shall pluck your head)

And the head

(And the head)

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Although the words sound terrible, they really aren’t. In many parts of the world, a lark is a small game bird used for food.

Q. I have heard that siblings Julia Roberts and Eric Roberts had a falling-out years ago and do not talk to each other. What caused the feud? How long has it been going on?

J.B.

A. According to Eric Roberts, 56, there was never a feud, only a disagreement between two strongly opinionated people. However, celebrity gossip sources say the “feud” began in 1993 when Julia sided with Eric’s ex-girlfriend in a bitter custody battle over their daughter, actress Emma Roberts.

In 2004, Eric visited Julia in the hospital after she gave birth to her twins, Phinnaeus and Hazel. Eric told People magazine, “We all dropped a couple of tears.”

Q. Where did the term “86’d” originate?

F.L.

A. There are various ways to write the slang term: “86,” “86’d,” “86ed” or “eighty-sixed.” The term is used when refusing service (as in the food service) or getting rid of something.

No one is certain what propelled 86 into American culture, but it could have been Gore Vidal’s play “Visit to a Small Planet,” in which a main character uses the command number 86 several times to destroy things. The play was performed on the Goodyear Television Playhouse in 1955. In February 1957, it was released on Broadway and was a popular, Tony Award-winning play, which ran for 388 performances. The play was later made into a movie starring Jerry Lewis; the movie was released in late 1960, and re-released in 1966.

Q. Please tell me who is the baby on the Capital One television commercial with Jimmy Fallon? Are they related?

D.P., Stevensville, Md.

A. The baby in the Capital One commercial is named Kylie. According to her Facebook page, she auditioned for the commercial when she was 14 months old. Even then, she was a veteran in front of the camera. Her career began at 4 months old with an advertisement for Babies “R” Us. She did more ads for Babies “R” Us and Fisher-Price. She is not related to Jimmy Fallon.

Q. Why do U.S. radio and TV stations west of the Mississippi have call letters that start with “K,” while those east of the river start with “W”?

L.E.R., Waterloo, Iowa

A. In the beginning, radio stations picked any call letters they wanted — they could also broadcast on any frequency and at any power they wanted. By 1912, the need to identify stations quickly led to an agreement that provided countries with radio station call letters.

In the United States, the letters “W” and “K” were assigned. There was still no order to the usage. Then, in 1923, the Federal Communications Commission set some guidelines: Stations east of the Mississippi River would use “W” as the first letter, and stations west of the Mississippi would use “K.” Some stations, however, were grandfathered in and were allowed to keep their former call letters. Pittsburgh, for example, has KDKA as a station.

Canadian stations begin with “C,” and Mexican stations begin with “X.”

Q. I’m curious: When was the first fatal aviation accident? Who was involved?

L.L.A., Woburn, Mass.

A. The first fatal aviation accident occurred in a Wright Model A aircraft at Fort Myer, Va., on Sept. 17, 1908 — just five years after the first flight. The crash injured the pilot, aviation pioneer Orville Wright, and killed the passenger, Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge. Selfridge was 26.

Send your questions to Mr. Know-It-All at AskMrKIA@gmail.com or c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

2012 Gary Clothier