Ask Mr. Know It All
Q. In the beginning of the 2014 movie “Pompeii,” there is a statement by someone named Pliny who describes the horrific events of the eruption that wiped out the town of Pompeii. Did a Hollywood writer make up the words?
W.R.L., Martinsville, Illinois
A. A screenwriter did not make up the words; they are the chilling description of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius from a letter by Pliny the Younger to his friend, Cornelius Tacitus:
“You could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognize them by their voices. People bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed for death in their terror of dying. Many besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness for evermore.”
At the time, Pliny was 18 and living at his uncle’s villa in the town of Misenum, northwest of Vesuvius. The city of Pompeii was much closer and south of the volcano. Many of Pompeii’s neighboring communities, most famously Herculaneum, also suffered damage or destruction from the blast. The eruption occurred August 24, 79, just one day after Vulcanalia, the festival of the Roman god of fire. Pliny the Younger’s uncle, Pliny the Elder, died in the aftermath of the eruption.
DID YOU KNOW?
During Gregory Peck’s early days, he worked as a Radio City Music Hall usher and as a catalog model for Montgomery Ward.
Q. When I measure soil or water to determine how alkaline or acidic they are, I read the results as pH. What do the letters P and H mean? Why is the H capitalized?
K.L., Phoenix. Arizona
A. According to the Carlsberg Foundation, a Danish group that manages the Carlsberg beer laboratories where the concept of pH was first introduced, the letters stand for “power of hydrogen.” The H is capitalized because it is standard to capitalize elemental symbols.
Q. As I write this, I am looking at a VHS sleeve of the 1937 movie “Born to the West.” Alan Ladd is listed on the credits. I’ve watched this movie dozens of times looking for my favorite actor, but I don’t see him. In which scene or scenes is he?
B.K., San Angelo, Texas
A. None! There was a clerical error that incorrectly listed his name on the credits. To this day, there are many Alan Ladd filmography lists that include this movie.
Q. Not too long ago, I stayed at a hotel on a lake in Switzerland. The rooms were on stilts over the water. The hotel had an unusual name; I was told it meant “buildings on stilts.” Do you know the word?
Gatlinburg, Tennessee
A. According to the my Merriam-Webster dictionary, a “palafitte” is “an ancient dwelling built on piles over a lake; specifically: a Neolithic lake dwelling in Switzerland or northern Italy.”
I suspect you were staying at the Hotel Palafitte on Neuchatel Lake.
Palafitte, or stilt houses, are built over land or water. They are primarily for the protection against flooding and also keep unwanted critters out of your home.
Q. When we think of a harem, we think of one male and a group of females. What if it’s reversed and there is one female and a group of males?
M.W., Gonzalez, Lousiana
A. I could not find a definite word for the collection of males led by a woman. Some sources suggest “stable,” “reverse harem” or “male harem.” Take your pick or use your imagination and come with your own name.
The word “harem” comes from the Arabic “haram,” meaning “forbidden because sacred.”
Send your questions to Mr. Know-It-All at AskMrKIA@gmail.com or c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.
2014 Gary Clothier