Good afternoon! It’s a cloudy one here in Mt. Vernon today, but we had some great music today, as well as the mystery box! Check out what happened on the show today below!
Through the shake test, we learned that part of this object is plastic, and that the plastic is not a container. From the smell test, we learned that it’s not an item you’d find in your kitchen, but it’s an item that you’d find in your office.
The touch test absolutely gave it away, and Joe realized that it was a stapler.
The funny thing was, Joe was looking for the stapler earlier, and couldn’t find it, and I had to keep a straight face because I knew it was in the box.
Congrats to Missy from Mount Vernon who called and correctly guessed!
Our word of the day was: ultracrepidarian.
This is an adjective that means noting or pertaining to a person who criticizes,judges, or gives advice outside the area of his or her expertise.
Check out the history of this word, because it’s really neat!
Ultracrepidarian is nonexistent in Latin and very rare in English. The word was coined by the English essayist William Hazlitt (1778-1830) from the Latin phrase ultra crepidam “beyond the sandal” (there are several Latin versions) taken from the Natural History(book 35) of the Roman polymath Pliny the Elder(a.d. 23-79). Pliny was retelling a retort that Apelles(4th century b.c.), a famous ancient Greek painter,made to a cobbler. The cobbler the day before had criticized Apelles for inaccurately painting a sandal,and Apelles corrected his error. The next day thecobbler tried to criticize Apelles’ painting of the leg the sandal was on, at which the exasperated Apelles remarked that “a shoemaker should not judge above his sandal.” Ultracrepidarian entered English in the 19th century.
Thanks for listening!
-Lilly
Driving Notes 