Short answers to big questions. What is a maven? A meme? A curveball? Where does the word shampoo come from? Who manages the English language? Most common spelling errors? Why Dutch courage? What do we mean by ...?
Popular Posts
-
Surely it's the 'longest word you ever heard' - all together now: The word was invented by the Sherman brothers for the m...
-
Here are the ten most heavily used verbs in the English language: be, have, do, say, make, go, take, come, see, get. Do you notice w...
-
mes·mer·ize (m z m -r z , m s -) tr.v. mes·mer·ized , mes·mer·iz·ing , mes·mer·iz·es 1. To spellbind; enthrall: "He could...
-
Global English ('Globish') is the term used to describe when English is used as a lingua franca or common language between non-n...
-
Below are the top (or bottom!) most frequently misspelled words. Suggestions as to why they cause problems Separate - the ‘a’ beco...
Friday, 22 February 2013
Where does the word Oscar come from?
Winners of Hollywood's Academy Awards receive a gold-plated statuette on a black metal base. It is 13.5 in (34 cm) tall, weighs 8.5 lb (3.85 kg) and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. The five spokes each represent the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians.
The popular name for an Academy Award is an Oscar. But there is no definitive explanation as to why.
The name was first publicly used was in an article by Hollywood columnist about Katharine Hepburn's first Best Actress victory at the fifth annual ceremony in 1934. By 1939 the word was universally known - but there remains confusion regarding its origin.
One theory is that the name came from an early Academy director, Margaret Herrick, in 1931. According to this legend, Herrick thought that the statue looked like her Uncle Oscar. Another is that Bette Davies named it after her husband - but that was in 1936.
A good example of how a nickname can survive long after its source is forgotten.
Labels:
academy awards,
advanced vocabulary,
hollywood,
oscars
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)

transcription services Thank you for taking the time and sharing this information with us. It was indeed very helpful and insightful while being straight forward and to the point
ReplyDelete