1. If GOON can be read as continue (go on), can you continue to imagine what words on the left might own what quirky definitions on the right?Popeye the Sailor Man was first drawn by Elzie Crisler Segar in 1929. The spinach-muncher was part of the cartoon strip Thimble Theatre, a variety panel sketched by a stable of artists.
Word-wise, Thimble Theatre has major claims. The first relates to a magical creature from the fourth dimension, a cousin of the African Hooey Hound. With koala ears, leopard spots and a swollen snout, Eugene the JEEP accompanies Popeye from the late 1930s.
Did the creature inspire the army-style car? Debate remains, as the likelier source is GP (or General Purpose). Yet several sources salute the monster as an influence on US soldiers. Where Eugene could only say ‘Jeep, jeep’, the khaki car could only utter ‘Meep, meep’.
The second Thimble Theatre word came via British slang. Segar adapted gooney (a simpleton) to create a bald giantess named Alice the GOON, the Sea Hag’s slave. Soon goon came to mean any hired thug, a term particularly relished by an Irish lad growing up in Poona, India. Spike Milligan hand-picked goon for his zany radio comedy The Goon Show.
Meanwhile, Spike himself would ‘infect’ English with a flu-like malady called LURGY (or LURGI). A possible corruption of allergy, the bug arose in a 1954 script, where the blight was blasted by the gallant Neddie Seagoon.
1. If GOON can be read as continue (go on), can you continue to imagine what words on the left might own what quirky definitions on the right?
| brandish | border security |
| courtship | clean |
| despot | halo |
| headlight | hospitalised |
| hemlock | muesli |
| inward | pay phone |
| noticed | royal yacht |
| wagering | thawed |
2. If a sailor speaks bilge or bunk (two nautical terms), or a pastry chef succumbs to waffle, can you guess what gobbledygook these other culprits speak?
(a) confectioner (2 answers)
__________________ / ___________________
(b) violinist (2 answers)
__________________ / ___________________
(c) butcher (2 answers)
__________________ / ___________________
(d) balloonist __________________
(e) male streaker (2 answers) ___________________ /
___________________
(f) vaccinator __________________
(g) clean swineherd __________________
(h) cruel angler __________________