Uncle John’s Presents Mom’s Bathtub Reader (9 page)

Can you match the language to the mom?

H
ow do you say mother around the world? Surprisingly, most countries have remarkably similar words for “mother,” which is defined as “a woman who conceives, gives birth to, or raises and nurtures a child.” Some linguists theorize that the sound comes from the baby-talk sound “ma.” Whatever the reason, a mother can be called “mama” in countries that are as far flung as Lithuania, Hungary, Indonesia, and Turkey. Despite these similarities, cultures have still come up with distinctive ways to cry for mommy.

Match these words for “mother” to the proper language or country of origin. For you experts, we’ve thrown in a couple nontraditional examples. See if you can root them all out!

A.
Cherokee

B.
Chinese (phonetic)

C.
Polish

D.
Dutch

E.
Esperanto

F.
French

G.
German

H.
Greek

I.
Hawaiian

J.
Jamaican patois

K.
Japanese (Romaji)

L.
Kamilaroi (Aboriginal Australian)

M.
Klingon (yes, as in
Star Trek
)

N.
Potawatomi

O.
Russian

P.
Sanskrit

Q.
Spanish

R.
Swahili

S.
Swedish

T.
Tibetan

U.
Turkish

V.
Vietnamese

A
NSWERS
:
1. J; 2. R; 3. U; 4. G; 5. L; 6. Q; 7. N ; 8. H; 9. C; 10. A; 11. P; 12. D; 13. S; 14. V; 15. K; 16. I; 17. B; 18. T; 19. F; 20. O; 21. E; 22. M

W
e all know the fear of not being able to find our mamas. Put those fears aside and locate mama in the puzzle. As always, she is the key to success.

Across

1
Dogpatch creator

5
Scarlett of Tara

10
“Born Free” lion

14
Another, in Andalusia

15
Fit for a king

16
Hefty regular at Cheers

17
Graf ___ (German warship)

18
Blow one’s top

19
“___ that barge...”

20
He gets paid for doing nothing

23
“Twelfth Night” count

24
Highlands tongue

25
“Three Days of the ______” (Redford film)

28
MIT and RPI

32
“... _____ will!” (threatening words)

35
What the three long entries each have two of

36
Dog cousin

37
Nutty

41
Reveal all

42
Floored

43
Newsman Koppel

44
Nebraskan natives

45
Accepting willingly

48
Spiced Indian tea

50
Vamps

54
2002 Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy

59
Opposite of ecto-

60
Sound of amusement

61
Blood: Prefix

62
Laugh-a-minute type

63
Fudd who bugs Bugs

64
“____ soft, gentle, and low,” like Cordelia’s voice

65
Besides

66
Some leather workers

67
Sit a spell

Down

1
“That ___ Girl” (one who reads a certain mag)

2
How some bonds are sold

3
Targets, with “on”

4
Like a Browning line

5
It shows the way to Salem

6
Munich Mister

7
Chills and fever

8
Busta Rhymes, for one

9
Hitching post

10
Dig in

11
Weaver’s apparatus

12
Mexican miss: Abbr.

13
Prayer ender

21
“It’s ___-win situation” (2 words)

22
Hoop star Thomas

26
Leave it to beavers

27
Hideo Nomo’s birthplace

29
Three-handed card game

30
Container weight

31
What Rosebud was

32
Melville novel set in Tahiti

33
All ears

34
Logical start?

36
Dagwood Bumstead’s boss

38
Short, amusing account

39
Rice-and-fish fare

40
Soldier of the ‘50s

45
Appropriate

46
Arts-supporting gp.

47
Get together

49
Chipped in chips

51
Martin or Garvey

52
Chair designer Charles

53
Horse’s sound, at times

54
No more than

55
Blue dye

56
Some vows

57
“Alas!”

58
Not e’en once

Answers on
page 302
.

A kitten and an ape change how we think about gorillas.

S
cientists are still debating whether animals can reason the way humans do. It’s an age-old debate, with recent evidence indicating that intelligence and the ability to feel emotions aren’t limited to humans. Weighing in heavily (about 300 pounds) on the side of animals is Koko, the famous signing gorilla.