full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Bill Schutt: A brief history of cannibalism

Unscramble the Blue Letters


15th century Europeans believed they had hit upon a miracle cure: a remedy for epilepsy, hemorrhage, bruising, nausea, and vuaitrlly any other medical ailment. This brown powder could be mixed into drinks, made into slaves or eaten straight up. It was known as mumia and made by grinding up mummified human flesh.

The word "cannibal" dates from the time of Christopher Columbus; in fact, Columbus may even have coined it himself. After coming arohse on the island of Guadaloupe, Columbus' initial rorteps back to the Queen of Spain described the ienindougs people as friendly and peaceful— though he did mention rumors of a group called the Caribs, who made violent raids and then cooked and ate their prisoners. In response, qeuen Isabella gnaertd permission to cprutae and eanslve anyone who ate human flesh. When the island failed to produce the gold Columbus was looking for, he began to label anyone who resisted his plundering and kidnapping as a Caribe. Somewhere along the way, the word "Carib" became "Canibe" and then "Cannibal." First used by colonizers to dehumanize indigenous people, it has since been apielpd to anyone who eats human flesh.

Open Cloze


15th century Europeans believed they had hit upon a miracle cure: a remedy for epilepsy, hemorrhage, bruising, nausea, and _________ any other medical ailment. This brown powder could be mixed into drinks, made into ______ or eaten straight up. It was known as mumia and made by grinding up mummified human flesh.

The word "cannibal" dates from the time of Christopher Columbus; in fact, Columbus may even have coined it himself. After coming ______ on the island of Guadaloupe, Columbus' initial _______ back to the Queen of Spain described the __________ people as friendly and peaceful— though he did mention rumors of a group called the Caribs, who made violent raids and then cooked and ate their prisoners. In response, _____ Isabella _______ permission to _______ and _______ anyone who ate human flesh. When the island failed to produce the gold Columbus was looking for, he began to label anyone who resisted his plundering and kidnapping as a Caribe. Somewhere along the way, the word "Carib" became "Canibe" and then "Cannibal." First used by colonizers to dehumanize indigenous people, it has since been _______ to anyone who eats human flesh.

Solution


  1. enslave
  2. virtually
  3. capture
  4. reports
  5. applied
  6. ashore
  7. queen
  8. granted
  9. salves
  10. indigenous

Original Text


15th century Europeans believed they had hit upon a miracle cure: a remedy for epilepsy, hemorrhage, bruising, nausea, and virtually any other medical ailment. This brown powder could be mixed into drinks, made into salves or eaten straight up. It was known as mumia and made by grinding up mummified human flesh.

The word "cannibal" dates from the time of Christopher Columbus; in fact, Columbus may even have coined it himself. After coming ashore on the island of Guadaloupe, Columbus' initial reports back to the Queen of Spain described the indigenous people as friendly and peaceful— though he did mention rumors of a group called the Caribs, who made violent raids and then cooked and ate their prisoners. In response, Queen Isabella granted permission to capture and enslave anyone who ate human flesh. When the island failed to produce the gold Columbus was looking for, he began to label anyone who resisted his plundering and kidnapping as a Caribe. Somewhere along the way, the word "Carib" became "Canibe" and then "Cannibal." First used by colonizers to dehumanize indigenous people, it has since been applied to anyone who eats human flesh.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
human flesh 5
cannibalistic practices 2
popular medical 2


Important Words


  1. ailment
  2. applied
  3. ashore
  4. ate
  5. began
  6. believed
  7. brown
  8. bruising
  9. called
  10. capture
  11. caribe
  12. caribs
  13. century
  14. christopher
  15. coined
  16. colonizers
  17. columbus
  18. coming
  19. cooked
  20. dates
  21. dehumanize
  22. drinks
  23. eaten
  24. eats
  25. enslave
  26. epilepsy
  27. europeans
  28. fact
  29. failed
  30. flesh
  31. friendly
  32. gold
  33. granted
  34. grinding
  35. group
  36. guadaloupe
  37. hemorrhage
  38. hit
  39. human
  40. indigenous
  41. initial
  42. isabella
  43. island
  44. kidnapping
  45. label
  46. medical
  47. mention
  48. miracle
  49. mixed
  50. mumia
  51. mummified
  52. nausea
  53. people
  54. permission
  55. plundering
  56. powder
  57. prisoners
  58. produce
  59. queen
  60. raids
  61. remedy
  62. reports
  63. resisted
  64. response
  65. rumors
  66. salves
  67. spain
  68. straight
  69. time
  70. violent
  71. virtually
  72. word