full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Beatrice K. Otto: How dangerous was it to be a jester?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Some jtesers boasted unique talents, like Roland the Farter, of Henry II’s 12th Century court. Every cathmriss, he performed a special routine, the finale of which was a simultaneous jump, whistle, and fart.

Additionally, jesters could influence iaoprtnmt decisions. For example, if the clowns of the Tübatulabal nation of the Sierra navdea mtioannus thought a chief was leading polroy, they could apparently get the elders to appoint a new one.

And, of course, Jing Xinmo knew how to sway the Chinese epmreor. A loacl magistrate once rqeteeusd that the emperor stop tnpmalirg farmland during his hunting sprees. iutaefirnd, the emperor had the magistrate hauled before him. Jing facetiously sestggued that the magistrate be put to death immediately and that the emperor let the peasants starve instead of harvesting the land and paying taxes, all so he could gallop about freely. Presumably seeing the absurdity of his own behavior, the emperor laughed and pardoned the magistrate.

Open Cloze


Some _______ boasted unique talents, like Roland the Farter, of Henry II’s 12th Century court. Every _________, he performed a special routine, the finale of which was a simultaneous jump, whistle, and fart.

Additionally, jesters could influence _________ decisions. For example, if the clowns of the Tübatulabal nation of the Sierra ______ _________ thought a chief was leading ______, they could apparently get the elders to appoint a new one.

And, of course, Jing Xinmo knew how to sway the Chinese _______. A _____ magistrate once _________ that the emperor stop _________ farmland during his hunting sprees. __________, the emperor had the magistrate hauled before him. Jing facetiously _________ that the magistrate be put to death immediately and that the emperor let the peasants starve instead of harvesting the land and paying taxes, all so he could gallop about freely. Presumably seeing the absurdity of his own behavior, the emperor laughed and pardoned the magistrate.

Solution


  1. requested
  2. nevada
  3. suggested
  4. infuriated
  5. poorly
  6. important
  7. jesters
  8. emperor
  9. trampling
  10. christmas
  11. local
  12. mountains

Original Text


Some jesters boasted unique talents, like Roland the Farter, of Henry II’s 12th Century court. Every Christmas, he performed a special routine, the finale of which was a simultaneous jump, whistle, and fart.

Additionally, jesters could influence important decisions. For example, if the clowns of the Tübatulabal nation of the Sierra Nevada mountains thought a chief was leading poorly, they could apparently get the elders to appoint a new one.

And, of course, Jing Xinmo knew how to sway the Chinese emperor. A local magistrate once requested that the emperor stop trampling farmland during his hunting sprees. Infuriated, the emperor had the magistrate hauled before him. Jing facetiously suggested that the magistrate be put to death immediately and that the emperor let the peasants starve instead of harvesting the land and paying taxes, all so he could gallop about freely. Presumably seeing the absurdity of his own behavior, the emperor laughed and pardoned the magistrate.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
jing xinmo 2
chinese emperor 2
king henry 2
century persian 2


Important Words


  1. absurdity
  2. additionally
  3. apparently
  4. appoint
  5. behavior
  6. boasted
  7. century
  8. chief
  9. chinese
  10. christmas
  11. clowns
  12. court
  13. death
  14. decisions
  15. elders
  16. emperor
  17. facetiously
  18. farmland
  19. fart
  20. farter
  21. finale
  22. freely
  23. gallop
  24. harvesting
  25. hauled
  26. henry
  27. hunting
  28. immediately
  29. important
  30. influence
  31. infuriated
  32. jesters
  33. jing
  34. jump
  35. knew
  36. land
  37. laughed
  38. leading
  39. local
  40. magistrate
  41. mountains
  42. nation
  43. nevada
  44. pardoned
  45. paying
  46. peasants
  47. performed
  48. poorly
  49. put
  50. requested
  51. roland
  52. routine
  53. sierra
  54. simultaneous
  55. special
  56. sprees
  57. starve
  58. stop
  59. suggested
  60. sway
  61. talents
  62. taxes
  63. thought
  64. trampling
  65. tübatulabal
  66. unique
  67. whistle
  68. xinmo