full transcript

From the Ted Talk by A.J. Jacobs: The evolution of the coffee cup lid

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In 1984, a wteaehrsd mmeont in the history of coffee cup lids: the birth of the tverelar lid. And it is iconic — you've seen it a million times. And it solved a whole host of problems. It's designed so that you don't spsalh your face, because it's higher than any of the other ones. And it's got this protruding rim, so it slightly cools the coffee before it hits your lips. It's got a small depression in the center for your nose, so you can really get in there and get maximum armoa. It's got this tiny air hole that lets the steam out and stops it from ceritnag a vacuum.

This is one of those otecbjs where you just don't notice it until it dribbles on your lap. So I think the coffee cup lid will just continue to evlvoe, and you're going to see a move away from single-use plastic lids to lids that are a little more sustainable. We're not going to stop moving. We're not going to stop dinkring coffee. And I think that's what these coffee lid erineegns are trying to do, is to make it so that the experience of taking it on the road is as good as sitting in a restaurant, drinking from a caemric cup. Because, you know, coffee is serious business.

Open Cloze


In 1984, a _________ ______ in the history of coffee cup lids: the birth of the ________ lid. And it is iconic — you've seen it a million times. And it solved a whole host of problems. It's designed so that you don't ______ your face, because it's higher than any of the other ones. And it's got this protruding rim, so it slightly cools the coffee before it hits your lips. It's got a small depression in the center for your nose, so you can really get in there and get maximum _____. It's got this tiny air hole that lets the steam out and stops it from ________ a vacuum.

This is one of those _______ where you just don't notice it until it dribbles on your lap. So I think the coffee cup lid will just continue to ______, and you're going to see a move away from single-use plastic lids to lids that are a little more sustainable. We're not going to stop moving. We're not going to stop ________ coffee. And I think that's what these coffee lid _________ are trying to do, is to make it so that the experience of taking it on the road is as good as sitting in a restaurant, drinking from a _______ cup. Because, you know, coffee is serious business.

Solution


  1. watershed
  2. creating
  3. evolve
  4. objects
  5. aroma
  6. moment
  7. drinking
  8. splash
  9. engineers
  10. traveler
  11. ceramic

Original Text


In 1984, a watershed moment in the history of coffee cup lids: the birth of the traveler lid. And it is iconic — you've seen it a million times. And it solved a whole host of problems. It's designed so that you don't splash your face, because it's higher than any of the other ones. And it's got this protruding rim, so it slightly cools the coffee before it hits your lips. It's got a small depression in the center for your nose, so you can really get in there and get maximum aroma. It's got this tiny air hole that lets the steam out and stops it from creating a vacuum.

This is one of those objects where you just don't notice it until it dribbles on your lap. So I think the coffee cup lid will just continue to evolve, and you're going to see a move away from single-use plastic lids to lids that are a little more sustainable. We're not going to stop moving. We're not going to stop drinking coffee. And I think that's what these coffee lid engineers are trying to do, is to make it so that the experience of taking it on the road is as good as sitting in a restaurant, drinking from a ceramic cup. Because, you know, coffee is serious business.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
coffee cup 6
drinking coffee 3
cup lid 2
cup lids 2
people started 2
started drinking 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
coffee cup lid 2
coffee cup lids 2
people started drinking 2
started drinking coffee 2

Important Words


  1. air
  2. aroma
  3. birth
  4. business
  5. center
  6. ceramic
  7. coffee
  8. continue
  9. cools
  10. creating
  11. cup
  12. depression
  13. designed
  14. dribbles
  15. drinking
  16. engineers
  17. evolve
  18. experience
  19. face
  20. good
  21. higher
  22. history
  23. hits
  24. hole
  25. host
  26. iconic
  27. lap
  28. lets
  29. lid
  30. lids
  31. lips
  32. maximum
  33. million
  34. moment
  35. move
  36. moving
  37. nose
  38. notice
  39. objects
  40. plastic
  41. problems
  42. protruding
  43. restaurant
  44. rim
  45. road
  46. sitting
  47. slightly
  48. small
  49. solved
  50. splash
  51. steam
  52. stop
  53. stops
  54. sustainable
  55. times
  56. tiny
  57. traveler
  58. vacuum
  59. watershed