Why: He was Rachel's dad on "Friends," and the he was in an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" that we obviously watched last night. I remember reading some time ago that he was married to someone who shocked me. Shocked!
Answer: Jessica Walter! WHAT! You know her as Lucille Bluth and Malory Archer, who - let's face it - are the same character.
Why: Last night, Jessica Fletcher's niece was a real estate broker. The night before, her stockbroker was murdered! As far as I can tell (not very far), a broker is just a go-between or a middle man. In this economy, he's probably even broker than I am. Hey-o!
Answer: It has nothing to do with "break" or the past tense "broke"! Instead, it all started with the pointy tool Frenchmen of yore used to tap their wine kegs. Its history went like this:
broche - Old French: "pointed tool"
brochier - "to broach, tap, pierce (a keg)"
abrokur - Anglo-French: "tapster, retailer of wine"
"wine dealer"
brocour - Anglo-Norman "small trader"
"retailer, middleman, agent"
And in Middle English, of course, the word was contemptuously used to refer to peddlers and pimps. (Read about pimps here [and male mistresses here]).
The More You Know: "Go for broke" comes from a Hawaiian pidgen phrase for "shoot the works," used by gamblers risking all their money on a single roll of dice. During WWII, the 442th Infantry, a unit composed of mostly second-generation Japanese-Americans, used the phrase in their fight song (1:15): The 442nd Regimental Combat Team is the most highly decorated unit in American military history for its size and length of service, with 7 major campaigns in Europe, 21 Medals of Honor, 52 Distinguished Silver Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, and 9,486 Purple Hearts. You can watch this 1951 movie about them online here.
Why: Jessica Fletcher told her niece, "Don't force me to Dutch uncle you. I'm only an aunt." Good one!
Answer: Someone who advises or criticizes frankly and sternly! It come from old animosity between the English and the Dutch, who fought in many wars in the 17th and 18th centuries. Though they are pals now, English still has a bunch of demeaning phrases:
Dutch courage - Courage inspired by liquor
Dutch gold - Imitation gold
Dutch treat (or "go Dutch") - Where each must pay his own share
While the "typical" uncle (as in the word avuncular) is kind and indulgent, the Dutch uncle is a total dick.
Why: A very important announcement!!! The Hallmark Movie Channel is now showing "Murder, She Wrote" every night at 9 and 10 PM! Someone is picking off the visitors to Cabot Cove! Set your DVR to find out whom!
Answer: Yes, sort of! She is even a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) - but then, so is Kevin Spacey. Jessica Fletcher was born in London in Oct. 1925, so she will be 86 this year. That is almost as old as Nana!
The hiccup is that she became a naturalized American citizen in 1951, after a failed marriage to a bisexual and during her 54-year marriage to British born producer - and producer of "Murder, She Wrote" - Peter Shaw.
The More You Know: How many of the distinguished EGOT awards has Angela Lansbury won? Well, not all of them yet, but here's crossing my fingers for a roll in whatever Tom Hopper makes next year. She has:
Emmys - 18 nominations! (mostly for "Murder, She Wrote," obvi, but also for 2005 crossover episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Law & Order: Trial by Jury")
Golden Globes* - 6! wins! (4 for "M,SW" and others for The Manchurian Candidate and The Picture of Dorian Gray) and 8 other nominations!
Oscars - 3 nominations! (for the 2 movies above and also Gaslight [1944])
Tonys - f!i!v!e! wins! - tying neverheardofher Julie Harris for the most a performer has ever received (for Mame [1966],Dear World [1969], Gypsy [1975], Sweeney Todd [1979], and Blithe Spirit [2009])
*The G in EGOT stands for Grammy, not Golden Globe.
She also won the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996, the year before Elizabeth Taylor, and was the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year in 1968. She could teach Betty White a thing or two.
