For Week of June 1-3 2009

TO SERVE MAN

"To Serve Man" is one of the most famous of the Twilight  Zone series. As usual with shows in this series, one can read a social message inside the sci-fi package. After all, many cultural exchanges involve exploitation as much as charity or goodwill.
    For pair work on Tuesday (you can choose your own partner, but I advise changing partners), discuss the teleplay as well as possible social or political overtones. Make an effort to use the vocabulary below.
    To see "To Serve Man," go here: Part 1, 2, 3. (For those who are studying Spanish, you can also study the Spanish subtitles.)

---

"To Serve Man" Vocabulary

1. take a flying jump=euphemism for the F word
2. knock it off=stop it
3. conserve water=save water
4. chronology=dated sequence
5. calibrated=measured
6. Euclidean geometry=named after Euclid
7. unadorned=plain
8. assimilate=integrate, include harmoniously
9. preoccupy=focus fully on
10. tentative=temporary
11. tiptoeing=cautious
12. myriad=many, diverse
13. precipice=high peak
14. milled around=move around
15. incisive edge=cutting edge (compare: teeth incisors; surgical incision)
16. eventuality=happening
17. premature=early
18. hostile=unfriendly
19. apprised=informed
20. perusal=reading
21. therein hangs (the) (a) tale=(from Shakespeare): that's a long story
22. reciprocal=mutual
23. catastrophe=major crisis
24. Kris Kringle=Santa Claus
25. enigma=puzzle
26. locust=herbivorous insect, usually invading in masses
27. decoding specialist=expert at solving codes
28. corker of a migraine=excellent, extreme case
29. can't lick it?=can't solve/beat it?
30. crack a code=solve a code
31. transposition=reverse (as letters: "houes" instead of "house")
32. cryptography=science of solving secret codes
33. indecipherable=difficult to understand
34. a tough nut=difficult case
35. what someone is up to=what someone is planning
36. barren=infertile
37. looking a gift horse in the mouth=(from Homer); being tricked by a gift
38. Kentucky windage=empty air; babble; nonsense
39. licked the title=solved the title
40. emanate=come from
41. deviation=change from the straight path or norm
42. ringside seat=front seat in a prize fight, near the ring; good seat
43. makes the cheese a little more binding="better," because more cheesy
44. arid=dry
45. metallic=of metal
46. coexistence=living peacefully together
47. beehive of activity=a lot of activity, like bees in a hive
48. insurrection=uprising
49. millennium=(Bible); thousand-year peace when Jesus returns.
50. rinky-dink=outmodes; not in style; shabby.
51. cubicle=small section of an office
52. nothing fazes himm=nothing confuses him
53. quota=amount ("He finished his quota of pages for today.")

---