Q: You get some offbeat questions, and this one is going to fit into that category. But it is sincere. I write poetry. In my book of writings, I have many incomplete poems because I got stuck on finding a rhyming word. I’m looking for a word that rhymes with purple. In my poetry group, I’ve been told more than once that there is no such word. Do you agree? — C.S., San Francisco, Calif.
A: No, I don’t agree because I know two words that rhyme with purple. Although obscure, they rhyme. One is “curple,” and the other is “hirple.” Both have their origin in Scotland. The first refers to the hindquarters of a horse; the latter means to walk with a limp. They don’t seem to be words for a love poem, but they do rhyme.
Q: I have read a lot about Angelina Jolie and her estranged father, Jon Voight. It’s great stuff when you want some mindless reading. I have never seen or heard anything about Jolie’s mother. What can you tell me? — J.L., Roseburg, Ore.
A: Born on May 9, 1950, Marcia Lynne “Marcheline” Bertrand married Jon Voight in 1971. The couple had two children, James Haven (1973-) and Angelina Jolie (1975-). The Voights separated in 1978, and the divorce became final in 1980. In the meantime, she met filmmaker Bill Day and the two later lived together for 12 years. Bertrand died of ovarian cancer in January 2007. She was 56.
Q: In my father’s possessions, I found a baseball autographed by Horace Allen. I’ve never heard of him. What about you? — E.T., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
A: Nicknamed “Pug,” Horace Tanner Allen (1899-1981) played the outfield. His major-league career was brief; he appeared in four games for the 1919 Brooklyn Robins, with seven at-bats and no hits. The Brooklyn Robins became the Brooklyn Dodgers and later the Los Angeles Dodgers. No, I had never heard of him, either.
Q: The Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson once did a cartoon with a boy being chased by two wolves around a kitchen table. He made reference to a phobia about being chased by wolves. Do you know the rest of it? — L.H., Laconia, N.H.
A: Luposlipaphobia is the fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly waxed floor.
Q: There is a type of camouflage suit that mimics foliage. The camouflage might resemble leaves, twigs or any other product of Mother Nature. Let’s say I want to buy one. What would I ask for? — H.S., Panama City, Fla.
A: Go to your favorite camouflage-clothing store, and ask for a ghillie suit. A well-made suit will move in the wind in the same manner as surrounding foliage. I came across more than one explanation of the unusual name. The most popular is that ghillie is an old Scottish term for a gamekeeper whose task was protecting the animals from poachers. The name is derived from “gille,” Gaelic for “servant,” as in a gamekeeper.
Q: As a child, I remember a TV show titled “Andy’s Gang,” starring Andy Devine, but I don’t remember much about the program. I do recall Andy saying, “Twang your magic twanger, Froggy!” What can you tell me about the show? — J.D.S., Saylorsburg, Pa.
A: “Andy’s Gang” started out on radio as “Smilin’ Ed McConnell and His Buster Brown Gang,” later shortened to “Smilin’ Ed McConnell and His Gang.” When Ed McConnell died suddenly of a heart attack in July 1954, Andy Devine took over as host. The show began with Devine sitting in an easy chair, reading stories from a book, which were accompanied by film clips. Some of the regular characters included Midnight the Cat, Squeaky the Mouse and a green puppet — Froggy the Gremlin — that appeared in a puff of smoke and was always interrupting the story. The program continued until the last day of 1960, and Buster Brown Shoes and Kellogg’s Sugar Pops were the sponsors. Another question begs to be asked: What is a magic twanger? I have absolutely no idea.
Q: Why was John Hancock the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence? — B.H.M., Nampa, Idaho
A: Because he was president of the Continental Congress.
CLARIFICATION: A reader asked about the historical integrity of the movie “The Last Station.” He said the movie depicted Russian revolutionary figure Leon Trotsky as being assassinated in Moscow when in fact he believed that Trotsky lost his life in Mexico. I made a few disparaging remarks about Hollywood and its aversion to facts, and confirmed that Trotsky died in Mexico, in August 1940. Many readers have informed me that the 2009 movie followed the exploits of Leo Tolstoy, not Leon Trotsky. A Russian writer, Tolstoy’s masterpieces include “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina.” In 1910, Tolstoy died of pneumonia at Astapovo in western Russia; he was 82.
Send your questions to Mr. Know-It-All at AskMrKIA@gmail.com or c/o United Feature Syndicate, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016.