Return of the Hot Seat

We have reached the part of my word study class that is more developmentally appropriate for the age of the students that I have taught for my entire career, and so it was with confidence and redemption in mind that I volunteered for the hot seat activity again this morning. The category was eponyms, and I was waving my hand the minute the instructor moved the stool in front of the screen. As before, the premise was simple: I sat with my back to the screen and my fellow participants read clues about things that were named after people or places.

Named after a president who loved to hunt was the first one.

"Teddy Bear?" I answered.

The class applauded. The instructor read quickly through the clues I hadn't needed.

Food from England was the second one.

I smiled and shrugged. "I need another clue."

Can be white or orange.

"Cheddar cheese?" I guessed.

"Wow!" said the instructor, "You're pretty good at this!"

I beamed, and made quick work of bikini (named after an atoll in the Pacific, site of nuclear testing) and marathon (named after a battlefield in Greece, a messenger ran all the way to Athens).

"You should go on Jeopardy!" suggested one of my classmates as I made my way back to my seat.

"I actually auditioned for the show once," I said, "but I never got a call back."

"Their loss," she winked.