If you’re expecting a marriage proposal pretty soon and your partner starts to sink to one knee, you should check to see if their shoe is untied. If it’s not, steel yourself for a certain yes-or-no question.

In addition to being a handy heads-up, kneeling to propose presumably has roots in some age-old historical practice—or a combination of several. As MarthaStewart.com points out, people have been genuflecting (derived from Latin for “bending the knee”) to show respect or reverence for thousands of years. It may have originated in the Persian Empire, when proper salutations depended on societal rank. “In the case where one is a little inferior to the other, the kiss is given on the cheek,” Greek historian Herodotus observed in Persia around 430 BCE. “Where the difference of rank is great, the inferior prostrates himself upon the ground.”

This greeting system, known as proskynesis, was adopted by Alexander the Great when he took over the empire a century later, and some historians believe that genuflection was part of it. Many of Alexander’s existing Greek and Macedonian subjects disapproved of the new ritual, thinking such gestures should be reserved for gods, so not everybody acquiesced.

But the idea of genuflection as a sign of deference would prove popular in both religious and secular spheres in the future. Catholics, for example, drop to one knee when facing a tabernacle that contains the Eucharist (wafers blessed to be the body of Jesus). And European warriors knighted after battle often knelt in front of their commander, who dubbed them with a sword. In fact, citizens knighted by Queen Elizabeth II are still usually expected to kneel when dubbed.

According to Bustle, it’s possible that bending the knee first took on a romantic significance during knights’ heyday. In the 11th century, knights started to form close bonds with ladies of the court—a custom later christened “courtly love.” Since the woman was often already married, the nature of the relationship wasn’t often sexual, but it was always a serious commitment. Knights pledged themselves to serve and honor their lovers with the same fervor applied to their lords and kings. Guinevere’s romance with Sir Lancelot is a good example of courtly love, as is the tale of Tristan and Isolde (though both of those cases did involve adultery). There’s no explicit link between that medieval trend and today’s proposal tradition, but a lot of the artwork depicting courtly love features the man kneeling before the woman—a scene that mirrors many modern-day engagement photos (sans all the armor).

In short, bending the knee has long conveyed devotion and humility, which you might want to embody when asking someone to spend eternity with you. But popping the question on two feet doesn’t violate any written-in-stone code of conduct for proposals.

source (article; video): MentalFloss; Why do men get down on one knee to propose?, 11Alive

A következő állításokról döntsd el, hogy a cikk alapján igazak (T), hamisak (F), vagy nem volt róluk szó a cikkben (NM).

1. In the Persian Empire if someone from an upper rank was greeted
   by somebody from the lower rank, the latter lay on the ground as a sign of respect.
2. Many of Alexander’s existing Greek and Macedonian subjects
   accepted to use this ritual unwillingly.
3. When Queen Elizabeth II knights citizens, it is expected from
   the would-be-knights to kneel.
4. In case of a “courtly love”, the knight promised to serve and honor
   their lovers with more fervor than their lords or kings.
5. Sir Lancelot always knelt before Guinevere when they met in private.

keys/megoldások:  1. T; 2. F, many of them disapproved this ritual, thinking such gestures should be reserved for gods; 3. T; 4. F, with the same fervor; 5. NM

The California native won two Oscars in the 1990s—his first in 1994 for Philadelphia and a second the following year for Forrest Gump. Hanks has played America’s favorite neighbor, Mr. Rogers (in 2019’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) and has been a memorable part of so many childhoods as the voice of Toy Story’s Woody. His touchstone films and affable, even-keeled demeanor have solidified Hanks as one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars. And his enviable family life—his son Colin Hanks followed in his footsteps with acting and his long-lasting marriage to wife Rita Wilson—makes Hanks the working family man so many either aspire to be or have in their lives.

Here are a few tidbits you may not know about one of Hollywood’s favorite stars.

1. TOM HANKS IS A DISTANT RELATIVE OF PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN—AND MR. ROGERS.

Hanks, who narrated National Geographic’s 2013 historical drama Killing Lincoln, boasts ancestral ties to the 16th president of the United States through Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks. The four-time Golden Globe winner is a third cousin, four times removed of Lincoln’s. The former president’s great-great-grandfather was John Hanks, who was also Tom’s great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.

In 2019, Hanks also found out, thanks to researchers at Ancestry.com, that he shares some DNA with Mr. Rogers. “It all just comes together, you see,” Hanks teased when he learned the news from Access Hollywood.

2. TOM HANKS WORKED AS A HOTEL BELLMAN—AND A PEANUT VENDOR.

Before finding fame, Hanks brushed up against stars when he worked as a bellhop for Hilton hotels during college (he spent two years studying theater at Chabot College before enrolling in California State University, Sacramento). “It’s the greatest job, carrying bags for sports and entertainment figures,” Hanks told Seventeen in 1985. “I carried Cher’s bags when she was married to Gregg Allman. I gave Sidney Poitier a ride to the airport.”

Hanks also used to sell concessions, including peanuts and sodas, at Oakland A’s games as a teenager. “I went down to sell peanuts and soda, and thinking it would be like in a TV show,” he said on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2019. “Well, first of all, I got robbed twice … Then, I came across professional vendors, who did not like the fact kids were there.” Things turned out less hostile for Hanks when he returned to provide the voice for stadium vendors during A’s games in 2020.

3. TOM HANKS HELPED FUND FORREST GUMP.

When Paramount Pictures wouldn’t pay for the scene where Forrest runs across the country, Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis stepped in and footed the bill. “It wasn’t cheap,” Hanks recalled on In Depth With Graham Bensinger. “And I said, ‘Ok.’ [Zemeckis] said, ‘You and I are going to split that amount, and we’re going to give it back [to Paramount]. We’ll give you the money back, but you guys [Paramount] are going to have to share the profits a little bit more.’ Which the studio said, ‘Fabulous, great. Ok.’ And it was good for us, too.” It sure was: Hanks ended up earning an estimated $65 million in profits from the box office hit.

4. TOM HANKS IS AN AVID COLLECTOR OF TYPEWRITERS.

In the 2017 documentary California Typewriter, Hanks estimated that he owns 250 typewriters and that “90 percent of them are in perfect working order. There is something I find reassuring, comforting, dazzling in that here is a very specific apparatus that is meant to do one thing, and it does it perfectly,” Hanks, who received his first typewriter from a friend, told NPR of the devices. “And that one thing is to translate the thoughts in your head down to paper.” His hobby eventually spawned a collection of short stories, 2017’s Uncommon Type.

5. RITA WILSON IS TOM HANKS’S SECOND WIFE.

In 1978, Hanks, then 21, married his college sweetheart Samantha Lewes, with whom he’d welcomed son Colin the year prior. They had another child, daughter Elizabeth Ann, in 1982. “I thought I was rolling along with the natural order of thing,” Hanks told BBC’s Kirsty Young of having kids at a young age. He and Lewes divorced in 1987 and Hanks married Wilson, who he met in 1981 on the set of Bosom Buddies, in 1988. They have two kids together: sons Chet and Truman, born in 1990 and 1995, respectively.

6. TOM HANKS HAS AN ASTEROID NAMED AFTER HIM.

NASA named the 12818 Tomhanks after the seven-time Emmy winner. His Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail co-star Meg Ryan serves as the namesake for the 8353 Megryan and the two asteroids, discovered seven years apart in different hemispheres, had a cosmic rendezvous when they made their closest approach to Earth in September 2011.

7. TOM HANKS EARNED A PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM.

President Barack Obama awarded Hanks with the honor in 2016 for not only his film work, but his social and environmental justice efforts and advocacy on behalf of veterans and their families. Ellen DeGeneres, Robert De Niro, Michael Jordan, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, and Cicely Tyson also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom the same year as Hanks.

8. TOM HANKS HAS BEEN DEEMED AMERICA’S FAVORITE ACTOR.

In 2015, Hanks topped The Harris Poll’s ranking of America’s Favorite Movie Star for the fifth time, edging out Johnny Depp. Hanks also took the No. 1 spot in 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2013.

9. COVID-19 CAME FOR TOM HANKS AND RITA WILSON FIRST.

As the COVID-19 pandemic began to ramp up in the U.S. in March 2020, people wondered who would be the first Hollywood star to contract the virus. A fake report claiming that Harry Potter lead Daniel Radcliffe came down with coronavirus circulated online, but Radcliffe shot it down. On March 11, 2020, Hanks revealed on his social media accounts that he and Wilson tested positive for COVID-19 while in Australia for production on Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis Presley movie. They both recovered and proceeded to donate plasma to help the fight against COVID-19.

“Our discomfort because of the virus was pretty much done in two weeks and we had very different reactions, and that was odd,” Hanks told The Guardian. “My wife lost her sense of taste and smell, she had severe nausea, she had a much higher fever than I did. I just had crippling body aches, I was very fatigued all the time, and I couldn’t concentrate on anything for more than about 12 minutes.”

10. THE WORLD CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL TOM HANKS DAY IN APRIL.

On April 2, 2004, a group of Western Michigan University students had a Hanks movie marathon and earmarked the day to honor the Greyhound star. They made T-shirts for the occasion and the holiday took off around campus. “It turned into just a backyard kegger where we hung out all day,” founder Kevin Turk told the Chicago Tribune. Turk brought International Tom Hanks Day—celebrated on the closest Saturday to April 1—with him to Chicago when he relocated to the Windy City after college and it continued to amass a following. The event, which happened on April 3, 2021, went virtual this year to accommodate the COVID-19 pandemic.

source (article; video and picture): 10 Little-Known Facts About Tom Hanks, Mental Floss; Tom Hanks’ Best Moments on The Graham Norton Show, Graham Norton Show, Youtube

A cikk elolvasása után próbáld megtalálni a 10 félmondat befejezését a megadott opciók felhasználásával.

J.R.: What are you doing here?

SUE ELLEN: Where’s Kristin?

J.R.: Don’t come any closer. I’m going to call the police. Don’t you come any closer.

SUE ELLEN: J.R., I didn’t come here to hurt you. I just want to know where Kristin is.

KRISTIN: Sue Ellen, I brought your things.

SUE ELLEN: Regular angel of mercy, aren’t you? So supportive. Keeping my secrets. Taking me in.

KRISTIN: What happened? What are you talking about?

SUE ELLEN: I have finally figured everything out, that’s all. You have been trying to frame me.

KRISTIN: You’re crazy.

SUE ELLEN: Well, you were right. I was at that condo that night, looking for J.R. And yes, I did have his gun. But you saw how drunk I was, and you still gave me a drink, knowing I’d put the gun down to take it. You went to the office that night with J.R.’s gun. It was you, Kristin, who shot J.R. Then the next morning, while I was showering, you hid the gun in the closet. [Flashbacks appear as Sue Ellen speaks.]

KRISTIN: You think you’ve got it all figured out.

J.R.: [Speaking into the phone] Get me the police.

KRISTIN: I wouldn’t do that if I were you, J.R. [She and Sue Ellen walk toward him.] Not unless you want your child born in prison. Now wouldn’t that be a scandal? Jock Ewing’s grandson: jail baby. I think I’ll write my memoirs there.

J.R.: You’re bluffing.

KRISTIN: Call Dr. Gibson. I saw him yesterday. He’ll tell you. [A voice on the phone says, “Dallas Police Department.”]

SUE ELLEN: Give me that phone. I’m not going to jail for her.

J.R.: Nobody’s going to jail. I’ll handle Kristin my own way.

A filmrészlet alapján döntsd el, hogy a következő állításokból melyik igaz vagy hamis a látottak és hallottak alapján.