Zumbooruck

Every once in awhile a coincidence occurs that makes you wonder if Zaphod Beeblebrox didn't just engage the Heart of Gold's improbability drive.

On a lazy Sunday this past summer I learned the meaning of the word "zumbooruck" in a game of Balderdash. I find that learning a new word and sighting that word in hitherto unseen contexts seem to go hand in hand, but never did I expect to see the very next day, not the word "zumbooruck", but the actual object to which the word refers.

A zumbooruck is *ahem*, and I quote, "A swiveling cannon that fires from the back of a camel." Let that sink in for a moment.

The strange weapon was spotted during a surreal trip to the Garden Cinema in Greenfield, Massachusetts. At the Cinema is an arcade game called Metal Slug 2, which features a cannon fired from the back of a camel. Furthermore, the cannon swivels swivels.

J0n0 points out: It's wonderful how weird both the sound of the word AND the meaning of it are. I admit I had never even considered camels as bases for guns. Wouldn't the recoil sort of, you know, knock the camel over, or are zumboorucks really really tiny?

I did a little research to answer his question: Indeed, it is a really small cannon. I also suspect that zumboorucks are such old weapons that they were used back in the days when things we might call muskets were still called "hand cannons".

Here is a formal definition of zumbooruck along with a neat bibliography of uses: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:460.hobson

Play Metal Slug 2 here: http://www.1980-games.com/us/action-games/flash-games/metal-slug.php

My friends and I might never have spotted the zumbooruck had we not arrived at the theater absurdly early by mistake. When we got there we learned that the movie wasn’t starting for another 45 minutes. Somehow we had mistaken the movie time. This error came to our attention right in front of the box office. Mr. Box Office-man immediately states, "Gardner," like the hero who detects the foul-play of his arch-nemesis. My friends and I are dumbstruck.

Gardner is one of our fellow interns and we know he grew up in this area, but what ancient and un-forgiven crimes he has perpetrated against the local movie theater we know not.

"Excuse me?" We say.

The Box Office-man repeats himself, unhelpfully leaving us in suspense a little bit longer before giving a tired explanation of how people are always mistaking Garden Cinema for the nearby Gardner Cinema.

The Box Office-man gives us a curious look as we laugh our heads off like a bunch of drunk chimps.

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