Pronunciation: 
Legendary British filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock is credited with coining this word (sometimes spelled "McGuffin"), but the origin really lies with his screenwriter, Angus MacPhail. The duo used this Scottish surname to describe objects or events that drive the suspense of a story. Famous MacGuffins in cinema include the rug in “The Big Lebowski,” the ring from “Lord of the Rings,” and the briefcase in “Pulp Fiction.” --courtesy WordGenius.com
Pronunciation:
In classic Looney Tunes cartoons, “Acme” was the brand name for almost every product, from anvils to mouse traps. This satirized the trend of mid-century companies using the name “Acme” as a marketing tactic to advertise high-quality goods. In many cases, the name and the quality of the product fail to match up — as Wile E. Coyote often learned. Looney Tunes played up for laughs the disappointment of buying an “acme” product, only to discover its quality was abysmal — if not dangerously explosive. -courtesy WordGenuis.com
The definition of “anthropoglot” usually refers to animals with tongues — such as parrots and other talking birds — who can “speak” like humans. Yet one of the most fascinating animals to learn to “speak” human language does so without using its tongue. Rather, South Korea’s Koshik the elephant has proven himself capable of “speaking” Korean by placing his trunk in his mouth against his molars and tongue, and using his trunk as a stand-in for a tongue in order to simulate what scientists called “very accurate imitations of speech.” In 2006, Koshik was capable of simulating the words “yes,” “no,” “sit,” and “lie down,” among a few others, in Korean.
-Courtesy WordGenius.com
