Word: berserker
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There are sentimental reasons too to keep them around. We go back a long way--bears and humans. The word berserk, for example, means "dressed in a bearskin" and comes from the ancient Scandinavian warrior custom of running around and pretending to be one. Paleolithic Europeans may have worshipped bears; at least a cavern discovered last year in southern France featured a bear skull, "placed on a large rock set in the middle of a gallery against a backdrop of bear paintings." Besides, wouldn't it be kind of sad if the only vestige of Ursus horribilis were some...
When I heard that Bill Clinton might seek protection from Paula Jones' lawsuit under military law as an "active duty" Commander in Chief [Nation, June 3], I thought one of Jay Leno's joke writers had gone berserk. DON A. ELLIS Overland Park, Kansas
According to the March 22 Crimson, when Buckeye guard Paul Huston scored a basket just after the final whistle that would have given Ohio State the requisite 10-point victory, "thousands of pluggers went berserk...
...there. When Pat Buchanan leaped from his van in New Hampshire exclaiming, "Real voters! Real people!," dozens of journalists instantly surrounded him as he reached for the hand of a single terrified citizen. Viewed from across the street, it looked as if Buchanan had suddenly gone berserk, seized a hostage and was being followed by a SWAT team...
...SPRING OF 1834, Harvard College went berserk. Josiah Quincy, president of Harvard University at the time, wrote the parents of the College on June 4 to inform them of "the nature and course of these outrages." In his letter, he describes how the difficulties all began with one stubborn student in Greek class. "On being told by his Instructor that when 'he directed anything to be translated, he expected it would be done,' the student replied, 'I do not recognize your authority,' shut his book and paid no attention to his recitation afterward." The 23-year old student chose...