Loch Ness Uncovered: Chapters 17–22

by Rebecca Siegel
In Scotland in the 1930s, a soon-to-be worldwide phenomenon began — the Loch Ness Monster! The history of this now-debunked hoax is filled with intriguing characters, sensational anecdotes, and most importantly, a real-life lesson in the dangers of fake news.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–9, Chapters 10–13, Chapters 14–16, Chapters 17–22
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. resounding
    unmistakable; clearly revealed to the mind or judgment
    Marmaduke Wetherell’s photo ruse was a resounding success. The Daily Mail had bought it as a genuine article and printed it. People around the globe interpreted the Mail’s publication of the photo as proof that it was real.
  2. ruse
    a deceptive maneuver, especially to avoid capture
    Marmaduke Wetherell’s photo ruse was a resounding success. The Daily Mail had bought it as a genuine article and printed it. People around the globe interpreted the Mail’s publication of the photo as proof that it was real.
  3. overzealous
    marked by excessive enthusiasm for a cause or idea
    The same paper that had ruined Wetherell’s name for being a little overzealous, for telling one tiny white lie about a set of hippo footprints, was now the one who had pushed a lie onto its readership.
  4. highfalutin
    pretentious or excessively fancy
    As for Maurice Chambers, the Rolls-Royce-driving, highfalutin, man-about-town who’d loaned the pranksters a camera, his reputation didn’t need any dents either....Word that he’d been tangled up in a prank might well have hurt his business prospects.
  5. careen
    move at high speed and in an uncontrolled way
    In August 1934, Hitler declared himself Germany’s supreme leader, or führer. This political move ultimately set two trajectories: one which sent the world careening toward a global conflict and another that temporarily sank the Loch Ness Monster.
  6. propaganda
    information that is spread to promote some cause
    Joseph Goebbels was especially annoyed. Goebbels was Germany’s minister of propaganda.
  7. bogus
    fraudulent; having a misleading appearance
    The bogus Italian news story hadn’t just failed to extinguish Nessie; it had actually elevated her.
  8. extinguish
    put an end to; kill
    The bogus Italian news story hadn’t just failed to extinguish Nessie; it had actually elevated her.
  9. elevate
    raise from a lower to a higher position
    The bogus Italian news story hadn’t just failed to extinguish Nessie; it had actually elevated her.
  10. unspool
    develop or reveal an event, narrative, situation, etc.
    His fellow prisoners listened eagerly as he unspooled the terrific tale. The Loch Ness Monster photo was a fake!
  11. codswallop
    nonsensical talk or writing
    The researchers traveled to Spurling’s home in Southern England and were welcomed by a white-haired octogenarian who wasted no time in telling them the truth about the surgeon’s photo: “It’s not a genuine photograph. It’s a load of codswallop and always has been.”
  12. linchpin
    a central cohesive source of support and stability
    The photograph had spent sixty years as the linchpin in countless monster hunters’ arguments. It was the evidence they pointed to when all else failed. The New York Times even called it one of the “most powerful arguments […] that Nessie exists.”
  13. cryptozoology
    the study of evidence for unproven creatures
    Academics, who have spent their careers in research libraries, poring over peer-reviewed data, and dutifully climbing the established ladder toward professional recognition, sometimes see monster hunters as biased, uneducated, or undisciplined. But rather than weakening cryptozoology communities, this disdain actually often strengthens them.
  14. gullible
    naive and easily deceived or tricked
    The story of the Loch Ness Monster myth might seem at first to be a quaint, historical tale of unruly reporters and their gullible, old-timey readers.
  15. phenomenon
    any state or process known through the senses
    However, it’s actually a great example of a phenomenon that continues to plague modern media: fake news.
    Fake news is the name for media stories that are false or deliberately misleading.
Created on Thu Aug 27 19:10:36 EDT 2026 (updated Tue Sep 15 12:11:07 EDT 2026)

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