"Early 17th century: back-formation from eavesdropper (late Middle English) ‘a person who listens from under the eaves,’ from the obsolete noun eavesdrop ‘the ground onto which water drips from the eaves,’ probably from Old Norse upsardropi, from ups ‘eaves’ + dropi ‘a drop.’"
Basically, before gutters, roofs had wide eaves so that rain would fall away from the walls of the house. That area was called the eavesdrop. These wide eaves provided an ample amount of cover for those wishing to listen in on conversations.
"Early 16th century: originally an epithet for a follower of John Duns Scotus (Duns Scotus, John), whose followers were ridiculed by 16th-century humanists and reformers as enemies of learning."
Basically, John Duns Scotus was one of the great scholars of the middle ages. He gained a lot of students through his teachings, but when more modern theories became prominent, those who held onto Duns' teaching were ridiculed for not moving with the times. So these students became Dunces.
So Watson and Crick wrote the first article aboutthe discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. Because of their article, it made a huge impact on genetics and the understanding the genetic code.
INT. NIGHT, STUDY
Gertrude and Stan enter the study, breathlessly kissing each other. It's dark inside, the only light coming in through the window from the moon.
Gertrude moans as Stan presses her up against a bookshelf. It's then that the smell hits them like a ton of bricks.
GERTRUDE: Stan, what in the world - are you gassy again? It was my mama's bean and cheese casserole tonight, wasn't it?
Stan gags at the smell.
STAN: What? No! I steered clear of it. You know how much I hate step-mama's food.
One word: paintball.
Two people, decked out in paintball gear, are the only people left on their team and they both know they don't have much ammo left. So instead of running around and wasting their last paintballs, them and their teams suggest having a stand-off. Back to back, ten paces, and then they turn around and shoot each other.