April 2010
31 posts
3 tags
In a Jiffy (4/30/10)
A “Jiffy” was first defined for technical usage by Gilbert Newton Lewis when he proposed the Jiffy as a unit of time equivalent to the time it takes light to travel one centimeter. Nice job, Gilbert Newton Lewis. Sounds like you had a very productive day at the laboratory just naming everything you can think of.
5 tags
Colonel (Kernel?) (4/29/10)
The fact that English speakers pronounce “colonel” as “kernel” has always confused me. The word derives from the Latin columnellus, meaning leader of a (military) column. When the word entered the French language, we saw it portrayed in two different ways: colonel and coronel (perhaps thinking it was from the Latin corona, meaning crown). “Coronel” spread to...
7 tags
Priceless (4/28/10)
The word “slogan” comes from the Gaelic words “sluagh” and “ghairm,” meaning “battle” and “cry.” A sluagh-ghairm was a battle cry used by Scottish or Irish clans. Using a slogan in today’s sense as a battle cry is way less intimidating. A bunch of warriors running down a hill yelling “There are some things money can’t buy....
4 tags
XXX (4/27/10)
Symbolics, Inc., a computer manufacturing company, originally registered symbolics.com on March 15, 1985 making it the first .com-domain in the world. Nowadays, Internet Filter Review estimates that 12% of websites are pornographic. I don’t know if that’s true (I hope Internet Filter Review knows what they are talking about). All I know is that I need a post that I could tag as...
6 tags
Cat Idiom #83...ish (4/26/10)
If you think about it, the expression, “there is more than one way to skin a cat,” is pretty messed up. I mean, who skins cats? And why so many ways? I couldn’t find a definite origin of the phrase. In 1678, a variant of the idiom was first published as “there are more ways to kill a cat than by choking it with cream.” That’s weird. Also, Mark Twain used...
6 tags
Horny, Literally (4/25/10)
The first condoms in Asia before the 15th century were glans condoms (more like a yarmulke, less like a hazmat suit). In Japan, these were often made out of tortoise shell or animal horn. I don’t know if you even need contraception at this point. I think the narwhal in your kimono should keep you celibate.
6 tags
Redhead 2 (4/24/10)
The fast-food restaurant Wendy’s is named after the fourth child of the restaurant’s founder Dave Thomas. A drawing of her is also used as the chain’s mascot. He must have really liked Wendy a lot more than his other kids. Also, this is the second famous redhead fact in two days. Thomas Jefferson and Wendy. Equally influential to American culture.
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President Rodman (4/23/10)
Although President Obama shatters the stereotypical presidential image of an old, white guy, he still perpetuates the phenotypic trend of Presidents having dark hair. Allegedly, there has only been one redheaded President in U.S. history: Thomas Jefferson (though his hair was starting to turn white by the time he took office). With society becoming a little more and more diverse with time, I...
6 tags
Earth Daylord Nelson (4/22/10)
Earth Day was founded on April 22, 1970 by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson. That was forty years ago today. I can’t believe people who were born in 1970 are now forty! Well, actually I can believe it. What I can’t believe is the fact that I made it through so many Earth Days in elementary school without knowing that a guy named Gaylord founded it.
5 tags
Don't shrink me, Gypsy. I serious. (4/21/10)
The word Gypsy comes from the word Egyptian, as locals thought that the traveling groups of people originated in Egypt. That’s really all I know about gypsies. Oh, and they love hunchbacks.
4 tags
Decimate this (4/20/10)
I hear people using “decimate” incorrectly a lot (why do people around me always want to talk about decimating things?). To decimate would be to pick out and kill every tenth of the lot (from the Latin decimus meaning tenth). So, bud, next time you want to tell me about how the forest by your house was decimated, you better show me some statistics.
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Facebook Official (4/19/10)
In a Michigan State University study, 20 percent of the participants felt that a relationship was not “official” until it was made public on Facebook. Does that mean that if I don’t post where my hometown is, I don’t actually live there? Or if I don’t post all of my favorite music, I don’t actually like it? Or if I don’t have a Facebook, I don’t...
4 tags
Rip Van Stinkle (4/18/10)
What does a blind person’s dreams look like? Studies have revealed that the deciding factor in whether a blind person has visual dreams is the the length of time the individual has been blind. If the person had the ability to see, but then was blinded after the age of seven, the person will often “see” things in dreams. If the person was born blind, or blinded between the...
4 tags
Falling Whistles (4/17/10)
“The Democratic Republic of Congo is home to the world’s largest and most deadly war. During the past 10 years, roughly 6 million people have died, and nearly 1,500 people continue to lose their lives daily. Sexual violence is more rampant here than anywhere else in the world, and thousands of children are involved in the war.”
FallingWhistles.com
I promise I’ll be fun...
5 tags
Font Fact (4/16/10)
The popular font Times New Roman was introduced by the British newspaper The Times in 1931. It was designed to replace the newspaper’s old font, known as Times Old Roman (duh). I guess Times Old Roman became Times New Roman after discovering the Font-ain of Youth. Give me a break. Fonts just aren’t funny.
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Unattractively Married (4/15/10)
According to the Journal of Sex Research, the risk of infidelity decreases 4% for every year of a marriage. Which makes a lot of sense as I would argue people get 4% uglier every year.
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Some Housekeeping Info (4/14/10)
My running shoes stink. I went online to figure out a way to make them stop smelling. On some random “How To” website, people recommended that I put my shoes in the freezer over night to kill the bacteria; the next day, I was to take the shoes out and let them thaw out in the sun. So I tried this. It worked a little bit, I must say. But it didn’t work well enough for me to...
4 tags
Mr. unZIP (4/13/10)
The “ZIP” in a ZIP code is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan. ZIP codes were first introduced in 1963 in order to make mail deliveries more efficient. ZIP codes begin with 0 on the East Coast and climb to 9 once you reach the West Coast. Postal worker Robert Moon is considered to be the father of ZIP codes. If he’s the father of ZIP codes, he must really sleep around. Now...
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Unsettled Beef (4/12/10)
The more I read and learn, the more I realize just how much my first grade teacher lied to me. George Washington never had wooden teeth. However, it is true that he had all of his teeth removed over the years as a result of poor hygiene and persistent illnesses. His actual teeth were made out of gold and hippopotamus ivory. So now what’s up, Ms. Braun!? You going to tell me that he made...
6 tags
Weak (4/11/10)
The word “muscle” comes from the the Latin mus (mouse) and cul (a diminutive suffix). So a muscle was the little mouse that crawls beneath your skin when you flex. Those old Romans must have been weak. A mouse? Really? I call my guns the “caniscles,” from the Latin canis (dog). Yeah, that’s right. When I flex, a little dog runs up my arms under my skin…
4 tags
Equal Rights! (4/10/10)
Back in the olden days, it seemed like every powerful man had a mistress on the side. Nowadays there are plenty of successful, powerful women. I would love to be a male mistress. But what are male mistresses called? I couldn’t find it anywhere. The closest answer I got was “lover” but that’s really not the same thing. It’s a shame sexism prevents all genders...
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This will not help people with paranoia (4/9/10)
Psychiatrists are called shrinks as a result of a comparison made between psychiatrists and head-shrinkers. Back in the good old days, head-shrinkers were the tribal members who shrunk the heads of their enemies after killing them. I guess both a psychiatrist and a head-shrinker screw with your head, in a way. It’s just that one tries to help you, and the other one kills you and...
6 tags
555 Numbers (4/8/10)
When I’m watching a movie and a character dials a 555 phone number, it always kind of takes me out of the movie. 555 was officially set aside for movies in 1973, after the production companies started getting complaints from innocent people who were being harassed by a constant ringing telephone. For example, that song “867-5309/Jenny” led to a bunch of (drunk) people calling...
7 tags
Pounds (4/7/10)
When citing a weight in pounds we use the shorthand lbs. That really doesn’t look like you would pronounce it “pounds.” Lb is an abbreviation of the Latin libra pondo, which basically translates to “pound weight” and is the reason we call the unit a “pound.” Libra more directly translates to scales or balance, which is why the representation of the...
7 tags
Flock of facts (4/6/10)
Typical Tuesday. Just perusing lists of names referring to groups of animals. You know, like flock of seagulls or a pack of wolves. But what if a bunch of domesticated cats approached me, and I wanted to tell people about it? Apparently, it’s called a clowder of cats. A coalition of cheetahs. A mob of emus. A business of ferrets (that sounds terrifying). A charm of goldfinches. A...
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Etymology, Entomology, and Dumbledore (4/5/10)
Back in the day, bumblebees used to be called humble-bees. That’s not because people found the insects to be particularly modest; it is for the same reason we now call them bumblebees. The bumble or humble refers to the buzzing sound the bees make. Bumblebees are classified in the bee genus Bombus, which from Latin translates roughly to “hum or buzz.” Check this. In Middle...
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Mayans: Ancient Debbie Downers (4/4/10)
I hear December 21, 2012 is when the world is going to end because it happens to be the end of the 5,125 year-long cycle of the Mayan calendar. Wow! Those Mayan calendar makers were pretty darn ambitious when they created such a long calender, especially considering their own civilization collapsed over a thousand years ago. I’m just a little ticked off about the specific date. I feel...
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I'm so indifferent about Antarctica (4/3/10)
Antarctica is considered politically neutral, which really hurts my chances of claiming Antarctica as my own country. In 1959, the Antarctic Treaty was established, which designated Antarctica as a politically neutral place of scientific research. Also, all military activity was banned. No one could build a secret military ice station. Well, I guess they could if it was secret… ...
6 tags
Cockpit (4/2/10)
Originally, the “cockpit” referred only to the literal pit where cockfighting took place. Through time, “cockpit” could be used as a metaphor for any place of intense combat. For example, in World War I, the tight operating quarters of fighter planes began being referred to as cockpits. Since then, we usually refer to the flight deck as the cockpit, even on commercial...
6 tags
The Most Paranoid Day Ever (4/1/10)
April Fools’ Day is celebrated in many countries across this foolish world. In some more serious countries, the pranks end at noon and everyone who plays a trick after noon will be harshly labeled an “April Fool.” In more fun-loving countries like the United States, the pranks continue all day. In France, April 1st is nicknamed Poisson d’Avril, or “April...
7 tags
A Beautiful-ish Mind (3/31/10)
“Schizophrenia” comes from the Greek roots, skhizein (split) and phren- (mind). Although the literal translation seems to be “split mind,” schizophrenia is not the same as dissociative identity disorder (AKA multiple personality or split personality disorder). I just watched A Beautiful Mind, that movie with Russell Crowe playing the brilliant, schizophrenic John Nash. ...