September 2010
30 posts
12 tags
Baby Cages (9/30/10)
In 1937, the Chelsea Baby Club in London introduced wire cages to hang out windows and provide babies with fresh air.
I will never join the Chelsea Baby Club.
17 tags
Uvula (9/29/10)
The uvula (the punching bag at the back of your mouth) comes from the Latin uvola, meaning “small bunch of grapes.” It’s the diminutive form of uva (grape). It does kind of look like a small bunch of grapes. Or one grape. Apparently, uvula piercings are starting to become a thing. But the uvula is hard to pierce because of the gag reflex.
I think people should listen to...
15 tags
Freaks and Freakier Geeks (9/28/10)
Dictionary.com defines the slang word “geek” as, “a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken.”
That’s quite the intriguing etymology. Geeks in carnival high schools were effed up. I wonder how bad the freaks were…
The freaks probably bit the heads off of live geeks.
I bet carnival...
16 tags
Silly Rabbi, Trix are for kids...? (9/27/10)
I just read a recurring editorial titled “Ask The Rabbi.” This is what was silly (other than the fact that I just spent some time reading “Ask The Rabbi”). Some of the more traditionalist Jews abstain from writing the English word “God,” instead choosing to write “G-d” or “Gd.” However, there is no traditional Jewish law that prohibits...
19 tags
Bandwagon (9/26/10)
Recently I have heard people use the expression “jump on the bandwagon” a lot (thanks to the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs). Literally a bandwagon was a wagon that carried the band in a parade, circus, or other similarly silly event. Supposedly, the idiom, “to jump on the bandwagon,” was coined in 1848 when Dan Rice, a clown, used his bandwagon to attract attention for...
18 tags
Banned Books 3 (9/25/10)
“The Diary of Anne Frank” has been banned in many school libraries for its “sexual content.” Yeah, nothing gets people feeling “sexual” like reading “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
What a great way to further highlight the dangers of an oppressive government.
12 tags
Banned Books 2 (9/24/10)
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary was banned in some California elementary schools for its definition of “oral sex.”
This is a great move by the school-board. Obviously kids learn to have sex from reading the dictionary. That’s definitely what we should be worrying about….
15 tags
Banned Books 1 (9/23/10)
The book “Where’s Waldo?” (titled “Where’s Wally?” most places outside North America) has been banned in many libraries and schools because one scene features a drawing of a topless woman. God forbid the topless woman in the “Waldo” book distracts the children from their learning.
16 tags
Uncle Sam (9/22/10)
Samuel Wilson was a meat-packer in Troy, New York during the War of 1812. Saying meat-packer makes me laugh. Anyway, large amounts of meat were being sent to the soldiers. Elbert Anderson, a contractor for the government, oversaw this process. Before the meat could be shipped, it had to be inspected. Enter Samuel Wilson, who was nicknamed “Uncle Sam” by his fellow meat-packers. ...
13 tags
Brad's Pepsi (9/21/10)
When Pepsi was first introduced in New Bern, North Carolina in 1898, it was called “Brad’s Drink” (apparently named after Caleb Bradham, who owned the pharmacy where he sold Brad’s Drink).
I really don’t want a Brad’s Drink. It sounds gross.
16 tags
The Birds and the Bees (9/20/10)
The idiomatic expression used to explain sex, “the birds and the bees,” is said to first appear in a Samuel Coleridge poem in 1825. However, even earlier, Shakespeare mentions the copulating creatures in King Lear.
Let me tell you something though; the way birds and bees have sex is neither pleasurable nor possible when dealing with humans.
Trust me.
10 tags
Pee shivers (9/19/10)
Post-micturition convulsion syndrome is the fancy nerdy name for pee shivers, the weird spinal tingle that most guys and a good portion of women get after peeing. There is still no definite scientific explanation for the phenomenon. Apparently scientists are wasting too much time trying to cure cancer and AIDS and things like that.
21 tags
Vlad the Impaler (9/18/10)
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431-1476) better known as Vlad the Impaler was a Transylvania-born ruler of Wallachia. He is said to be the inspiration of Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. In case his epithet didn’t give it away, Vlad the Impaler was a vicious, messed up dude. He is well known for his sadistic methods of execution and torture, which include boiling,...
11 tags
Nurses (9/17/10)
In the United States and Canada, the male-to-female ratio of nurses is roughly 1:19.
Those guys must get so many girls!
14 tags
Where The Wild Things Are (9/16/10)
Maurice Sendak designed the monsters in his book, “Where The Wild Things Are,” as caricatures of his aunts and uncles. The original concept of the book featured horses. But Sendak had trouble drawing horses so he resorted to monsters.
Thank god. How boring would that be?
A farm. That’s where the wild things would have been.
10 tags
Shrimpiest Post (9/15/10)
Apparently, a shrimp can swim backwards.
So can I.
14 tags
An apple a day keeps childbearing painful...
Although most translations of Genesis only refer to a “fruit,” generally people envision the downfall of humanity to be an apple (thanks a lot, Adam and Eve). This association likely comes from a Latin play on words. In Latin, malum is the word of “apple” and “evil.” One source notes that the fruit probably wasn’t an apple because it is too hot in the...
11 tags
Elephants will kill you (9/13/10)
The saying “an elephant never forgets” is likely a variant of a Greek saying, “the camel never forgets an injury.” Not to mention, elephants are trainable and retain a sense of territory or “home.”
Crap. Now I have to add the elephant to my list of animals that sound like serial killers.
Remember…. the elephant is thinking about what you did to it. ...
12 tags
Debit and Credit (9/12/10)
Etymologically, “debit” comes from the Latin debitum, meaning “something owed.” “Credit” comes from creditum, meaning “something entrusted” (from credere “to trust, to believe”).
Well, that was pretty straightforward.
P.S. Saying “PIN number” is redundant (personal identification number number). I hope the guy I always see...
9 tags
Velcro (9/11/10)
Velcro was invented in 1941 by George de Mestral. The name Velcro is a combination of the French words “velours” and “croché” (basically, “hooked velvet”).
De Mestral’s hook-and-fastener idea was inspired by burrs that would get caught in his dog’s fur as they went on walks.
There truly is nothing more inspirational than a dog covered in burrs.
14 tags
Quarters (9/10/10)
The circumference of a U.S. quarter has 119 ridges (technically called “reeds”).
Biggest waste of 3 hours ever.
11 tags
SmartestYear Burning Day (9/9/10)
Soon, the Qur’an will join the ranks of Harry Potter. On the ninth anniversary of 9/11, a church in Florida plans to hold an “International Burn a Qur’an Day” (I think the “international” thing might be a bit overambitious on their part). About the event, the church writes in its blog: “What is acceptable to today’s leadership becomes acceptable...
11 tags
Seventh Heaven (9/8/10)
In some religions, including Islam and Judaism, the universe is categorized into seven levels of heaven.
Strangely, the crappy WB show “7th Heaven,” which centered around a Christian reverend and his billion children, had nothing to do with Islam.
Crap! We all better go burn our DVDs of “7th Heaven.” Oh, wait. No one has a DVD of “7th Heaven.”
So we...
12 tags
Wasp Nests (9/7/10)
Because wasps don’t make wax like bees, they have to make their nests out of other materials. Often times wasp nests are created with a paper-like substance made from wood pulp. Wasps gather fibers from weathered wood and then soften it by chewing it and mixing it with saliva. This is the same way my father built our house.
14 tags
Pork and Ham and Stuff (9/6/10)
Pork is the name of meat coming from a pig. Specifically, “pork” means the fresh meat of the pig. Ham is specifically meat that comes from the pig’s back legs. There was way too much information about how to slaughter a pig, where to find what meat, and so on and so forth. Too much for one post. Or someone who doesn’t really care about the anatomy of pig butchering.
...
7 tags
Ponds vs Lakes (9/5/10)
I’ve been swimming at Walden Pond a lot recently. It’s a pretty good sized body of water. So I was wondering why it was still considered a “pond” instead of a “lake.” Currently, there is no official definition that separates a pond and a lake. Typically it just comes down to size, but as with Walden Pond, it really doesn’t matter (just like this...
12 tags
Five-O (9/4/10)
Cops are sometimes referred to as Five-O because of the TV show Hawaii Five-O. “Five-O” refers to Hawaii being the 50th state.
It also sounds a lot better than “Oklahoma Four-Six.”
15 tags
Tylenol for Depression (9/3/10)
Recent research has looked at our neurological wiring that makes us feel pain (both physical and emotional). The anterior cingulate cortex is a part of the brain that produces the painful feelings of social rejection, as well as the emotional component of physical pain. Researchers have conducted experiments which have shown that people who take a mild painkiller, like Tylenol, have a weaker...
16 tags
Immortal Jellyfish (9/2/10)
The jellyfish turritopsis nutricula has the ability to revert from a state of sexual maturity to the immature polyp stage. It is the only known example of a creature capable of reaching sexual maturity then returning to being sexually immature. Thus, this jellyfish has been deemed immortal. However, it is impossible to estimate the age of a specimen because of this ability to cycle through life...
7 tags
Worm (9/1/10)
Just when I thought I couldn’t find any more interesting etymologies, I found out that the word “worm” comes from the Old English wyrm, which meant “dragon.”
Somewhere in history, some guy was supposed to slay a dragon. But he wimped out big time. And brought a worm home. And tricked his village.