Curiosity Is Good For You

Curiosity might have killed the cat but it is good for humans, say

psychologists at the University of Buffalo in New York State. Their study

of ninety university students looked at the degree to which curiosity in

people actively influences their personal growth opportunities and the level

of intimacy that develops when they meet someone new. Researchers say

highly curious folk tend to have a greater number of positive interpersonal

experiences. The study finds the curious have a different way to process

rewarding or “appetitive” stimuli during a relationship.

(Based on a UPI report.)

How about that! I’m not sure about the “appetitive” stimuli (appetitive:

pertaining to appetite), but surmise that it means that the curious folk who

read the Curiosity Corner are people with an appetite for answers to

questions and interesting information. That is what’s presented in this book.

I. Tell Me WhyA Big Blow

Question: They say a tropical storm becomes a hurricane when its

wind speed equals 74 miles per hour. Why such an odd number?

(Asked by a curious hurricane watcher.)

Reply: Come on, 74 isn’t an odd number, it’s an even number. (I don’t want

complaints from my math readers.) Seriously, 74 mi/h is somewhat of a

strange number to pick. Actually it wasn’t picked, it just happened. In the

early 1800s, Commander Francis Beaufort of the British Royal Navy

devised a descriptive wind scale based on the state and behavior of a “well-

conditioned man-of-war [ship].” This was a numbered “force” scale with no

mention of wind speed. There were force ranges from 0 to 12 – with force 0

being calm and force 12 a hurricane situation.

With the development of accurate anemometers (which measure wind

speed), wind speed ranges were assigned to the force numbers:

Force 4: winds of 13-19 mi/h (moderate breeze);

Force 10: winds of 56-64 mi/h (storm);

Force 11: winds of 65-73 mi/h (violent storm); and

Force 12: winds of 74+ mi/h (hurricane).

The somewhat arbitrary wind speed of 74 mi/h (64 knots) was taken to be

the initial wind speed of a hurricane. Batten down the hatches!

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): An intellectual is a man who takes more words

than necessary to tell more than he knows.

-- Dwight Eisenhower

Oh That $0.009

Question: Why is it that the price of a gallon of gasoline has 0.009 or

9/10 of a cent added on? It’s like they think that people don’t know that

it is essentially another cent. (Asked by a curious motorist.)

Reply: Well, I suspect it has something to do with marketing – sort of like

pricing an item at $0.29 rather than $0.30; it looks “cheaper.” However in

this case, they are really pushing it, $2.999 instead of $3.000. (You save a

whole one-tenth of a cent.)

This is generally confirmed by reply from the Chevron Information

Office in answer to this question: “… the $0.009 is not set by Chevron, but

rather, by the independent dealer… A dealer does not have to use the $0.009

in the pricing. Historically, however, the $0.009 has been used as a

marketing tool by many dealers. For example, rather than increase the retail

price by the next whole 1.0 cent, a price of $1.59.9 may be more attractive to

the price-conscious consumer than $1.600. … We don’t know who first

began using the $0.009 pricing.”

I have to agree, it is a bit disconcerting to have that small 9 there at the

end of the price, and we generally just say the price per gallon is what the

big numbers say, such as $2.75 for $2.759. Let’s fight back against this.

Gas guzzlers of the world unite! How about driving into a gas station where

the price is $2.999 per gallon, and buy just one gallon can of gas (say for the

lawn mower). You pay this with three $1 bills and wait. After blocking the

pumps for a while, an attendant comes and asks what is wrong. Oh, nothing,

I’m just waiting for my change, 1/10 cent please.

C.P.S. (Curious Post Script): I’ve learned … that life is like a roll of

toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.

-- Andy Rooney

Do You Know Your Starboard From Your Larboard?

Question: Why do they call the right side of a ship "starboard" and the

left side "port"? (Asked by a curious landlubber.)

Reply: This is, of course, if you are facing forward on the ship. The terms

originate from early ships. These were commonly steered with a large

paddle or oar that was on the right. In old English, this was known as the

"starbord" or steer board. Since it was on the right, starboard became known

as the right side of the ship

Originally the left side of the ship was known as the "larboard'" side.

This term came from "laerebord," meaning empty board (no steering board

on that side). However, because the steering was on the right, the early ships

coming into port would tie up at the dock on the left side, so the left side

became known as the "port" side. Port eventually supplanted larboard, most

likely because larboard and starboard sound alike and could be confused.

The red and green running lights on ships, boats, and airplanes tell

which side is starboard and port. To help remember which is which, the

phrase "red port wine" is often used -- the red light is on the port (left) side

of the craft and the green light on the starboard (right) side.

You may be wondering: why a porthole? The original purpose of

these holes was for guns -- not just for looking out. They were on the port

side of the ship for shelling ports. When portholes were added on the right

side later as windows for the crew to see out, the name porthole remained.

Good thing. Who would want to look out a starboardhole?

C.P.S. (Curious Post Script): If it weren’t for electricity, we’d all be

watching TV by candlelight.

-- George Gobel

Good Morning Earthshine

Question: During the first part of April there was a crescent moon near

the horizon with the large dark part of the Moon visible by a faint glow.

What caused this glow? (Asked by a curious moon watcher.)

Reply: You were seeing moonlight (reflected sunlight) from the bright

crescent portion of the Moon and “earthshine” from the faintly illuminated

portion. Leonardo da Vinci explained this phenomenon almost 500 years

ago. During a crescent moon, the Sun is on the other side of the Moon from

the Earth, and the darkened lunar surface is faintly lit by sunlight reflected

from the Earth. And so this faintly reflected light is called earthshine. The

sight is sometimes referred to as “the old moon in the new moon’s arms”, or

the Moon’s “ashen glow.”

Keep in mind that earthshine is quite different from moonshine.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) When I was young, we used to go “skinny

dipping,” now I just go “chunky dunking.”

-- Anonymous

Umbrella, Parasol, or Bumbershoot?

Question: Why is “bumbershoot” a nickname for an umbrella? (Asked

by a curious reader left out in the rain.)

Reply: Before we go bumbering and shooting, let’s get some background on

the origin of the word umbrella. Umbrella is an Italian word meaning

sunshade and was probably derived from the Latin “umbra” meaning

shadow. (When you are in the umbra or shadow of the Moon during a solar

eclipse, you have a total eclipse, and the Sun is completely blocked.)

Another word for umbrella is parasol, which breaks down into the words

para- (guard against) and sol (Sun). The German word for umbrella is

“Regenshirm” – rain shield.

Now back to bumbershoot. Its origin appears to be the result of a play

on words that is prevalent in American slang. Put a “b” in the front of

umbrella, you get “bumbrella” with “bum” as the first syllable. This gives

rise to “bumbsol” from parasol. Then because an umbrella resembles a

parachute, you have “bumberchute,” which became popularized as

“bumbershoot”. No one knows for sure, but the development of the word

likely happened this way.

You might have noticed “bumbershoot” in the lyrics of the song sung

by Dick Van Dyke in the movie, “Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang”:

Me ol’ bam-boo, me ol’ bam-boo

You’d never bother me with me ol’ bam-boo

You can have me hat or me bumbershoot

But you’d better never bother me with me ol’ bam-boo

Now a couple of trivia questions to keep the column readers’ minds sharp:

What was “Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang,” and what was “me ol’ bam-boo”?

Answers: Chitty was the magical flying car in the children’s musical. Me-

ol’ bam-boo refers to gentleman’s a walking stick made from bamboo.

And one more…who wrote Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang? You’d

probably never guess. (I didn’t know.) Ian Fleming, the author of James

Bond of 007 fame. How about that?

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The trouble with bucket seats is that not

everyone has the same size bucket.

-- Anonymous

It’s Not the Third Degree

Question: Why is a college degree called a “bachelor’s” degree?

(Asked by a curious college student.)

Reply: A bachelor’s degree has nothing to do with marital status. You can

still be married and get a bachelor’s degree. Seriously, the word bachelor is

derived from the Latin word baccalarius, which originally referred to

someone of low rank in the feudal system. As time progressed, this meaning

was extended to denote subordinate positions in other systems and

included those holding a preliminary degree from a college or university.

The holder of a bachelor’s degree could proceed to obtain a master’s degree,

which entitled a person to teach and be a full member of the university.

At one time, the terms “master” and “doctor” were equivalent with

scholars in arts and grammar having the title master, and those in

philosophy, medicine, law, and theology the title doctor. However, in

German universities the term doctor came to be applied to advance degrees

in all disciplines and this usage was eventually adopted throughout the

world.

In the United States and Great Britain, the modern gradation of

academic degrees is usually bachelor (or baccalaureate), master, and doctor.

The bachelor’s degree marks the completion of undergraduate study

ordinarily lasting four years. The master’s degree usually requires one to

two more years of course work, an examination, and a thesis or some

research. (There are non-thesis master’s degrees.) The master’s degrees are

generally the M.A. (master of arts) and the M.S. (master of science).

The degree of doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) is offered by universities

that admit advanced students and is granted after study, examination, and

original research. There are some specific doctor degrees, such as M.D.

(doctor of medicine) and J.D. (doctor of jurisprudence – for lawyers).

Personally, I did the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. route -- 4 years, 2 years,

and 4 years, respectively. Ten years in all after high school, but I was a slow

learner. Recently I was giving some personal data to a person recording it

on a computer.

“How many years of schooling have you had?”

“Do you mean grade school, high school, and all?” I asked.

“Yes, all the years.”

“Let’s see 12 years in the public schools and 10 years of college – that’s 22

years in all.”

A strange look came over the person’s face. He turned to me with a not-

knowing-what-to-do look on his face and said, “My computer only goes up

to 18 years.” So I settled for 18. That put me on the fast track.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): 2 is not equal to 3, not even for

large values of 2.

-- Grabel’s law

Boom, Boom, Boom, … 21 times

Question: Why does the President receive a 21-gun salute? That is,

why 21? (Submitted by a curious military buff.)

Reply: Various salutes, such as raising swords, have come down through

history. With the advent of guns, a gun salute developed. Early warships

fired cannon in a seven-gun salute. Why seven? Who knows? Seven was a

very auspicious number. Seven planets had been identified at that time, the

Moon changes phases in about seven days, and the Bible says that God

rested on the seventh day.

Ships were somewhat limited in firing guns compared to land

batteries. On board a ship, there was less storage space for gunpowder and it

was difficult to keep the powder dry. With more gunpowder, drier storage,

and faster reloading, land batteries could fire three guns for every one of

those aboard ship (aha, 3 x 7 = 21). With the development of better

gunpowder and conditions, ships were able adopted the 21-gun salute.

Eventually, there was an agreement made that the international salute should

be 21-guns.

The United States didn’t adopt the 21-gun salute as a presidential

salute until 1842. Prior to this time, a presidential salute, as established in

1810, was 17 guns (equal to the number of states at the time). Today a

salute of 21 guns is fired in the honor of the national flag, the sovereign or

chief of state of a foreign nation, a member of a reigning royal family, and

the president, ex-president, and president-elect of the United States. A 21-

gun salute is also fired at noon of the day of the funeral of any of the latter

three. Gun salutes are also given for military and civilian leaders of this and

other nations. The number of gunshots depends on their protocol rank, but

is always an odd number.

And from the Curiosity Corner, Salute!

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and

they think it is hell.

-- Harry Truman

No Air Conditioning Needed

Question: When people live inside an igloo there has to be heat. Why

doesn’t it melt? (Asked by a curious youngun’ who read about Nanook

of the North.)

Reply: An igloo is an icy dome structure that serves as a temporary winter

home or hunting shelter for Alaskan Inuits (Eskimos). In the construction of

an igloo, blocks of hardened snow are cut from a snowdrift and shaped so

that successive circular layers form a narrowing spiral in the shape of a

dome. A keystone block at the top finishes the dome and a half cylindrical

entrance or “porch” is added. The gaps between the snow blocks are then

filled in with more snow.

The finishing touch comes from a whale-blubber lamp placed in the

igloo and the entrance sealed with a block of snow. Heat from the lamp

causes the snow on the inside to melt somewhat. Because of the dome

structure, the water melts down the sides of the igloo and soaks the blocks of

snow. When the blocks are almost saturated, the entrance is opened, the

lamp extinguished, and the cold outside air comes in to freeze the igloo into

one hard and solid structure.

When an igloo is inhabited, it has an interior temperature between 50

and 60 degrees Fahrenheit while the outside temperature may be well below

zero. The interior temperature is maintained by the body heat from the

tenants, along with blubber oil lamps. Not until late spring, when the

exterior temperature rises, does an igloo begin to melt. So in the winter, the

occupants have a relatively warm home in which to live and eat pies --

Eskimo pies, of course.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Change is inevitable -- except from a vending

machine.

--Anonymous

Hi-Ho Silver

Question: Commemorative statutes of soldiers on horseback sometimes

have the legs of the horses lifted. I have heard the number of hoofs

lifted into the air reveals how the rider died. Is this true? (Asked by a

curious equestrian.)

Reply: Folk wisdom has it that equestrian statutes have a code whereby the

rider’s fate can be determined by how many hooves the horse has raised.

(Hooves or hoofs are both correct, in case you are wondering.) The common

theory is that if one hoof is raised, the rider was wounded in battle; two

raised hooves, the rider died in battle; and all four hooves on the ground, the

rider survived all battles unharmed.

The hoof code generally holds for statues at the Gettysburg battlefield,

with one noticeable exception. Confederate General James Longstreet was

not wounded in this battle, yet his horse has one foot raised. (He was

wounded later in the Wilderness Campaign – I know, picky, picky, picky.)

If you look at statues in Washington, D.C., the code is not followed well.

Washington, D.C. is the home of more equestrian statues than any other city

in the nation and perhaps only 10 out of some 30 statutes follow the

convention. So it seems that if there was a code, some sculptors were

unaware of the tradition or chose to ignore it.

Another folklore statue code is that statues of Confederates who died

in the war face north, and those who survived face south. This theory can be

tested by examining the statues on Memorial Avenue in Richmond, Virginia.

Here there are Civil War statutes honoring Generals Robert E. Lee,

Stonewall Jackson, Jeb (J.E.B.) Stuart, and Confederate President Jefferson

Davis. Lee faces south and Jackson faces north which follows the code.

However, Stuart’s horse faces north; but Stuart, who was mortally wounded

at Yellow Tavern, faces east, as does Jefferson Davis. [For the curious, the

initials J.E.B in Stuart’s name are for James Ewell Brown. Also, another

interesting tidbit -- Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was a physics professor at

Virginia Military Institute (VMI) prior to the Civil War.]

There you have it. But what about an equestrian statue with all four

hooves off the ground? Here I can help. Such a statue would be a case of

anti-gravity. (I’m allergic to gravity myself.)

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): An ignorant person is one who doesn’t know

what you have just found out.

-- Will Rogers

Roll No More

Question: Why do dogs like to roll in decaying organic matter? (Asked

by the Curiosity Corner writer – curious me.)

Reply: This question has crossed my mind at various times. I have a dog –

Max. (Full name: Prince Maximillian of Monaco. It’s on his papers. I

wrote the name there right after I got him out of the animal shelter.) Max,

my neighbor’s dog, and most dogs take great pleasure in finding something

that is decaying and rolling in it. Living by a lake, dead fish are a favorite.

Smells to high heaven! No one wants to get close enough to give Max a

bath.

I’ve asked several people about this, including veterinarians, and no one

seems to know. So I got on the World Wide Web and posed the question. A

scientist got back to me with a plausible answer. She wrote:

“Greetings. It is thought that dogs may choose to roll in foul smelling

things to mask their scent, just as wolves do. Wolves may roll in

decomposing carcasses or the feces of herbivores to disguise

themselves. They want to cover their own odors so their prey won’t

be alarmed by their scent. This way they can sneak up on their prey

and have a better chance of making a kill. Some behaviorists feel dogs

may roll in smelly things to advertise what they have found to other

dogs. No matter what the reason, unfortunately some of our domestic

friends have held on to this trait.”

Maybe it’s an old instinct, but I wish Max wouldn’t roll in things to

advertise what he has found.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): I am not what I think I am. I am not what you

think I am. I am what I think, you think that I am.

--Anonymous

Is It Real?

Question: I see sales people holding up bills to look at them in the light

and/or marking them with a magic marker. Why is this? (Asked by a

curious currency user.)

Reply: Counterfeiting, or illegal reproduction, of currency is an old

endeavor. Sophisticated copiers, printers, digital scanners, and computers

make this illegal activity easier than in the old days (BC – before

computers). And so, the U.S. Treasury uses various features on bills to

make exact reproductions difficult to do.

When a person holds a bill up to the light, it is being investigated for a

watermark. This is a feature on the 1999 series bills -- those with the

portraits off-centered to the left. The off-centering was done to make room

for the watermark. If you hold one of these bills ($5, $10, $20, etc.) up to a

light with the portrait facing you, you can see the watermark image in the

right part of the bill. The image is the same figure as that of the engraved

portrait. The watermark can be seen from both sides of the bill.

Varying the paper density in a small area during the papermaking

process allows the watermark. The watermark guards against the counterfeit

technique of bleaching ink off a lower denomination bill and using the paper

to “reprint” the bill as a higher denomination note.

The paper on which bills are printed is a special cotton or linen “rag”

paper. It is made from cotton or linen rags that are beaten into fibers. When

formed into paper, the fibers bond together very firmly and water has little

effect on the paper. This is why bills survive a trip through the washing

machine when inadvertently left in clothes. Counterfeit money, on the other

hand, is printed on common paper that is made out of cellulose – trees.

Notebook paper and newspaper print are examples. The cellulose fibers do

not bond firmly and come apart in water.

Now we are ready for the magic marker question. This counterfeit

detection method is based on simple chemistry. The marker contains an

iodine compound in the ink, which is usually a yellowish color. When a real

bill is marked with the marker, nothing happens -- that is, no color change.

But when the marker is applied to a counterfeit bill printed on cellulose-

based paper, the iodine reacts with the starch in the paper and the pen mark

turns black.

Oh, oh – what if a counterfeiter put a yellow mark on a bogus bill?

Would a salesperson make a second mark to check?

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The secret of a good sermon is to have a good

beginning and a good ending; and have the two as close together as possible.

-- George Burns

A See-Through

Question: We have all seen our share of political speeches on TV. Most

speakers don’t use notes and could not have memorized all the material.

There must be monitors somewhere, but we do not see them. Where are

they? (Asked by a curious TV couch potato.)

Reply: For sure they use them. They are called teleprompters and use a

“two-way” mirror (sometimes called a one-way mirror or a half-silvered

mirror). The audience sees through a teleprompter as if it weren’t there. A

speech is projected on to the other side, which the speaker can see and read.

Think of the police investigation rooms that have a “one-way” glass

window. People outside can see in, but to those inside see a surface

reflecting light and so looks like a mirror. Closer to home (none of my

readers have been in a police interrogation room), think of being in a lighted

room with a big window at night. When you look at the window you see

your reflection as in a mirror, but someone outside can look through the

window and clearly see what is going on inside. Notice there is a difference

in lighting. A person on the bright or well-lit side sees reflected light and a

person on the dark side sees through the window.

So in the TV speeches, a speaker is on the bright side – the podium

well-lit with spotlights. The audience is on the darker side and sees the

speaker through the teleprompter screen set up between the speaker and the

audience. There is usually more than one screen so a speaker can turn and

talk toward different parts of an audience. The speech script is entered into a

computer program, and the script is projected (usually from below) onto the

mirror (speaker) side, which can be easily read by a speaker.

An experienced teleprompter operator can match the scrolling script

to a speaker’s pace and allow for pauses, smile notices, and adlibbing. Of

course the speech is usually rehearsed and the operator formats the script so

things run smoothly. Difficult words can be phonetically spelled out -- like

Qu-ree-oss-it-tee-Koor-ner. (Did you get that one?)

C.P.S. (Curious Post Script): My wife has two complaints; nothing to wear

and not enough closet space.

-- Anonymous

Don’t Lag Behind

Question: After long airplane flights, why do people get “jet lag”?

(Asked by a curious frequent flyer.)

Reply: When you have jet lag, your body is out of whack and you may

suffer from fatigue, inability to sleep, headaches, loss of concentration, and

so on. Jet lag occurs when you cross time zones and upset your internal 24-

hour biological clock process, known as circadian rhythms. The important

factors of sunrise and sunset and periods of daylight and darkness influence

biological cycles and travel can cause these factors to change.

Jet lag results from eastward or westward flights. (North or south

flights generally do not change time zones.) It is easier to cope with flying

in a westward direction compared with flying eastward. When flying west,

you are going with the apparently westward-moving Sun and daylight and

darkness do not change as much. For an eastward traveler going in the

opposite direction to the Sun’s westward motion, the day is shorter, the

disruption of the circadian rhythms is more severe, and the jet lag can be

greater.

Let’s take a short-trip example. Suppose you live in California and

fly to New York, where the time is three hours later (Eastern Standard Time,

EST). On arriving, you set your watch accordingly. At the time of your

usual 11 p.m. bedtime, your body’s time is 8 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time,

PST). As a result you may have a difficult time getting to sleep. Eventually

you nod off, and having set your alarm clock for 6 a.m., you roll out when it

rings. But your body says “Hold it! – it is only 3 a.m. – what is happening?

I’m not rested and need more sleep.” When traveling across even more time

zones, the jet lag gets worse.

Here’s another example, flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Frankfurt,

Germany. You fly out at about 5 p.m., are served dinner, relax a bit, and

then stay up to watch a movie. In so doing, you do not get to sleep until

after 11 p.m. Then, about 1 a.m. – dong, dong – “Ladies and gentlemen

please prepare for landing.” A short night, it is 7 a.m. Frankfurt time (6

hours difference). Needless to say, there are some sleepy movie watchers.

Even flying westward, you can imagine the jet lag effect of flying on a non-

stop flight from New York to Tokyo, Japan. There is a 14 hour difference,

and it may be the next day (date) in Japan (the International Date Line is

crossed). Jet lag from such a flight could affect the performance of athletes,

so plans are made for them to arrive well in the advance of an event and

have time to get their circadian rhythms back in sync with local day and

night.

What can you do to help prevent jet lag? For one, don’t drink coffee

or tea in the evening that might keep you awake. During the week prior to

departure, you might gradually adjust the time for going to bed and getting

up according to the time where you are going so you will be used to the new

conditions. Some medications may be appropriate, but don’t lag on

consulting your doctor beforehand.

C.P.S. (Curiosity Postscript): When a woman says she has nothing to wear,

she means nothing new. What a man says he has nothing to wear, he means

he has nothing clean.

-- Anonymous

It’s Your Duty

Question: What are these “duty-free” shops seen in airports? (Asked

by a curious tourist whose eye caught the word “free”.)

Reply: A “duty” is a customs tax paid to import something into a country.

Duty-free shops in international terminals sell perfume, candy, liquor,

tobacco, and so on. The implication is that you get things are cheaper by

being duty free. You buy something in a duty free store and it is delivered to

your flight gate where you pick it up before boarding.

The shop does not pay duty on the merchandise they buy and import.

The idea is that at an airport, the merchandise has not technically entered the

country. Since the shop sells it to you when you are leaving the country, no

import duty has to be paid by the shop. These savings are supposedly

passed on to the departing buyers -- but are duty-free prices bargains?

Merchandise may be cheaper outside the airport than in the duty-free

shop, so it may pay to compare prices. U.S. citizens are allowed a personal

exemption of several hundred dollars (no custom tax) on items purchased in

other countries and brought into the U.S. So you will have an allowance

when you fly internationally that allows you to bring a set amount of duty-

free merchandise home with you. Keep this in mind and do not get too

carried away in the duty-free shops.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Half of the American people have never read a

news paper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.

-- Gore Vidal (1925 - ), novelist and playwright.

Where Has It Gone?

Question: When I was kid growing up, the antiseptics of choice for cuts

and scrapes were iodine and mercurochrome, which left nice brown and

red stains, respectively. We still have iodine, but where has all the

mercurochrome gone? (Asked by a curious merc man.)

Reply: Mercurochrome is a mercury-based compound used as an anti-

bacterial antiseptic. My mom kept an abundant supply of mercurochrome

around and a scraped knee or small finger cut got a little sting and turned red

with its application -- there was even a yellow-green sheen to it. But now

there is no more mercurochrome (technically known as merbromin) on

drugstore shelves. Has it been banned? Well, yes, in a sense.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the responsibility of

determining whether or not pharmaceuticals and food additives are safe.

When given this responsibility in a 1938 act of Congress, there were

hundreds of unchecked products. Products like mercurochrome that had

been around for years with seemingly no ill effects were given a “generally

recognized as safe” (GRAS) status. In 1978 the FDA began a review of

mercury-containing over-the-counter products. In general, FDA approval

requires studies to be done to show a product is safe and this testing had

never been done for mercurochrome.

Even though the amount of mercury in mercurochrome is small,

mercury poisoning is a consideration. (You may recall a FDA advisory that

warned pregnant women and young children not to eat certain fish because

of high mercury levels.) In 1998 the FDA pulled the GRAS status of

mercurochrome and classified it as a “new drug.” This meant that a

company wanting to sell mercurochrome had to put it through a rigorous and

costly approval process. No one did, and the FDA forbade the sale of

mercurochrome across state lines, which effectively killed the product.

Mercurochrome will probably never be tested because there are more

effective antiseptics such as merthiolate and metaphen. The FDA decision

was one of those “better-safe-than-sorry” decisions since mercury poisoning

can harm various body organs and fetuses.

In some states, mercury fever thermometers for checking body

temperature are illegal. (The electronic digital type is safer.) There is also

controversy about amalgam tooth fillings which are about 50% mercury.

There are claims that the mercury filters out of the fillings into the body.

The FDA has not seen fit to ban amalgam from dentistry. (Plastic fillings

are now commonly used.)

The Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is said to

have suffered from mercury poisoning. A mercury compound was used to

treat beaver skins for hats in the 1800s, and it was common for workers in

the hatting industry to develop mercury poisoning that affected the brain,

making them act a bit weird.

I have a mouthful of amalgam fillings, so I have a mercurial excuse

for my actions.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Veni, Vidi, VISA. I came, I saw, I did a little

shopping.

-- Anonymous

Frost on the Pumpkin

Question: At what temperature does frost form? I have observed it

when the temperature was above 32 degrees. (Asked by a curious frost-

conscientious observer.)

Reply: To avoid any misconceptions, frost is not frozen dew. Dew results

from the condensation of water vapor to liquid water. Frost results from the

deposition of water vapor – going directly from a gas to a solid (ice).

Deposition is the reverse of sublimation, where the change is from a solid

directly to a gas. Dry ice is an example. We often have frost when the

temperature is above freezing, but the conditions have to be “right” for the

frost to occur.

Water vapor in air condenses to a liquid state when the temperature is

lowered to the dew point (temperature). Frost develops when the

temperature lowers to the frost point, which is essentially the same as the

dew point for temperatures at or below freezing.

Standard air temperature measurements are taken about two yards

above the ground, and on a calm night the ground temperature can be as

much as five to seven degrees cooler than the standard temperature reading.

Thus, frost can form on the ground when the recorded air temperature is

above freezing. Higher levels may be cooler than the recorded temperature

and frost is likely to form first on the roofs of houses. If there is much wind,

frost (or dew) will not form. Wind mixes the atmosphere and any

temperature differences disappear.

Ideal conditions for frost formation are a night with clear skies, light

or no wind, and a temperature forecast near or below freezing. Much of the

water vapor that goes into frost and dew actually comes from the soil and

plants. With dry soil and vegetation, the formation of frost or dew is less

likely. But even with the lack of rain, there may be frost on the pumpkin.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): I must confess, I was born at a very early age.

-- Groucho Marx

From Tears to Rears

Here are a few short ones I hope you enjoy.

Question: Why is it said that someone is crying crocodile tears?

Reply: Crocodile tears means to fake sadness or a reason for crying. When

crocodiles eat a big meal, they do cry and have tears. This is because tear

ducts near the corners of their eyes automatically release tears when the jaws

are opened widely. The croc isn't sad at all about getting a meal -- just

shedding crocodile tears.

Question: Why is a skunk called a polecat?

Reply: The polecat is a member of the weasel family native to Europe and

looks similar to a skunk. Skunks were mistakenly called polecats by

American immigrants. However, the smell helped everyone to distinguish a

skunk from anything else.

Question: Why do cakes fall sometimes when an oven door is slammed

shut?

Reply: Baking powder in the batter releases gas to make a cake rise to a

point slightly higher than when fully baked. While rising to this maximum

height, the batter is unstable, with the cell walls holding the gas being very

thin and weak. A loud noise or vibration may cause them to break and cause

the cake to fall. When the liquid batter converts to a solid structure, the cake

is not likely to be affected by a slam of the oven door.

Question: Why is the lowest ranking admiral in the Navy called a rear

admiral?

Reply: Back in the old days of sailing fleets, the ships in a fleet were

divided into sections with a pecking order. The top admiral got to sail up

front and the low admiral on the totem pole brought up the rear, and

therefore was called a rear admiral. (Maybe they sat a lot too.) The word

admiral comes from the Arabic amir al, meaning “lord of the.”

Actually the rank of rear admiral is divided into two grades – upper

half and lower half. The rank is the same, but the upper half admiral is

higher on the seniority list, receives more pay, and wears two stars. Our rear

admiral in the cartoon with one star is a rear admiral lower half.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): I went to a fight the other night and a hockey

game broke out.

-- Rodney Dangerfield

II. Things Everyone Should KnowFor Good Measure – by Weight or by Volume?

Question: Is the old saying, “a pint’s a pound the world around,” true?

(Asked by a curious cook.)

Reply: The answer is yes and no. It depends on what you are talking about.

The saying is a pretty good approximation for water and other similar free-

pouring liquids. Water weighs 8.3 pound per gallon (lb/gal); and with 2

cups to a pint, 2 pints to a quart, 4 quarts to a gallon, or 8 pints to a gallon, a

pint of water weighs 8.3 lb/8 pt = 1.04 lb/pt. Pretty close to a pound for

water and other liquids such as milk or juice.

A pint (16 oz.) is close to a pound the world around for water and

similar liquids, but not for heavy liquids such as mercury, and in particular,

solids. The liquid-solid mix up comes about because:

1 pint = 16 oz. (fluid)

1 pound = 16 oz. (weight)

Two different kinds of ounces (oz.)! The fluid ounce is a volume

measurement and the weight ounce, as the name implies, a weight

measurement.

If a recipe calls for a cup of milk or a cup of heavy syrup, both have

the same 8 fl oz. volume, but different weights. But what about cups of

solids? Suppose a recipe calls for a cup each of flour, sugar, and shredded

coconut. Cups of these ingredients would weigh differently, but the recipe is

calling for a volumetric measurement.

For flour and sugar, scraping to level the top of a full cup gives an

accurate volume measurement. How about shredded coconut? One brand of

coconut may be fluffier than another and there would be different amounts

in a cup volume. Do you pack the coconut down in the cup? Enlightened

recipe writers wouldn’t say a cup (volume) of coconut, but rather something

such as 4 oz. (weight) of coconut. You could weigh out this amount or

guess what volume this would be from the weight on the package. For

example, if the coconut package contained 8 oz. (weight), one half the

package would be 4 oz. Generally for solids, weight amounts are the best

way to go.

Looking around the kitchen at home, and here are some examples of

fluid and weight measurements I found: can of soda, 12 fl oz. (355 mL);

maple syrup, 8.5 fl oz. (250 mL); can of pink salmon, net wt., 14.75 oz (418

grams); little can of peas, net wt., 8.5 oz. (240 g). Do you see the difference

in liquid and solid measures in different ounces? The syrup and peas are

both 8.5 oz., but one fluid (fl) and one weight (net wt.). Check it out in your

kitchen cupboard or pantry. Note that the metric amounts are also given, but

no problem there – volume (liquid) in milliliters (mL), and weight (really

mass) in grams (g). No confusion. Go metric!

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The reason a dog has so many friends is that he

wags his tail instead of his tongue.

--Anonymous

Big Brass

Question: How many five star generals have there are been? Are there

any now? (Asked by a curious veteran.)

Reply: The rank of five star general (technically General of the Army) was

created during World War II so U.S. commanders wouldn’t be outranked by

Allied officers they might supervise. It was suggested that the new rank be

called Field Marshal, similar to the British rank, but General George C.

Marshall objected. Who would want to be called Field Marshal Marshall?

So, it was called General of the Army and given a five star ranking.

There have been four five-star generals, along with four Navy

admirals (Fleet Admiral is equivalent rank to five-star general), and one Air

Force five-star general. These are, with dates of award:

Army Date

Gen. George C. Marshall June 16, 1944

Gen. Douglas MacArthur Dec. 18, 1944

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower Dec. 20, 1944

Gen. Omar N. Bradley Sept. 20, 1944

Navy

Adm. William D. Leahy Dec. 15, 1944

Adm. Ernest J. King Dec. 17, 1944

Adm. Chester Nimitz Dec. 19, 1944

Adm. William F. (“Bull”) Halsey Dec. 11, 1945

Air Force

Gen. Henry H. (“Hap”) Arnold Dec. 21, 1944

General Arnold actually received his fifth star when he was part of the

Army. When the U.S. Army Air Corps. was separated from the Army, thus

becoming the U.S. Air Force, “Hap” Arnold became the first and only five

star general of the new service. With the death of General Bradley in 1981,

there are no living officers with the five star rank.

Does something outrank a five star ranking? Yes, but again, no living

officer holds it. In 1919, Gen. John J. Pershing was awarded the rank of

General of the Armies (note Armies), which is considered by some to be a

six star ranking. (Pershing never wore six stars, only four, which was the

highest rank at the time.) In 1976, George Washington was posthumously

awarded the rank of General of the Armies by a joint resolution of Congress,

and was to “have precedence over all other ranks of the Army, past or

present.” President Gerald Ford issued a presidential decree that George

Washington would always remain senior and could never be outranked by

another officer in the U.S. military. (Personally, I never got above Specialist

Fourth Class of the Army.)

C.P.S. (Curiosity Postscript): Life would be infinitely happier if we could

only be born at the age of 80 and gradually approach eighteen.

--Mark Twain

Duck, It’s a Duct

Question: Which is it, “duck” tape or “duct” tape? (Asked by a

curious taper.)

Reply: This tape has gotten publicity recently as being part of a home kit

against chemical and biological terrorist attacks – for taping up the doors

and windows. Duck or duct? Take your choice, it has been called both.

This adhesive tape was invented in the 1920s, but wasn’t manufactured

commercially until the early 1940s. It was originally used during WWII to

keep moisture out of ammunition cases, and because of its waterproof

features was called “duck” tape. Also, it was made from duck cloth, a

durable, tightly woven cotton fabric. Heavyweight duck cloth is used in

awnings, tents, etc. Light duck is used in summer clothing. The tape had a

nice Army olive-drab color.

After the war, there was a building boom and the tape found use in

connecting ductwork together. It did not take long for the color to be

changed to silver or gray, so as to better match the color of ductwork, and

the term “duct” tape came into use.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Remember: today is the tomorrow that you

worried about yesterday.

-- Dale Carnegie

Only a Penny More

Question: Why are items sold for “something-9” cents, like 89 cents?

Why don’t they just round it off to an even 90 cents? (Asked by a

curious conscientious shopper.)

Reply: It may sound like a conspiracy to keep pennies in circulation, but it

is more of a marketing psychology. It is generally thought that the pricing

that ends in a 9-digit started when most foods were sold in bulk by the

pound (before all this prepackaged stuff). Odd numbers make it more

difficult for buyers to figure out the cost of a quarter- or half-pound, so they

just buy the whole pound.

This practice seems to have persisted, and now you find many grocery

store prices ending in a 9 digit. One marketing theory holds that consumers

tend to think in multiples of 5 cents: 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, etc. If something

costs 69 cents, then it seems you are getting a penny discount from the 70

cents price. (What if the price were 71 cents? You may think you are being

overcharged by a penny.) Doesn’t a price of 99 cents sound better than

$1.00? What a bargain -- a penny off.

Then there is multiple pricing, such as “2 for 69 cents.” It seems like

you are getting a better buy by purchasing more. Sure, if you buy only one

you are charged the extra half cent – unless it’s “3 for 99 cents” – and you’re

more likely to buy 3. Marketing is a big ploy. For example, grocery stores

will sometimes rearrange their shelves. This is so you can’t find the items

you want in their familiar places. You have to look up and down the aisles,

and as a result you tend to buy more rather than going directly to an item

you want.

I used marketing psychology once at a college function where a

student organization was selling chances. I suggested that they be priced as

“5 cents each or 4 for a quarter.” They took in a lot of quarters.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies,

and statistics.

-- Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister

That “something 9” cent Price, One More Time

Question: It has to do with cash registers?

A special treat… a column guest. We’ve talked about this “9” thing in

prices … something 29 cents instead of 30 cents (and you don’t have four

pennies and get a penny back). A colleague of mine, George Franke, who is

an engineer, sent me a more practical reason which I pass on to you.

Here’s what he says: A while back you answered a question about

why prices often end in “9”, such as 29 cents or $1.99. Your answer is

certainly correct in that it makes the prices seem less, thereby increasing

sales. However, there is another reason.

When cash registers were first invented, they were hard to sell. The

pull-out wooden cash drawer was much cheaper. Granted, it would be nice

to have a running total of the cash in the drawer with a cash register, but the

expensive new technology was not quickly embraced.

But the cash register came into use when it was recognized that it

could save more money than it cost. A problem at the time was employee

theft. Some poorly paid sales clerks were stealing money from the cash

drawer. Enter the cash register. The machine would keep track of the

amount of money in the drawer.

But there were still problems. How do you get the clerk to use the

cash register for every sale? The first solution: put a bell on the machine

that rang every time the drawer opened. This helped attract attention of the

“floor walkers” who were originally hired to look for clerks with sticky

fingers. They were alerted to every sale that was rung up on the cash

register.

However, there was another problem. With rounded prices such fifty

cents or one dollar for merchandise, the exact amount could be easily paid

and there was a question about whether the clerk would put the money in the

cash register or in his/her pocket. Therefore, prices were changed to odd

amounts, usually ending in “7”, “8”, or “9”. Few customers would have the

exact amount, making it necessary for the clerk to open the cash register

drawer to make change.

(How about that? I appreciate the insight and input.)

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The quickest way to double your money is to

fold it and put it back into your pocket.

-- Will Rogers

Let’s Get It Strait

Question: People are sometimes put in “straightjackets.” Why are they

called straightjackets? (Asked by a curious confined person.)

Reply: Such jackets may keep one straight, but they are actually

straitjackets. Straight and strait are pronounced the same, but the word

“strait” means narrow or tight, and a straitjacket is just that.

There are some other uses of “strait.” Some people are “strait-laced,”

meaning they have narrow views. Also, a narrow channel of water is

referred to as a strait, for example, the Strait of Gibraltar or the Bering Strait.

You can see this meaning biblically. If you check out Matt 7:13-14 or Luke

13:24 in the King James Version (KJV), you will be told to enter “at the

strait gate.” In the New King James Version (NKJV), the passages refer to a

“narrow gate.” However, in both the KJV and NKJV, there is reference to a

street called Straight (Acts 9:11).

Now, we have that straitened out.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): For every complicated problem, there is a

simple, easy-to-understand wrong answer.

-- Anonymous

Mind Your Q’s and Z’s

Question: Why are there no letters “Q” and “Z” on older telephones?

(Asked by a curious caller.)

Reply: I used to play a joke, telling people they could get the answer to any

question by calling the free number 1-800-THE-QUIZ. Of course, with no

Q or Z on the phone, you get some strange looks on peoples’ faces.

Back in the days of rotary phones with circular plates having 10 holes,

the holes were numbered 1 to 9, and zero. The “1” was used for internal

phone company signals, and the zero was for the operator. This left eight

holes for dialing telephone numbers.

To help remember phone numbers better, letters were assigned to each

of the 8 holes, and the first two numbers of phone numbers were assigned

letters – like for Greenwood, GW-549. Having eight holes (or numbers)

with 3 letters each, gave 24 letters, so the least common “Q” and “Z” were

omitted.

Enter the touch-tone phone with a 3 x 4 key pad of 12 keys or buttons.

With the extra space, newer phones generally have all 26 letters of the

alphabet on the 2 thru 9 number buttons. They cheat a bit and add the Q and

Z by putting four letters on the 7 and 9 buttons.

The “1” button still has no letters; and the zero button in the middle of

the last row has “oper” on it. But this button is now for zero, as in 1-800-.

You have to use a number to get the operator these days. On each side of

the zero button, there is a “star” symbol (*) and a “pound sign” (#). The real

name for the latter is the “octothorpe.” So, if you are on the phone and get

some recording like, “To repeat this menu, press the octothorpe,” you’ll

know what it means.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): A dyslexic agnostic does not believe in Dog.

-- Anonymous

Flea or Jockey, a Lot of Choice

Question: Where did the term “jockey lot” come originate? I have

always heard these places called “flea markets,” but never heard them

called jockey lots until I was down South. (Asked by a curious Southern

shopper.)

Reply: I had never heard of a jockey lot either until someone took me to

one when I moved to the South some years ago. Didn’t see any jockeys

there, and come to think of it, no fleas – but the boiled peanuts were sure

good. In general, the term “flea” denotes such places that are infected by

fleas. For example, a low-rent or cheap hotel is referred to as a flea trap or

fleabag hotel.

It seems “flea market” comes from the French marche’ aux puces,

literally meaning a “market of fleas,” which was an open-air market where

second-hand goods were sold. The term flea market came to America and

meant an informal market where people gathered to sell second-hand articles

of all kinds, some of which were believed to have fleas. (Great place for a

flea circus, I guess.)

Jockeys apparently rode in later and cast their lot. The following is taken

from A Dictionary of American Regional English. A 1939 entry explains “

County court day here is the second Monday of each month, and at this time

every man in the country who can comes in to ‘Jockey Lot,’ to talk and trade

… guns, watches, knives, harness, wagons, horses, mules, and dogs –

anything and everything that can be ‘swapped’ or sold is fetched in.”

Another entry gives the definition: Jockey lot – a flea market,

originally an open space near the courthouse where, on Tuesdays of court

week, horses were swapped. Horse traders then were known as jockeys.

So, flea market or jockey lot? – cast your lot.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Familiarity breeds contempt – and children.

-- Mark Twain

How High to Fly?

Question: How is the decision made to fly the flag at half-staff?

Sometimes the post office has a flag at half-staff and the highway

department’s flag is at full-staff. Also, do businesses have the authority

to decide how to fly their flags? (Asked by a curious flag flyer.)

Reply: Prior to Flag Day, June 14, 1923, there were no federal or state

regulations governing display of a U.S. flag. On this date, the National Flag

Code was adopted by the National Flag Conference made up of over sixty

five national groups. The Code was a guide for handling and display of the

Stars and Stripes. It did not impose any penalties for flag misuse. Penalties

were left to the state and federal governments. Congress formally adopted

the National Flag Code in 1946. States generally follow the Code, but some

may have their own state flag laws.

Only the President of the United States or a state governor can

officially order the flag lowered to half-staff. There are certain accepted

times, for example, 30 days for the death of a past or setting president; 10

days for the death of a Vice President, former and current Chief Justice of

the Supreme Court, the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and so on

down the pecking order. Designated times for half-staff flag flying are from

the day of death until interment. The President may order half-staff for the

deaths of other officials and foreign dignitaries. The governor of a state

orders half-staff for state officials.

A flag may be flown at half-staff on certain days such as National

Pearl Harbor Day, Remembrance Day, Patriot Day, and so on. On Memorial

Day, the flag should be flown at half-staff until noon and then at full-staff

for the rest of the day. When flying the flag at half-staff, it should be hoisted

to the peak or top of the pole for an instant, and then lowered to half-staff. A

similar procedure is followed for taking the flag down. When you see flags

at full-staff when they should be flown at half-staff, there is likely a lack of

communication (or ignorance may be a factor).

Businesses cannot designate flying an American flags at half-staff. I

suppose they can fly the company flag any way they want, except above the

American flag. If I saw a company flag at half-staff when other flags were

at full-staff, I would think perhaps the company stock had taken a nosedive.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was

so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got

to be twenty-one, I was astonished how much he’d learned in seven years.

-- Mark Twain

Swear Out a Warranty

Question: What are the meanings of the various types of warranties?

(Asked by curious warrantee.)

Reply: There are many warranties out there, and some have very fine print.

A warranty, or guarantee, is essentially a promise (or contract) a seller gives

to a buyer that certain corrective things will be done if a product proves

defective or does not work. Usually a time frame is given – things are not

guaranteed forever.

At the time of a sale, there is an implied warranty. This is an

unwritten promise required by law that assumes two things – the product

actually does what it is supposed to do and it can be used for the purposes

for which it is sold. (New homes come with an implied warranty.)

Then there is a conditional warranty in which the seller agrees to

repair or replace a defective product within a certain time from the date of

sale, typically, 30, 60, or 90 days. A conditional warranty might state that

you can return the product “unless completely satisfied” within a certain

time. However, there are some conditions. For example, if you damage the

product, repairs will be made at your expense. There was a dentist that gave

a conditional warranty. He would warrant things like crowns and bridges for

six years. These items would be replaced or repaired at no charge during

that time if broken or lost.

An express warranty is one offered by manufacturers to encourage

customers to buy a product. Such warranties may be written or verbal.

Companies that offer written express warranties must do so in accordance

with the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act if the product is sold for

over $15. This 1975 law states than any written warranty must be classified

as a full warranty or a limited warranty.

A full warranty includes these provisions:

* The product must be fixed at no charge to the buyer within a reasonable

time.

* The owner does not have to go to unreasonable effort to return the

product for repair (such as shipping back a refrigerator).

* If the product cannot be fixed after a reasonable number of attempts, the

defective product will be replaced with a new one or the buyer’s money will

be returned. (Many states have something similar in automobile “lemon

laws.”)

* Warranty services will be provided without requiring the buyer to mail

in a registration.

A limited warranty offers fewer benefits than a full warranty, such as

free parts but not labor. Full and limited warranties may apply to different

parts of a product. For example, the engine of a lawnmower may be covered

by a full warranty and the other parts by a limited warranty.

And then there is the biggie, a lifetime warranty. But what lifetime

is guaranteed -- yours or that of the product? If you read the fine print, it

will probably say the life of the product. Then you get into the hassle of

how long is the lifetime of a product. You can imagine what that might

entail. Did you use it every day? For what jobs did you use it? If a company

knows the typical lifetime of a product, why isn’t the warranty for that long?

The answer is that a “lifetime guarantee” sounds more appealing and is a

good sales device. A golden lifetime warranty is on most Sears Craftsman®

tools. For example, if a screwdriver tip ever breaks or bends, you can take it

back to any Sears store for a replacement.

Finally there is an extended warranty, which is not a warranty but a

service contract. Warranties are included in the price of the product.

Service contracts (a.k.a. extended warranties) are sold separately at an extra

charge.

There you have it. Bottom line: read the fine print and caveat emptor

– let the buyer beware – guaranteed.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): I don’t always know what I’m talking about but

I know I’m right.

-- Muhammed Ali

Can You Hear Me Now?

Question: Why does the volume on a TV go up when commercials come

on? This is so irritating. (Asked by a curious commercial listener.)

Reply: The loud volume of some commercials can be quite annoying,

distracting, and unwanted. The change in volume is apparent. (Do you hear

me now? I do, without my hearing aid.) I wrote to the Federal

Communications Commission (FCC) for an explanation. Their web site

describes their responsibility as follows:

“The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent

United States government agency, directly responsible to Congress.

The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is

charged with regulating interstate and international communications

by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The FCC's jurisdiction

covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions.”

(ww.fcc.gov/aboutus.html)

Here, in part, is what I received from my inquiry about loud commercials:

FCC CONSUMER FACTS

Program Background Noise and Loud Commercials

Background: Whether or not something is “too loud” is a judgment that

varies with each listener. The decision is influenced by many factors like

content, tone, and style, the speaker’s voice and tone, background sounds,

and music.

The FCC does not regulate the volume of programs or commercials.

FCC rules limit the amount of power that a station can transmit and the peak

level of the program material. Within the limitations of imposed by the FCC

rules, however, there is considerable latitude for broadcasters and program

producers to vary the “loudness” of the program material through the use of

available audio processing techniques, including compression and peak

limiting.

If You Have a Complaint

Under most circumstances, it is in the interest of broadcasters to use

equipment and procedures to avoid “loud” commercials and background

noise. If you have a complaint about “loud” commercials and background

noise, contact the station(s) involved. You should identify each message of

concern by the sponsor or product’s name and by the date and time of the

broadcast.

## After note: This fact sheet is for consumer education purposes only and

is not intended to affect any proceeding or cases involving this subject

matter or related issues.

So there you and I have it. Equipment may be purchased to suppress

the loud commercial sound, but it is cheaper to use the mute button.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have an automatic mute? That is, one where the mute

goes on when the sound is elevated by commercials, and goes off when they

are finished and the sound returns to normal. Sounds like a winner!

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it

can achieve.

-- Napoleon Hill

Man’s Best Friend

Question: I’ve often wondered where the phrase "a man's best friend is

his dog" originated. Can you shed any light on this? (Asked by a

curious dog owner.)

Reply: In this politically correct world, this should be Human’s Best

Friend, as a dog can be a Woman’s Best Friend and many dogs are. It is not

known for sure, but the following story may be the origin of the phrase. In

1870 Charles Burden sued his neighbor Hornsbey for shooting his dog, Old

Drum, who had mistakenly wandered onto Hornsbey's property. The case

went all the way to the Missouri State Supreme Court where in defense

Missouri Senator Graham Vest addressed the court. This is what he said:

"Gentlemen of the Jury: The best friend a man has in this world may

turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he

has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are

nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and

our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a

man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs

it the most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-

considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to

do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the

stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one

absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world,

the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves

ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.

Gentleman of the Jury, a man’s dog stands by him in prosperity

and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold

ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if

only he may be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has

no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that encounters the

roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if

he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When

riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his

love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

If fortune drives the master forth, an outcast in the world,

friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than

that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his

enemies. When the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master

in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter

if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the

noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open

in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.”

CharlesBurden won the case, and received $50 in damages. In 1958 a statue

of Old Drum was placed outside the Johnson County Courthouse in

Warrensburg, Missouri where the case first took place.

Sort of gets you, doesn’t it? I have a faithful dog from the animal

shelter. If you don’t have a canine best friend, go to the animal shelter and

they will fix you up. They even have the feline variety if you are more

inclined in that direction.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you

more than himself.

-- Josh Billings

Calling 911

Question: How did the number 911 become the emergency call

number? (Asked by a curious emergency-conscious reader.)

Reply: People feel secure knowing 911 is only three buttons away. The

number 911 is the national emergency number for the United States. Prior

to 1968, there was no standard emergency number. The FCC (Federal

Communications Commission) got together with AT&T to pick a number –

something easy to remember and unique. The group chose 911 because it

had never been used as an area code.

Congress passed legislation making 911 the standard emergency call

number, and the system was implemented slowly at first. Now most of the

country has 911 services.

Another useful thing would be to have a common calling number for

the highway or state patrol. I travel a bit and see signs along the highways

to call *HP or *SP. Traveling in Ohio last month, I saw a real jewel: “If you

need state patrol help call 1-877-7-PATROL”. That’s easy to remember.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): When it is raining heavily, we say it is

peppering it down. Would it ever be salting it down?

-- JDW

Out, Out, Damn Spot!

Question: Why do wet clothes or water spots on clothes appear to be a

darker color? Does the color change? (Asked by an accident-prone

column reader.)

Reply: There is no color change -- just a little physics going on that has to

do with light. The color of a piece of cloth is determined by the pigment

(dye) in the clothing. You see the color in clothing because of light being

reradiated by the pigment. White light, such as sunlight or from a light bulb,

is made up of light of all colors (or frequencies). When white light strikes

some cloth such as a pale blue shirt, the shirt appears blue because the blue

component of the white light is radiated back to our eyes. The dye pigment

in the cloth absorbs most of the other colors in the white light.

When the shirt is wet or has a wet spot, water fills the spaces between

the cloth threads. Some of the light striking the wet area is bent (we say

refracted in physics) by the water into the cloth where more of the non-blue

light is absorbed. The light coming back to our eyes then has a greater

percentage of blue light than when coming from dry cloth. As a result, the

wet area appears bluer and darker.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.

-- Aesop (620 – 560 BC), author of fables.

III. In the Kitchen

Cool BananaQuestion: Should you put bananas in the refrigerator? (Asked by a

curious housewife.)

Reply: This is an old one, but first, a little banana background … your

lesson for today. The banana "tree" is not a tree, but a giant herb and is the

largest plant on Earth without a woody stem. What looks like the "trunk" of

the banana plant is the overlapping thick leaves wrapped around one

another. The banana plant bears fruit only once, so the next crop is planted

from rootstock (planting part of the root). The plant grows quickly and has

ripened fruit in a year or less. Each plant bears about ten bunches of fruit,

called "hands;" and each hand contains about twenty bananas or "fingers."

Half of the world's bananas are grown in Africa, but Central America and

northern South America are the leading exporters to the United States.

Bananas are picked green, boxed, and loaded aboard refrigerated ships. On

arriving at their destination, the bananas are stored in ripening rooms until

they are not so green.

Now, back to the original question. Bananas generally undergo their

final ripening in the home after they are bought (unless you buy the overripe

specials). Many people are reluctant to put bananas in the refrigerator,

probably because of the Chiquita Banana commercials from the 1940s.

Chiquita warned:

"Bananas like the climate of the very, very tropical equator,

So you should never put bananas in the refrigerator!”

For the best results, bananas should be stored at room temperature until fully

ripe and then placed in the refrigerator to retard spoilage. Refrigeration will

cause the skin to turn brown, but the fruit will remain unspoiled inside for a

few days. When the skin turns brown, the fruit is all the sweeter. As

Chiquita sang:

"When they are flecked with brown and of a golden hue,

That's when bananas are the best for you."

She never mentioned that they are shipped in refrigerated banana boats.

C.P.S (Curious Postscript): You can observe a lot by just watching.

-- Yogi Berra

Cooking Eggactly Right

Question: How can you get the shells of hard-boiled eggs to peel off

easily? (Asked by a curious cook with apeel.)

Reply: Sometimes the shell of a hard-boiled egg almost falls off. (Peeling

under cold water helps.) At other times, the shell sticks, and chunks of egg

white come off with it -- very eggasperating. There are a couple of ways to

facilitate egg peeling. In one method, start with cold water (about an inch

covering the eggs), heat to just boiling, and then simmer just below boiling.

(A rapid boil may cause the eggs to crack because of the agitation.) After

about 12 minutes, cool the eggs quickly under cold, running water or by

placing them in a bowl of ice water. The cooling process tends to shrink the

egg white (albumen), causing it to pull away from the shell and makes the

egg easier to peel.

A similar method is to bring the eggs to a boil, turn off the heat, cover,

and leave the eggs in the hot water for about 15 minutes, and then cool as

directed above. Both methods give you hard-cooked eggs, rather than hard-

boiled.

I have tried these methods and both worked eggstremely well. Very

fresh eggs are more difficult to peel because the albumen tends to stick to

the membrane on the inside of the shell. This may be a concern down on the

farm, but most eggs bought in stores are old enough for this not to be a

problem.

There is one other benefit of the above cooking methods. When

boiled at a high heat for some time, the protein in the eggs becomes tough

and rubbery. High heat also causes a chemical reaction between the yolk

and the white, which leaves a green film or coating around the yolk. The

green stuff is iron sulfide from the iron in the yolk reacting with hydrogen

sulfide in the white. Kids might look at the green-covered yolk and say “Oh,

gross!” but it’s Ok to eat the egg and the taste is not affected. There you

have it, an eggstroaordinary eggscursion into cooking eggs which has left

me egghausted. Eggscuse me -- can’t you take a yolk?

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Double emphasis. SILENT and LISTEN have

the exact same letters.

-- Anonymous

Spinach and the Popeye Effect

Question: Is spinach as good for you as Popeye told us? (Asked by a

curious Olyve Oyl.)

Reply: Popeye the Sailor Man, supposedly got strong from the iron in

spinach. But the scientist who first determined the iron content in spinach

made a mistake and got it ten times too high. Spinach iron is locked up with

oxalic acid and cannot be used by the body. In addition to this, spinach also

contains phylate, a chemical that prevents iron from entering the blood

stream, so spinach is an iron-blocker. But don’t throw out the spinach yet.

It contains beta carotene (the body converts it to vitamin A), lutein (good for

healthy eyes), antioxidants, vitamin K, minerals, and folic acid.

I’m glad spinach is so healthy. My mother made me eat a bunch of it

during the Popeye era. I knew something was wrong even then – I never got

as strong as Popeye no matter how much spinach I ate.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Clothes make the man. Naked people have

little or no influence on our society.

-- Mark Twain

Shoofly Pie, the Green Sheen, Pretzels, and Chips

Question: What is shoofly pie? (Asked by a curious cook with flies in

the kitchen.)

Reply: Shoofly (or Shoo-fly) pie is a sweet desert that is like a molasses

coffee cake with a layer of gooey molasses on the bottom. The molasses

layer can be thick or thin and are referred to as wet-bottom and dry-bottom

pies, respectively. The pie is usually covered with crumbs made with brown

sugar and spices. There is a variety of recipes for shoofly pie that use

different ingredients and spices. Some cooks put chocolate icing on top for

a chocolate shoofly pie. Shoofly is a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dessert.

The pie’s unusual name is said to have originated because in early

days pies were set on window sills to cool. With the sweet ingredients, the

gathering flies would constantly have to be “shooed,” and so we have

shoofly pie.

I know some of you older folks might be wondering about “Apple Pan

Dowdy.” This is another sweet dessert in the form of a cobbler – fruit baked

with a sweet cake top. It evidently goes with shoofly pie as the old song

from the Dinah Shore and Ella Fitzgerald era says:

Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy

Makes your eyes light up,

Your stomach says “Howdy.”

Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy

I never get enough of that wonderful stuff.

Question: Why does the surface of ham sometimes have a glistening

sheen of colors – sometimes green? (Asked by a curious pork lover.)

Reply: A colorful sheen is sometimes seen on the surface of ham that has

been sliced and exposed to the air (oxygen). This is not spoilage, even

though the sheen may appear green. The color is caused by the chemical

reaction of the nitrate preservative and the iron content of the meat. This

gives the meat surface a color that is made up of several tints with green

being the major shade.

Question: How did pretzels originate?

(Asked by a curious pretzel purveyor.)

Reply: Pretzels are said to have originated about 600 AD by a monk in

Italy. During Lent, he couldn’t cook bread using the usual eggs, fat, or milk;

so the resourceful monk used flour, salt, and water. He formed thin rolls of

bread into a shape that he considered to represent two arms crossed in

prayer.

The new bread was named pretiola, which is Latin for “little gift,” and

were used as treats to reward children for saying their prayers. The word

“pretzel” comes from the original pretiola.

Question: Who invented potato chips? (Asked by a curious chip

cruncher.)

Reply: These crunchy slices originated in Saratoga Springs, New York (an

upstate resort town with a race track) in 1853 by a chef named George

Crum. A guest complained that the french fries were too thick, so George

sliced up some more and made them thinner. The guest did not like these

either, so what did George do? Sliced the potatoes paper thin and fried the

slices. They were a hit and became known as “Saratoga chips” at the time.

Now over 10 million pounds of potatoes are used daily to keep us in the

chips.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look

at it for hours.

-- Jerome K. Jerome

Bag’em Up!

Question: Fruit ripens more quickly when closed in a brown paper bag.

Why is this? (Asked by a curious ripe fruit lover.)

Reply: As fruit ripens, it releases a natural gaseous hormone called ethylene

(C2H4, for you chemistry buffs). Ethylene affects the growth, development,

and ripening of all plants. Putting fruit into a paper bag (doesn’t necessarily

have to be brown) traps the gas close to the fruit and it ripens more quickly.

Technically, ethylene triggers the production of enzymes, which cause

starches to break down into sugars. As we all know, most ripened fruits are

sweeter. (Forget melons, citrus fruit, and pineapples for this process. They

do not contain any starch that can be converted to sugar, which means they

will not get any sweeter after being picked, only an improvement in texture.)

The bag-ripening rate varies with different fruits. Peaches and pears can get

mushy relatively quickly.

Apples in the refrigerator produce a great deal of ethylene, so it is

important to store them separately from vegetables, such as broccoli,

cauliflower, and leafy greens, as these plants can be harmed by the gas.

(Guess that’s why we have separate fruit and veggie storage bins in the frig.)

However, you can add an apple to a bag with plums, tomatoes, and other

fruits to speed up the ripening. ( I can hear you now – the tomato is a fruit?

Yep. See “What’s the Difference Between a Fruit and a Vegetable” on page

xx.)

Ethylene is used commercially in “ripening rooms” to accelerate the

ripening process of early-picked fruits before sending them to market.

Numerous studies have shown there are no important biochemical effects

between naturally ripened fruit or the use of ethylene to trigger the process

in unripened fruit. Also, ethylene is used to “de-green” oranges. It triggers

pigment changes in a green peel by removing chlorophyll, which causes the

orange peel’s green color to change to an orange-yellow. No flavor loss, just

speeding up a natural process. Another plus is that the vitamin C content,

which deteriorates over a long ripening period, is maintained.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) A pessimist is someone who complains about

the noise when opportunity knocks.

-- Michael Levine

Shiny Silver

Question: I clean my silverware by putting aluminum foil in the bottom

of a pan and adding hot, soapy water. When you put the silverware in

and it touches the foil, the tarnish is gone quickly. How does this work?

(Asked by conscientious silverware cleaner.)

Reply: I had to go back to my chemistry book for the answer of this one.

This cleaning method is known as “silver dip” and uses chemical action to

get rid of the tarnish. When silver combines with sulfur, the resulting

brownish silver sulfide is what we call tarnish and makes the silver look bad.

Polishing the silverware with some tarnish remover cream removes it (the

silver sulfide) from the surface. However, in the silver dip method the silver

is left behind.

Aluminum reacts more readily with sulfur than does silver, so

aluminum displaces the sulfur from the silver sulfide compound (the tarnish)

to form aluminum sulfide and leaving the silver behind. The liquid

promotes the process. A substitute for soapy water I read about is as follows:

heat water to steaming and add one tablespoon of baking soda and one

tablespoon of salt per quart of water. Pour this mixture into the pan lined

with aluminum foil. Using tongs (using hot water), place the silverware in

the pan so it touches the foil. Things should start happening right away.

Ok curious silverware cleaners, get rid of the tarnish.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): When you flip a coin, why is "heads or tails"

always plural?

-- Anonymous

Cash Them In

Question: On grocery coupons, you see “Cash value: 1/100th of one

cent.” Does that mean if I get 100 coupons I can trade them in for a

penny? (Asked by a curious coupon collector.)

Reply: This goes back to the days of trading stamps. (Some of us remember

them.) Companies and merchants would issue “stamps,” which were like

coupons. Customers pasted them in a book, and when the book was full, it

could be traded it in for merchandise. Some companies inflated prices to

make their stamps look like they were worth more than the stamps of honest

companies.

Several states tried to eliminate this inequity by making all stamps

have a common value, and grocery coupons fell into this category. Kansas

was the most stringent state. A passed law there overrode the terms and

conditions of the coupons, and if no cash value was stated on the coupon, a

consumer could cash it in at face value. A coupon for a dollar off? Then

give me a dollar.

That would have been great, but manufacturers would not go that

route and put a cash value on the coupons, such as 100th of a cent. Let’s see,

cash in 100 coupons at 1/100th of a cent cash value and get a penny? I don’t

know. You would have to use a postage stamp worth more than the coupons

to mail them and ask for your penny refund. Duh…

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Did you know that the biggest sellers in the

bookstores are cookbooks? The second biggest sellers are diet books about --

how not to eat what you've just learned how to cook.

-- Andy Rooney

Sparkling Clean

Question: Dishwasher liquid seems to make the drinking glasses

permanently cloudy – almost like it is etching the glass itself. Why does

this happen? Can I clean the glass? (Asked by a concerned cook.)

Reply: Glassware washed in a dishwasher may be cloudy, but still clean.

There are two major types of cloudiness. One is a buildup of film on the

glass. This is the most common type of cloudiness and is caused by hard

water. The calcium and magnesium minerals in water drops left on

glassware at the end of a washing cycle will dry in place. On the next

washing, new spots will leave more hardness film. Detergents will not

remove this type of film.

To see if you have a hard water film, try scratching the film with a pin

or something with a sharp point. If some of the cloudiness is scratched off,

you have a hard water build up. Another method is to rub some vinegar on

the film area with your finger. If the surface clears on drying, you have a

hard water film. How do you get rid of hard water film? As just noted,

vinegar will remove it. A suggested procedure is to soak the glassware in

undiluted white vinegar for 15 minutes, then rinse and dry.

Also, food films can form on glassware when washing with hard

water. The minerals in the water combine with the protein in the residue of

milk, eggs, and meat. Hot water helps this film process. Food films can be

removed by hand washing.

Now, let’s hone in on the etching question. Etching is a permanent

“film” that cannot be removed. In this case, the culprit is soft water along

with alkaline dishwasher detergents. The chemical composition of the

glassware, excessive water temperature, and insufficient rinsing can cause

pitting or etching on the surface of glassware. You can do the pin and

vinegar tests, but nothing will happen.

A suggestion for the prevention of etching is to use water with

temperatures not higher than 140o F, a minimum amount of detergent, a rinse

agent, and a cycle without heat drying. Also, avoid the manual pre-rinsing

of glassware.

There you have it. Golly -- I feel like Heloise.

C.P.S. (Curious postscript): Minds are like parachutes – they only function

when open.

-- Thomas Dewar

A Cold Burn

Question: Why do foods left in a freezer develop “freezer burn”? Is

the food safe to eat? (Asked by a curious culinary column reader.)

Reply: It is well known that chilling and/or freezing foods retards spoilage.

With modern refrigerators having freezer compartments and freezers, the

time for which foods remain frozen may be quite long. The cold in the

freezer prevents spoilage from bacteria and slows the enzyme processes that

work to chemically change the food. However, wrapped meats and other

frozen foods may show gray-brownish leathery spots (freezer burn) after

being left in the freezer for an extended time.

This discoloration is caused primarily by oxidation. The air inside a

freezer is relatively dry. As a result, ice crystals in frozen foods evaporate

(sublime: changing from a solid directly to gas) and some air (with oxygen)

gets into the food. Eventually, even the most tightly wrapped meats may

have color changes and drying in spots – freezer burn. This is quite evident

in poorly or unwrapped frozen meats. Freezer burn does not make the food

unsafe, merely unsightly and poor tasting. Just cut the freezer-burned

section away before or after cooking.

Another taste change may result from the freezing of water in foods

(particularly meats). The intercellular spaces contain some water. When

freezing occurs, the expanding ice can rupture cell membranes. On thawing

there is a loss of cell fluids. This process makes the meat dry and tough.

Should you refreeze thawed meats? Not really. If you do, you may

get a double-whammy of cell membrane breakdown as just described and

the tough gets tougher. Most importantly, although freezing retards bacterial

growth, it does not sterilize the meat. Some dominant bacteria are still there.

Thawing the meat at room temperature for several hours gives time for

bacterial action to occur that may partially spoil meat before you refreeze it.

This bacterial action may happen especially in large pieces of meat that take

a long time to thaw on the inside, such as a frozen turkey. To prevent

possible external spoilage, put the bird or other large pieces of meat in a sink

full of water so the thawing is quicker and more equalized. You can also

thaw items in the refrigerator over a longer period of time. If you are going

to refreeze meat, fish, or poultry, you should do so after it is cooked.

Be aware that slow freezing gives rise to larger ice crystals and more

cell membrane breakdown. Quick- or flash-freezing produces smaller ice

crystals and minimal breakdown. The advantage of flash-freezing was

recognized by Clarence Birdseye, a fur trader in Canada. He noted that fish

caught by the Inuit (Eskimos) and frozen immediately retained good flavor

after being thawed out months later.

Birdseye developed a method for quick freezing foods in the 1920s.

The result was Birdseye’s frozen foods, a forerunner of the many frozen

foods we have today.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Water taken in moderation won’t hurt anybody.

-- Mark Twain.

Turning GreenQuestion: Why do potatoes turn green, and are green potatoes safe to

eat? (Asked by a curious spud cooker.)

Reply: Yes, those tater tubers can turn green, which is chiefly a surface

discoloring. (tuber: the underground food-storing stem of many plants such

as the potato.) However, this “greening” (also called “sun-burning”) may be

a half-inch deep in severe cases. French fries made from green potatoes may

have a green end and potato chips a green edge.

Potatoes turn green because of exposure to light and the production of

chlorophyll. No problem -- chlorophyll is the green pigment found in all

plants, particularly green leaves where it is responsible for the production of

plant food through photosynthesis. Potato exposure to light can occur in the

field, on a store shelf, or in the home. In the field, potato plants are “hilled,”

or have soil piled up around them so the tubers can grow without poking

through the soil and turning green from sunlight (“sun-burning”).

Fluorescent lights cause faster greening than incandescent lights and

long exposure to fluorescent lights in stores and homes should be avoided.

Some plastic bags of potatoes have opaque tops for protection from light. In

the home, it is recommended that the taters be removed from the plastic bag,

stored in a brown paper bag or on trays in a cool, dark place where air can

circulate. (My tater bin has a wire screen on the front to allow good

circulation.) Refrigeration is not recommended. At refrigerator

temperatures, the starches in potatoes turn into sugars that will cause

potatoes to turn brown quickly when cooked. Green chlorophyll may be a

bit unsightly, but if chlorophyll is the only cause of the green there is no

eating problem.

However, there’s a green kicker. The potato plant has the capability

to produce its own chemicals to protect it from insect and fungus attacks.

The “greening” of potatoes maybe a sign of an increase in the protective

chemicals, particularly one called solanine. Increased levels of solanine can

cause a bitter taste in potatoes after being cooked. Unlike chlorophyll,

solanine does not need light for formation, but with light, more is produced.

Solanine can be toxic, but only in large amounts. Eating a lot of it can

induce food poisoning with symptoms similar to gastroenteritis. But you

would have to eat a bunch of green potatoes for this reaction to occur.

Cooking halts solanine production, but does not destroy it. The

concentration of solanine in a potato is normally quite low and is localized

near the skin. Peeled potatoes eliminate the problem. But a good rule of the

thumb – if a cooked potato tastes bitter, don’t eat it.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Life is like drawing without an eraser.

-- John Gardner

IV. Hello Sports FansBatter Up!

Question: Why shouldn't you hit a baseball with the trademark side of

the bat? (Asked by a curious bat boy.)

Answer: Hitting a baseball with the trademark side increases the probability

of breaking a bat. The trademark of a baseball bat is branded or stamped

into the wood on the top or face of the grain. The grain lines are the rings

you can count to determine the age of a tree. So, with the trademark up (or

down), the ball is hit on the side or outer part of the rings, which is stronger

and less likely to break or split. (If you have ever split log sections for a

fireplace, you know the log splits easier by chopping on the top or face side

of the grain -- going with the grain.) Similarly, a baseball bat is more likely

to break or split if a ball is hit on the face side of the grain or on the

trademark.

It is said that Yogi Berra, who broke a few bats, would turn the

trademark toward the pitcher. According to Yogi, he came up to hit the ball,

not to read the trademark. Of course, if you are having a trademark problem,

you could use an aluminum bat.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): I always turn to the sports page first; the sports

page records people’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but

man’s failure.

-- Chief Justice Earl Warren

It Doesn’t Seem Fair

Question: Baseball players are not allowed to plug their bats so as to hit

the ball farther. Why are golfers allowed to use different materials and

adjust their clubs so they can hit a golf ball farther? (Asked by a

curious duffer.)

Reply: “Plugged” bats are illegal, as Sammy Sosa found out. How do you

plug a bat and why? Typically, a 1-inch diameter hole is drilled into the big

end of a bat to a depth of about 10 inches. The cavity is filled with cork or

small super balls. This makes the bat lighter by a couple of ounces. The bat

is not only lighter, but its center of gravity (the balance point) is moved

closer to the handle. As a result, the batter can swing the bat quicker. It has

the same effect as “choking up” on a bat (nearer the center of gravity) for a

faster swing.

Now back to golf clubs. Golf clubs, like baseball bats, have

specifications with a maximum length and size of club head. (Baseball bats

have a maximum length and diameter of the trunk – the large part of the bat

where the ball is hit.) However, there seems to be no construction material

standards for golf clubs (at least I could not find any). New materials, such

as graphite and titanium, have been adapted in golf clubs to replace older

materials such as wood and iron. But for baseball bats there are only two

choices – wood and aluminum. Aluminum bats are illegal in the big leagues

but can be used in college baseball and little leagues.

C.P.S (Curious Post Script): Better to remain silent and be thought a fool

than to speak out and remove all doubt.

-- Abraham Lincoln

Pitching From On High

Question: In baseball the pitcher’s mound is elevated. In softball there

is no pitcher’s mound. Why this and what is the advantage or reason to

pitch from an elevated mound? (Asked by a curious height-conscious

fan.)

Reply: The pitcher’s mound in baseball is a raised section in the middle of

the diamond where the pitcher stands when throwing the ball. This clay

mound is 18 feet in diameter with a plateau on top five feet wide. The

pitcher’s plate or rubber, on which a pitcher must stand, is located behind the

center of the mound and 60 feet, 6 inches from the apex (front edge) of

home plate. The pitcher’s plate is elevated 10 inches relative the surface

level of home plate.

The elevated mound and rubber give the pitcher an advantage. A

pitcher will push off the rubber with a foot to gain speed toward home plate

when pitching. With an elevated mound the pitcher gains more leverage and

can put more downward speed on the ball, making it more difficult for the

batter to hit the ball squarely. Prior to 1969, the elevation of the mound was

often 16 – 20 inches rather than 10 inches. The lowering of the mound in

1969 is thought by some to be a contributing factor for more hitting in

baseball.

Softball has no pitcher’s mound, in general is a slower game, and was

created as a way for ball players to play indoors in the winter. It is now a

popular outdoors summer sport and things have sped up a bit. There are

now slow pitch and fast pitch softball games. In either case, the softball

must be pitched underhand. There is no specific rule on how to pitch in

baseball, though most pitchers pitch overhand. There have been several

sidearm pitchers and a couple submarine (underhand) pitchers in the major

leagues, but overhand throws allow more control and speed with a whip-like

throw and a follow through.

Here are some comparative differences between baseball and softball,

and the different forms of softball:

Baseball Softball

* Distance of pitcher 60 ft, 6 in. 46 ft

from home plate

* Contact with base Runners can leave base before the ball

leaves the pitcher’s hand.

Runners must remain in contact with

the base until the ball leaves the

pitcher’s hand.

* Innings 9 7

* Base stealing Allowed Fast pitch: allowed

Slow pitch: not allowed

* Bunting Allowed Fast pitch: allowed

Slow pitch: not allowed

* Pitching Ball may be pitched Fast pitch: underhand

in any way Slow pitch: underhand and

ball must arc higher

than batter’s head

And there you have it – take me out to the ball game -- love those peanuts

and Cracker Jacks.

C.P.S. (Curious Post Script) Alright, everyone line up alphabetically

according to your height.

-- Casey Stengel

A Back Nine Too?

Question: Why are there 18 holes in golf? (Asked by a curious putt-

putt golfer.)

Reply: First a little golf history. The place of origin of golf is somewhat

disputed as to whether it began in Scotland or Holland. In any case, people

have played golf in Scotland for a long time. One of the first mentions of

golf goes back to 1457. It was banned in Scotland because the game had

become so popular that it interfered with archery practice, which was

necessary for defense. There were golf courses with various numbers of

holes, but the most influential organizations for golf development was the

golf club at St. Andrews, Scotland that was formed in 1754 by twenty two

“noblemen and gentlemen.”

Originally, the St. Andrews course was beside the seashore with 11

holes. Each tee was located next to a hole. The golfers played 11 holes

away from the clubhouse and then 11 holes back toward the clubhouse -- 22

holes per round. In 1764 it was decided that the first four holes were kind of

short in distance, so these four holes were made into two holes. This gave 9

holes down and 9 holes back…and so 18 holes.

The Scots noted something else. With golfers playing down and back

on the same holes, there were balls flying in both directions, so another set

of holes was added, giving a front 9 and a back 9. The influence of St.

Andrews spread, and here we are today with most courses having 18 holes.

If you don’t play golf and are thinking about taking it up, let me

quote an excerpt from Encyclopedia Britannica: “… It (golf) combines with

open air and exercise [sure, with those electric carts (sic)] an intrinsic

fascination. Despite its attractiveness, golf is not a game for everyone; it

requires a high degree of skill that is honed only with great patience and

dedication, and it requires an investment in equipment and fees that persons

of average means may not feel worthwhile. The novice is often discouraged

by these factors.”

Once past paying the green fees, I think the key words are “with great

patience.” On a golf course, you may at times see a UFO – maybe it’s not

unidentified, but a flying object -- a golf club thrown by a frustrated golfer.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground

with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it is called golf.

—Will

Rogers

Fore! Watch Out Caddie!

Question: How did the golf terms such as par, fore, bogey, birdie, and

so on originate? (Asked by a curious golf score keeper.)

Reply: I’d rather fly with an eagle than with a birdie -- or is that a double

eagle or albatross? There are many golf terms named for the birds. But first

let’s consider “par” and “fore.” Please note that there are various

explanations of the origins of golf terms. These are the ones that sounded

good to me.

“Par” is perhaps derived from a stock exchange term meaning a stock

may be above or below a particular value. A sports writer in the late 1800s

asked a couple of pros what score would win a tournament. The reply was

that the perfect play should produce a score of 49 for the 12 holes. The

writer called this “par” for the tournament, and this developed into the

number of strokes or par for a hole under ideal conditions.

How about “fore!”-- a warning that a ball may be coming your way?

There are several stories about the origin of this term. “Fore” is another

word for “ahead” (like fore and aft on a ship). So this means someone ahead

should watch out because a ball might be coming. Another theory is that the

term may have a military origin. In the 18th century, when golf was

beginning to become popular, artillery in battles shot over the heads of their

own soldiers. Gunners getting ready to fire would yell “Beware before!” or

“Fore!”

However, the British Golf Museum has a book from 1881 with a

reference to “fore.” It explains the term evolved from “forecaddie.” A

forecaddie was a person who accompanied golfers, going in a forward

position to indicate the landing locations of hit balls. When a bad shot was

made, a golfer would yell “fore” to alert the forecaddie to watch for the ball.

(Golf balls were quite expensive in those days.)

Incidentally, “caddie” is not the diminutive of cad, but comes from the

French word cadet (pronounced CA-deh), meaning a student military

officer. In Scotland, “cadet” was pronounced “caddie.” In the 1700s

uniformed young men doing odd jobs were called caddies because of their

resemblance to military students. Some got jobs carrying clubs for golfers.

As the game of golf grew and spread, the name of caddie for golfer’s

assistant went along with it.

Now back to the birds. But wait. This article is getting long, so you

will have to wait until next week. I guess I wrote a bogey. But that’s par for

the course.

C.P.S. (Curiosity Post Script): Success is relative – the more success, the

more relatives.

-- Anonymous

Bogie or Birdie?

I had so much fore!thought (pun intended) in the previous article that I

didn’t get around to calling the shots -- bogey, birdie, eagle, and

albatross. So here we go.

* Bogie: the term “bogey” comes from a popular song in Britain in the

1890s, “The Bogey Man.” This elusive figure hid in the shadows and said,

“I’m the Bogey Man, catch me if you can.” (The melody was later known as

Colonel Bogey’s March.) It developed that the elusive ideal number of

strokes for a good player became known as a “bogey score.”

In the 1900s the term “par” became popular to refer to the ideal

number of strokes for a hole. For a time, “par” and “bogie” were used

synonymously. As golf developed and scores got better, pars were lowered

in America, but bogie scores were kept in Britain. Eventually, one stroke

over par was referred to as a bogey because of the higher British scores.

I’m not going into double and triple bogies. (I don’t think anyone shoots

them any more -- or owns up to it.)

* Birdie: the term for one stroke under par. This comes from a 19th century

slang term for anything excellent or good. One story tells about a group

playing a par four hole when one of the golfer’s second shot went near the

hole. He said, “That was a birdie of a shot!” and that he should get double

the bet money if he won with one under par; which he did. Presumably, the

usage spread for birdie to mean one under par for a particular hole.

* Eagle: a score of two under par for a particular hole, and it is thought to be

an extension of the birdie theme. A score of two under par would be a “big

birdie” and the eagle is a big bird. American golfers may have thought of

their national symbol and started calling a big birdie an eagle (or so the story

goes).

* Albatross: a rare bird not too often mentioned on the golf course. A rare

three under par on a hole is called an albatross. Three under par is also

referred to as a “double eagle.” With an “eagle” being two strokes under

par, it would seem that a “double eagle” would be four strokes under par.

Maybe this extreme rarity should be called a “dodo.”

It is often not clear how some terms come into popular usage, but

some good stories are given to explain them. You have to question (be

curious about) some of the stories, like those you hear in the clubhouse after

a round of golf.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): If you let a smile be your umbrella, then most

likely you will get your behind wet.

-- Anonymous

It’s Love From the Start

Question: Tennis scores go 15, 30, and 40. This is a rather strange way

of scoring. Why are these numbers used? (As by a curious racketeer.)

Reply: Love! No, I’m not getting fresh – the tennis term “love” means zero,

and comes from the French l’oeuf, meaning “egg.” If your score is love, you

have a big goose egg or zero.

The other scores are not so lovely and have a medieval origin. In

those days, the number 60 was considered to be complete or the end, much

in the same way we consider 100 (percent) to mean the whole enchilada.

Early tennis scoring was based on 60 with four points being 15, 30, 45, and

60. Somewhere along the way 45 got changed to 40, and 60 to “game.”

Tennis originated in France around the 13th century with a handball

game called jeu de paume, or “palm game.” The players’ hands must have

started hurting, as the game went from palms, to gloves, to rackets, and

developed into the ball-and-racket game we have today. The present name

of tennis appears to have been derived from the French way of calling out

tenez! before serving, which meant to take or receive.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it

happened.

-- Dr. Seuss

Some Seedy Characters

Question: Why do they say players in a tennis tournament are

“seeded,” for example, the “top seed”? (Asked by a curious bottom

seed.)

Reply: For some time I thought the term was top “seat,” but indeed it is top

“seed.” The phrase was introduced in the 13th U.S. National Championship

in 1922 and is an analogy to sowing seeds in the ground. Seeds are planted

at different depths or levels with depths depending the soil condition,

climate, and type of seed. Some seeds grow best when sown next to certain

types of seeds. Seeds exposed to the best conditions are expected to produce

the best results, but outside factors that may change the results.

The analogy is similar for tennis players and how they are matched up

with opponents for a tournament. Different conditions such as a player’s

ranking in the tennis circuit, the type of surface on which he or she plays

best on, and strengths and weaknesses based on past performances to match

a player with a suitable opponent. The loser of the match is eliminated and

the winner competes against the next “seed.” It is predetermined which

player is “top seed.” In theory, the top-seeded player should win the

tournament, but of course, this is not always the case.

Incidentally, the game of tennis is about 2,500 years old and began in

ancient Persia. In the 1300s, the game was outlawed in France and England

-- seems that working men were neglecting their jobs and families to play

tennis. British officers brought the game to the West Indies, and a young

American woman, Mary Outerbridge, introduced the game in New York

shortly after the Civil War. Tennis caught on and today over 40 million

Americans play tennis, spending more than $100 million on balls alone.

Appreciation is expressed to the Wilson Sporting Goods Co. for

assistance in answering this question. There is no relationship, but their logo

on shirts save me from getting monograms. I even tried tennis once. Never

played any “top seeds,” only a few “seedy” people. Tennis, anyone?

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): He can compress the most words into the

smallest idea of any man I know.

-- Abraham Lincoln

Football Black and Yellow (maybe Orange)

Questions: Why do football players put black under their eyes? And,

how do they get the yellow first down line on the football playing field

on TV? (Asked by curious football fan.)

Reply: You might think that black under the eyes makes players look

meaner, but this is not the purpose. (They are mean looking enough.) The

black marks can reduce glare that could make things difficult to see. Black

reduces the glare because it absorbs more light than other colors.

Now on to yellow line. Everyone wants to know if a team made first

and ten on a play. In some cases it is evident from the sideline markers, but

often it comes close and out comes the chain. Television viewers have had a

disadvantage in knowing where the first-down line is relative to the

offensive line-up on a play. But in the past few years, TV viewers have had

a yellow or orange line extending across the field marking the first-down

line. This virtual line is a computer-generated video effect, which takes

quite a bit of doing.

A production truck at the game site has banks of equipment, including

several computers operated by technicians. Consider some of the data

needed to draw the yellow line regardless of which TV camera is filming a

play at a particular angle. A game is filmed by several cameras at different

vantage points above the field. The virtual line system has to know the

orientation of the field, be able to follow the movements of the TV cameras,

and know where the first-down line is located.

Once all of this data is determined (or predetermined), it is fed into a

central computer. Using video feed from the current on-air TV camera, the

system draws a video-feed line which is sent and imposed on the program

video, giving a first-down line on TV. (As you can imagine, this is a highly

technical and complicated procedure.) Then we sit back and wait to see if

the offensive team gets the football past the line. Notice the players never

trip over it.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): 640K ought to be enough for anyone.

-- Bill Gates, 1981

V. Quizzes and TriviaQuizzes

Quiz Time!

Get on your thinking cap. (The answers follow. Don’t peek.)

Questions:

1. What was Woodrow Wilson’s first name?

2. Which U.S. state has the least elevation difference (the flattest)?

3. What is a “dewlap”?

4. What is the only winged mammal that can fly?

5. Where did the name “Bubba” come from?

6. Considering the North and South America continents collectively as

America, which other continent name begins and ends with the same

letter?

7. Who is next in line for presidential succession after the Vice President?

8. Why is a sports enthusiast called a “fan”?

9. Does the Statue of Liberty wear shoes?

10. Who was the son and the father of U.S. Presidents?

Answers:

1. Thomas Woodrow Wilson.

2. Florida, from sea level to 345 feet above sea level.

3. The fold of skin under a cow’s throat. (A wattle in fowls, like turkeys.)

4. The bat.

5. Bubba is a corrupted form of “brother,” used for children or by children

for an older brother.

6. All the rest. Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica.

7. Speaker of the House.

8. Sports “fan” is short for sports “fanatic.”

9. According to National Geographic, Lady Liberty wears 25-foot-long

sandals, equivalent to a woman’s shoe size of 879. (They don’t stock

them much in shoe stores.)

10. John Harrison, son of William Henry Harrison (9th president) and father

of Benjamin Harrison (23rd president).

Figure your score – 10 points for each question. I’ll give you the grade

range next week.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): We are the only animals that let our kids come

back home.

-- Bill Cosby

Pop Quiz

Here you go, something for everyone. Grade your own paper.

Questions:

1. Our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” has how many verses?

2. How many different animal shapes are there in the Animal Cracker

cookie zoo?

3. Were any bachelors ever elected as President of the United States?

4. In terms of clothing, what is a rabat?

5. How many dots are there on a pair of dice?

6. What first letters of sequential months spell a name?

7. Give the three sets of letters on the standard typewriter or computer

keyboard that are in alphabetical order, reading left to right.

8. How many teaspoons are in a cup? (Hint: there are 16 tablespoons in a

cup.)

9. Which is the only King in a deck of standard playing cards doesn’t have a

moustache?

10. Which Jacks in a deck of standard playing cards have moustaches?

11. Which letter(s) of the English alphabet has/have more than one syllable?

12. The names of some cities in the U.S. have the same name as other U.S.

states. Can you name two or three?

Answers:

1. There are four verses, although most people know only one.

2. 18 – a real zoo.

3. Yes. James Buchanan was a life-long bachelor – no first lady. (His niece

acted as a hostess in the Executive Mansion. It wasn’t officially called the

White House until 1902, although this was a common name before then.)

Another was Grover Cleveland, who married while in office and was the

only president to be married in the White House.

4. A sleeveless, backless, vest-like garment extending to the waist worn by

some clergy beneath the cleric collar. (Rabat is also the name of the capital

of the northern African country of Morocco.)

5. 42 dots. Count them up.

6. The first letters of July through November – JASON.

7. The three sets are: f-g-h, j-k-l, and o-p.

8. 48. Remember, there are three teaspoons in a tablespoon.

9. King of Hearts

10. Jack of Hearts and Jack of Spades

11. Only one, w. Three syllable if said slowly (dub el yoo), or two if said

fast (dub ya).

12. There are several: California, KY; California, MD; Delaware, AK;

Indiana, PA; Kansas, OK; Louisiana, MO; Michigan, ND; Nevada, MO;

Oregon, WI; and Wyoming, OH.

How many did you get correct?

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): In life, you must try to be the type of person

your dog thinks you are.

-- Anonymous

Trivia Quiz

Let’s have a trivia quiz on a popular subject – money; in particular, bills.

Most of us can tell who is on the fronts of bill denominations, but what

pictures are on the back? Here are the bills:

1. $1 5. $20

2. $2 6. $50

3. $5 7. $100

4. $10

That’s far enough—about as far as we can go. Since 1969, the $100 bill is

the largest issue. The answers follow along, with (whose picture) is on the

front, in case you don’t remember.

1. $1: (George Washington) The Great Seal of the United States.

2. $2: (Thomas Jefferson) A portrait of the signing of the Declaration

3. of Independence.

3. $5: (Abraham Lincoln) The Lincoln Memorial.

4. $10: (Alexander Hamilton) The U.S. Treasury.

5. $20: (Andrew Jackson) The White House.

6. $50: (Ulysses Grant) The U.S. Capitol.

7. $100: (Benjamin Franklin) Independence Hall.

So how did you do? Pretty easy, right? I could have been tough and ask

you about the back of the $2 bill, which shows a John Trumbull painting of

the “Declaration of Independence” (from 1790). Take a look at one of these

bills. Who is the person standing with the wide-brimmed hat? (The only one

with a hat – at about the 11 o’clock position.) Trumbull’s painting included

people who did not support or sign the Declaration of Independence. It is

believed that the fellow with the hat is John Dickinson, a Pennsylvania

Quaker who opposed independence.

You only get stuff like this in the Curiosity Corner.

C.P.S. (Curious PostScript): Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too

crowded.

-- Yogi Berra

Jeopardy Quiz

Let’s see how informed you are. This time the quiz will be reversed. I’ll

give you an answer and you give me the question – like on the Jeopardy

game show. (See how close you come to my questions, which are given at

the end of the quiz. Of course, there may be other applicable questions, but

we’ll see if great minds run in the same channels.)

Answers:

1. Gerald Ford

2. talent

3. Barrow, Alaska

4. Sandwich Islands

5. Oscar Hammerstein

6. basketball

7. palindrome

8. Minnesota

Questions:

1. Who was the only person to serve as Vice President and President of the

United States, but was not elected to either office?

2. What is something of which I don’t have much? True, but how about:

What was a unit of money in Biblical times that was equal to four days’

wages?

3. What is the northernmost city in the U.S.?

4. What was the original name given to the Hawaiian Islands by Capt.

Cook?

5. Who was the only person named Oscar to win a movie Oscar?

6. What is the only major sport to have originated in the U.S.?

7. What is a word or phrase that reads the same forwards and backwards?

Like “level” or “Able was I ere I saw Elba” – supposedly said by

Napoleon on being exiled to the island of Elba.

8. What is the northernmost state in the conterminous (lower 48) U.S.?

Most people say Maine (ME), but technically it is Minnesota (MN).

This is because there is a little piece of MN, not connected to the state,

that lies above the long 49th parallel (49o N) boundary of the U.S. and

Canada – the Northwest Angle, which is mostly a Native American

reservation. The northernmost part of MN is around 45oN.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The national budget must be balanced. The

public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be

moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be

reduced, if the nation doesn’t want to go bankrupt. People must again learn

to work instead of living on public assistance.

-- Marcus Tillius Cicero, 55 BC

Bring-Your-Grade-Up Quiz

Quiz time again. You’re not doing so well. Let’s try to bring that grade up.

Questions:

1. How many colors did the Ford Model T come in the decade following

1914?

2. When was the first baseball World Series, and who won it?

3. Which U.S. state has no straight-line boundaries?

4. How many letters in the game Scrabble have only one block?

5. What was the first usage of the term “atomic bomb”?

6. Who signed Clark Gable’s Army discharge papers?

7. What did the first vending machines in the U.S. dispense?

8. Who issued the first mail order catalog in the U.S.?

9. How much did Eastman Kodak’s Brownie camera cost when it was

introduced in 1900?

10. Is the proper way to write the capital of Missouri St. Louis or Saint

Louis?

Answers:

1. One, black. Prior to 1914 they came in a variety of colors, but from 1914

to 1926 they were black because the black enamel used dried more quickly

and helped speed up production. Henry Ford is quoted as saying, “You can

buy a Model T in any color you want, as long as it is black.”

2. 1903. The National League Boston Pilgrims beat the American League

Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pilgrims later became the Red Sox.

3. Only one. Hawaii.

4. Five: J, K, Q, X, and Z. The E appears most – 12 blocks.

5. In a story, The World Set Free, by H.G. Wells in 1914.

6. Captain Ronald Reagan.

7. Chewing gum, starting in 1888.

8. Ben Franklin in 1744, to sell books.

9. One dollar.

10 Neither. It is written Jefferson City. (Gotcha.)

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The trouble with free elections is you never

know who’s going to win.

-- Lenoid Brezhnev (former party chairman, U.S.S.R.)

Quiz, One More Time

Here’s a warm-up question. What is the only non-zero number that when

added to or multiplied by itself, gives the same result? (I always start off

with an easy one.) Now that you have it all two-gether, let’s get on with the

quiz.

Questions:

1. What does “quotidian” mean? (See, questions are getting more difficult.)

2. There are the twin sisters, Esther Pauline Friedman and Pauline Esther

Friedman. How are they better known?

3. Which college did Thomas Alva Edison attend? (You know, the inventor of the light bulb, etc.)

4. What does the term “o’clock” stand for?

5. How many U.S. presidents wore beards and who was the last one?

6. What was the last naval post held by John Paul Jones?

7. What is normal body temperature on the Celsius scale?

8. Which U.S. coin has a president’s image on both sides of the coin

9. Which U.S. coin has the president’s image facing right?

(Check your piggy bank.)

10. Not counting Iowa and Utah, how many U.S. states have only four

letters in their names?

Answers:

1. It means “occurring every day.” The newspaper funnies are quotidian.

The Curiosity Corner isn’t quotidian, thank goodness.

2. Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren, who wrote the syndicated columns

“Ann Landers” and “Dear Abby.”

3. None. Tom dropped out of public school at the age of 12 to work on railroad trains.

4. “Of (the) clock.”

5. Only five, the last being Benjamin Harrison (served 1889-99).

Before him, in descending order, James A. Garfield, Rutherford B.

Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant, and Abraham Lincoln.

6. An admiral in the Russian navy.

7. 37o C

8. The Lincoln penny. Abe’s head is on the front and his memorial is on

the back, If you use a magnifying glass You can see his image sitting in

there between the pillars.

9. The penny again. Abe is facing right. Note that I said “president’s

image.” Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea face right on their dollar

coins Gee, I should have asked you to name all three.

10. Are you ready for this? The answer is seven: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii,

Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Note for example, if you

count the letters that make up Kansas; there are four, K-A-N-S. Read the

question again. Tricky, tricky.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): When serving on a serious jury case, to be

acquitted the accused must be found innocent beyond the shadow of a doubt.

I couldn’t serve on such a jury – I’ve never seen a doubt’s shadow.

-- JDW

Pre-tested Quiz

Ok, time for another quiz. This one was pre-tested on kindergarteners.

They all passed.

Questions:

1. What U.S. city is the largest in area?

2. After whom was Mt. Rushmore named?

3. What is the difference between white and brown eggs?

4. What does ZIP in ZIP code stand for?

5. Are there any male ducks?

6. What is the difference between a gaggle of geese and a skein of geese?

7. We use “iota” to mean small things, for example, “There’s not one iota of

of truth in that.” Why does iota have this meaning?

8. Is Holland a country?

9. George W. Bush is the 43rd president. How many presidents have there

been before him?

10. What are the following presidents’ middle names?

(a) Grover Cleveland. (b) Woodrow Wilson. (c) Calvin Coolidge.

Answers:

1. Sitka, Alaska (2,874 sq. mi) – what urban sprawl. Followed by Juneau,

AK (2717 sq. mi), Anchorage, AK (1697), Jacksonville, FL (758 sq. mi),

and Oklahoma City, OK (607 sq. mi.). Others? Los Angles, CA (469 sq.

mi), New York City, NY (321 sq. mi), and Atlanta, GA (132 sq. mi).

2. Charles Rushmore, an attorney from New York. He was on a horseback

tour and asked the guide what the mountain was called. Jokingly, the guide

said it didn’t have a name, but would be called Mt. Rushmore from now on.

The name stuck. Rushmore later donated money toward the carving of the

images on the mountain.

3. Other than color, not much. Same taste, same nutrition. White eggs come

from hens with white feathers and ear lobes. Brown eggs come from hens

with red feathers and red ear lobes. Major difference is price. Those brown-

egg layers, Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire, and Plymouth Rock, are

larger and eat more, which jacks up the price.

4. ZIP: Zoning Improvement Plan.

5. No, but there are male drakes. Ducks are female.

6. A group of geese is on the ground is a gaggle of geese. A group in the air

is a skein of geese.

7. The 9th letter of the Greek alphabet, iota (), is the smallest letter of this

alphabet, and came to be used in reference to very small things.

8. No. Holland is a province in the Netherlands. Actually, it is two

provinces. There is a North Holland and a South Holland.

9. There were 41. Grover Cleveland was elected two separate times, and

was the 22nd and 24th president. Benjamin Harrison slipped a term in there in

between.

10. Middle names: Grover, Woodrow, and Calvin.

The complete names are Stephen Grover Cleveland, Thomas Woodrow

Wilson, and John Calvin Coolidge.

Oh yes, in the family Bible, David Dwight Eisenhower is listed… not

Dwight David.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Get the facts first, and then you can distort

them as much as you please.

-- Mark Twain

Curiosity Corner Quiz

Number your papers from one to ten, and don’t peek at the answers.

Questions:

1. What are the circular dots or markings on dice and dominoes called?

2. Spam® (not the kind you get on the internet), is the pork product made

by Hormel. What does Spam® stand for?

3. What is wrong with the expression “sweating like a pig”?

4. What is an octothorpe?

5. What is the only continent without a desert?

6. What is the oldest hamburger chain in the U.S.?

7. In cooking, what does “al dente” mean?

8. Is there any corn in corned beef?

9. Is there any ham in hamburger?

10. Is there any… let’s put it another way. Why do we call wieners “hot

dogs”?

Answers:

1. Pips. So when you roll a two, you can say pip-pip.

2. SPiced hAM.

3. Pigs have no sweat glands.

4. The “pound” sign (#), as on the telephone or a keyboard.

5. Europe. (FYI, the eastern part of Washington state is considered a desert

because of its arid conditions.)

6. White Castle, founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. They served steam-

fried hamburgers, 18 per pound of ground beef, cooked on a bed of onions,

for a nickel. (Almost bite size.)

7. Pasta and vegetables are sometimes cooked “al dente” – firm to the bite

8. No, corned beef is cured in brine. In old times before refrigeration, meat

was dry cured in “corns of salt,” about the size of kernels of corn; hence, it

was corned beef.

9. Nope, just beef. Supposedly the old-time Tartars shredded tough beef to

make it more edible. The practice was introduced to Germany; and in the

city of Hamburg, it became known as “Hamburger steak.” An Englishman

brought the idea to England, and he made “Salisbury steak.” Of course it

came to the Colonies, and a patty eventually got put into a bun, along with

catsup, onions, pickles, etc.

10. Called “wieners” (named after Vienna, Austria) and “frankfurters” (after

Frankfurt, Germany), there are several theories on how the name “hot dog”

developed. One has it that early lunch wagons that served hot sausages were

called “dog wagons” and “hot dog” developed in describing the sausages

being sold. Another is that a newspaper cartoonist coined (or popularized)

the term “hot dog” when he used it in a cartoon caption illustrating sausage

vendors, not being able to spell “frankfurter.”

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Every teenager should get a high school

education, even if they know everything already.

-- Anonymous

Presidential Quiz

Let’s see what you know about U.S. presidents.

Questions:

1. Which president lived the longest after his presidency?

2. Who was the oldest president?

3. Which president won a Pulitzer Prize before he became president?

4. Which president wrote fourteen books before entering the White

House?

5. The United States had three presidents in one year. Who were they?

6. Who was the only president to have his likeness on both sides of a

coin?

7. Who was the first president to be born in a hospital?

8. Which four presidents had state capitals named after them?

9. Which president has a plaque honoring him for saving 77 lives?

10. Was Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address the main speech at the dedication

of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, PA, in 1863?

Answers:

1. Herbert Hoover, 33 years, died at the age of 90.

2. Ronald Reagan. Left office just before his 78th birthday.

3. John F. Kennedy, for Profiles in Courage.

4. Teddy Roosevelt. Histories, biographies, nature studies, etc.

5. The year was 1841. Martin Van Buren left office March 3. William

Henry Harrison was sworn in, but died on April 4, and Vice President

John Tyler became the tenth president.

6. Abraham Lincoln, on the penny. You will need a magnifying glass to

see Abe on the back of the penny sitting in his chair in the Lincoln

Memorial. (Tricky, tricky.)

7. Jimmy Carter.

8. Thomas Jefferson (Jefferson City, Missouri); James Madison

(Madison, Wisconsin); Andrew Jackson (Jackson, Mississippi);

Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln, Nebraska).

9. Ronald Reagan: during 1927 – 1932, when a summer life guard, he is

credited for saving 77 people from drowning. The plaque was erected

before he became famous as an actor and politician.

10. No. The main address, two hours long, was given by Edward

Everett, a well-known orator of the time. Lincoln’s famous brief

speech followed. Everett wrote to Lincoln saying, “I wish I could

flatter myself that I had near to the central idea of the occasion in two

hours as you did in two minutes.”

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): If Lincoln were alive today, he would roll

over in his grave.

-- Gerald Ford

Final Exam

Make it good. Your grade depends on it!

Questions:

1. Why do we call important dates “red-letter days”?

2. Why are laws “blue” on Sunday? (“blue laws”)

3. Did a band called the “Quarrymen” ever amount to anything?

4. What do the writing abbreviations “et al.,” “i.e.,” and “e.g.” stand for?

5. Why is some china called “bone china”?

6. Does “biweekly” mean “twice a week” or “every two weeks”?

7. There is commonly a loop on or near a belt buckle through which the end

of the belt is ran to keep it in place. What is this loop called?

8. Who are Gruffi, Cubbi, Tummi, Zummi, Sunni, and Grammi?

9. Which camel has two humps?

10. Whose faces are on the Mt. Rushmore Memorial in South Dakota?

11. Who is on the Stone Mountain Memorial sculpture outside of Atlanta,

Georgia?

12. How many people were there on Noah’s arc?

13. How many decks were there on Noah’s arc?

14. What animal’s milk is used in the making of Roquefort cheese?

15. (And finally, a toughie. Extra credit if you get it right.) What is the

largest amount of different U.S. coins one can have and not be able to give

someone change for a dollar?

Answers:

1. The term “red-letter day” originated with the tradition of marking holy

days on church in red. Now we use it to denote days of more secular

significance.

2. “Blue laws” are those forbidding certain activities on Sunday. It is

believed that this originated from strict Sabbath rules being printed on blue

paper in colonial times.

3. Yep, they made it. The Quarrymen was the original name of the Beatles.

4. Et al. stands for “et alia,” meaning “and others”; i.e. stands for “id est,”

meaning “that is”; and e.g. stands for “example gratia,” meaning “for

example.”

5. Because bone china is made from porcelain containing bone ash. Plain

porcelain is strong, but chips fairly easily, and is usually tinged with blue or

gray. Bone china is strong, doesn’t chip easily, and has an ivory-white

color.

6. The prefix “bi-” is ambiguous. It can be taken to mean “twice each” or

“every two.” A suggested resolve is to look at the word’s root, “biweek”-ly.

A biweek would be a two-week period. “Semiweek”ly, or semiweek, would

be twice a week. The same with bimonthly and semimonthly. Of course,

you could just say “every two weeks” and “twice a week.”

But there’s an exception. “Biennial” is the word for “once every two

years.” Then “semiannual” and “biannual” would mean twice a year. Oh,

this English language.

7. It is called the “keeper.”

8. The Gummi bears – all six of them.

9. The Bactrian camel, found in Central Asia form Turkistan to Mongolia,

has two humps. The Arabian, or dromedary camel, found in the Middle East

and Asia, has one hump.

10. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and

Theodore Roosevelt.

11. Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson, on horseback.

[The American sculptor, Gutzou Borglum (1871 – 1941), carved most of the

Mt. Rushmore Memorial, and started the Stone Mountain sculpture. He died

before finishing Theodore Roosevelt at Mt. Rushmore and his son finished

the work.

12. Eight. Noah, his wife; sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives.

13. Three. (Gen. 6:16)

14. The female sheep – the ewe.

15. $1.19. Three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Only cosmetologists give make-up exams.

-- Anonymous

TriviaCrossroads Trivia

Here’s some trivia I’ve been saving up for you – very important stuff. Trivia

was the Roman goddess of crossroads. People met at the crossroads and

exchanged gossip.

The first church bells in the U.S. were installed in the tower of Boston’s

Old North Church in 1745. (That’s where Paul Revere had his lanterns

hung thirty years later – on the 18th of April in ’75 – one if by land and

two if by sea.)

Chickens lay eggs small end first. (Makes good sense.)

Longest life spans: mammals, humans (100+ years); reptiles, giant

tortoises (150 years); birds, turkey buzzards (118 years); animal,

quahogs, a thick-shelled ocean clam or mollusk (200 years). (And we

humans think we age well.)

Technically, the banana is a berry. Berries are identified as being many

seeded with a fleshy inner layer. (Yes, we have no berries, we have no

berries today.)

* A commercial airliner’s emergency door cannot be opened in flight. The

cabin is pressurized (to normal atmospheric pressure). At 30,000 to 40,000

feet in altitude, the outside pressure is much less, so there is a large outward

force on the door, which opens inward. The emergency door is for getting

out after the plane has landed and the cabin depressurized.

* According to a National Public Radio article, the most popular U.S. street

names are (in order): Second, Third, First, Park, Main, Sixth, Oak, Seventh,

Pine, Maple, Cedar, Eighth, and Elm. Why is Second St. at the top of the

list? Many towns prefer to give their first, or main, street a proper name

(like Wilson Boulevard).

* Most all mammals (having hair and feeding their young milk) have belly

buttons, resulting from umbilical cord feeding during gestation. However,

there are two exceptions – the duckbill platypus and the echidna, both from

Australia. The platypus is a small, furry animal with web feet and a duck-

like bill. The echidna, also called the spiny ant eater, has long spines or

quills and long, sharp claws for digging for ants. (There are two varieties of

echidnas: long-nosed and short-nosed.) Both the platypus and echidna lay

eggs (no belly button) and feed their young milk.

* “Scot free,” meaning absolutely free without punishment or harm, has

nothing to do with Scots (from Scotland). In 12th century England, there

was a tax called a “scot” or “sceot.” Anyone who “got off scot free” didn’t

have to pay anything.

* The word “run” has the most definitions in an unabridged dictionary. (In

my Webster’s Unabridged, there are 179. Check your dictionary.)

And there’s your Curiosity Corner trivia for the day. Hope you learned

something.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the

national debt.

-- Herbert Hoover

Penny Trivia

All about pennies.

The U.S. Mint produces over 10 billion pennies annually.

Pennies are produced at an average rate of 1,040 per second.

About 30 million pennies are produced per day.

Over two-thirds of all coins produced by the U.S. Mint are

pennies.

During the early penny-making years, the U.S. Mint was so

short of copper that it accepted copper items from the public to

melt down for coins.

The early copper penny coin was reddish in color, and so you

may not have to pay “one red cent.”

It now costs more than a cent to mint a penny.

The average penny lasts 25 years.

Composition of the penny:

1793-1837 Pure copper.

1837-1857 Bronze (95% copper, and 5% tin and zinc.

1857-1864 88% copper, 12% nickel.

1864-1962 Bronze again. Note; In 1943, the penny composition was

changed to zinc-coated steel because of the critical use of

copper in the war effort.

1962-1982 95% copper, 5% zinc.

1982 - 97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper (copper-plated zinc).

This trivia may spark some questions:

(1) Why do they produce so many pennies – over 10 billion a year?

The Mint has to produce a lot of pennies to keep an average number in

circulation. People save them, but most likely they are an annoyance –

heavy in the pocket, filling up the change purse – so they are thrown in jars

and bowls, and taken out of circulation. Messing around with pennies when

paying for something can be a nuisance. You don’t have any, so you get

some back in change. To help out, some stores have “take one and give

one” bowls, from which you taket pennies if needed and give pennies if you

don’t want to carry them around.

(2) Why don’t they use copper much anymore?

Copper is relatively expensive. The cost of copper to produce a copper

penny is now more than a cent. I recall when I was young (a long time ago)

that copper electric lines were cut down and stolen because copper could be

sold for a good price. That caused aluminum to be used for electric lines. It

is not as good a conductor as copper, but a lot cheaper, and who would want

to steal aluminum lines? There are plenty of aluminum cans along the side

of the road from litterbugs, which shows its value.

(3) Why don’t we just do away with the penny?

Because of the inconvenience, it would seem like Congress should just do

away with pennies so things would have to be rounded to five cents. This

was tried. The Rounding Act of 1989, which would require merchants to

round prices off to the nearest nickel, got nowhere. Oddly enough, one poll

showed that 63% of the American people didn’t want to do away with the

penny – sentimental attachment, I guess. (No one polled me.) And, more

than likely the greatest influence to keep the penny is a lot of lobbying from

the zinc industry.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Doing nothing is a full-time job, with never a

day off. -- Anonymous

Presidential Trivia

Some presidential tidbits.

* Washington’s second inaugural address was the shortest in U.S. history,

containing less than 300 words. (The longest? Find out below.)

* John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were the only future presidents to sign

the Declaration of Independence.

* John Adams lived long enough to see his son, John Quincy, win the

presidency in 1824. Adams and Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826. John

Adams is one of two presidents whose son went on to become president.

(You should know the other.)

* Martin Van Buren was the first president born a U.S. citizen.

* William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural address. He talked for

almost two hours in a freezing rain, refusing to wear a hat or warm winter

coat. He caught cold, which developed into pneumonia. Harrison died a

month later, becoming the president with the shortest term in history.

* John Tyler had the most children of any U.S. president – 15. ( Fourteen

lived to maturity.) Eight were by his first wife, and seven by his second.

Tyler married the latter during his term in office. She was 30 years younger

than he.

* Zachary Taylor never voted in an election before he voted for himself for

president.

* James Buchanan was the only unmarried president.

* Abraham Lincoln was the first president to have a beard.

* Grover Cleveland did not fight in the Civil War. He bought a substitute

for $150, which was perfectly legal at that time. Also, Cleveland was the

only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms (1885-1889 and 1893-

1897). Between terms, his first child, Ruth, was born. A new candy bar,

Baby Ruth, was named after her.

* Electricity was installed in the White House in 1891. Benjamin Harrison

was afraid of the new technology and refused to touch the light switches.

* Theodore Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White

House, making Washington the first African-American to dine in the

executive mansion. Roosevelt also had a boxing match in the White House

with the heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan. The president lost sight in

one eye after being hit by Sullivan.

* William Howard Taft was the heaviest president in U.S. history,

weighing close to 350 pounds. At one point, he got stuck in the White

House bathtub. A new, larger tub was installed. Taft was the first president

to play golf, and became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after his

presidency.

* Gerald Ford was the only person in U.S. history to serve as both vice

president and president without being elected to either office. He was

appointed to both positions. In the fall of 1975, President Ford survived

two-assassination attempts…one the gun did not fire, and the other by a

bystander intervening and the bullet missed.

* Ronald Regan was the oldest president to be elected to office at age 69,

and was the first president to have been divorced. At age 73, Regan was the

oldest man ever to run for the presidency. He won a second term with the

largest victory in U.S. history, 49 states, and 525 electoral votes.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript):a I’m not sincere, even when I say I’m not.

-- Jules Renard, French author

I Didn’t Know That

Trivia potpourri.

The MG, of the MG automobile, stands for Morris Garages.

You have to count to 1000 before the letter “a” is used in spelling a

number.

Try to think of a word that starts and ends with “he.” (Don’t let it give

you a headache.)

The parrot is one of the few birds that have two toes pointing forward and

two toes pointing backwards. (Most birds have three forward and one

backward.) This allows the parrot to climb trees, hang upside down, and

hold food with one foot. I read where woodpeckers also have this toe

arrangement.

Some nerve impulses, like muscle signals, travel up to 390 ft/s (265

mi/h). Others travel more slowly. If you stub your toe, you feel the

contact right away (signals traveling 250 ft/s), but the pain is felt a bit

later with pain signals traveling at about 2 ft/s.

President Calvin Coolidge (“Silent Cal”) was a man of few words. There

is a popular story that a White House dinner guest made a bet that she

could get the President to say more than two words. She told Coolidge of

her wager, and he replied, “You lose.”

Coolidge’s last will and testament was one sentence, twenty three words

long: “Not unmindful of my son John, I give all my estate, both real and

personal, to my wife, Grace Coolidge, in fee simple.” (Go ahead and

count the words if you don’t believe me.)

Theodore Roosevelt was the only U.S. president to deliver an inaugural

address with out using the word “I.” Tied for second place with the use

of only one “I” – Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Dwight

D. Eisenhower.

* The now defunct Florida St. Petersburg Evening Independent used to

give the paper away any day the sun failed to shine. (The Sunshine State,

you know.) During its 76 years of publication, betting on the sun was

relatively inexpensive. The paper was free only 295 times -- an average of

fewer than four times per year.

* The phrase “The blind leading the blind” comes from Matthew 15:14.

* The phrase “mind your own beeswax” is said to have originated from

medieval smallpox epidemics. Those that survived the disease were left with

pockmarks on their bodies and faces. Ladies would fill in these facial

pockmarks with beeswax, which, on a hot day, might melt. One lady

shouldn’t mention this to another, at the risk of being told to “mind your

own beeswax.”

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the

United States. Ask any Indian (Native American).

-- Robert Orbsen

A Bunch of Trivia

Some interesting facts and things for the really curious.

The saxophone is named after Antoine Sax, a Belgian instrument maker,

who introduced it in the 1850s for use in orchestras and military bands.

Earthworms come out of the ground when it rains so as not to drown

when their holes fill up with water. Earthworms live in burrows (holes)

that are 14 – 18 inches deep. In cold, dry weather, they may burrow up

to 79 inches deep in search of moisture.

Chickens have ears (or ear holes). They do not have an outer ear (pinna)

as most mammals do. Chickens do have earlobes. White chickens have

white earlobes and lay white eggs. (Hens, that is.) Non-white chickens

generally have reddish earlobes (color may vary) and lay brown eggs.

A double-yolk egg (one shell, two yolks) is the chicken equivalent to

identical twins. Fraternal chicken twins get separate shells.

Identical human twins have the same DNA typing, so you can’t

distinguish them using DNA. Hence, if one twin commits a crime and

leaves DNA evidence at the scene, you couldn’t use DNA matching to

determine which twin did it. But identical twins do have different

fingerprint patterns. (Crime never pays, even for identical twins.)

* The expression “winning hands down” comes from horse racing, where in

a “hands down” victory, a jockey feels so confident of winning the race

that he/she (we have female jockeys) drops the hands and relaxes the grip

on the reins when nearing the finish line.

* No Vice President of the U.S. has ever been assassinated.

* Penny is used to specify nail size because in England nails were once sold

by the hundreds. Nails that sold for ten pence per hundred were know as

10-penny nails. Larger nails that were sold for 20 pence were 20-penny

nails. The nail sizes remain, but not the prices.

* Some parts of Illinois are farther south than Richmond, Virginia.

* There are parts of Wisconsin that are farther east than parts of Florida.

(Check these out on the map.)

* The Pilgrims drank beer, and this may have affected their landing on

Plymouth Rock. An excerpt from the journal of a Mayflower passenger

tells why they landed at the first sight of land: “We could not now take

time for further search, or victuals being much spent, especially our

beere.”

* Founded in 1897, Woolworth’s 5-and-10 cent stores top price was 10

cents for 53 years, until 1932.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) ) Don’t gain weight in the wrong places.

Eat in good restaurants. -- Anonymous.

You Don’t Say

Very interesting.

* All U.S. coins have a “coin turn.” That is, if you look at a “heads” right

side up, the image on the “tails” side is inverted. (Why do we say “heads”

or “tails” when we flip a single coin?)

* The four-leaf clover is a genetic mutation that occurs for about every

10,000 clovers.

* The only 15-letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is

“uncopyrightable.”

* The Dutch painter, Vincent Van Gogh, cut off his left ear. His

“Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear” shows the right ear bandaged because

he painted his mirror image.

* Tennis pro Andy Roddick, called the Rocket Man, has the record for the

fastest serve – 155 mi/h.

* The Pentagon was built with twice as many bathrooms (284) as needed

because it was built in segregated Virginia.

* Africa has the shortest coast line of all the continents; and of the various

cultures have the shortest (Pygmy) and tallest (Watusi) people in the

world.

* The word “automobile” means “self-moving” and was coined to give a

name to horseless carriages.

* Mark Twain purchased a Remington typewriter in 1874 and became the

first author to submit a typewritten manuscript to a publisher. It was the

manuscript for a novel entitled Thomas Sawyer.

* The national song of Australia is “Waltzing Matilda.” Matilda was not a

woman, but a blanket (swag) worn over the shoulder. A “swagman” was

an itinerant sheep shearer. When “waltzing Matilda,” the swagman was

dancing with his blanket.

* When you snap your fingers, the loudest sound is caused by the air being

forced out between the middle finger and the palm and the air striking the

palm. Place and hold a piece of tissue or soft cloth on the palm and snap.

The sound will be muffled.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The first place to look for something is the

last place you would expect to find it.

-- Anonymous

VI. What’s the Difference?To Drip or Not To Drip

Question: What’s the difference between regular candles and dripless

candles? (Asked by a curious candle buff.)

Reply: The question might be answered that one drips and the other doesn’t,

but that is a cop-out. First, some candle background. The word “candle”

comes from the Latin candere, meaning “to shine.” Candles have been

around for a long time. They were used in Egypt around 3000 BC, and were

a major light source for many centuries.

For a long time, candles were made from tallow (rendered animal fat).

But with the advent of paraffin (from petroleum) in the 1800s, tallow

candles went by the wayside. Beeswax and bayberry wax are also used in

candles, and some are scented. There is a lot of candle burning over the

Christmas holiday season. In fact, candles were used on Christmas trees

before electric lights. (Big fire hazard.)

Now back to the drip question. How a candle burns depends on the

wax (and additives) and the wick. Some candles are made from wax that

drips down the side of the candle and holder while melting. As the liquid

wax hardens, it forms “waxicles.” This is sort of a tradition with candles.

However, for longer-burning candles with little or no mess, “dripless”

candles are preferred. These are made with wax that contains stearic acid,

which gives a hard wax with a higher melting point. In all candles, heat

from the flame liquefies the wax near the base of the wick. The liquid wax

rises in the wick by capillary action (like water in a paper towel), and is

vaporized. The flame is the combustion of wax vapor.

Because of the higher melting point of the dripless candle wax, the

heat from the wick is not sufficient to melt the outer edges of the candle. So

there is a pool of liquid wax within a solid wax rim. A thicker wick helps

the dripless process. It absorbs more wax from the liquid wax pool, give a

longer burning time. But even “dripless” candles will drip. For example, if

there is an air draft that blows hot air or the flame from the wick to one side,

this can cause the hard rim to melt. Then you get the drips.

Candles have a special aurora – as in dinner by candle light. Also in

poetry as in a poem by Edna St.Vincent Millay:

My candle burns at both ends

It will not last the night.

But ah, my foes, and oh my friends –

It gives such a lovely light.

I don’t know if Edna’s candles were dripless or not, but you really should

not burn your candle at both ends – you can run out of wax very quickly.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) I don’t make jokes. I just watch the

government and report the facts.

-- Will Rogers

A Potpourri of Differences

Question: What’s the difference between a lawyer and an attorney?

And why an “attorney at law”? We don’t say “doctor at medicine” or

“professor at physics.” (Asked by a curious barrister.)

Reply: I’ve never thought about this. I have wondered why lawyers

practice law and physicians practice medicine. (I always hope that it’s not

as in practice makes perfect.)

In everyday usage the terms lawyer and attorney are basically

synonymous. Here are typical dictionary definitions:

attorney: 1. a lawyer, attorney-at-law

2. an attorney-in-fact; agent

And so, an attorney is a lawyer, and

lawyer: 1. a person licensed by a state to advise clients in legal

matters and to represent them in courts of law or other forms of disputes.

Note there are two types of attorneys – attorney-at-law and attorney-

in-fact. These are not synonymous.

An attorney-at-law is a lawyer as defined above. An attorney-in-fact

is a person authorized to act on a person’s behalf in matters outside a court

of law. The scope of the authority is controlled or limited by a written

document, a power of attorney, granted by the person. No legal training is

needed. You may be an attorney-in-fact someday. A common use of a

power of attorney is conducting business for an incapacitated person.

That gives one distinction between attorney and lawyer. You can

have a power of attorney, but you never hear about a power of lawyer or a

lawyer-in-fact.

Question: What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?

Reply: Botanically, “fruit” refers specifically to those items that arise from

the ripening of the plant ovaries to encapsulate seeds. That is, fruits have

seeds inside. Apples, peaches, bananas, melons, tomatoes, cucumbers,

squash, pumpkins, and peas in the pod are fruits.

Other edible parts of a plant -- for example, leaves, stems, and roots

are vegetables. Vegetables do not contain seeds. Carrots, beets, celery, and

potatoes are vegetables. So be careful. The next time you order a fruit salad,

it could be a tomato salad.

Question: What is the difference between a woodchuck and a

groundhog?

Reply: Marmot is the name for a group of large, gnawing squirrels. One

species in North America is called either a woodchuck or a groundhog.

There is no difference, except on Feb. 2 -- ever hear of Woodchuck Day?

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) I’m not crazy. I’m just intellectually

independent.

-- Anonymous

Soup De Jure – Chowder or Bisque?

Question: What’s the difference between chowder and bisque, for

example, clam chowder and clam bisque? (Asked by a curious clam.)

Reply: To get the scoop firsthand, I was in a seafood restaurant and asked.

The waitress said she would check, and on returning from the kitchen, told

me that chowder had potatoes and bisque did not.

When I got home, I pulled up my Random House dictionary and

found these definitions:

chowder: a thick soup or stew made of clams, fish, or vegetables, with

potatoes, onions, and other ingredients and seasonings.

bisque: a thick soup, especially of pureed shellfish or vegetables.

There was a loophole here – potatoes and vegetables. So I called in to

“Ask the Chef” on the radio. He told me that bisque could have potatoes,

but generally not. That’s reasonable. Pureed potatoes would be like mashed

potatoes, which would make for a pretty thick soup.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): If you would not be forgotten, write either

things worth reading, or do things worth writing.

-- B. Franklin.

Taken for a Ride

Question: What’s the difference between a “cab” and a “taxi”? (Asked

by a curious cabbie.)

Reply: Let’s start by catching a cab. Back in the 18th century, well-to-do

English folk used fashionable one-horse carriages to take Sunday rides.

These were called “cabriolets” (from the French, meaning “to leap”). It

wasn’t too long until larger carriages were available for hire in cities and

cabriolet was shortened to “cab.” And so in some cities one could “catch a

cab” or “hail a cab.” The cabs of the time were also known as “hackneys” or

“hacks” from the French haquenee, meaning horse. In modern connotation,

a cab driver may say he drives a hack – but a horseless carriage in this case.

So where does taxi come in? -- as a result of technology. When

taking a “cab”, cabbies would quote a loose price based on the distance of

the ride. As you might imagine, this allowed room for profitable error. But

in the late 1800s, enter the invention of the “taximeter” (from the French

taxi, or tariff; and metre or meter). The taximeter measured the actual

distance traveled by a cab and was quickly in wide use. Cabs then became

known as “taxicabs” or just “taxis” for short.

However, the present-day taximeters (or “meters”) are based on time.

That is, the time it takes in going from pick up point to destination. The

meter keeps ticking away when stopped at a red light or in traffic. Another

method for fares is based on zones, going from one zone to another, so you

pay for approximate distance.

Have you ever taken a taxi ride in New York City? I did once, and

came to the conclusion that the cab or taxi drivers were in training for

NASCAR.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Life is like drawing without an eraser.

-- John Gardner

Reinventing the Wheel

Question: What is the difference between all-wheel drive and four-

wheel drive vehicles? (Asked by my curious motorist.)

Reply: The all-wheel drive (AWD) is a full-time system – it is there

whenever you are driving. This is opposed to the traditional back-wheel or

front-wheel drives. The AWD was designed to provide traction when roads

are slippery from rain, snow, or ice. Originally, the power to the wheels was

divided mechanically. However, newer vehicles usually have computerized

traction control systems. Data from sensors in the wheels are fed into a

central computer. If the computer senses one or more wheels about to slip, it

redirects power to the other wheels so you keep on trucking.

A four-wheel drive (4WD), on the other hand, is a part-time system

designed for icy and snowy roads and off-road use (mudding). When

traction is needed, the 4WD can be activated, giving a “low” gear setting

which for most designs adds power to the front wheels of a rear-wheel drive

vehicle.

I understand that some vehicles now have 4WD and AWD

combinations – an AWD that can be changed to a 4WD. No wonder things

are confusing. I’m going to use CCD (Curiosity Corner Drive) and get out

of here.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): If I were two-faced, would I be wearing

this one?

-- Abraham Lincoln

Get Ready for Din-Din

Question: What’s the difference between dinner and supper? (Asked

by a curious fellow sitting down at the dinner -- or supper? -- table.)

Reply: I’m not sure there is a definitive answer as to what you call the meal.

It seems this depends on your eating habits. Let’s first go to the dictionary:

dinner: the main meal of the day, eaten in the evening or midday.

supper: the evening meal, often the principal meal of the day.

And we may as well throw in

lunch: a light midday meal between breakfast and dinner.

Got that? Really helps. I think the key designation here is dinner being the

main or large meal of the day. People eat their large meal of the day at

different times. In the old farm days, the big meal was generally eaten at

midday to give the workers a rest and enough energy to get through the rest

of the day; so this was dinner. When I was growing up, we had breakfast,

dinner, and supper – my mother was raised on a farm. Also, in parts of

Germany, the big meal of the day is usually at noon. Shops and schools are

closed for a two-hour dinner break. City folks tend to eat lighter noon meals

(lunch), so supper for them is dinner – which may be fashionably late.

The time of the main meal of the day has changed historically,

particularly in England. Henry VIII had his big meal at midmorning.

During the reign of Queen Victoria, it was fashionable to have dinner as late

as 10 p.m. As a result, the English got a bit hungry in the afternoon and

invented teatime – tea and crumpets to tide you over.

So, call it what you will. Moral of the story: bring on the food!

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The hardest thing to understand is the income

tax.

-- Albert Einstein

Kiss my Grits

Question: What’s the difference between hominy and grits? Asked by

a curious connoisseur.)

Reply: That’s a real Southern question. Being originally from Ohio, I’m

familiar with hominy – my mom served it. However, not everyone has had

the pleasure. I recall one time at a Southern university cafeteria salad bar, a

student pointed at some white stuff and said, “What’s that?” I told him it

was hominy, and that he had probably eaten it many times in the form of

grits. I’m not sure he believed me. However, I digress.

There are “corn” grits and “hominy” grits, and both are made from

yellow and white corn. But first let’s take a look at a kernel of corn. A

kernel has an outer hull, and below that a bran layer. At the bottom of the

kernel (the end attached to the cob) is the germ or embryo. You’ve probably

seen this somewhat round and elongated germ when eating corn on the cob.

Corn oil makes up about half of the germ.

Corn grits is made from corn that has been dried to about 14 percent

moisture content and cleaned with forced air. The kernels are then ground

by mill stones (or steel rollers in modern processing) to a certain texture and

sifted through metal screens. The three products sorted are corn grits,

cornmeal, and bran.

Hominy grits, of course, is made from hominy. To make hominy, the

corn is soaked in lye or “potash” water for a day or two until the hull and

bran come loose and rise to the top. (In modern commercial techniques, the

corn is boiled in dilute sodium hydroxide and the hull is removed

mechanically.) The kernels swell to about twice their original size. After

rinsing, they are dried.

Both yellow and white hominy can be found in grocery stores.

Coarsely ground hominy makes grits, with white grits being preferred over

yellow grits, which are starchier. “Quick” grits are made by grinding the

granules finer, which allows faster cooking. “Instant” grits are precooked,

dried for packaging, and then “recooked” quickly by adding boiling water.

If you are really into grits, you can attend a couple of annual festivals

in April – the National Grits Festival in Warwick, GA, and the World Grits

Festival in St. George, SC. Both towns claim to be the “Grits Capital of the

World.” You can get grits topped with butter, cheese, or red-eye gravy.

Not a bad column for a damn Yankee, don’t you think? (A damn

Yankee is one who comes down South and stays.) I knew grits didn’t grow

on “grit trees” like they told me when I first came down years ago.

Bonus: Why is it called red-eye gravy? Legend has it that Andrew

Jackson asked his cook to prepare lunch. The cook had been drinking corn

whiskey the night before, and his eyes were red. Jackson told him to fix

some ham gravy as red as his eyes. Others overheard this, and ham gravy

became known as red-eye gravy.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): It’s hard to be nostalgic when you can’t

remember anything. -- Anonymous

A Cheesy Difference

Question: What is the difference between yellow and white cheeses?

(Asked by a curious cheese lover.)

Reply: Basically not much, other than a little coloring. Most cheeses are

naturally white or pale cream color. The yellow cheeses, such as American,

longhorn, and cheddar, are dyed with a food coloring called annatto. This

yellowish-red dye comes from the pulp of the annatto tree found in tropical

America. The dye is also used in coloring butter and fabrics. Butter made

from the milk of cows eating dry, stored feed during the winter may not have

enough beta-carotene to give a yellow color, so annatto is added, as it is for

cheese. Some cheeses aren’t colored and are preferred in some regions, such

as Vermont cheddar, mozzarella, and other varieties.

Some people believe that light-colored cheeses are healthier than

yellow or light orange-colored cheeses because they have less fat. However,

given a particular type of cheese, such as cheddar, the white and yellow

varieties differ generally only in color. Both have ample cholesterol and

saturated fat (unless the fat has been removed). I love cheese of either color

– much to my physician’s dismay.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep

score?

-- Vince Lombardi

Mules, Donkeys, and Burros – What a Combo

Question: How do mules, donkeys, and burros differ? (Asked by a

curious cowpoke.)

Reply: Let's start with mules. A mule is the offspring of an ass (donkey)

and a horse. Generally, this is a cross between a male donkey and a female

horse (mare). The resulting mule has the features of a donkey, but in bulk

and stature resembles a horse. The mule usually excels both parents in

muscular endurance, sure-footedness (one of the best), and age span.

However, the breeding can go the other way -- a female donkey crossed with

a male horse. The result in this case is called a hinny, which is smaller, has

a bushier tail, and more docile.

Male and female mules are usually sterile. But there have been

instances where female mules have been crossed with horses or donkeys and

foals produced. Mules are generally stereotyped as being stubborn or stupid

-- "stubborn as a mule" -- but they are relatively intelligent in their own way.

Now let's look at the donkey (technically an ass, if you check your

dictionary, encyclopedia, or Bible). The male donkey is called a jack or

jackass, while a female is known as a jennet or jenny. The Spanish brought

the donkey to the New World and the Spanish name for this animal is burro.

In Mexico and the southwestern U.S., the name burro has come to be applied

to small donkeys that evolved there. They are much smaller than their Old

World relatives. However through breeding, donkeys can be much larger,

which is done so as to produce large mules.

So that’s how they differ. Another difference is that the party game is

pin the tail on the donkey – not pin the tail on the mule.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Seen on a sign in a store: Prices may vary

according to the customer’s attitude.

Salt of the Earth

Question: How do popcorn salt, margarita salt, and sea salt differ?

Are they different from regular table salt? (Asked by a curious old

salt.)

Reply: It would appear that the main difference is price. Salt is salt

(sodium chloride, NaCl). There is rock salt (or halite), which is mined from

salt domes or deposits. These deposits were laid down hundreds of millions

of years ago when ancient seas dried up. Mined rock salt isn’t suitable for

food use because it contains some mud and such. Its common use is the

salting of icy roads in the winter. Common table salt (which we eat) is

mined by pumping water down a shaft to dissolve salt in underground

deposits. The brine is pumped back to the surface and the impurities are

allowed to settle out. When the water of the brine is evaporated, crystals of

salt are left behind.

Sea salt is just what it says, salt from the sea or sea water. When sea

water is evaporated, certain mineral compounds are left behind in the salt,

containing such elements as iron, magnesium, and calcium. Sea salt is often

labeled as having “nutritious minerals,” but they are in trace amounts.

(You’d have to eat a lot of sea salt to have any benefit. A multi-vitamin

would be better.)

Other salts, such a popcorn salt and margarita salt, simply depend on

the coarseness of the salt granules. For margaritas and pretzels, you want

relatively coarse granules that stick to the glass or pretzels after moistening.

Popcorn salt, on the other hand, has fine granules, that easily get into the

popped kernels and stay. Bottom line: salt is salt, even though it is sold

with additives – garlic salt, seasoned salt, etc.

I can’t sign off without mentioning “salt substitutes,” which are near

and dear to my palate. Sodium in the diet is believed to be a possible cause

of high blood pressure. There are conflicting studies, but why take a

chance? The main salt substitute is potassium chloride. (This a salt too,

chemically speaking, where a salt is the product of a reaction between an

acid and a base.) Potassium chloride (KCl) tastes similar to sodium chloride

(NaCl), and is not suppose to give your blood pressure a boost.

If you want to cut down, and still have some sodium chloride taste,

there is Lite ® salt mixture, which is half KCl and half NaCl. Then there

are several brands of “salt substitutes” (chiefly KCl). One salt “alternative”

(still KCl), says it “Flavors like salt, but is salt free!” Some containers have

inspirational sayings such as, “Shake the Salt Habit!” and “Don’t be a

Saltaholic!” Also, it is stated that reducing sodium intake may help high

blood pressure. But in the fine print, “Please Note: The development of high

blood pressure depends on many factors.”

One of the “best” ones I noticed on the shelf was SaltSense®. Not a

salt substitute – real salt it says, but “33% LESS SODIUM.” What? Then

below it says (in smaller print), “per teaspoon.” I bought a box to see what

was going on, and as suspected, it has to do with density (mass or weight per

volume). The salt is fine and flaky, not like the normal granular table salt.

So, there is 33% less sodium (per teaspoon) because the flaky salt doesn’t

pack as well, and there is 33% more air per teaspoon.

The label says it “is made a special way to help you and your family

consume less sodium.” But, a footnote about the sodium in this and regular

table salt states, “100 grams of either product contains 100 milligrams (mg)

of sodium” -- same mass (weight), same amount of sodium. Another

giveaway is to pick up a box of SaltSense® and a box of regular salt. Both

appear to be the same size or volume, but you can detect a weight difference.

The “less” salt brand has a weight of 17.3 ounces, and the regular table salt,

a weight of 26 ounces. Maybe they should also have in fine print, “Caveat

emptor.”

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): When it is raining heavily, we say it is

peppering it down. Would it ever be salting it down?

-- JDW

Don’t Scratch!

Question: What’s the difference between poison ivy, poison oak, and

poison sumac? (Asked by a column reader with a curious itch.)

Reply: Not being familiar with a couple of these nasty weeds, I checked

with the American Academy of Dermatology and here is what I found out.

These plants grow practically everywhere in the U.S., except Hawaii,

Alaska, and some desert areas in Nevada. Poison ivy grows as a vine in the

Southeast, and as a shrub up North. Poison oak grows as a shrub in the East,

and as a vine in the West. Poison sumac grows in standing water in swampy

areas, and each leaf has 7 to 13 leaflets.

It’s not so much their differences, but what they have in common, and

that is a substance called urushiol (pronounced you-ROO-shee-ol). This is a

colorless or slightly yellow oil or resin that oozes from any cut or crushed

part of the plant, including the stems and leaves. Once it touches the skin, it

begins to penetrate in a matter of minutes, and if you are sensitive, a rash

forms within 12 – 48 hours with a lot of itching. The rash may develop into

blisters. It usually takes about ten days for the rash to heal.

You can develop a rash without ever coming into contact with the

plant because the oil is so easily spread. Sticky and almost invisible, the

urushiol can be carried on garden tools, the fur of animals, or anything that

comes in contact with the crushed or broken plant. It can even be carried by

the wind if the plant is burned in a fire. Sensitivity to urushiol is developed

after several exposures to the oil. This varies from person to person and

tends to diminish with age. In some instances, the allergic reaction can be

quite severe and require medical treatment.

So what do you do if you stray into a poison patch? First, wash all

exposed areas in cold water as soon as possible. If done in five minutes, the

oil will be deactivated. Soap is not necessary and may even spread the oil.

Second, wash all your clothes that may have come in contact with the plant

outside with a garden hose. If brought into the house, the oil could be

transferred to rugs or furniture. Keep in mind that the urushiol can remain

active for months.

And finally, here are some myths about the weeds:

Scratching blisters will spread the rash. Wrong. It’s the oil that causes

the rash, and if on your hands you can spread it, for instance in wiping

your forehead.

Poison ivy is “catching.” Wrong. The rash cannot be passed from

person to person – only the oil.

Dead poison ivy plants are no longer toxic. Wrong. The plant resin can

remain active for months, and even years.

“Leaves of three, let them be” (for poison ivy and oak). A good rule of

the thumb, but only partially correct. The number leaves varies in

different environments and may have groups of three, to groups of five,

seven, or even nine.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): If brains were taxed, some people would get a

refund.

-- Anonymous

Bottoms Up

Question: What is the difference between pilsner and lager beers?

(Asked by a curious beer lover.)

Reply: Beer, a beverage made from fermented grain, has been around from

early civilizations. Unlike wines, which uses easily fermented crushed

grapes, grains are more stubborn. The grain has to be soaked in water and

allowed to germinate. When the kernels reach the stage where their

developed sugars can support sprouts, the process is stopped by drying. The

grain is now “malt” and has the sugar for fermentation. Barley, wheat, oats,

and rye can all be malted. The malted grain is ground and mixed with water

to start the fermentation process. Additives such as herbs, spices, and hops

may be used. Excessive hops give the bitter taste that can be found in some

German beers.

But there is another essential ingredient, yeast, which causes the sugar

to turn to alcohol. In the old day, the vats of malt and water were exposed to

the atmosphere by opening roof panels. This allowed wild yeast cells in the

air to go into the vats and start the fermentation. However, the wild yeasts

varied and so did the beer. With the development of refrigeration in the

1800s, yeasts were isolated or cultured and could be stored. Brewers could

then make consistent tasting beers.

Also, before refrigeration, beer would go bad after a while in a warm

environment. In the 1400s, brewers in Bavaria stored their beers in the

summer in cool caves in the Alps. It remained good, but they didn’t know

why. One reason was that it was not exposed to any more wild yeasts,

which could cause problems in a warm environment. This storage was

called “Lagerung” in German. In German, “lager” means storehouse. A

lager is a beer which is fermented with yeast at cool temperatures, then put

into cold storage.

Prior to 1842, all beers were dark and cloudy. Then, a brewery in

Pilsen, Bohemia, using another lager method, introduced a beer called

pilsner that was golden and clear. Within the family of lagers, the pilsner (or

“pils”) is now the most widely produced.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) Actually, it only takes one drink to get me

loaded. Trouble is, I can’t remember if it’s the 13th or 14th.

-- George Burns

Birds of a Feather

Question: What is the difference between an ostrich and an emu?

(Asked by a curious Big Bird.)

Reply: One thing they have in common is that they are big birds. However,

the ostrich is a bit bigger, being the largest and strongest of birds. The

ostrich is native to Africa and stands up to 8 feet tall with the neck

accounting for about one-half the height. A grown ostrich can weigh in at

over 300 pounds, but even so, with long legs can run at speeds up to 40

miles per hour. The ostrich’s diet is mainly plants. An ostrich egg is quite

large and weighs up to 3 pounds. In the hatching process, the male sits on

the egg during the night (night shift) and the female takes the day shift.

In the late 1800s, ostrich farming became popular with plumage being

the main crop. Ostrich feathers were a big thing in ladies’ hats in those days.

With a change in fashion without feathers, ostrich hide was used to make

quality leather. Nowadays they are being raised for food. Ostrich meat is

low fat, but an ostrich burger can be expensive with the meat on the order of

$12 a pound.

The ostrich is associated with the saying “burying your head in the

sand,” referring to someone who is timid. Ostriches aren’t timid at all and

will chase you. Contrary to popular belief, ostriches do not bury their heads

in the sand. If a predator threatens their nest, ostriches will lay their head

against the sand to try to blend in with it. In addition, male ostriches use

their bills to dig shallow nests in the sand and move their eggs around. From

a distance, this could look like the ostrich's head is disappearing in the sand.

The ostrich has a South American cousin called the rhea. These

ostrich-like birds are smaller, only about 4 feet tall, and have three toes

instead of two like the ostrich.

The emu is a large, flightless bird native to Australia. Next to the

ostrich, it is the largest of all birds. A grown emu can stand 6 feet tall,

weigh about 130 pounds, and can run 30 miles per hour. They eat mainly

roots, fruits, and plants. Emus lack the graceful plumage of the ostrich.

Their feathers are hair-like and resemble shaggy fur.

It is interesting to note that emu egg sitting takes place over a couple

months and is done solely by the male, who also takes care of the chicks.

I've heard of being hen-pecked, but I guess this is a case of being emu-

pecked.

C.P.S. (Curious Post Script): The length of a film should be directly related

to the endurance of the human bladder.

-- Alfred Hitchcock

VII. Plants and Animals (including Humans)Sexist Bugs

Question: I am curious to know if all ladybugs are female. Are there

any male “lady” bugs? (Asked by curious amateur entomologist.)

Reply: I usually avoid sexually oriented questions, but this one seems safe

enough. Yes, there are male ladybugs. They are much maligned, not being

recognized as “gentlemen bugs.”

Seriously, ladybugs (also called ladybirds, primarily in Europe) are

members of a beetle family, with about 5000 relatives (species). They do

quite a bit of good, and clusters are sometimes sold to farmers to combat

insect pests, such as aphids and mites. (I recall they imported some Asian

ladybugs a few years ago to do something like this and they really multiplied

big time.. they were everywhere, inside houses, everywhere.)

In any case, these “person bugs” mate. (Is that politically correct or

what?) The female lays fertilized eggs and the bugs hatch out as larva and

go through a common bug cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Ladybugs have

been honored historically, probably because they belong to the family

Coccinellidae (order Cleopatra), a name that originated in the Middle Ages

when the beetle was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and was called “the beetle

of Our Lady.”

My mother taught me that it was good luck to have a ladybug in the

house. When you found one, you caught it (male or female, I couldn’t tell)

and put it outdoors, saying “Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home. You house

is on fire and your children will burn.”

So, that should answer your question. Have you ever seen a ladybug

fire department? Think about it.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Education is the best provision for old age.

-- Aristotle (384 – 322 BC)

Elementary, My Dear Watson

Question: Humans have fingerprints. Do any other animals have

them? (Asked by a curious Sherlock Holmes.)

Reply: Fingerprints, the ridges on our thumbs and fingers, make life easier

in that they help us grasp and hold things, particularly slippery objects.

They are analogous to the tread on the tires of a car – they give a better grip.

Yes, there are animals other than humans that have fingerprints.

Gorillas and some monkeys have fingerprints. They are primates like us

humans and have a great deal of manual dexterity. However, it is interesting

that perhaps our closest relative, the chimpanzee, does not have fingerprints.

But on the print side, “down under” koala bears do have fingerprints.

Other visible human characteristics change, but fingerprint patterns do

not, even as we grow. Since no two person’s swirling fingerprints are

identical (as far as is known), they are used as a means of identification.

You’ve seen enough detective movies – don’t leave your fingerprints at the

scene of the crime. Don’t go barefoot either…toe prints are unique and can

be used too.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is

physical.

-- Yogi Berra

After the Sun Goes Down

Question: Why does the Cereus cactus bloom only at night? (Asked by

a curious Cereus cactus cultivator.)

Reply: This was a new one on me, so I had to dig a bit and got started off

wrong. I thought it was Cirrus cactus (Cirrus, like the cloud), but it is

spelled Cereus and sounds the same. Getting the right spelling, here’s what

I found. The night-blooming Cereus is native to the deserts of the U.S.

Southwest, Mexico, and South America (there are several varieties). In the

desert, it resembles nothing more that a dead bush most of the year. But

once a year in June or July, it flowers. The bloom is up to four inches wide

and as much as eight inches long, has a distinctive vanilla-like smell, and

lasts only one night for about six hours. (The Cereus is also called the

Queen of the Night.) At the node of each flower, an egg-shaped edible pear

develops, which has an acidic juice. This has been used as a homoeopathic

cardiac stimulant.

As for the original question, it is not known why the Cereus is a night-

blooming cactus. Some animals are nocturnal; so I guess with equal rights,

plants can be too. Or maybe they are just shy.

P.S. Maybe you wondered, like me, about that big word “homoeopathic.” I

thought it had to do with natural remedies, but there seems to be a bit more

to the philosophy. Here’s a definition:

Homoeopathy (also spelt as homeopathy or called

homeopathics) is a system of medicine based on three

principles:

1. like cures like

For example, if the symptoms of your cold are similar to

poisoning by mercury, then mercury would be your

homeopathic remedy.

2. minimal dose

The remedy is taken in an extremely dilute form; normally one

part of the remedy to thousands of parts water.

3. single remedy

No matter how many symptoms are experienced, only one

remedy is taken, and that remedy will be aimed at all those

symptoms.

Sounds pretty curious to me.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): There are no dumb questions, just dumb people.

-- Anonymous

Hold Your Horses and Radishes

Question: What does horseradish have to do with horses? (Asked by a

curious horse owner.)

Reply: In a couple of words, not much. The horseradish is a perennial plant

of the mustard family. The roots contain a pungent oil that gives the radish

its bite. In processing, the horseradish is grated and mixed with white

vinegar, making it a good sinus-clearing condiment.

The horseradish has been around for a long time. The early Egyptians

cultivated it, as did the Greeks. When it got to Europe, it was called

“meerrettich,” which is German for “sea radish.” It grows well by the sea,

and in some moist areas it is considered to be a troublesome weed.

The story goes that when growing horseradish spread to England, the

German pronunciation of “meer” was taken to be “mare” (as in the old gray

mare). So then it was known as a mareradish, which led to the general name

of horseradish. Maybe they were gender-conscious back then too.

Stallionradish wouldn’t work either.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) Four U.S. presidents were never elected to

public office before becoming chief executives. They were Grant, Taft,

Hoover, and Eisenhower, who never even voted until he ran for president.

Nature’s Compass?

Question: Why does moss always grow on the north side of a tree?

(Asked by a curious lost person.)

Reply: It doesn’t, but that’s the most likely place because of certain

conditions. I noticed in my yard the other day that there was some moss on

the south side of a tree. The reason moss preferentially grows on the north

side of a tree comes from the fact that we live in the northern hemisphere,

and above the 23.5o N latitude (except in Hawaii). Above the Tropic of

Cancer (23.5o N), the Sun is always to the south of your zenith (point

directly overhead). As such, the south side of a tree gets more sunlight and

in general the north side has the greatest amounts of shade and moisture,

which favors moss. However, given the right conditions moss will grow all

around a tree.

Bonus: I received a couple of comments about my inventing prowess

from a previous column. Well, try this one. What I’m working on now is a

television you can fast-forward like a VCR or DVD. How about that! Think

it will sell?

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): He who hesitates is last.

-- Mae West

Keep Bobbin’ Along

Question: Some birds, such as pigeons and chickens, bob their heads

back and forth when they walk. Why is this? (Asked by a curious bird

watcher.)

Reply: Well, I know crabs walk sideways and lobsters walk straight, but

bobbing birds is another (biology) question. The bobbing has to do with

depth perception; that is, the bobbing helps in getting a better side view.

Many birds have eyes that are positioned back on the sides of their heads

and they don’t have good binocular vision. There is a variation among

species, of course. Most predatory birds (e.g., hawks) have better binocular

vision that do seed eaters (e.g., pigeons and doves), who are the ones you

most often see bobbing.

I asked a professor who is a bird man and he told me this: Birds with

eyes situated more frontally have a greater binocular field, which aids in

better distance determination. Binocular vision, in addition to providing

distance determination, allows a keener depth perception, which gives a

better three-dimensional effect. Many birds that have limited binocular

vision have developed actions that enhance their depth perception. For

example, the Common Pigeon in walking, or the American Coot in

swimming thrusts the head forward, then jerks backward with brief pauses

between each motion. The result is a quick succession of views at rapidly

changing angles that gives the bird a better estimation of distances.

Another substitute for depth perception is rapid peering. When some

birds are about to pick up food, such as seeds, they frequently tilt or cock

their heads at different angles to get a better idea of the shape and location of

the food.

So now you know when you see the Red, Red Robin comes bob, bob,

bobbin’ along.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Middle age is when your age starts to show

around your middle.

-- Bob Hope

And Tupelo, Too

Question: What is Tupelo honey, and why do some doctors allow

diabetics to have it? (Asked by a curious honey consumer.)

Reply: When asked this, I really didn’t know and had never heard of Tupelo

honey, so I asked a couple of busy bees. They told me that this honey is

produced from the blossoms of the tupelo gum tree which grows in the

swamp areas of South Carolina, Georgia, and northwest Florida. It is the

only place in the world that this type of honey is produced commercially.

Tupelo honey will not granulate, and because of the particular sugar

content (on the average, 44% levulose and 30% dextrose), some physicians

have permitted diabetic patients to eat Tupelo honey. Pure Tupelo honey --

from the white blossoms of the Tupelo gum tree that blossoms in April and

May -- is a light amber color with a greenish cast. Other trees, such as the

black tupelo and willow, bloom in advance of the white-blossomed Tupelo,

and the honey from these blossoms build up in bee hives. To get unmixed

Tupelo honey, the hives must be stripped just as the Tupelo starts to bloom

so there will be clean combs and no mixing. This is why Tupelo honey is

relatively expensive. (In case you are interested, commercial suppliers of

Tupelo honey can be found on the Web.)

It should be noted that the management of diabetics has changed.

Some people have thought that eating too much sugar causes diabetes, but

this is not true. Also, people with diabetes were warned to avoid sugar

because it was believed that eating sugar would rapidly increase the blood

sugar (glucose) to unwanted high levels.

However, according to the American Diabetes Association, diabetics

can eat sweets. Research has shown that sugar has the same effect on blood

glucose levels as other carbohydrates, such as bread or potatoes. Now it is

generally agreed that diabetics can eat foods with sugar as long as they are

worked into the meal plan so as to keep the blood sugar in the target range.

But there are a lot of variables. Bottom line: check with your doctor.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Preach not to others what they should eat, but

eat as becomes you, and be silent.

-- Epictetus (55 – 135 AD)

Don’t Let the Rain Come Down

Question: When we were in France, it rained frogs – there were small,

green frogs all over the windshield. How can this happen? (Asked by a

curious frog-wet traveler.)

Reply: Raining frogs? You’ve got to be kidding. No, I’m the one that is

kidding. There have been various instances of frog rains over the years, not

only in France, but also here in America. To be sure, amphibian rains are

rare, but do happen and the incidents are well documented.

It is believed that frog rainfalls are caused by tornadoes or violent

thunderstorms. The accompanying heavy winds pass over ponds and creeks,

picking up small creatures from the water. These may be lifted to high

altitudes and carried some distance before they drop to the ground along

with rain. There are also several accounts of raining fish.

Before leaving this, I know someone is going to ask about raining

“cats and dogs.” This saying is believed to have a mythological origin. At

one time, it was believed that cats had influence over storms, a particular

belief of sailors, and that dogs were the symbol of storms. Both animals

were attendants of the Norse storm god Odin. The cat symbolized the

downpouring of rain, and the dog the strong gusts of wind that accompanied

storms. So, a rain of “cats and dogs” meant a heavy rain with wind.

There have been no actual accounts of raining cats and dogs…or

pitchforks either.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Go to other people’s funerals, or they won’t

come to yours.

-- Yogi Berra

Here Doodle, Doodle

Question: What are doodlebugs and can they be called out of the

ground? (Asked by a curious doodling column reader.)

Reply: Well, I’ve heard of a hay doodle and there are other types of

doodling. Dictionary reference: 1. to draw or scribble idly: He doodled

during the whole lecture. 2. to waste (time) in aimless or foolish activity. (I

wonder if doodlebugs doodle?) Bug-wise, I believe we are talking about

the ant lion, which is colloquially referred to as a “doodlebug.” The ant lion

excavates a funnel-shaped pit in sandy soil about an inch deep by crawling

backwards in circles. The slope of the funnel is adjusted so that the sides

readily gives away under the feet of a would-be prey, and the doodlebug

waits at the bottom of the pit.

Crawling insects, particularly ants inadvertently fall into the pit and

are unable to climb very far back up because of the loose sand on the steep

walls that gives away. Down they go, and the doodlebug makes quick work

of them with its sickle-like jaws. This is perhaps why they are called ant

lions.

The sand hole resembles a small ant hill somewhat and Apollo 16 astronaut

Charles Duke compared certain craters on the Moon to ant lion pits. He is

recorded as saying, “Doodlebug, doodlebug, are you at home?”

Now for the question. Folklore has it that the ant lion or doodlebug

can be called out of the ground by saying a verse. A straw from a kitchen

broom may be put down the hole to assist the coming out. Supposedly,

doodle bugs can be coaxed out of their holes by saying, “Doodlebug,

doodlebug, come blow your horn, the sheep and cows are in the corn.”

There are other coaxing sayings such as “Doodlebug, doodlebug, come up

and…get some bread and butter…get a barrel of sugar…get a chew of

tobacco.” That sure gives them a choice for making an appearance.

Doodlebug references can be found in literature. In Mark Twain’s

1897 novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom was having a perplexing

problem, and “…so he searched around until he found a small sandy spot

with a little funnel-shaped depression in it. He laid himself down and put

his mouth close to this depression and called – ‘Doodle-bug, doodle-bug, tell

me what I want to know!’ The sand began to work and presently a small

black bug appeared for a second and then darted under again in fright. ‘He

dasn’t tell! So it was a witch that done it. I just knowed it.’ ” And in

Thomas Harris’ book The Silence of the Lambs: “…and Dr. Lecter said,

‘Looks like a straw down a doodlebug hole, doesn’t it?’ ”

So can you coax a doodlebug out of its hole? I don’t know. In a case

like this, one should apply the scientific method and experiment. I’ll try the

next doodlebug hole I come across. (Got out of that one pretty good, didn’t

I?)

C.P.S. (Curious Post Script): Don’t you know that four-fifths of our trouble

in life would disappear if we would just sit down and be still?

-- Calvin Coolidge (Silent Cal), U.S. President

Happy Tickle?

Question: Why does a dog kick its back leg when you scratch its

“happy spot”? (Asked by a curious dog lover.)

Reply: Most dogs have what is known as a “tickle spot.” (I’m not sure it is

a “happy spot.” Tickling doesn’t make me happy.) This spot can be in

various places, but is usually located on the back. The hind leg kicking is

thought to be a nerve reaction, similar to the reaction when a person is

tickled. The tickle spot must be important. I have seen sales advertisements

for dogs on the Internet that, among the dogs’ characteristics, list the

locations of tickle spots.

While on spots, let’s consider the “yubb spot.” This is a spot on a pig.

When scratched, the pig starts wiggling, chewing, and sometimes even bites.

Generally, it is located on the back between the hips. Next time you see a

pig, check it out. On second thought, better not. Some pigs do not like it at

all and can get nasty.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The reason a dog has so many friends is that he

wags his tail instead of his tongue.

-- Anonymous

Asleep Again?

Question: Why does your arm or leg fall asleep? (Asked by a curious

person with numb extremities.)

Reply: We’ve all had an arm or a leg “fall asleep.” Technically, this is

called neurapraxia, which is a temporary loss of nerve function resulting in

tingling and numbness. It is usually caused by a compression of a nerve

with no damage involved and complete recovery in a short time after the

compression is relieved. A nerve sometimes gets compressed between a

bone and some hard object such as a desk edge for an arm or a table leg for a

leg. The most likely nerve candidates are the ulnar nerve in the arm and the

peroneal nerve in the leg.

The “sleeping” limb is often rubbed with the thought of getting the

(blood) circulation going again so as to “wake” it up. However, when a limb

is “asleep,” the blood continues to flow normally. The limb “wakes up”

with the recovery of the nerve compression. As noted above, complete

recovery occurs, usually in a short time. However, don’t put your weight on

a leg that is asleep. It may collapse and you might get a big boo-boo or

something worse from the fall.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys

them more.

-- Oscar Wilde

Get Control

Here’s something I came across. Try this. Sitting on a chair (or

standing up), make clockwise circles with your right foot. While doing

this, draw the number “6” in the air with your right finger. Question:

In what direction is your foot going now?

Reply: The circular foot motion is interrupted. Why? As explained to me:

the motor control center in the left side of the brain controls movements on

the right side of the body. Similarly, the right brain side controls the left

body side. When you are moving your right foot in a circular path while

trying to make a figure six with your right finger, you are using the same

(left) side of the brain and it has trouble discriminating the prior foot

command. Try using the left finger to draw a “6” while circling the right

foot. No problem. If the right one don’t get you, the left one will.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) I’m giving you the right answers! You’re just

asking the wrong questions.

-- Dennis the Menace

If the Right One Don’t Get You, the Left One Will

Question: Why are some people right-handed and some left-handed?

(Asked by a curious "lefty".)

Reply: Most animals have a preferred paw or hand to perform tasks, but it

appears that only humans have a species preference for the right hand.

About 90% of the human population is predominantly right-handed. Of the

other 10%, some are predominantly left-handed (perhaps up to 8%), while

the others are ambidextrous -- capable of using either hand equally as well.

It is not known why some people are right-handed and others are left-

handed. There have been studies and theories concerning association with

the right and left parts of the brain, and even speculation that handedness

may be partially genetic. However, there does not seem to be a conclusive

scientific answer. The majority of right-hand preference may be because of

social pressures resulting from historical cultural beliefs. For example, the

right may have gotten the upper hand because the heart lies on the left side

of the body. In battle, a shield is carried with the left hand so as to better

protect the heart, while the right hand did the activity of wielding a sword or

some other weapon. The Romans were very right-hand oriented. They

adopted the right-hand handshake (to show there was no weapon in the

fighting hand), and of course giving a breast salute to the heart is easier to do

with the right hand.

The Roman right preference is indicated in their words for right and left

-- "dexter" (right) and "sinister," (left) -- from which are derived

"dexterous," meaning skillful or artful, and "sinister," meaning threatening

evil or harm. Also in Judeo-Christian traditions there appears to be a

religious right preference. In both the Old and New Testaments there are

positions of grace "at the right hand of God." Also, in Matthew (25:31-42),

Jesus talks about separating the sheep from the goats (sheep on the right,

goats on the left), and it was a good thing to be with the rightful sheep.

Another theory associates the predominance of right-handedness with

tool development. As tools were invented, more complicated ones were

better suited for one hand and were especially fashioned for this hand

(presumably the right). Tools became prized possessions and were passed

down from one generation to another and using one hand became

predominant in activities. Probably because of such social development,

children showing left-hand tendencies were at one time discouraged from

being left-handed. Left-handers got down to about 2% of the population

because of this. (I remember some of my grade school teachers telling

students to quit using their left hand and write with the right.) Fortunately,

that's not done much anymore and there has been somewhat of a left

comeback.

Whatever the case, lefties have had a tough row to hoe. Well, a hoe

isn’t a problem -- works for both right and left hands. But think about

scissors, a bolt-action rifle, and golf clubs. Left-handers do have some

special advantages. For example, in baseball, first base men are usually

lefties. They can throw more easily to home and third base. Southpaw

pitchers have various advantages pitching to different batters. (Incidentally,

a Chicago sportswriter noting that left-handed pitchers going into a stretch

with a runner on first, faced south in an old ballpark, and coined the term

“southpaw” for lefties.) Also, switch hitters are sometimes told to bat left-

handed, which gives a half-step start in going to first base.

Even we right-handers do some things left-handed. I shuffle cards

right-handed, but I deal left-handed. I don't know why -- maybe because the

deal is to the left and it's easier.

But left-handers can hold their heads high. There have been many

famous lefties. Try Gerald Ford, Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton, Charlie

Chaplin, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Lefty Gomez (naturally),

Robert Redford, Rex Harrison, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci,

Michelangelo (maybe ambidextrous), and Albert Einstein. Left on!

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): I went to a good school where some of the IRS

people learned their three R’s – this is Ours, that is Ours, everything is Ours.

-- Anonymous

Drat, a Gnat

Question: I have a question about gnats. When I bring bananas into

the house, there are gnats. Where do they come from – the bananas?

(Asked by a curious gnat finder.)

Reply: Those small flies or gnats in your kitchen are probably fruit flies.

They can be a problem year round, but are especially common during late

summer and fall because they are attracted to fermenting fruits and

vegetables. Fruit flies have sort of a humped back, are black on top, and

have distinguishing red eyes. (You have to get pretty close to see the red

eyes.)

There doesn’t need to be fruit in the house to have fruit flies. They

breed in moist, decaying organic matter found in drains, garbage disposals,

trash cans, mops, and cleaning rags. Infestations can originate from over-

ripened fruit and vegetables that are previously infested and brought into the

home. Also, adult fruit flies can fly in from outdoors if you don’t have good

window and door screens.

A female fruit fly will lay about 500 eggs. The larvae emerge about

thirty hours later and feed for about a week on the necessary moist, organic

matter. They then crawl to drier areas and pupate (a stage before the adult

fly emerges). Newly emerged fruit flies are attracted to light and moisture.

This is why you may find them around windows.

The life cycle, from egg to adult, is about a week and another cycle

can begin very quickly. Fruit flies are primarily nuisance pests, but they also

have the potential to contaminate food with disease-producing bacteria.

How do you get rid of the flies? The key to controlling fruit fly

infestations is to locate and eliminate their breeding sources. There are

sprays and traps used to kill the flies, but you have to eliminate the breeding

sources to eliminate the pests. When the sources are located, they can be

removed (scrubbed away), sprayed, or there are gels to use in drains. Flies

are often found in drains in the thin layer or film that naturally accumulates

in pipes, traps, and drains.

To check to see if you have fruit flies in your drains, it is suggested that

plastic wrap or a plastic bag be taped over the drain. If your drain is

infested, you should be able to observe the flies under the plastic in about a

day.

And there you have it. If you keep exposed bananas in the house for

sometime, your fruit flies will be fruitful and multiply.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s

written on.

-- Samuel Goldwyn

Getting Old Fast

Question: Is it true that dogs age seven times faster than humans?

(Asked by a curious canine.)

Reply: It is often heard that one “human” year is equal to seven “dog”

years. This is not really true. Dogs mature very fast in their early years,

with the most growth occurring in the first two years. A one-year-old dog is

analogous to a human teenager, and a two-year-old dog corresponds to an

adult in his/her twenties. Of course, the growth process varies with dogs,

just as it does with humans. After the first two years, dogs age about four

years per human year. Here is a chart on the corresponding ages:

Dog years Human years

1 15

2 24

3 28

4 32

5 36

6 41

7 45

8 49

9 52

10 56

15 76

20 98

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): An intellectual snob is someone who can listen

to the William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger.

-- Dan Rather

Blue Blood

Question: Blood is red, so why do veins in an arm look blue? (Asked by

a curious would-be blue blood.)

Reply: Blood is red, but how red it is depends on where you find it. Red

blood cells account for this. These cells, which make up about 40% of the

blood, have an oxygen-carrying pigment called hemoglobin. When red

blood cells pass through blood vessels in the lungs, the hemoglobin

combines with oxygen and forms oxyhemoglobin, which gives the blood a

bright red color.

The oxygenated blood is sent out through the arteries into tiny

capillary blood vessels. A healthy pink skin (if not covered up by a tan) is

evidence of the red blood in the capillaries of the skin. And if you are

embarrassed, the capillaries in the face may dilate so more blood flows with

a reddening of the face -- it's called blushing.

When the oxyhemoglobin of the red cells loses oxygen to tissue, it

then has a dark color with a purplish or bluish hue. The blood from

capillaries goes into veins for the trip back to the heart and lungs. (If you've

ever given blood, which is taken from a vein, you know how dark venous

blood is.)

The biggest veins within the body tissue cannot be seen, but there are

some fairly large veins just under the skin; for example, in the forearm.

These have a bluish appearance because of the deoxygenated blood passing

through. No, you are not a blue blood.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit

is sweet.

-- Aristotle (384 – 322 BC)

Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink

Question: Why can’t you drink seawater (saltwater) when you are

stranded on the ocean without fresh water? (Asked by a curious old

salt.)

Reply: You can drink saltwater, but it is not advised. What it does after you

drink is the problem. In being stranded on the ocean without fresh water, the

problem is dehydration or loss of water from the body cells. The process by

which this is done is called osmosis. The osmosis of vital substances goes

on all the time in our bodies; for example, between the lungs and the blood,

and the blood and tissue cells. The osmosis process can be very complex,

but let’s take a simple case that will hopefully answer our question.

First, a review session. Recall that an aqueous solution is one with a

solute (for example, table salt) dissolved in water (the solvent). Then

consider a semi-permeable membrane. This is a barrier which can be used

to separate solutions with different salt contents. That is, the salt molecules

of the solutes can not pass through. However, the “semi-” means that the

solvent (water molecules) can pass through. This is osmosis. The water

passes through the membrane toward the solution with the greater salt

content, so as to equalize the salt concentrations on each side by diluting the

higher salt solution.

Back to drinking saltwater. The walls of the cells of tissue are semi-

permeable membranes and water can pass through. In a nutshell, if you are

suffering from thirst stranded out in the ocean and drink saltwater, this

increases the salinity (salt concentration) of the fluids outside the cells.

Osmosis kicks in to dilute the salt concentration outside the cell walls and

water leaves the cells. You are probably dehydrated in the first place and

drinking saltwater only makes it worse with water leaving the cells. Vital

functions of the body cannot go on with increasingly dehydrated cells.

So “water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink” – if you do not

want osmosis to take place.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): They say that genius is 99 percent perspiration

and 1 percent inspiration. Then again, so is mowing the lawn.

-- Anonymous

VIII. Words, Phrases, and SayingsThe Dibs Was Jury-Rigged

Question: Where does the word “dibs” come from, as in “I got dibs on

that”? While on word origins, how about jerry- or jury rigged? (Asked

by a curious column reader.)

Reply: The word “dibs” commonly implies a right of priority, claiming

precedence or next in line. My familiarity with it comes from playing

marbles in a younger day, “Dibs!” meaning you are establishing the right to

shoot next.

It is generally thought that the term comes from the game of

“dibstones.” An early writing in 1895 refers to “a game of dibs.” Dibstones

was a game similar to jacks that was played with marble-like “dibs,” which

were sheep knuckle bones.

It is unclear how dibs became associated with a children’s way of

claiming right of priority. Maybe there was a dib rule in the dibstones game.

Another associated term is “dubs,” used to claim two or more marbles

knocked out of the ring by a single shot – another laying claim to a right or

privilege. Whatever the source, just remember, a little dib’ll do ya.

Now for jerry-rigged or jury-rigged. The latter term has nothing to do

with juries in the judicial sense. Another related term is jerry-built. Let’s

look at jury-rigged first. Jury-rig is an old nautical term coming from “jury-

mast.” It refers to a temporary mast to hold the sail (and the rigging) lost in

a storm or a battle. It may have been short for an “injury-mast.

A jerry-builder in jolly old England was a house builder who

constructed shoddy, poorly built homes out of inferior materials. Such

jerry-built structures were a bit more lasting than a jury-rig. How the jerry

got in jerry-built and jerry-rigged is not known. The jury is still out

(hopefully not being rigged).

C.P.S. (Curious Post Script): If I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.

-- Al Capone

Take Me Out to the Ball GameQuestion: In baseball, the teams bat in an “inning.” Why is it called an

inning? (Asked by a curious baseball fan.)

Reply: The term comes from the game of cricket and one team bats during

an “innings.” The Brits always use the plural, but we have shortened the

singular to an inning. The word supposedly comes from the old English

“innung,” which meant “to put in” or “to take in.” So “innings” is the period

of time a team is “in” or “in play.” However, in baseball, both teams get to

bat in an inning.

I know, you’re wondering if they have a “seventh inning stretch” in

cricket. A cricket match lasts at most two innings, but these can go on for an

afternoon or several days. However, the “seventh inning stretch” is pretty

much American. Legend has it that President William Howard Taft was at a

baseball game. It was a long game, and the 300-pound, six-foot-two

president, being uncomfortable sitting for a long time, stood up in the middle

of the seventh inning to stretch his legs. The fans, thinking the president

was leaving, stood up in respect. Taft sat back down, and the seventh-inning

stretch was born.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The first principle is that you must not fool

yourself -- and you are the easiest person to fool.

-- Richard Feynman

My Huckleberry FriendQuestion: Recently I heard that Andy William’s agent had not wanted

him to record “Moon River” because of the “adverse connotations” of

the phrase “my huckleberry friend.” Also, in the movie Tombstone, Doc

Holiday (Val Kilmer) while trying to goad one of the Clanton gang into

a gunfight, said, “I’m your huckleberry!” Please explain the meanings

of these huckleberry references. (Asked by a curious huckleberry. )

Reply: I’ve always wondered about “huckleberry friend” myself. So,

checking with my etymological friends (how about that big word?), here is

what I found out.

First, the huckleberry in the northern U.S. is a blue-colored berry

having more seeds than its relative the blueberry. (In the southern U.S., the

red huckleberry is commonly called the southern cranberry.) The early

colonists used huckleberries in puddings and in fruitcakes.

It seems that an early writer from England mistook this native “blue”

berry for the English bilberry, which was also called “whortleberry” or

“hurtleberry” because its blue color reminded some of being “hurt” or

bruised flesh. Somewhere along the way the names hurtleberry or

whortleberry got changed to huckleberry. This native wild berry became

associated with the American wilderness – wild and rough. (Like Doc

Holiday at the OK corral.)

I think perhaps the rough meaning has been tamed a bit. Mark Twain

(or was that Samuel Clemens?) wrote “The Adventures of Huckleberry

Finn” in 1864. Huck was a little rough, but not too bad. So a huckleberry

friend can be good one.

And it’s probably a good thing the name evolved to huckleberry.

Who would want to watch cartoons of Whortleberry Hound?

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The sign of a bad cook – the family prays after

they eat.

-- Anonymous

Can’t Cut It on the Right Side

Question: I know the phrase “cut the mustard” means you can not do

something or it does not meet standards. What is the origin of this

phrase? And how about “getting out on the wrong side of the bed”?

(Asked by a curious column reader who doesn’t think he’s too old to cut

it on the right side.)

Reply: The origin of “cut the mustard” is unknown. The first known use of

the phrase is in a 1907 novel by O. Henry. It is speculated by some that the

phrase is a corruption of “cut the muster” -- that is, not attending a military

muster or an assembly of troops for inspection. But this doesn’t seem to be

connected to the meaning of “cut the mustard.” Another suggestion is that

“mustard” was once used to imply something to add zest to a situation, and

“the proper mustard” was something that was the genuine article. To cut the

mustard would imply a lesser standard is used.

So the origin is a mystery and the phrase is used with its recognized

meaning. I think I’m getting too old to cut the mustard and sometimes a bit

cranky in the mornings. At these times I’m told I “got out on the wrong side

of the bed.” This refers to a state of being a bit grumpy or ill-humored. I’ve

never been accused of getting out on the right side of the bed. Always

getting out on the same side of the bed, there seems to be no clear meaning

of this phrase.

Overall, the “right side” is used to refer to the good side of things,

whereas the “wrong side” refers to the less desirable. Examples of the latter

are “the wrong side of the tracks,” “getting on the wrong side of

somebody,” “laughing out of the wrong side of your mouth,” “on the

wrong side of the law,” and “on the wrong side of forty.” (I’ve been on the

wrong side of forty for some time, and glad to still be there.)

The bottom line is that some things are perceived as right, and some

things as wrong. As Shakespeare said, “Nothing is right (side, sic) or wrong

(side, sic), only thinking makes it so.”

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The national budget must be balanced. The

public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be

moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be

reduced, if the nation doesn’t want to go bankrupt. People must again learn

to work instead of living on public assistance.

-- Marcus Tillius Cicero, 55 BC

Knock on a Wooden Long Tooth?

Question: I attended church service Sunday and the minister was

talking about old sayings. He asked if anyone knew how the expression

“knock on wood” originated. I told him I would check with the

Curiosity Corner to see if I could get and answer for him. Do you have

any ideas? (Asked by a curious church-goer.)

Reply: This “knock on wood” saying is said by people who knock their

knuckles on wood hoping for good luck. (In Great Britain, it is “touch

wood” – saves on knuckles.) No one is sure about the origin of this

superstition, but it goes way back. There are several theories -- take your

pick from the following.

One theory is that it goes back to the old game known as “wood tag”

in which a player that succeeded in touching a wooden base was free from

capture. Another says it comes from primitive tree worship when trees were

believed to harbor protective spirits. Knocking on (tree) wood would call up

a spirit for protection. The Druids believed that good spirits lived in trees,

and people would touch the bark and ask for a favor. When a wish was

granted, they would come back and knock on the tree to say thank you.

Knocking three times was especially helpful in frightening away evil spirits.

(And knock three times on the ceiling if you want me…so says Tony

Orlando.)

Finally, and probably more along the lines that your preacher was

thinking, some believe that the superstition is of Christian origin and that in

some way was associated with the wooden cross on which Christ died.

I don’t know if that answers the question, but hopefully it does –

knock on wood.

Question: What is the meaning of the expression “long in the tooth”?

(Asked by a curious dentist.)

Reply: The phrase “long in the tooth” implies being elderly or over the hill.

Oddly enough, it is comes about because of horses. As horses age their

gums recede, which is why a horse’s teeth are examined to get an

approximate age. An old horse’s gums may have receded to the point that

the roots of the teeth are visible, thus making the teeth appear longer.

Hence, “long in the tooth” implies old age.

I guess that makes Generation X “short in the tooth.”

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): I am nobody. Nobody is perfect. Therefore, I

must be perfect.

-- Anonymous

Say What?The English language is something else. It is considered a difficult

language to learn and here are a few things that may give you a clue as

to why this is so (source unknown).

Beware of HEARD, a very strange word

That looks like BEARD and sounds like BIRD.

And DEAD: it’s said like BED, not BEAD.

For goodness sake don’t call it DEED!

Watch out for MEAT and GREAT and THREAT

(They rhyme with SUITE and STRAIGHT and DEBT).

Now for a few homonyms—words that are spelled the same and may sound

similar, but have different meanings.

A farm can produce produce.

The soldier decided to desert in the desert.

The dump (landfill) was so full it had to refuse refuse.

The dove dove into the bushes.

I did not object to the object.

The insurance for the invalid was invalid.

The bandage was wound around the wound.

After a number of injections, my jaw got number and number.

I shed a tear when I saw the tear in my clothes.

I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.

He could lead if he got the lead out.

The Polish polish furniture.

The present is a good time to present the present.

Colin (as in Colin Powell), I think we are going to have to examine your

colon.

The oarsmen sitting in a row had a row about how to row.

How about that? Aren’t you glad you learned English first?

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): If pro is the opposite of con, then what is the

opposite of progress…Congress?

-- Anonymous

Up or DownQuestion: I hear people say “We’re going down town, but it is up on the

map. My husband said it was because a nearby river flows up. How do

you know if a river flows up or down? [Asked by a curious, mixed-up

(or mixed-down) person.]

Reply: There seems to be a direction mix up at times. Overall, it is a matter

of definition and/or convention. The one “up and down” we can be sure of

is vertically. You drop something and gravity takes it “down,” and the

opposite direction is “up.” When it comes to a land surface direction, it’s

not so clear. Generally, the direction a river flows is taken as “down”

(downstream). We say rivers flow down to the sea, or down to a lower

elevation.

This eliminates giving specific directions, such as east or west. But

try talking about the direction of a river. Some rivers are so circuitous that

in some places a river can flow in the opposite direction from which it came.

However, on a map, we generally take north as “up” and south as “down.”

You can be down south in Florida or up north in Canada.

We can go “down” the street or “up” the street. How is this

determined? Who knows? Maybe by house numbers? We say we are going

“downtown” (to the city center), while “uptown” is high class. It does get a

bit confusing.

Moral of the story: everyone has their ups and downs.

C.P.S. (Curious Post Script): The cow is of the bovine ilk; one end is moo,

the other, milk.

-- Ogden Nash

And the Turtledove Moans

Question: We have a bird, the turtledove. Why turtledove? What do a

turtle and a dove have in common? (Asked by a curious turtle and bird

watcher.)

Reply: Not much. A turtle is quite a bit slower, and a dove is particularly

calm and peaceful. “Turtle” got tacked on because the Latin name for the

bird was turtur, which got slurred to turtle. Oddly enough, several species

of turtledoves are found in the Mideast and have gained notoriety by finding

their way into the Bible. For example, in the purification of Mary,

turtledoves or pigeons were the only birds allowed sacrificed [Luke 2:24,

King James Version (KJV). Noah did use a dove to check for land. Gen.

8:11 (KJV). ]

And it looks like David compared himself to a turtledove in his

lament: “O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the

wicked,” (Ps. 74:19). The turtledove reference can be found in other places;

for example, “Oh the hoot owl, she hollers, and the turtledove moans” --

from “Stewball,” a song made popular by Peter, Paul, and Mary. (Now I’m

dating myself.)

In any case, turtledove sounds better than tortoisedove.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Only a blind man walks where he cannot see.

-- Joshua Boyleston

Hee-Haw or Gee-Haw?

Question: There is something that has puzzled me for years. As a boy

(a long time ago) when plowing and driving mules, “gee” meant right,

“haw” meant left, and “gee haw” meant straight ahead. Where did the

“gee” and “haw” come from? (Asked by a curious one-time mule

driver.)

Reply: I recall my granddad doing a lot of geeing and hawing with his team

of horses. Gee/haw apparently dates back to 17th century English farms.

The first mention of “gee” appears in a 1628 book where the author says,

“He expostulates with his Oxen very understandably and speaks Gee and

Ree better than English.”

In the 1920s in England, “gee-gee” was used to mean a horse and gee-

gees (gamblers) played the horses. There was also a gee-gee dodge where

someone sold horse meat for beef. In any case, “gee” came into the

American lexicon as meaning for a horse or other draft animal to turn to the

right.

“Haw,” on the other hand (no pun intended), means to turn to the left.

This word is thought to be an American version of the Middle English

hawen, which means “look!” Haw is also a call in square dancing for

progressing to the left.

And there are a couple other meanings. Haw is fruit of the Old World

hawthorn, and haw is the name of the thin protective membrane at the inner

corner of the lower eyelid of a horse or dog.

So it seems these commands just developed over the years – sort of

like the TV show Hee Haw.

This was a short one so I’ll leave you with some thoughts on which to

contemplate.

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just lack film.

Seen it all, done it all, can’t remember most of it.

Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how it remains so popular?

If you could have everything – where would you put it?

Light travels faster than sound. This why some people appear bright

until you hear them speak.

Ok, I know – gee haw out of here.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): The latest survey shows that 3 out of 4 people

make up 75% of the world’s population.

-- Anonymous

Heads UP

I hope you are up to this. (It came across my monitor. I don’t know the

source, but some one is very clever.) There is a two-letter word that

perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and this is

“UP.”

It’s easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or moving higher

on a list, but when we waken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and

why are political offices UP for election, and why is it UP to the secretary to

write UP a report?

We call UP our friends. We use pictures to brighten UP a room; we

polish UP the silver, warm UP leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock

UP the house and some guys fix UP old cars.

At other times the little word has special meaning. People stir UP

trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To

be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And UP is very confusing: a drain must be opened UP because it is

stopped UP. Stores are opened UP in the morning and closed UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP.

To be knowledgeable of the proper uses of UP, look UP the word in

the dictionary. In my dictionary, the word UP takes UP a great deal of

space, and the definitions add UP to 93.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways

UP is used. It will take UP a lot of time, but if you don’t give UP, you may

wind UP with a long list.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the Sun

comes out, we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets things UP. When

it doesn’t rain for a while, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I’ll wrap it UP because my time is UP,

so….. I’ll shut UP. (This is UPserd, but I thought my readers would eat this

column UP.)

C.P.S. (Curious Post Script) Up, Up, and away.

-- Superman

You Got To Have Heart

The heart is basically a pump that keeps our blood circulating – a vital

organ. Yet, we associate various feelings with the heart. Consider the

following common expressions:

heartache – deep grief or pain

heartbreak (broken heart) – extreme disappointment (lost at love)

heartfelt – most sincere

have a heart – be forgiving

heavy heart – very sad

know it in my heart – know for sure

change of heart – change of mind or opinion

to know by heart – got it memorized

have your heart set on – a big desire

cry your heart out – big grief

wear your heart on your sleeve – obvious emotion

give my heart to you – true love or a transplant

cross my heart – a sincere promise

You can probably think of others – if you have your heart in the right place.

How about heartless, heart rendering, heartsick, heartstrings, heartwarming,

heartthrob, and so on. I’m glad we had this little heart-to-heart.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) I will wear my heart upon my sleeve.

--(Iago, Shakespeare’s Othello)

A Glitch in Time

Question: What is a “glitch” – a computer glitch, that is? (Asked by a

curious non-computer person.)

Reply: As most of us know who use the word, it is something designed to

cover up our ignorance on the cause of a malfunction. In the dictionary,

“glitch” is defined as (1) a defect or malfunction in a machine or plan, e.g., a

glitch in a spacecraft’s fuel cell. (2) Computers: any error, malfunction, or

problem. Well, that’s general enough.

To focus in a bit more, I looked in a couple other sources. In the book

Small Bytes: An Irreverent Computer Dictionary by Gene Brown

(Macmillan, 1983), a glitch is defined as: “an electronic error in hardware or

software – a hitch in the glutch between input and output.”

Glitch is a relatively new word of the space age and electronics. From

The Secret Lives of Words by Paul West (Harcourt, 2000), glitch is: “From

spaceman’s argot into our everyday misadventures with equipment,

especially of the electronic kind, this evocative word, from the German

glitschen and Yiddish glitshen, to slip, has replaced mishap, fault, and

defect, but not malfunction. This amounts to a provoking disturbance that

remains minor problem.”

I guess that’s like saying a glitch is an electronic banana peel -- a slip

that won’t ruin your life, but sure could spoil your day. I hope no one calls

the Curiosity Corner a glitch!

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): I don’t always know what I’m talking about

but I know I’m right.

-- Mohammed Ali

Spell Check

Let’s take a look again at our English language. It is so much fun.

Here’s an old one (source unknown).

Poetically Speaking English

* We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes; but the plural of ox

became oxen, not oxes.

* One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese; yet the plural of moose

should never be meese.

* You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice; yet the plural of house is

houses, not hice.

* The plural of man is called men; then why shouldn’t the plural of pan be

called pin?

* If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet, and give you a boot, would

pair be called beet?

* If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth; why shouldn’t the plural of

booth be beeth?

* Then one may be that, and three may be those; yet hat in plural would

never be hose, and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.

* We speak of a brother and also of brethren, but though we say mother, we

never say methren.

* Then the masculine pronouns are he, his, and him; but imagine the

feminine being she, shis, and slim.

And to top it off, a few oxymorons (the plural is really oxyamora) which are

figures of speech that are seemingly self-contradictory:

* Found missing, * Good grief, * Alone together, * Small crowd,

* Sweet sorrow, * Clearly misunderstood, * A definite maybe,

*Pretty ugly, * Advanced BASIC, * Synthetic natural gas,

* Twelve ounce pound cake.

The following are not true oxymorons, but they have a ring to them:

* Government organization, and * Temporary tax increase.

C.P.S. (Curious Post Script): Be careful about reading health books. You

may die from a misprint.

-- Mark Twain

Idioms or Idiot-oms

The English language is difficult enough for people to learn. But on top

of that, we have a bunch of idioms that get put in. (Idiom: an

expression whose meaning is different from the usual meanings of the

words making it up.) First, some foods-related items that have crept

into the vernacular, then we will take it on the nose.

Some of the things we do:

* fish for compliments

* stay cool as a cucumber

* beef about the weather

* ham it up to get a laugh

* know that he’s just plain chicken

* egg on his face

* egg someone on

* butter people up

* toast the bride and groom

* have dinners to roast our friends

* get caught with our hands in the cookie jar

* cook up new ideas

* offer recipes for success

* turn beet red

* want the whole enchilada

* has a cheesy grin

* bet dollars to donuts

* talk turkey

* quit cold turkey

* And as Forrest Gump says: Life is like a box of chocolates.

So, be careful. You may have to eat your words. (If you are into such food

idioms, a long list may be found at www.learn4good.com/languages >

idioms > food.)

And another word that has crept into or nosed into our idioms is “nose.”

Did you know that some people:

* have a nose for news

* can’t keep their nose out of other peoples’ business.

* bet that horse wins by a nose

* count noses

* cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face

* follow one’s nose

* keep their nose clean

* keep their nose to the grindstone

* get led around by the nose

* look down their nose at people

* can tell you exactly, right on the nose

* pay through the nose

* rub someone’s nose in it

* turn up their nose

* can’t find something, even if it is right under their nose

So there you have it. It should be as plain as the nose on your face.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Every teenager should get a high school

education, even if they know everything already.

-- Anonymous

It’s a Bird, It’s a Dodo

Question: I jokingly called my grandson a “dodo” the other day, and he

asked, “What is that”? Please enlighten him and me. (Submitted by a

curious grandpa.)

Reply: I think most of us know what Grandpa meant when joking with his

grandson. The reference is to the extinct dodo bird. The dodo was

discovered by Portuguese sailors in the late 1500s on Mauritius, a small

island off the coast of Africa. The flightless bird had no natural predators

and no fear of humans. Presumably the sailors thought this lack of fear was

a lack of intelligence and named the bird the dodo, from the Portuguese

doudou, meaning “simpleton.”

The island became inhabited and the dodo numbers started to dwindle.

They were hunted for sport and food. Not being able to fly away, things

became pretty grim for the dodos. Also, their eggs were laid individually in

nests on the ground and were easy pickings for the settlers’ animals -- pigs,

for example. As a result, in eighty-some years the dodo population was

completely wiped out – extinction.

As a sidelight, it is interesting to note that the dodo extinction almost

did the same for a type of tree. The seeds of this particular tree only

germinated after having passed through the digestive tract of the dodo. With

the dodo gone, the tree began to slowly die out. There were only a few of

them left when it was discovered that turkeys could perform the dodo

function. This saved what is now known as the “dodo tree” from similar

extinction.

Moral: the dodo tree needs doo-doo.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in

such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece.

-- Ludwig Erhard, German politician

To Indent

or Not to Indent?

Question: What was an indentured servant, and what was

“indentured”? (Asked by a curious history buff.)

Reply: Indentured servant? Isn’t that another name for husband? (Just

kidding – lighten up.) Nor does indentured have anything to do with

dentures. At one time, a person became an indentured servant by borrowing

money and agreeing to work off the debt during a specified time. We are

most familiar with the term from colonial times. By some estimates, as

many as half of the settlers of our country were indentured servants. They

agreed to work for someone (the purchaser of the indenture) upon arrival in

the colonies to pay for their passage. The time period was usually seven

years.

I wasn’t certain about the actual meaning of indentured, so I put the

word out and someone sent the following, which sounds good to me.

“I had an ancestor that came over in 1748 as an indentured servant.

An indentation was made along the middle of the agreement document.

Local courts used a tool something like a pizza cutter with teeth. Both the

servant and owner would sign the two pieces. The magistrate would tear

them apart and each got one half. When the time was up, the servant and the

owner would go to the local court and match the two indentures. The court

would seal them together with wax and they would be recorded and filed in

the county archives.”

So I guess after an indentured person had served their time, he/she

became outdentured.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) The most wasted of all days is that on which

one has not laughed.

-- Nicolas Chamfort, French writer.

You Don’t Ring These Bells

Question: Why do they call exercise weights “dumbbells”? (Asked by a

curious weightlifter.)

Reply: The term in this context has nothing to do with stupidity, although it

does have this slang connotation. The emphasis here is on the bell.

Back in the old days, there were a lot of bells to be rung and

professional bell ringers gained muscular upper bodies pulling the ropes in

plying their trade. Early weightlifting machines were designed to mimic bell

ringing, and weights in the shapes of bells were attached to ropes that run

over pulleys. A weight or bell was lifted by pulling down on the rope.

The “dumb” part comes from the old English word meaning “silent”

or “mute”. Other examples of this are “dumbfounded” and “dumbwaiter.”

So, a dumbbell referred to a silent bell – having no ding-dong. Now free

dumbbells (without ropes) are used in exercising and may have adjustable

weights.

But don’t put too much weight on and hurt yourself. If so, then you

become the dumbbell, or a dum-dum.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore

and you sleep alone.

-- Anthony Burgess, English writer.

Editor, Help! Is it Right, Write, or Rite?

As an author of science textbooks, my editors are always throwing up

The Chicago Manual of Style to me… the “bible” of proper form with

which I don’t always agree. Here’s something I found (source

unknown) and sent to my editors to see if it would pass editorial muster.

What do you think?

When you write copy, you have the right to copyright the copy you write, if

the copy is right. If, however, the copy is not right, then you must rewrite

your copy. If you write religious services you write rites. Very conservative

people write right copy. A right wing cleric would write right rites, and has

the right to copyright the right rite he has the right to write. His editor has

the job of making the right rite copy right before the copyright can be right.

Should Tom Wright decide to write a right rite, then Wright would write

right rite. Duplicating that rite would copy Wright’s right rite, and violate

copyright, which Wright would have the right to right. Right?

I told my editors I write to get it right.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): By the time a man is wise enough to watch his

step, he’s too old to go anywhere.

-- Anonymous

IX. Finale (Odds and Ends)It’s All Greek to Me, Except When It Comes to Pencils

Question: What’s the origin of “It’s all Greek to me,” meaning you

don’t understand something?

Reply: This appears to have originated with the Shakespeare play Julius

Caesar. In the first act, Casca said this when he heard Cicero tell about

Caesar’s refusal to become emperor. Seems that Cicero was speaking in

Greek (instead of Latin) to prevent spies from learning what he was

explaining. I assume that Casca didn’t understand and it was all Greek to

him.

Does the Curiosity Corner give you culture now and then, or what? I

really didn’t get a copy of Julius Caesar and check this out personally. It

would probably be all Greek to me.

Question: Why most wooden pencils have six flat sides?

Reply: Because it is cheaper or more cost-effective (as they say these days).

By making pencils hexagonal (six-sided), there are more pencils for the

same amount of wood than if made round. The wood it takes to make eight

round pencils can be made into nine hexagonal ones.

Also, hexagonal pencils are easier to sharpen; and as we all know,

they are less likely to roll of your desk.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Never put both feet in your mouth at the same

time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.

-- Anonymous

Who Put the Chicken in Chicken Pox?

Question: Does chicken pox have anything to do with chickens?

Reply: Chicken pox is a mild, highly contagious disease that a lot of people

contract, mostly children. It may be “mild,” but oh how you want to

scratch,and can’t do so for fear of scarring. Animals other than humans can

be infected with chicken pox.

Chicken pox, or varicella by its technical name, is caused by a virus

and is characterized by a pox-like rash. It is not known how the “chicken”

got into chicken pox. One speculation is that the name may be derived from

an imagined resemblance of the pox lesions to chickpeas. (I don’t know

how the “chick” got in chickpeas either.) The virus can be cultured and

identified using chick (chicken) embryos. That’s a possible “chicken”

connection, although it would be a relatively recent development. A

gentleman at the local lumber store told me it was because children with

chicken pox looked as though they had been pecked by a chicken. So take

your choice

In any case, here are a couple of other things about the pox. Persons

who have had chicken pox usually have long-term immunity. The people at

the local health department tell me you don’t get it twice. However, the

virus that produces chicken pox appears to be identical with the one that

causes herpes zoster, or shingles, an inflammatory disease of the nerves.

This is supported by the fact that children have developed chicken pox after

being exposed to adults with shingles. Herpes zoster (shingles) occurs most

commonly in older people. It causes a blister-like rash with neuralgic pain

most often in a band (Greek, zoster) around one side of the trunk of the

body. It is speculated that the chicken pox virus in once-affected children

remains latent for many years, and then for some unknown reason becomes

active and gives shingles to some people.

Of course, some older folk remember another pox -- smallpox, or at

least the vaccination for it. This is a highly fatal pox that once ran rampant.

An English medical student, Edward Jenner, developed a vaccine for the

disease using a cowpox virus. Cowpox is a viral disease of cows

characterized by lesions on the teats and udders, which can be transferred to

humans on direct contact. Jenner found that matter from a cowpox lesion on

the hand of a dairymaid transferred to the arm of a small boy gave the lad

immunity to smallpox. (Incidentally, for you trivia buffs the Latin name for

cow is vacca, and cowpox is called vaccine; hence the name “vaccine.”)

The development of a smallpox vaccine from Jenner’s work, along with

widespread vaccination programs, has virtually eliminated the disease. It is

so rare in the United States that children are no longer required to receive

vaccinations. For many of us, the only memory is an occasionally observed

vaccination scar on the arm or thigh.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Accept that some days you’re the pigeon, and

some days you are the statute.

-- Anonymous

Pallbearers and Perennials

Question: Why do they call people that carry coffins pallbearers?

(Asked by a curious pallbearer.)

Reply: We know what a bearer is, so the question comes down to what is a

“pall.” The word comes from the Latin pallium, meaning “covering” or

“cloak.” So a pall refers to a cloth covering a casket. An example of a pall is

the American flag used to cloak caskets in military funerals.

The coffin pall probably came down from the early procedure of

wrapping a body in burial cloths. Check out John chapter 20 in the Bible for

a reference.

Question: What are some common perennial vegetables? (Asked by a

curious gardener.)

Reply: Somebody must be tired of planting. Like perennial flowers,

perennial vegetables come back every year after harvesting. Most common

are asparagus and rhubarb, but there are also horseradish, Jerusalem

artichoke, and lovage (a member of the parsley family). Some of these may

reproduce up to twenty years. There are a variety of other, less-well-known

perennial vegetables.

The Curiosity Corner has been perennial for some time, but not a

veggie.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Does steel wool come from metal sheep?

Anonymous

Give it a Clink, but Not Before Breathing

Question: Why do people clink their glasses when making a toast?

(Asked by a curious party goer.)

Reply: This old custom was originally somewhat like a handshake. Holding

out your empty hand to shake showed that you weren’t carrying a weapon.

Similarly, when having a drink with someone, there might be a fear of being

poisoned. The host would hold out his glass and the guest would pour some

of his drink into it. Then both drank the same liquid. Seeing no effect, the

guest would show his trust by clinking glasses. (Trusting souls, weren’t

they? There are slow-acting poisons.)

Now we just clink glasses without trying the other person’s drink. Ever

watch the glass-clinking at a long table with a lot of people? A whole lot of

stretching going on.

Question: Why are you supposed to let red wine “breathe”?

Reply: “Breathe” here means exposing to air or aerating. By doing this, it is

believed by some that the tannic or astringent quality of some wines may be

mellowed. Tannin or tannic acid in wines gives that mouth-puckering

quality. The tannin content varies with grape varieties, but is most

prominent in those used to make dry, red wines (and some white wines).

Breathing is an attempt to achieve some of the flavor that aging would give

the wine.

As wine ages, the tannins soften and the mouth-puckering is

diminished, and allowing wine to breathe may also help. Just uncorking the

bottle and letting it sit doesn’t do much. To promote breathing, usually in

red wines, the wine should be poured into a wide-mouth decanter or served

in wide-mouth wine glasses. The breathing doesn’t take place quickly, and

may take 10–15 minutes. You might swirl the glass to help, and while you

are waiting, you can watch the “tears” described in the next article.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) Nowadays on TV news programs, it seems that

more time is spent telling what is going to be reported than reporting.

-- JDW

Tears Without Crying

Question: When you swirl wine in a glass, what causes the "tears” to

form on the glass? (Asked by a curious wine watcher.)

Reply: This person was probably swirling while contemplating over a

Curiosity Corner article. To see the “tear” effect, swirl some wine (or some

liquor) in a thin wine glass so as to wet the inside surface. Then hold the

glass still and watch closely. In a short time you should see a ring of liquid

clinging to the inside of the glass a short distance (maybe half an inch)

above the liquid surface. As the ring gets thicker, the liquid begins to run

down the side of the glass in streams somewhat resembling tears. Hence,

the name "tears"; or sometimes they are called "legs."

This effect was explained by an English scientist, James Thomson,

over 140 years ago. It has to do with surface tension. The surface of a

liquid is under tension because of the attractive forces between liquid

molecules in the liquid. At the surface with air molecules above, the forces

between the molecules in the liquid provide a net inward force that gives rise

to a contracting surface tension. A well-known effect of surface tension is

the beading up of water droplets on a newly waxed car.

Considering the two major components of the wine --water and

alcohol – there are couple major physical differences. Alcohol evaporates

faster than water, and alcohol has less surface tension. So after swirling, the

alcohol evaporated more quickly from the liquid film on the glass, leaving a

more watery film with more surface tension or stronger molecular attraction

than the wine in the glass. This stronger molecular attraction pulls more

wine up the side of the glass until a ring forms. When the weight of the

liquid in the ring exceeds the attractive force, liquid runs down, forming

"tears" or "legs."

Thomson checked his explanation by putting wine in a vial and noted

tears formed on swirling. He then corked or sealed the vial so as to prevent

the evaporation of alcohol, and guess what -- no crying.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Quitting smoking is easy. I have done it

thousands of times.

-- Mark Twain

A Definite Possibility

Question: Is it possible for a woman to become pregnant after giving

birth to a baby and while still nursing the baby? (Asked by a curious

father.)

Reply: I thought I knew the answer to this, but figured I had better consult

with my physician. He confirmed my thought that this was possible, but

added that it may be less likely than normal because of hormonal imbalances

during this time.

I was in another doctor’s office later in the week and mentioned it to

him. He got up, walked out of the room and came back with a picture of his

second son. “It certainly is possible, and here’s proof!”

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Experience is what we get when we do not get

what we want.

-- Enio Carvalho, marketing specialist

The Law and the Leader

Question: Why does furniture have tags that say: DO NOT REMOVE

UNDER PENALTY OF LAW? (Asked by a curious law-conscientious

consumer.)

Reply: These tags apply to stuffed furniture. In the past, some furniture

manufacturers would use materials other than advertised. Laws were passed

that requires manufacturers to attach a label telling exactly what the

materials were. The tag warnings are for furniture sellers, not consumers.

But a lot of people thought that it was against the law for them to remove the

tags. As a result, the tag has been modified to read: UNDER PENALTY OF

LAW THIS TAG IS NOT TO BE REMOVED, EXCEPT BY THE

CONSUMER. There’s such a tag on the bottom of my chair as I write. I’ll

remove it.

Question: What does the term “loss leader” mean? (Asked by my dog’s

curious veterinarian.)

Reply: At first, I thought he was saying “lost (metric) liter” or “lost litter.”

(He should know the latter.) But I finally got it -- “loss leader” -- which

refers to a piece of heavily advertised merchandise (the leader) sold at a loss.

The idea is to attract customers into the store in the hopes that once inside

they will make other purchases.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): He who laughs last thinks slowest.

-- Anonymous

Hail to the Chief

Ronald Reagan had a wit and some very humorous quotes. Here are a

few:

* What makes him think a middle-aged actor, who’s played with a chimp,

could have a future in politics? (on Clint Eastwood’s bid to become mayor

of Carmel, CA.)

* I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.

* I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of a national

emergency – even if I’m in a Cabinet meeting.

* Politics is suppose to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to

realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.

* They say hard work never hurt anybody, but I figure why take a chance.

* Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you

lose yours. And a recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.

* I’ve noticed that everyone for abortion has already been born.

* But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was

elected, I had my high school grades classified as Top Secret.

* Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short

phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops

moving, subsidize it.

* I hope you’re all Republicans. (comment to surgeons as he entered the

operating room after the 1981 assassination attempt)

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): I wonder at times what the Ten

Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the

U.S. Congress.

-- Ronald Reagan

A Couple Health Highlights

Question: Does hay fever have anything to do with hay? (Asked by a

curious hay-bailing farmer.)

Reply: A little, perhaps. “Hay fever” became a popular term resulting from

nasal congestion, sneezing, and eye irritation associated with hay harvesting.

The correct term is “allergic rhinitis.” Rhinitis means irritation of the nose

(rhino means nose). Many substances cause the allergic symptoms

associated with “hay fever,” and hay represents just a small percentage of

the problem. Moreover, how many people with hay fever are around hay

these days?-

Question: What is whooping about whooping cough? (Asked by a

curious cougher.)

Reply: I’m pretty certain that whooping cranes have nothing to do with

whooping cough, the technical name of which is pertussis. This is a

bacterial infection that causes intense coughing spells. At the end of a spell,

there is often a “whoop” sound as the infected person gasps to inhale.

Whooping cough was all but eradicated with the routine children

vaccinations that began in the 1940s. However, more cases of the illness

have occurred in the U.S. in the last quarter century, some of which could be

because adolescents have outgrown their vaccination immunity.

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you

don’t mind, it don’t matter.

—Mark Twain

C.P.S. (Curious Postscripts)

Request: I enjoy the C.P.S. (Curious Postscript) at the end of your

articles. Please do a column on the C.P.S. Thank you. (A curious

C.P.S. lover requesting from cyberspace.)

Reply: Thank you .(dot)com, wherever you are. I started the Curious

Postscript (C.P.S.) a couple of years ago with quotes, sayings, and quips –

sort of an afterthought for readers to muse and reflect on (after perhaps a

brain-draining column). You can come across quotes in many places, and I

keep a list of them for the C.P.S. The original sources are often unknown,

and these are attributed to our old friend Anonymous (Anon.). Here are a

few which I hope you enjoy.

* Every day is a great day; if you don’t believe it – try missing one.

Anon.

* I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please

everybody. Bill Cosby

* You have two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion. Anon.

* I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it left. Anon.

* Never eat more than you can lift. Miss Piggy

* As long as there are tests and exams, there will be prayer in public

schools. Anon.

Winston Churchill’s reply to a woman who chastised him for drinking:

“Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you

will still be ugly.”

* America is the only country where half the money is spent on food,

and the other half is spent on trying to lose weight. Anon.

* Drive carefully. It’s not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.

Anon.

* Stop repeat offenders. Don’t re-elect them. Anon.

* Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m

not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

* If brains were taxed, some people would get a rebate. Anon.

* A man needs only two tools in his workshop: WD-40 and duct tape. If

it doesn’t move and should, use WD-40. If does move and shouldn’t, use

duct tape. Anon.

* A word to the wise isn’t necessary -- it’s the stupid ones who need

the advice.

-- Bill Cosby

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): Wrinkles should merely indicate where the

smiles have been.

-- Mark Twain