Blog of Answers

How did Valentine become the patron saint of lovers?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:56:00 +0000

In 270 AD, the mad Roman emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage because he believed married men made for bad soldiers. Ignoring the emperor, Bishop Valentine continued to marry young lovers in secret until his disobedience was discovered and he was sentenced to death. As legend has it, he fell in love with the jailer’s blind daughter, and through a miracle he restored her sight. On his way to execution, he left her a farewell note ending in, “From Your Valentine.”

What is the origin of the New Year’s song Auld Lang Syne?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:55:00 +0000

The tone and lyrics of Auld Lang Syne seem to capture perfectly the emotions involved in the passing of the fleeting accomplishments and losses of one calendar year coinciding with the rise of hope in a new one. Auld lang syne is Scottish and literally means “old long since,” or, in modern language, simply “long ago.” The song was written down by the poet Robert Burns, but he wasn’t the composer. Burns heard the folk song being sung by an anonymous old man and copied it down before passing it on to become a ceremonial fixture of New Year’s Eve.

When was the first organized hockey team founded?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:54:00 +0000

On January 31, 1877, McGill University students started the first organized ice hockey club. Employing codified rules, hockey officials, and team uniforms, the McGill University Hockey Club played a challenge match against a loose collection of lacrosse and football players. McGill beat its opponents 2-1.

How did bobbing for apples become a Halloween tradition?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:54:00 +0000

Halloween was the Celts' most significant annual holiday. After the Romans invaded Britain, they respected and adopted a few of the Celtic practices, and during the first century A.D., the two cultures began integrating their late autumn rituals. IN October, the Romans celebrated Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees. Her symbol was an apple, which is how that fruit, whether bobbing for it or otherwise, became symbolic of Halloween.

Why is a small newspaper called a "gazette"?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:53:00 +0000

In 59 B.C. Julius Caesar introduced the first handwritten daily newspapers, which were posted in prominent locations around Rome. However, it wasn't until long after Gutenberg's printing press was invented that news became an industry. During the mid-sixteenth century, citizens of Venice paid to hear public readings of the news, and the price was a small copper Italian coin called a "gazetta", which gave us the word gazette for newspaper.

Why is three of anything called a "hat trick"?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:52:00 +0000

While in Canada it refers to three goals by a single player in a hockey game, a "hat trick" means any accomplishment of three and comes from the English game of cricket. When a bowler retired three consecutive batsmen with three consecutive balls, he was rewarded with a hat. It became hockey jargon during a time when most spectators wore hats, which they tossed on to the rink as a celebration of three goals by one player. During the 1930s and 1940s a local Toronto haberdasher gave any Maple Leaf hockey player a custom-made hat if he scored three consecutive goals.

Where is the World's Coldest Place?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:51:00 +0000

The lowest temperature ever recorded in the world was -128.6°F (-89.2°C) at Vostok, Antarctica, in 1983. The Russian research station, located at the southern geomagnetic pole and near the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility — which is as far from anywhere else as you can possibly get — has thirty inhabitants during the summer, and half that in the winter.

Vostok had its warmest summer day a year earlier, when temperatures soared to a bone-chilling -2.2°F (-19°C). Average winter temperatures hover in the -85°F (-65°C) range. In the summer they rise to -22°F (-30°C).

Vostok is colder than the South Pole, 600 miles (965 kilometres) away, because it is at a higher altitude — 11,220 feet (3,420 metres) instead of 9,000 feet (2,743 metres)

Why are shopping centres called "malls"?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:51:00 +0000

Shopping centres mushroomed in the 1950s but weren't called malls until 1967. Mall comes from the popular sixteenth-century Italian ball and mallet game "palamaglio", which came to England as "pall-mall" (pronounced "pell mell"). By the eighteenth century the game had been forgotten, except on the name of a Londonstreet where it had been played and on a parallel ritzy avenue named the Mall, where fashionable aristocrats strolled and shopped.

Why is Earth the only planet not named from Greek or Roman mythology?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:50:00 +0000

Earth got its name long before the sixteenth century (the time of Copernicus, when humans started conidering that we are on just another planet). Earth comes from the ancient Germanic languages and originally meant "the soil that was the source of all life." Earth is the English name, but hundreds of languages all refer to our fertile soil, our Planet Earth, as a nursing mother. Terra Mater means "Mother Earth."

In Roman mythology, the goddess of the Earth was Tellus, the fertile soil, seventy-one percent of the Earth's surface is covered with water. Earth is the third planet from the sun and the fifth largest.

Why do we call luxurious living a "posh" existence?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:49:00 +0000

In the days of their empire, British tourists travelled by ship from England to the warmer climates of India and the Mediterranean. Wealthy passengers on these voyages demanded cabins shaded from the sun, which meant being on the port side on the way out and the starboard side on the way home. Tickets for these cabins were marked "POSH," which stood for Portside Out, Starboard Home, and 'posh' stuck as a word that signified luxury.

What is the origin of the saying, "There's a time for everything"?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:47:00 +0000

"There's a reason for everything," or better still, "There's an appropriate time for everything", is one of the Bible's greatest simplifications of human life's mystery (Ecclesiastes III). The Biblical passage was set to music in 1952 by Pete Seeger and titled "Turn! Turn! Turn!" It became an anthem within the social turmoil of the 1960s after an arrangement by Roger McGuinn was sung by Judy Collins on a 1963 album and then became The Byrds' first hit in 1965.

When exactly are the twelve days of Christmas?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:46:00 +0000

The twelve days of Christmas are the days separating December 25 and the Epiphany, or the date of Christ's baptism, which is January 6 - the legendary date that the three Wise Men visited the stable with their gifts. It was once the custom to pile up gifts on December 25 and then distribute them over the days leading to January 6. In North America, the tradition is now only a memory through the carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas"

How much would all the gifts cost in "The Twelve Days of Christmas"?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:45:00 +0000

Because the golden rings are pheasants and not jewelry, the most expensive item in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" would be the seven swans a-swimming, at US$7,000, followed by ten lords a-leaping and nine ladies dancing. The currents price of a partridge in a pear tree is $34, which is the hourly rate for eight maids a-milking. So when everything is added up, the tap is $15,944.20

How did turkey become the traditional Christmas dinner?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:49:00 +0000

Up until the nineteenth century, mincemeat pie was the common Christmas feast in both North America and Europe, with preferred birds being pigeon, peacock, guinea hen, and goose. Turkey was introduced from America to Europe by the Spanish in the sixteenth century and caught on big time in 1843 after Ebenezer Scrooge sent a turkey to Bob Cratchet in the Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol.

Why are Christmas songs called “carols”?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:48:00 +0000

A Christmas carol is a song of religious joy, but the musical form of a carol doesn’t have to include Christmas. Its main feature is the repetition, either musically or chorally, of a theme, as in a circle. The word carole entered English from the French at the end of the thirteenth century, but it’s much older than that. Originally, a carole was a ring dance where men and women held hands while dancing and singing in a circle.

Was Rudolph the only name of the red-nosed reindeer?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 14:46:00 +0000

In 1939, when Robert May, a copywriter for Montgomery Ward, wrote a promotional Christmas poem for that Chicago department store, its principal character was “Rollo” the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but the corporate executives didn’t like that name, nor did they approve of May’s second suggestion, “Reginald.” It was May’s four-year-old daughter who came up with “Rudolph,” and the title for a Christmas classic.

What was the original meaning of merry in “Merry Christmas”?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:43:00 +0000

Today, merry, as in “Merry Christmas,” suggests gaiety, a mood for celebration, but its original meaning was quite different. For example, the carol we sing as “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen,” should read “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.” The word was at least four hundred years old when it was first written down in 1827, and at that time merry didn’t mean joyous, but rather, peaceful or pleasant.

How long is a moment and what is the precise time of a jiffy?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:06:00 +0000

When we use moment or jiffy, as in "I'll be back in a moment" or "She'll be with you in a jiffy," we usually mean an undefined but brief period of time -- but in fact, both have a precise length. Although lost through time, a moment was originally an English reference for ninety seconds, while a jiffy is from science and is one one-hundredth of a second, the time it takes light in a vacuum to travel one centimetre.

If you have a myriad of choices, exactly how many choices do you have?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:06:00 +0000

Since the sixteenth century, writers have used the adjective myriad to describe a large, unspecified, or overwhelming number, such as, "The student had a myriad of excuses for not turning in his assignment" or "Steve had myriad reasons for his wrong decision." Neither o these uses is literally incorrect, but based on its Greek root, one myriad is exactly ten thousand.

How did the caramel-covered popcorn Crackerjack get its name?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:05:00 +0000

Today a "cracker" is someone who breaks into your computer, but among other things, it also once meat something excellent or special. The "jack" in "Crackerjack" is the sailor, and the little dog on the package is named Bingo. Trademarked in 1896, Crackerjack got lucky when JackNorworth included it in his 1908 "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," after which it became part of American culture.

Why when someone is snubbed do we say they're getting "the cold shoulder"?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:04:00 +0000

In Europe during the Middle Ages, the "cold shoulder" had two purposes. If guests overstayed their welcome they were often served cooked but cold beef shoulder at every meal until they tired of the bland diet and left. Te other ""cold shoulder" was leftover mutton that was saved to give to the poor to discourage them from begging at the pantry.

Why do brides wear "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue" to their weddings?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:03:00 +0000

According to the wedding tradition, the bride wears something old to remind the couple of the happiness of the courting period. She wears something new to represent the hopeful success of the couple's new life together, something borrowed to symbolize the support of friends, and something blue because it's the colour of fidelity. If a bride wears a single girlfriend's garter, it will improve that girl's prospects of marriage. The final line of the rhyme, "a silver sixpence in her shoe," which is rarely used today, symbolizes financial security.

Where is the world's wettest place?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:03:00 +0000

The Indian state of Meghalaya, meaning "home of the clouds" in Hindi, boasts the town of Cheerrapunji, which was soaked by 905 inches (2,299 centimetres) of rain during a twelve-month period beginning in August 1860 and ending in July 1861. This town of about ten thousand people also holds the record for the wettest month. In July 1861, 366 inches (930 centimetres) of rain were measured, enough water to completely cover a two-storey house.

How valid is the theory of six degrees of separation?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:02:00 +0000

Six degrees of separation is the theory that anyone on Earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of five acquaintances. The phrase was inspired by an article in Psychology Today that reported a 1967 study by Stanley Milgram (1933 - 1984), an American social psychologist who tested the theory by having strangers randomly send packages to people several thousand miles away with only the intended recipient's name and occupation as an address. They were instructed to pass the package on to someone they knew on a first-name basis who was most likely personally familiar with the target. That person would do the same and so on until the package was delivered to the intended recipient. The result was that it took between five and seven intermediaries to get a package delivered.

Why is a non-relevant statement during a debate or argument said to be "beside the point"?

noreply@blogger.com (Cleng) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:01:00 +0000

The expression "beside the point" is from ancient archery and literally means your shot is wide of the target. Its figurative meaning, that your argument is irrelevant, entered the language about 1352, as did "You've missed the mark." Both suggest that regardless of your intentions, your invalid statement is outside the subject under discussion.