Trivia and Amazing Facts 21-04-08

• Facetious, abstemious, abstentious, arsenious, and arteriosus are the only five words in the English language that contain the vowels a, e, i, o, and u in their proper order.

• A car's instrument panel is called a dashboard. The term dates back to horse-and-buggy days when dashing horses kicked up mud, splashing the passengers riding behind them. The dashboard was devised to protect them.

• Shakespeare spelled his own name several different ways.

• A "fruit machine" is the British term for a slot machine, or "one-armed bandit."

• The word "toast," meaning a proposal of health, originated in Rome, where an actual bit of spiced, burned bread was dropped into wine to improve the drink's flavor, absorb its sediment, and thus make it more healthful.

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