Trivia and Amazing Facts 30-06-08

• The word "tip," meaning a gratuity, was originally an acronym standing for "To Insure Promptness."

• The word monsoon is derived from the Arabic word mausim, meaning "season." It was first used by Arab sailors to describe the seasonal winds that blow across the Arabian Sea.

• In the Netherlands, a support group for people with autism has coined a new term for those who are not autistic - "neurologically typical."

• An oast is a kiln used for drying hops, malt, or tobacco.

• If you are taking a class in pistology, you are studying faith.

Herbalife

Trivia and Amazing Facts 26-06-08

• The official term for the pincerlike claw of a crab, lobster, or scorpion is a "chela."The numbers on opposite sides of a die always add up to 7.

• The popular phrase "The blind leading the blind" comes from the New Testament, Matthew 15:14.

• Stop the world from spinning! One too many drinks left you dizzy? Put your hand on something stable. The part of your ear responsible for balance-the cupula-floats in a fluid of the same density as blood. "As alcohol dilutes blood in the cupula, the cupula becomes less dense and rises," says Dr. Schaffer. This confuses your brain. The tactile input from a stable object gives the brain a second opinion, and you feel more in balance. Because the nerves in the hand are so sensitive, this works better than the conventional foot-on-the-floor wisdom.

• Unstitch your side! If you're like most people, when you run, you exhale as your right foot hits the ground. This puts downward pressure on your liver (which lives on your right side), which then tugs at the diaphragm and creates a side stitch, according to The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Men. The fix: Exhale as your left foot strikes the ground.

• The generic name of the drug methadone is dolophine. It was named in honor of Adolph Hitler.

Brain Teaser - Force

Trivia and Amazing Facts 23-06-08

• When the full-length, poetic name of Bangkok, capital of Thailand, is used, it is usually abbreviated to "Krung Thep"(City of Angels). The full-length version is the longest place name of any town or city in the world (167 letters): Krung thep mahanakhon bovorn ratanakosin mahintharayutthaya mahadilok pop noparatratchathani burirom udomratchanivetma hasathan amornpiman avatarnsa thit sakkathattiyavisnukarmprasit.

• There are no words in the English language rhyme with month, orange, silver, or purple.

• There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."

• Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

• In the Middle English, the word "minister" meant "lowly person." It was originally adopted as a term of humility for men of the church.

Herbalife Protein Snacks

Trivia and Amazing Facts 19-06-08

• The British call a large umbrella, especially one that is bulky or awkwardly wrapped, a "gamp." It is in allusion to the umbrella of Mrs. Gamp in Charles Dickens' work Martin Chuzzlewit.

• The act of a husband murdering his wife is called "uxoricide."

• The descriptive phrase "eighty pence to the pound" is a British term meaning "not all there" or "stupid."

• There are many definitions in the dictionary for the word "bob," which includes its use as a noun when used for a suckling calf.

• The number of possible ways of playing just the first four moves on each side in a chess game is 318,979,564,000.

Garfield: Comics & Cliparts

Trivia and Amazing Facts 16-06-08

• Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

• TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

• A snail can sleep for three years.

• Celebrity-hounding photographers are called paparazzi, in English as well as Italian. It is believed the word was coined after a particularly obtrusive character named "Paparazzo" in Federico Fellini's 1960 film, La Dolce Vita. It has been said that Fellini chose the name because it suggested, onomatopoetically, the predatory, relentless nature of the character - the "z" sound hinted at a buzzing, annoying insect. Considering the voracious, self-serving nature of such hangers-on as the paparazzi, Fellini may also have played with the Italian verb pappare, which means "to devour with wild abandon."

• A poem written to celebrate a wedding is called a "epithalamium."

Trivia and Amazing Facts 12-06-08

The English-language alphabet originally had only 24 letters. One missing letter was "J," which was the last letter to be added to the alphabet. The other latecomer to the alphabet was "U."

The medical term for the condition known as writers' cramp is "chirospasm."

The magician's words "hocus-pocus" were taken from the name of a mythological sorcerer, Ochus Bochus, who appeared in Norse folktales and legends.

The little metal ring or cap attached to or near the end of a cane or wooden handle (such as on a paint brush) to prevent splitting is called a ferrule. Its name was derived from the Latin "viriola," meaning "little bracelet."

Something that is woody or like wood can be described as "xyloid."

Low Fat Recipes

Trivia and Amazing Facts 09-06-08

• A “kench” is a deep bin in which animal skins and fish are salted.

• In Albania, nodding the head means "no" and shaking the head means "yes."

• Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.

• All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.

• Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks; otherwise it will digest itself.

Free Recipes

Trivia and Amazing Facts 05-06-08

• The letter "W" is the only letter in the alphabet that doesn't have just one syllable - it has three.

• Portmanteau words are descriptive word combinations, such as brunch (from breakfast and lunch), motel (from motor and hotel), and smog (from smoke and fog).

• The word "gazelle" comes from the Arabian term for "affectionate," and it is believed to be inspired by the creature's large, gentle eyes.

• The name Marcia is from the Latin for "warlike."

• The British idiom "off one's chump" means "crazy."

Smilies

Trivia and Amazing Facts 02-06-08

• The letters in the acronym LED stand for light-emitting diode.

• The word "peach" was once used as a slang term for informing against or betraying an accomplice.

• A magic potion or charm thought to arouse sexual love, especially toward a specific person, is known as a "philter."

• Nitrogen used to be called azote.

• Geyser is derived from an Icelandic word for "hot springs."

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