The category for today’s trivial imponderable is “food.” Do you know . . . what is the main purpose for searing meat?
Contrary to popular belief, it is not to seal in the moisture, but rather to create a brown crust and to add flavor.
Source: Sorry, Wrong Answer: Trivia Questions That Even Know-It-Alls Get Wrong, by Dr. Rod L. Evans.
This word reminds me of the quotation by Abraham Lincoln . . . “What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.”
\ French – rey-klahm \, noun;
Happy Monday! Here is a list of some of the more commonly misspelled/misused words (courtesy of the Internet Accuracy Project) beginning with the letter “I.” Enjoy!
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Commonly misspelled words
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I – ideally, idiosyncrasy, ignorance, imaginary, imitate, immediately, implement, incidentally, incredible, independence, independent, inadvertent, incredible, independent, indicted, indispensable, inevitable, influential, information, ingenious, inoculate, insurance, intelligence, intercede, interference, interrupt, introduce, irascible, irrelevant, irresistible, island. |
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Commonly Confused Words
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INTERMENT – burial INTERNMENT – imprisonment; confinement ITS – of, or belonging to IT’S – contraction for “it is” |
Source: Internet Accuracy Project’s commonly misspelled, confused and misused words is a helpful collection of some of the most commonly misspelled, confused and misused words.
It was George Santayana who originally said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” So here are some oxymoron statements along that same line.
“We learn from history that we do not learn from history.” (Georg Hegel)
“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.” (Aldous Huxley)
“We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience.” (George Bernard Shaw)
Source: oxymoronica by Dr. Mardy Grothe
Today we remember and honor those who died in active military service. “Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 400,000 active duty service members, veterans and their families. Service to country is the common thread that binds all who are remembered and honored at Arlington.” Did you know that Arlington is nearing its capacity? Here are some quick facts about Arlington National Cemetery:
Source: AARP Bulletin, July/August 2018, p. 4.
I remember well my early days in chemistry class having to learn the various elements from the periodic table of elements . . . these elements represent “substances that cannot be broken down or made into anything simpler by chemical reactions” (see Source below). We can thank Dmitri Mendeleev for this table. Dmitri, a superchemist from Siberia created this table by arranging all of the known elements into groups (the columns) and periods (rows). There are currently 118 “known” elements. There is even an element named after Dmitri — Mendelevium — which is one of the actinoid elements. The actinoids are the outcasts, are seriously heavy (89+ protons in their nuclei), and dangerously radioactive. Only three of the actinoids occur naturally while the rest are created artificially (in nuclear reactors and particle accelerators). Most of these elements were discovered in the 20th century.
Mendelevium – discovered in 1955
Symbol: Md
Atomic number: 101
Atomic weight: 258.10 u
Density: unknown
Melting point: 827°C (1,521°F)
Boiling point: unknown
Color: unknown/silvery-gray
Standard state: solid at 25°C (77°F)
Classification: metallic
Source: The Complete Periodic Table: Elements with Style, by Adrian Dingle and Dan Green.
Here is the tenth installment of advice on How to be Happy Though Married. Enjoy!
The Pleasures of Marriage
“Marriage may often be a stormy lake, but celbacy is almost always a muddy horse-pond.” (Thomas Love Peacock, Melincourt, 1817)
The Pains of Marriage
“Fools are as like husbands as pichards are to herrings; the husband’s the bigger.” (William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, c. 1601)
Hints for Husbands
“Marrying a stupid woman will prevent you from looking stupid.” (Molière, L’école des Femmes, c. 1662)
Hints for Wives
“Be not arrogant and answer not back your husband that shall be, nor his words, nor contradict what he saith, above all before other people.” (Le Ménagier de Paris, 1393)
The Marital Bed
“Among the Swahili it is the rule that marriage must not be completely consummated on the wedding night; the bridegroom has only partial connection with his wife, and completes the act with a girl who is at hand for the purpose.” (The Mothers, 1927)
Source: How to Be Happy Though Married: Matrimonial Strife Through the Ages, compiled by Emily Brand.
Today’s real facts (courtesy of http://www.snapple.com) are all about the koala bear. Did you know that . . .
The Natureworks Art Show and Sale was a couple of months ago now, and here is one of the new paintings that I was able to acquire. The title: New Mexico Poppies, the artist: Matthew Higginbotham, the medium: oil. To get this one up on the walls, I had to “shuffle” a few other paintings around, but I was able to re-purpose some of the “blank” spaces of the apartment walls by so doing. As a collector with walls that are fairly fully covered, it is always a challenge to get new acquisitions up on the walls . . . alas.
I love a good riddle. Not only do you get to exercise your brain, you are often times entertained as well at the sometimes obviousness of the answer that you failed to discover with a hint or help.
\ rid-l \, noun;
verb;
Other words you may consider using (depending on your context/usage, of course):
The Gun-Carryin' Librarian 