Polymath (n): A person who has extensive knowledge in many different areas
Today as I was snacking on some tortilla chips and guacamole, I noticed that the chip bag bragged that it only had four ingredients. Intrigued, I turned it over to see what those ingredients were. “Corn flour, vegetable oil, salt, and water.” Pretty simple. And it makes sense that those ingredients are all you would Read More …
Long time readers of my trivia, if there are any, will know that I usually don’t jump into the main point of my post right away. I like to begin with a bit of a story, and create a narrative around the post. This is the way I like to teach and present, so it Read More …
Now that winter is on its way out and the weather is starting to get warmer, it will soon be time for many animals to begin migrating. There is actually a term for the restlessness animals experience when it comes time to migrate. Zugunruhe is a German term, which literally translates to “migration anxiety”. As Read More …
Well here we are again, caught in the grip of January. The weather outside is cold and gray, we don’t have the holidays to look forward to, and we’re all back at work. At least I have ensured that my area won’t be getting any more snow this year (by buying some new snow boots) Read More …
Ever since I was young, I have been a voracious reader. That is partially why I have so much trivia to share with this newsletter. But I got my start like pretty much every other English reader – by learning the alphabet. The alphabet is one of those ubiquitous things we take for granted. Sure, Read More …
Anybody who has studied some etymology can tell you that there are lots of words and phrases out there with somewhat counterintuitive origins. There are many words we take for granted which did not exist in our language at some point. In some cases, these words are the result of other words taking on new Read More …
Ahhh, schadenfreude. Is there anything better than seeing someone overconfident in their success suddenly be crushed by their own hubris? To stand spectator and say “look at them, hoisted by their own petard”? But that is a rather strange turn of phrase, isn’t it? It’s one of those sayings that seems to be rather common Read More …
A common sight here in some parts of the Pacific Northwest is raccoons roaming around at night. They roam around, scavenging for food, sometimes getting into people’s trash. Native to almost all of North and Central America, they have also been introduced to parts of Europe and Japan. In some places, they are such a Read More …