Trivia

Our lives are full of ‘thingummys’, ‘thingamajigs’ and ‘whatjermecallits’ – those everyday items we should know the word for, or were once told but have since forgotten. Here are a few:

Glassine

Is the type of paper that lines boxes of chocolates or truffles and cups single chocolates. In a special manufacturing process, paper pulp is beaten to break down the fibres, and pressed into moulds, then allowed to dry into sheets.

After that, a process called ‘ calendering’ presses the sheets through hot rollers, making the paper grease- and air-proof. This is ideal for protecting chocolates from that white ‘bloom’ that can sometimes appear.

Aglet

Is the little plastic or metal tube at the end of your shoelace. Its purpose is to stop the thread of the lace from unravelling, as well as making it easier to feed through the shoe’s eyelets. (The word comes from the Old French aguillette, meaning needle.)

Before the invention of plastic, aglets were made of metals such as copper, brass and silver, glass and even stone. They were often ornamental and some were fashioned into small figures.

Should your aglet break, you may, of course, just buy another shoelace. But if you’re more frugal – especially in these credit crunch times – shoemakers recommend that you repair them by dripping melted candle wax onto the broken end.

The Interrobang

Is one of the most eloquent punctuation marks in the English language, combining an interrogative point, or question mark, and a bang (printers’ parlance for the exclamation mark). These are some sentences which require one: ‘She said what?!’; ‘He ate how many slices of cake?!’; ‘You’re going to have a baby?!’

No one uses them more eloquently than Captain Haddock in Herge’s Tintin stories.

Lunula

Is the white half-moon part at the base of the fingernail or toe nail. It is paler than the rest of the nail because it isn’t so firmly attached to the blood vessels and is most visible on the thumbs.

The thick fold of skin that overlaps the lunula, which manicurists push down, is called the eponychium (or cuticle) and it protects the area between the nail and the skin from harmful bacteria.

Philtrum

Is the vertical indentation between the upper lip and nose. The term derives from the Greek word philein, to kiss – for the ancient Greeks believed this area was one of the most erogenous spots on the body. Both Hitler and Charlie Chaplin covered theirs with a moustache- – while, apparently, SAS officers can kill someone simply by tapping-their philtrum in a certain way.

Tittle

If you’ve dotted an i, you have tittled, because the little dot above the i – and the j ( incidentally, the last letter to be included in our 26-letter alphabet) – is called a tittle. Hence the phrase ‘jot and tittle’, which indicates that every small detail has received attention.

Dewclaw

Is the tiny fifth claw on the inner part of a dog’s leg above the other toes, so called, rather romantically, because it brushes the dew from the grass. Dogs almost always have these tiny talons on the inside of their front legs and sometimes also on their hind legs.

Some people say that dewclaws are useless and should be removed, because they can get torn or cause damage (to clothes, furniture and the like). Others claim that this odd appendage is very useful to a dog, for example, to help pick up bones and sticks.

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The year is 1906.
One hundred and two years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the Year 1906:

• The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
• Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.
• Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone
• A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
• There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.
• The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
• Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California.  With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.
• The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
• The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
• The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year .
• A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
• More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at HOME.
• Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!  Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as “substandard.”
• Sugar cost four cents a pound.
• Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
• Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
• Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
• Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.
• Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
  1. Pneumonia and influenza
  2. Tuberculosis
  3. Diarrhea
  4. Heart disease
  5. Stroke
• The American flag had 45 stars.
• Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn’t been admitted to the Union yet..
• The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!!!
• Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn’t been invented yet.There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
• Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn’t read or write.  Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school..
• Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.” ( Shocking? DUH! )
• Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.
• There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. !

Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.

Thanks Gene

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