Interesting Facts

The word ‘museum’ comes from classical Latin where it meant a place holy to the Muses. (In Greek mythology t he Muses  were the goddesses of inspiration in literature, science and the arts. The 9 muses were each protectors of a different art and symbolised by a different item; Calliope (epic poetry - a writing tablet), Clio (history - a scroll or book), Euterpe (lyric poetry - an aulos (a Greek flute)),  Thalia  (comedy and pastoral poetry - a comic mask), Melpomene (tragedy - a sword), Terpsichore (dance - a lyre), Erato (love poetry - a cithara (a Greek type of lyre)), Polyhymnia (sacred poetry / hymns - a veil), and Urania (astronomy - a globe and compass). Nowadays, the word "muse" can  be used to refer to any person who inspires an artist, writer, or musician.)

DNA is commonly used as an abbreviation of deoxyribonucleic acid, but as usual it all depends on context. It also stands for Does Not Apply, Did Not Attend or Data Not Available

The term flip-flop is an onomatopoeiac word based on the sound made by the sandals when walking in them. (Flip flops are no heel strap sandals, and although this style of sandal has been worn for centuries, the modern day flip flops have been worn in America and Britain since the 1970s. Sometimes the word is written flip-flops, and flipflops. They are called thongs in Australia, jandals (originally a trademarked name derived from "Japanese sandals") in New Zealand, slops in South Africa, and tsinelas in the Philippines.)

In honour of Tartan Day, did you know that the word 'sett' doesn't just apply to a badger's lair, it also is used to describe the vertical and horizontal striped pattern on tartan. (The sett the basic 'tile' or 'block' that repeats itself across the width and along the length of the tartan or plaid.) If you would like to find your tartan you can do so here:- http://www.kilts4all.com/whats-my-clan-kilt.html

According to guidelines drawn up by, of all things, the Institute of Physics the following words and phrases should be avoided to prevent sexism. Sissy Don't be a girl Man up Cupcake (Senior teachers will be appointed ‘gender champions’, in a bid to eliminate gender stereotyping. I would suggest they add, "grow a pair" and "you throw like a girl" to that list. In all seriousness, the idea is that schools should find strategies to get more girls to study so-called ‘male’ subjects such as economics and physics at GCSE and A-level, while boys should be encouraged to take more ‘female’ subjects including English literature, foreign languages and psychology. Hang on! Male subjects and female subjects - now that is sexist. The Department for Education obviously has a lot of time on its hands, and a slightly worrying regard for physicists.)

The word of the year for 2015, as chosen by the Oxford English dictionary, is a pictograph: (Officially called the ‘Face with Tears of Joy’ emoji, (I call it laugh till you cry) was chosen as the ‘word’ that best reflected the ethos, mood, and preoccupations of 2015. I wonder what Shakespeare would say.  Answers on the back of a postcard using 10 emojis or less.)

In the run up to November 11th most public figures in the UK will be wearing a red poppy in remembrance of the fallen. In fact people will notice if you don't. So much so that Number 10 have been ridiculed for photoshopping a poppy onto a photo of prime minister David Cameron. (They really should have known better.  The Twittersphere doesn't miss much:- Has the official 10 Downing Street Facebook page photoshopped a poppy onto David Cameron for their new picture? pic.twitter.com/inLOOVcR5G — Dylan H Morris. (@dylanhm) November 2, 2015 Now the usual cliche has appeared as it is being named Poppygate. Ever since the infamous Watergate scandal in 1972 the suffix –gate has been used to describe any sort of scandalous event.)

Pac-Man started life as Pakkuman in Japan, created from the Japanese phrase “paku-paku taberu”, slang for smacking your lips. (According to the creator Toru Iwatani, it was to be called Puck-Man for its US release, but the name was changed because they realised someone might vandalize the “P” and turn it into an “F”, so they changed it to Pac-Man. And the rest, as they say, is history.)

Before you shoot me down in flames and say that < 3  is not a word, read this:- The heart emoji "< 3" has been chosen as the word of the year in the 15th annual survey of the English language by the Global Language Monitor. (If  you are new to these emoji or emoticons, each emoji represents an emotion, expression, state of mind, person, place, or thing.  There are now some 722 characters, with another 250 being made available in 2016, and 37 more due for approval in June 2015. Social media and the internet is driving the emoji language forward, with symbols like hashtag #, photobomb - gatecrashing a selfie, bae - a term of endearment for one’s object of desire, “bash” tag - using a hashtag to undermine your frenemies and clickbait - a link you just have to click on - all making it into the top 10 words. On a sad note, the world’s top phrase was “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” chanted by demonstrators against the police shooting of an unarmed black man in Fergus...

The artificial sweetener saccharin derives its name from the Greek word "sakcharon" and "saccharine", meaning "sugary". (A coal tar product, it is the oldest artificial sweetener, first produced in 1879, by Constantin Fahlberg, a chemist working on coal tar derivatives in Ira Remsen's laboratory at the Johns Hopkins University, but it didn't achieve commercial success until sugar shortages during World War I. It is about 300–400 times sweeter than table sugar, with effectively no calories.)

A new gender honorific 'Mx' is now an officially recognised title in the UK. (Mx, which is used by transgender people or other individuals who do not wish to identify with a particular gender is joining  'Mr, Mrs, Miss and Ms' on driving licences and other official documents in the UK, and is now accepted by Royal Mail, high street banks, government departments and some universities.  It is also under consideration for inclusion in the next edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Shrinkflation describes the process of items shrinking in size or quantity while their prices remain the same, and according to consumer watchdog Which? a host of products sold in the UK have been undergoing this phenomenon. (Confectionery is often a culprit, with a box of Cadbury's Fingers containing two fewer chocolate finger biscuits, Mars Bars (down from 58g in 2013 to 48g today), Kit Kat Chunky (down from 48g to 40g), a bag of Maltesers (down from 140g to 120g), and of course the Creme Egg scandal. Maybe if they were just a bit more honest and simply increased the price, we wouldn't mind as much.) Here are some more products:-

The word sinister is usually associated with anything harmful or evil, but in heraldry it also means on, or towards the left-hand side. (In late Middle English it developed the sense ‘malicious, underhand’, but it came from the French - sinistre or Latin sinister ‘left’. Unfortunately left side, and subsequently left-handedness, was considered negative in many cultures.)

A lecturer at Middlesex university has identified a new trend of ‘Rogeting’ among students. Trying to outwit plagiarism checking software they are using a thesaurus to find synonyms for words. (They aren't as clever as they think, because they have come up with some really stupid results. The best of which are:- sinister buttock (instead of left behind) to tarry fore of the conflict (instead of stay ahead of the competition) bequest mazes (instead of legacy networks)

The shell of an oyster is also called a shuck. (It can also be used to describe the husk on maize, and as a verb, to shuck, to shell an oyster. However, it is also an old English word believed describe a demon, or from East Anglian dialect meaning ‘shaggy’. And "Aww shucks" is an expression of regret or embarrassment.  I wonder if rats say that?  (You will need to check an earlier IF to understand this.))

The bikini (a two piece swimming suit) was named after Bikini Atoll in the Marshall islands. (Bikini Atoll is where the United States detonated an atomic bomb in 1946. The bikini was so named because of the ‘explosive’ effect the garment was expected to have. Of course, people were scandalised by this, forgetting that the Romans had been sporting this fashion item in about 286 AD.)

A survey carried out by linguistics researchers at Manchester University found there were 7 different words for a bread roll in the UK. (In the South it was generally called a roll. In the North a bap or a bun. In the North-west a barm, or a muffin. In the Midlands a cob. In Yorkshire a tea cake! Now I'll go along with roll or a cob, but to me a bap is a softer, more floury bread roll, a muffin is an American cake, a bun is sweet and hopefully full of cream, and a tea cake is full of dried fruit and has to be toasted and served with lots of butter.)

According to an article in the Times, a "thank you" from your boss is worth the equivalent of £1,600 a year. (That seems like a very expensive thank you. I'd rather have the £1,600 and a thank you.  Saying thank you for working, is just good manners.)

The word "Ukraine" can be translated into English as "close to the edge". (It can be formed from Russian or Polish with u which can mean "close" or "at" and krai which means "edge" or "border". )

The word 'diet' first made an appearance in the 13th century. (It comes from the Greek word, diaita, meaning "way of life". The funny thing is it's a four-letter-word and the first 3 letters are "die".)