You know the drill: when you break the law, they haul you downtown & take a few pics of your face at the police station. We call those photos “mug shots”, since the word “mug” is slang for face. But, why are faces called “mugs”? Most details point to an 18th-century form of British drinking…
Have you ever been told that some idea you had or some thing you wanted to do would be “pushing the envelope”? Basically, anyone who takes a risk is said to be “pushing the envelope.” It’s such a widely-used phrase that we don’t ever really question it, even though it really doesn’t seem to make…
The are a lot of myths surrounding cars & driving, whether it’s about dirty cars being more fuel-efficient, or the notion that it’s more probable that red cars will get pulled as opposed to other colors. But, when it comes to letting your engine run while you pump gas, what you’ve likely heard is very…
Beards are silent communicators. For most, they symbolize virility & power. For some, beards are a requirement of their religion or marital status (or, sometimes, both). An unkempt, scraggly beard could show economic status or a lack of vanity. But, how is it that some men can have one color of hair on their head,…
As you probably learned in grade school, there are 5,280 feet in a mile. But, as we usually love to ask…why? Who decided that arbitrary number should be the length of a mile? Not only that, but why are nautical miles different from the miles we use on land? The basic concept of the mile…
With March Madness upon us, lets examine something few people ever really consider while watching our favorite team make their way through the big dance. Pretty much all basketballs usually look a certain way, mostly all the same. Your regular basketball has a pebbled exterior, separated into eight panels by thin black lines. But, what…
Have you ever preserved food? “Canning”, as some people call it? If you have, then you already know how great Mason jars are. Y’know, those thick glass jars that make for a tight seal thanks to their unique screw top lid. They come in a variety of sizes & are great for storing various types…
If you’ve ever been stuck at home in the midst of a water outage, then you’ve most likely had to find the biggest pot, bowl, bucket, or other container that you could get your hands on in order to answer nature’s call as normally as possible. Did you notice, though, that pouring a large quantity…
There’s no denying that the color combo of black & yellow make is eye-catching. I mean, just think of bees, caution tape, Stanley tools…lots more. But the black stripes on yellow school buses aren’t just for aesthetics. Those black stripes that run along the sides & back of the school bus are actually metal “rub…
The term “lukewarm” is used commonly to mean “somewhere between hot & cold”. But, there are certain times that call for a more specific place on the thermometer, such as when you’re baking bread, bathing a baby, or having breakfast with Goldilocks. But, how warm is lukewarm really? It depends, really. It was in the…