Much like an orange traffic cone gives you a heads-up about nearby roadwork, the orange spout & handle of a decaf coffee pot is a signal to both the people who drink coffee & the servers who pour it. But, that color wasn’t chosen simply for its eye-catching qualities. Orange is a bit of branding…
Certain table manners go without saying: chewing with your mouth closed protects others at the table from seeing your half-chewed food; a napkin on your lap protects your pants from crumbs. But, why is eating dinner with your elbows on the table, which both feels & seems right, so frowned upon? Well, it originally served…
The difference between Dinner & Supper isn’t just a regional thing or a matter of dialect, they really do mean different things. Well, at least they used to. Regardless of whether it was eaten in the morning, afternoon, or evening, dinner has historically meant “the largest meal of the day”. The word “dinner” comes from…
It’s a well-known rom-com movie trope: at the wedding of a woman who’s loved by someone else besides just the groom, the minister utters those fateful words “speak now or forever hold your peace”, and…out comes an objection. Think “The Graduate”, “Four Weddings & A Funeral”, even “Shrek”. Usually, this steers the plot toward a…
Bridal bouquets aren’t really required for wedding ceremonies, but imagine how odd it would seem for a bride to walk down the aisle empty-handed. Where did this tradition come from? It’s been suggested that wedding flowers were originally used to mask body odor, back before regular bathing became the norm, but that’s actually a misconception.…
We’ve discovered why grooms stand on the right at a wedding, so now let’s show some love to the left: why do we wear wedding rings on our left hand? Writing with your left hand during the medieval period could get you accused of being possessed. The Spanish Inquisition tortured & killed more lefties than…
A lot of our wedding traditions don’t really have the best of origins: brides originally wore veils to safeguard against the groom changing his mind in case he didn’t happen to like her face; and, the garter toss harkens back to the days when guests helped disrobe brides shortly after vows were exchanged. Yikes! And,…
In the wake of Thanksgiving, you more than likely utilized tinfoil to cover some, if not all, of your leftovers. Have you ever noticed, though, that tinfoil has 2 different-looking sides, one shiny & one dull? Why is that? The fact that tinfoil has 2 sides with different appearances is mostly the result of the…
You’ve probably wondered, as you struggled to keep your eyes open amidst all the Thanksgiving Day football & family chatter, “is it the turkey that’s making me sleepy”? Here’s the chemistry involved: turkey contains L-Tryptophan, an amino acid involved in sleep; your body uses that to produce a B vitamin called niacin, which generates the…
Sometimes, you feel like wearing a chef’s hat while you cook Thanksgiving dinner, and that’s okay. But placing a tiny chef’s hat on the end of each turkey leg could be considered taking the holiday cheer a bit too far. Why do we always see that, though, especially in movies & cartoons? Over the years,…