Karen Hill

Silk is a fine, lustrous, natural fibre made from secretions by very small silkworms to produce cocoons. The cultivation of silk began more than 5,000 years ago in China, and the process is very manual and expensive. In 1935, while China and Japan were at war and the silk supply to Western countries was interrupted, … Read more

The abacus is an ancient counting device with movable counters strung on rods and is used to solve arithmetic problems. Computers and calculators have made the apparatus obsolete. The word abacus has Semitic roots and came to English through the Greek word abax, meaning “dust” or “sand.” Before the board with the beads, the ancients … Read more

The expression “Garbage in, garbage out” became famous when used by the brilliant lawyer Johnnie Cochran (1937-2005) during the O.J. Simpson trial. Its source is the computer abbreviated GIGO, which surfaced during the early 1960s. The acronym means that computers can only give you what has been put into them. Unfortunately, in spite of this … Read more

Some baseball players, like Sammy Sosa, believe that the spring from a “corked bat” adds distance to a struck ball. Even though physicists say this notion is nonsense, occasionally someone will try to use one. The basic method of corking a bat is to drill a straight hole into the top about one inch wide … Read more

Masters of the culinary arts may have disdain for the microwave oven, but for most modern kitchens they are essential. The cooking use for microwaves was discovered by accident in 1945. An American scientist named Percy Spencer (1894-1970) noticed that a candy bar in his pocket had melted while he was testing a magnetron, a … Read more

In unskilled hands, a chainsaw can be dangerous, it might even cut through an arm or a leg. Ironically, that was what the first chainsaw was invented for. A German named Bernard Heine (1800-1846) invented the chainsaw in 1830. It was called an osteotome. In those days before general anesthetics, surgeons depended on speed to … Read more

Toilet seems an odd name for the bathroom’s chief plumbing fixture, but it makes sense when you consider that since the seventeenth century, “toilette” meant a lady’s dressing room. The chief purpose of the room was for cleaning up or changing clothes. The other business was done in an “outhouse.” When a lavatory became attached … Read more

James Alexander “Jim” Tyng was the first baseball player to wear a catcher’s mask while playing for Harvard in 1877. The first baseball catcher’s mask was a fencer’s mask introduced by Harvard University’s Fred Thayer who received a patent for the mask in 1878. It wasn’t until 1890 that the major leagues adopted the idea … Read more

In 1869 the Cincinnati Red Stockings began utilizing a system of hand signals based on military flag signals that soldiers had used while playing baseball during the Civil War. Baseball’s hand signals evolved from the earliest days of the game. Consequently, there are many moments and persons involved in their development, but none more important … Read more

There is a myth that the World Series was named after the New York World newspaper. The paper was established in 1860 and was sold in 1930 after merging with the Evening Telegram, becoming the New York World Telegram. However, the World had nothing to do with naming baseball’s annual classic. In 1884 a series … Read more

A battery is a military term for a unit of guns, mortars, or rockets grouped to facilitate better battlefield command and communication. Its use in baseball to describe a pitcher and a catcher alludes to the fact that the battery is the principle attack force for the small army of nine players on a baseball … Read more

Uncover the origin of the term “shortstop” and its role in baseball. Explore the intriguing history behind this pivotal position, bridging second base and third base. Key Takeaways: Examine the historical evolution of the term “shortstop” in baseball. Discover the pivotal role and unique responsibilities of players in this position. Gain insights into how language … Read more

The legend is that in the days before supermarkets, small grocery store owners placed their tins of canned corn on the top shelves because they stored well and didn’t sell as quickly as fresh corn. For most customers this system put the cans out of reach. The store owner or clerk needed a broomstick to … Read more

In 1974 it became public that in 1930 the United States had drawn up a strategic plan that included a successful invasion of Canada. The scheme was called “Plan Red.” It involved attacks on Montreal and Quebec, Winnipeg’s railway centre, Ontario’s nickel mines and power generation, and the Great Lakes. Naval blockades were to be … Read more

The Canadian flag is red in color. On February 15, 1965, when Canada’s new flag became official and flew over the country for the first time, the ceremonious proclamation read: “A red flag of proportions two by length and one by width containing in its center a white square the width of the flag with … Read more

The Alberta tar sands have attracted the interest of the United States. Although Canada already accounts for 16 percent of U.S. oil consumption, new technology may someday diminish the Americans’ need for carbon-based fossil fuels. Water is another matter. Each day 4,755 billion gallons of water are funnelled through water pipes, turbines, and irrigation systems … Read more

The Statue of Liberty, formally called Liberty Enlightening the World, was a gift from the French to the people of the United States. It has stood since 1886 in New York City Harbour on Liberty Island. The famous poem engraved on a plaque at the base of the statue is a sonnet entitled “The New … Read more

An almanac is an annual publication forecasting weather and providing other miscellaneous information relative to a calendar year. The earliest almanacs were largely preoccupied with astronomical and astrological information as well as dates for feasts and festivals. The seventeenth century saw almanacs begin to broaden their scope to include stories, poems, remedies, statistics, and jokes. … Read more

There was no pumpkin pie at the first Thanksgiving. But because the plant’s season coincides with the celebration and because it was Native Americans who taught the Pilgrims the pumpkin’s value, the melon has become a traditional Thanksgiving dish. At first pumpkin was customarily served stewed as a custard or sweet pudding and was presented … Read more

In 1969 a sixty-five-year-old Atlanta man named Michael Goldgar returned home from visiting an aunt confined to a nursing home and realized that most of the elderly were treated as burdens by their children and grandchildren. He thought of earlier times when the elderly were a source of wisdom and the nucleus of a family. … Read more

A jubilee is “a season of rejoicing” and comes from the ancient Hebrews. Fifty years after the Jews were freed from Egyptian bondage, they created a semi-centennial festival that lasted a full year within which all land would be left fallow and returned to its original owners. All debts were paid off and all slaves … Read more

The monarch butterfly is the only North American butterfly known to migrate. Scientists believed monarchs migrated for quite a long time, but it wasn’t until 1975 that Cathy and Ken Brugger found the butterfly’s wintering grounds in Mexico’s Sierra Madre. There they discovered that the aboriginal peoples who lived in the area thought the butterflies … Read more

The phrase “loaded for bear” means you are well armed to meet any problem. In the days of muskets, the gunpowder charge could be adjusted depending on the size of the animals you expected to encounter in the wilderness. So if you were hunting bear, or simply entering their territory, you went into the bush … Read more

If you have ever wondered why Siamese cats are always “talking” or bossing you around, it may be because they are descendants of royalty. Cats were revered in Siam where they were often selected to become receptacles of the souls of departed royals and senior government officials. When such a regal person died, a chosen … Read more

A “canard” is a story or a statement that is a hoax or a lie. Canard is French for duck, but in English the word refers to a deliberate falsehood and is based on a French proverb about cheating or swindling. Vendre un canard a moitie literally translated means “to half sell a duck.” However, … Read more

The expression “Sitting in the catbird seat” means you have an advantage over the opposition. The catbird is a thrush, and like its cousin, the mockingbird, perches among the highest branches of a tree and has a warning cry that resembles that of a cat. “Sitting in the catbird seat” originated in the U.S. South … Read more

“Happy as a clam” seems to assume that the mollusk is indeed happy. This notion was probably inspired by the observation that if a clam is held sideways and looked at straight on it appears to be smiling. However, the expression is incomplete. It began as “happy as a clam at high tide.” High tide … Read more

There are no rabbits native to North America and there never were. The North American animal is properly called a hare, so the answer to the question is zero rabbits. Early North American settlers dropped the word hare from their vocabulary. The American term jack rabbit is an abbreviation of the original name jackass-rabbit, so … Read more

The adjective hare-brained usually refers to a plan or action that is unexplainably preposterous. If there is any confusion about this word’s meaning, it lies in the sixteenth-century dual spelling as both harebrained and hair-brained. In any case, the word is a reference to the wildly odd mating season practices of hares, which are so … Read more

A beaver is an industrious little rodent whose fur was the foundation of an industry that helped create Canada. At a time in history when knights wore armor, the hinged bottom portion of the helmet was called the “beaver”. This was because when it was lifted for food or drink it revealed a man’s beard, … Read more

Greyhound dogs have been bred for hunting and racing and have extremely keen eyesight. They are one of the fastest land mammals and can reach speeds up to forty-five miles per hour. They were introduced to England from Celtic mainland Europe in the sixth century BC. The dogs come in a wide variety of colours, … Read more

Dogs often turn around several times in a circle before lying down. They appear to be trying to make themselves comfortable, though it has been facetiously suggested that “they are looking for the head of the bed.” The fact is that dogs have maintained this habit from their origins in the wild. Like their ancestors … Read more

Much like “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” we sometimes say “a leopard can’t change his spots” to underline that mature people can’t alter who or what they are. Such a person’s character is too indelible. The phrase about the leopard’s spots comes from Jeremiah 13:23 in the Bible: “Can the Ethiopian change … Read more

The original “brownies” are little Scottish elves, wee brown men, who are believed to fix things and help out around farms when everyone is asleep. They were the inspiration for the name Lord Baden-Powell’s sister, Agnes, gave to the branch of Scouts that serves younger girls from six through eight years of age. Brownie points … Read more

One of the great and endearing mysteries about cats is their use of purring to show affection. But cats also purr when in danger or while giving birth or dying. Feral cats will even purr during a standoff with another cat. Cats only purr in the presence of humans or other cats. Because they are … Read more

The “sperm” in sperm whale is an 1830 abbreviation of spermaceti, which means “sperm of a whale.” It was once believed that the waxy, gel-like substance in the snouts of these aquatic mammals was the seed of the male whale. Spermaceti was prized for its medicinal properties and was also used for candle oil. The … Read more

The original meaning of fast was “hold firmly,” as in “she held fast to her principles.” As a practice of not eating, fasting is all about maintaining firm self-control. Today fasting can take many forms and is practiced by the religious and non-religious. As a protest, prisoners use it to demonstrate that their captors don’t … Read more

A zealot is a supreme fanatic, often a bigot, and perhaps unfairly is best known in history as a radical Jewish political movement called the Zealots. This sect joined with several other Jewish groups to launch a rebellion in Palestine against the Roman Empire in the first century AD. Known for being aggressive, intolerant, and … Read more

A bigot is someone who is intolerant of any religion, race, group, or politics other than his or her own. The word began as a curse and was first recorded in English in 1598 as meaning “a superstitious hypocrite.” The word Bigot originated as “bi got” from a common Old French slur against the Normans … Read more

If a person is “pining away,” he or she is tormented by longing or grief, because pine, in this case, has the same meaning as pain. In the early English language, Christians referred to pinian as the consequence of the tortures and punishment of Hell. Pinian became both pine and pain. As time went on, … Read more

A “guardian angel” is a heavenly spirit assigned by God to watch over each person during his or her individual life. The angel is part of the dogma of the Roman Catholic faith and is there to help guide people and keep them from evil or danger. The feast to honor guardian angels is on … Read more

Martyrs are people who choose torture or death rather than renounce their beliefs or principles. The English word derives through Latin from the Greek martur, meaning “witness.” The first Christian martyr is said to have been St. Stephen, who was stoned to death after being convicted of blasphemy by a Jewish court around 33 AD. … Read more

Muslims pray five times a day in response to an order from God. Prayers must be said just before sunrise, after the sun peaks at noon, in the late afternoon, just after sunset, and between sunset and midnight. The ritual of prayer involves a series of actions that go with the words of a prayer. … Read more

Patron saints are chosen as guardians or protectors over specific areas of life. These can be chosen by people or groups without papal consent simply because the saint’s interest or life experience relates to a group or individual. The church has, however, chosen many patron saints such as the writer Francis de Sales, who was … Read more

Canada has two patron saints. Since French Catholics were the first Europeans to settle Canada, they brought their religion and customs with them, including the assignment of patron saints. St. Anne, the Virgin Mary’s mother, shares patronage of Canada with Mary’s husband, St. Joseph. St. Anne is also the patron saint of housewives, cabinet makers, … Read more

Lighting three cigarettes in a row with one match was common practice among smokers until the advent of lighters. It was especially practical to outdoorsmen or soldiers who needed to ration their matches. “Three on a match” became bad luck during the Boer War (1899-1902). Commonwealth soldiers discovered the hard way that an enemy sniper … Read more

The general legend about “raining cats and dogs” relates to the thatched roofs of the Middle Ages. It would have you believe that when it rained, all sorts of creatures, including cats and dogs, slipped and fell in such abundance that it gave rise to the expression, but that’s wrong. The truth is that the … Read more

An amethyst is a pale blue to dark purple crystallized quartz and is a precious stone found in modern-day Iran, Iraq, Brazil, India, and some parts of Europe. It was worn on the breastplates of high priests because the ancients believed that wearing or even touching an amethyst kept people from getting intoxicated no matter … Read more

Saints are individuals of exceptional holiness and are important in many religions, including Christianity. The first official canonization took place in 993 AD when Pope John XV (died 996 AD) declared Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg a saint. Butler’s Lives of the Saints, published in 1759, had 1,486 entries. The revised edition in 1956 listed 2,565 … Read more

The Christian book of scriptures was first called the Bible by the Greeks. The ancient Phoenicians had found a way to make a form of paper from the papyrus plant, which gave us the word paper. They had done this in the city of Byblos, which is why the Greeks called the new paper biblios, … Read more

The exclamation “Jesus H. Christ!” is often used as an attempt to avoid a blasphemous curse. In our quest to unveil the origins of the ‘H’ in ‘Jesus H. Christ,’ we embark on a journey exploring Jesus’ life, tracing historical threads to understand the significance of this enigmatic initial within the context of his identity. … Read more

Someone on the “straight and narrow” is living a legal, moral, and disciplined life. The expression was referred to in The Pilgrim’s Progress by English writer John Bunyan (1628-1688). In that inspirational book, Pilgrim, the representative of everyman, must follow the “straight and narrow.” The phrase has a biblical origin in Matthew 7:14: “Broad is … Read more

Cape Canaveral, Florida, was named by the Spanish and began to appear on maps around 1564. After the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) and because he had been such a driving force behind the space program, Jacqueline Kennedy (1929-1994), his widow, asked President Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973) to rename the space facility located … Read more

In 1875, during trouble with the First Nations, the local North-West Mounted Police sent E troop under Inspector E.A. Brisebois to erect a barracks on the Bow River. When Brisebois wanted to name the new structure after himself, his commander, Lieutenant-Colonel James Macleod, overruled him and named the settlement Fort Calgary, after the ancestral estate … Read more

A “scallywag” is usually a reference to a mischievous, youthful little scamp who seems to cause trouble continually. The original English spelling of scallywag was scalawag and is a reference to Scalloway, one of the Shetland Islands, where the famous Shetland ponies are bred. The word was created as an insult to the residents of … Read more

The United Nations Population Division has projected that the world’s population will become seven billion by 2013 and grow to 9.1 billion in 2050. Since most people continue to move to cities, the million-population club of urban centres grows ever more quickly. Rome, Italy, was the first city to reach a million in 133 BC, … Read more

The population of the world’s cities is measured in two ways. One is by population within metropolitan boundaries. By that measure, Mumbai, formerly Bombay, India, is the world’s largest city with almost twelve million people in 2005. Measuring by urban agglomeration, which means the city plus surrounding communities, Tokyo, Japan, leads with a staggering thirty-five … Read more

There are those who say that “Toronto” was a First Nations chief, while others insist the name refers to a Native tribe. Still others contend the name was derived from the Huron word toronton, meaning “meeting place.” Research into early French explorers’ maps from the 1670s, however, has uncovered the truth. These maps show present-day … Read more

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, people only used cash when they bought things. Credit was a personal issue between the dealer and individual customers. In the 1920s, gas companies and hotel chains started issuing cards for credit exclusively for use in their own establishments. By the late 1930s, some of … Read more

The modern concept of sharing capital ownership was initiated by the Dutch East India Company in 1612, which raised money by selling pieces of the business to the public. This process gave the Dutch East India Company the ability to grow and share its profits with its “shareholders.” The original meaning of the word stock … Read more

“Grey market” goods are legally sold through channels other than those authorized by the manufacturer. Unlike black market products, which may be counterfeits, grey market goods are the real thing. Entrepreneurs simply buy a product in one country where the item is significantly cheaper than another, then import it to the target market and legally … Read more

The country of England got its name from a Germanic tribe that migrated there in the fifth century AD. These Germans called themselves Anguls or Anglas, which became Angles around the fourteenth century. The Angle invaders called their new home Land of the Angles or Engla Land, which through time became England. The German invaders … Read more

The noun job as “a piece of work” was first recorded in the mid-sixteenth century. By the mid-seventeenth century, the word had also come to mean “continuous labor for pay.” The term began as jobbe, which is a variant of gob or lump and means specific work for money. Career, on the other hand, started … Read more

A “touchstone” is a figurative standard of value or quality against which something is measured. The word comes from ancient times when a special stone was used to guard against counterfeit money. The gold or silver content of coins wasn’t well governed, so phony money was often mixed with other metals and passed off as … Read more

Most people tend to emphasize characteristics of the left side of the brain, which controls verbal and analytical skills such as speech, language, and grammar. Lawyers, accountants, politicians, business executives, salespeople, and teachers depend on these skills. On the other hand, the right brain is visual, it jumps easily to conclusions and it gets the … Read more

Buddy is a masculine term for a close companion who can be counted on in a crisis, or in other times of need. In wartime males become buddies during combat or while watching each other’s back in a foxhole. The word originated with seventeenth-century Welsh and English coalminers. They referred to a workmate with whom … Read more

We often use the word flagship to indicate the most important or largest component or unit within an industrial complex or corporation. This tendency derives from the navy where a flagship carried the admiral and flew his flag. The admiral’s ship was the largest in the fleet, and just like today’s CEO, the admiral required … Read more

If you are trying to get on someone’s good side with insincere behavior, your actions are “currying favor” from that person. Curry is a horse-grooming term for cleaning and rubbing down an animal. Within this expression, favor was originally Favel, the name of the half-man, half-horse centaur in the fourteenth-century satire Le Roman de Fauvel. … Read more

The word boondoggle was first used in 1935 to describe “make-work” projects during the New Deal of American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945). It meant any useless task created simply to give men employment during the Great Depression. Surprisingly, the word comes from the Boy Scouts whose braided leather lanyard is simply cosmetic with no … Read more

The phrase “fighting fire with fire” means to meet a challenge with measures at least equal to the problem being confronted. The expression originates from a method still used to fight forest fires and serious grass fires. Settlers in the New World learned quickly to set fire to a strip of land in the wind … Read more

A “masse” shot in pool is required when a ball is between the cue ball and the one a player is required to hit. To strike the target ball, a spin on the cue ball is necessary to curve around the obstruction. This procedure is accomplished by hitting the cue ball with the cue stick … Read more

Equestrian is a word used to describe a competitive horseback rider and entered English in 1656 as meaning a “knight on horseback.” The horse has evolved over fifty million years to become the majestic animal exhibited at various competitions today. Equestrian is from the Latin word for horse, which is equus. The Detroit Tigers baseball … Read more

It is a good idea to stay out of the way of anyone “hell bent for leather.” The word bent has meant a mental inclination other than straight since 1586 and resurfaced as “bent out of shape,” meaning “extremely upset or weird,” during the 1960s. “Hell bent” means the disturbed subject is in a big … Read more

To “knock off work” might be for any length of time, but it usually means for the day. The expression certainly had significance to those who first used it, because they were the oarsmen of a slave galley. To keep the ship on course, the slaves were kept rowing in unison by a drumbeat pounded … Read more

A “taxi squad” is made up of those professional football players who are under contract but not dressed for a game. They are four extra players beyond the roster limit who are only eligible to play on short notice as a substitute for an injured player if the team is shorthanded. The name “taxi squad” … Read more

The official birth date of all Thoroughbred racehorses is January 1 of the year they were born regardless of the actual birth date. All horses are “foals” until they are a year old. Between the ages of two and five, males are called colts while female horses are fillies. Beyond the age of five, male … Read more

It is difficult to imagine men competing in today’s high-contact sports without that essential piece of equipment informally referred to as a “jock.” Officially known as an athletic supporter, the device was introduced in 1874 to protect bicycle riders, who were called “bicycle jockeys,” from hurting themselves on the crossbar after slipping off the pedals … Read more

Cheerleaders have become a major attraction at football and basketball games. We can thank the enthusiasm of University of Minnesota student Johnny Campbell, who stood during a football game in November 1898 and started leading the crowd in “rah, rah, rah” cheers. Since then the culture of cheerleading has often become larger than the game. … Read more

Most government leaders have unofficial non-elected advisers outside their legitimate cabinet and these people have been labelled a “kitchen cabinet.” The expression was coined in 1832 when Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was president of the United States. He used to hold frequent unofficial private meetings with three close friends, and in order to avoid scrutiny or … Read more

The notion of the “prime” or first minister as the leader of government was introduced to Great Britain in 1646. Cabinet members or departmental ministers have been selected from elected representatives within that parliamentary system since 1625, but the reference to those holders of high office of the state as “minister” began in 1916. In … Read more

If the outcome of a circumstance is known during a procedure is ended, we say “it’s all over but the shouting.” The expression comes from a wide-spread practice in early England. For centuries, when a straightforward public issue was to be decided, an assembly of townspeople was called for an informal election that was settled … Read more

Although the statue at Giza in Egypt is the most famous Sphinx, there is another. According to Greek mythology, the original Sphinx was a female winged creature with the body of a lion that attacked travellers near Thebes and then strangled and devoured those who couldn’t answer her riddle: “What creature has one voice yet … Read more

Even though they both involve a disagreement, there is a dramatic difference between bickering and dickering. Bickering now means to quarrel, but the word began as bicken, Dutch for “an attack involving a misunderstanding by slashing or stabbing.” Dickering came from the Roman habit of packaging units of ten hides for bartering or haggling with … Read more

Maroon is a dark reddish colour or a chestnut flavour. As a verb, the word means “to be put ashore on a deserted island” or “to abandon someone in isolation.” However, the obscure use of maroon as a reference to slaves who escaped or were set free in the seventeenth century is lesser known. These … Read more

There are thousands of fountains around the world inviting passersby to toss in coins for good luck. They have all been inspired by the romance of the legend behind Rome’s famous Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi). Built over a thirty-year period in the mid-eighteenth century, the Trevi became the focus of a legend that said … Read more

Lockets are usually worn on chains around the neck and carry small personal items, photos, or memories of a loved one. They are the reason a small clipping or tress of hair is called a “lock of hair.” The word locket probably arrived in England in 1066 with the invasion of William the Conqueror (circa … Read more

The expression “Don’t count your chickens” is a commonly used saying similar to New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra’s warning that “it ain’t over till it’s over.” First written in the sixth century BC, it is a quotation from one of Aesop’s fables, called “The Milkmaid and Her Pail.” It means “don’t get ahead of … Read more