Danish children celebrate their birthdays by receiving a “cakeman.” The festive dessert is a cake baked and decorated to resemble the birthday child.
After blowing out the candles, the birthday boy or girl gets to sit in wide-eyed wonder as he or she is symbolically decapitated and disembowled and guests feast upon the sugary entrails.
The President Who Was Impeached For Talking Too Much
Presidents give speeches. We take that for granted. Suggesting that a President should refrain from public speaking is about as inconceivable as imagining that a President would choose to live in a condominium and forego the use of the White House. The image of POTUS speaking from behind his bullet-proof podium is so deeply imprinted…
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Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité… and Trousers
Tourists visiting France soon learn that certain things can really irritate the natives. Daring to desecrate French bread with butter, speaking English, or mispronouncing a French word are just a few of those things that can trigger a rude muttering of, “Sacré bleu!” On a positive note, at least it’s permissible for women to wear…
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The Quest to Add Orbisculate to the Dictionary
What is the difference between a real word and a made-up word? OK, admittedly all words are made-up. We should probably ask what it takes to transform a newly manufactured word into one that shows up in dictionaries. The answer is usage. Once upon a time, someone reacted to some disgusting thing (we suspect it…
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Commonplace Fun Facts 