Suppose a friend asks you for directions to the nearest coffee shop. Your friend knows how to get to the grocery store on the corner of Main Street and Oak Avenue. You […]
Is it Kitty-Corner or Catty-Corner?
How to Write 100,000,000,000,000 Poems
A sonnet is a one-stanza, 14-line poem, written in iambic pentameter. William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, all of which are required reading for students of great literature. Shakespeare may be the most […]
Andrew Carnegie and Theodore Roosevelt’s Doomed Effort to Simplify Spelling
Wy duz English hav such weerd spelling? Sum words uze silent letters. Others use dubel letters inconsistently for ekwal sounds, such as “blizzard” and “lizard.” Wat if we cud mak it eezy? […]
Why Call a Lawyer When You Can Summon a Prince to Help Through Clameur de Haro
What do you do if someone is occupying or infringing on your rights to your land? Yes, you could call the police, or you could bring a lawsuit against the offender. Or […]
The Latest Gossip About What to Call Someone Who Gossips
We all know that person who just has to have the latest news — good or bad — about everyone. You might think of that person as a busybody or a gossip. […]
When the French Have a Problem, it’s REALLY a Problem
When Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell said the famous line, “Houston, we have a problem,” the words triggered alarm throughout NASA and around the world. If Apollo 13 had been manned by […]
The Translated Version Hasn’t Come Out Yet
A Spanish delegate to a diplomatic conference turned on his microphone and said, “Estoy constipado, perdónadme.” Ordinarily this would translate as, “Please excuse me; I have a cold.” The French interpreter, instead, translated his […]
Longest Novel Will Take a While to Read
The world record for the longest novel ever published goes to A la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust. It was published in 13 volumes beginning in 1912. With an estimated 9,609,000 characters […]
How Do You Say ‘Sarcasm’ in French?
A French lady to an American who was trying to converse in French: “How wise of you not to attempt the French accent!” source
Which is More Formidable?
In the early days of World War II, the Duke of Windsor (the former King Edward VIII), paid visits to French troops to help boost their morale. His flaccid grasp of the […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 