Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts: And Bizarre Information by Bathroom Readers' Hysterical Society
Authors: Bathroom Readers' Hysterical Society
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Origin: “In Rome 2,000 years ago, the merchant figured his profit and loss using what he called calculi, or ‘little stones’ as counters. So the Latin term calculus, ‘pebble,’ not only gave us calculate but . . . our word calculus . . . one of the most complicated forms of modern mathematics.” (Word Origins , by Wilfred Funk, Litt. D.)
DOPE
Meaning: Drugs
Origin: “This word was originally a Dutch word, doop, meaning a sauce or liquid. Its first association with narcotics came when it was used to describe the viscous glop that results from heating opium. Then, by rapid extension, it came to mean any narcotic.” ( Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, Vol. III , by William and Mary Morris)
DOOZY
Meaning: Something wonderful, superior, or classy
Origin: “The word comes from Duesenberg, an eminently desirable motor car of the 1920s and ’30s. The Duesenberg featured a chromed radiator shell, gold-plated emblem, hinged louvered hood, stainless-steel running boards, beveled crystal lenses on the instrument panel, Wilton wool carpet, and twin bugle horns. Magazine ads for the luxury car carried the slogan: ‘It’s a Duesie.’” ( The Secret Lives of Words , by Paul West)
MANURE
Meaning: Animal excrement used to fertilize plants
Origin: “From the Latin manu operati, ‘to work by hand.’ Farming was constant manual labor, especially the fertilizing, which required mixing by hand. Genteel folks who objected to the word dung, the excrement of animals, were responsible for its euphemistic displacement with the more ‘refined’ manure.
“Even manure became objectionable to the squeamish; they preferred fertilizer. According to a famous story about Harry S Truman, the president was explaining that farming meant manure, manure, and more manure. At which point a lady said to the president’s wife: ‘You should teach Harry to say “fertilizer,” not “manure.”’ Mrs. Truman replied, ‘You don’t know how long it took me to get him to say “manure.”” ( The Story Behind the Words , by Morton S. Freeman)
ADMIRAL
Meaning: High-ranking commissioned officer in a navy or coast guard
Origin: “This is an artificial spelling of the French amiral . The Arabian word amir , commander, is commonly followed by al, as in amir-al bahr, ‘commander of the sea,’ from which amiral resulted.” ( More About Words , by Margaret S. Ernst)
TEMPURA
Meaning: A Japanese dish of deep-fried vegetables or seafood
Origin: “Neither a native Japanese dish, nor a Japanese name. When the Portuguese arrived in the 17th century, the Japanese noticed that at certain ‘times’ (Portuguese, tempora), notably Lent, they switched from meat to fish. With typical subtlety the Japanese concluded that the word meant a variety of seafood.” ( Remarkable Words with Astonishing Origins , by John Train)
Mr. Moonlight
It takes 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds for the moon to go through all of its phases (from one full moon to the next). This is close to the length of a month—which is why the word month means “moon.”
The light that comes from the moon is sunlight reflected off the moon’s surface. It takes 1.25 seconds for the light to travel to Earth.
The moon is 2,160 miles in diameter—about a quarter of Earth’s diameter.
A 3-foot jump on earth would carry you 18 feet, 9 inches, on the moon.
There is no sound on the moon. Nor is there weather, wind clouds, or colors at sunrise and sunset.
The side of the moon we always see is called “the near side.”
The side we never see from Earth is “the far side.” That’s probably where Gary Larson got the name of his comic strip.
Astronauts have brought over 843 pounds of moon samples back to Earth.
If you weigh 120 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 20 pounds on the moon—one-sixth of your weight on earth.
If Earth were as big as a fist, the moon would be the size of a stamp . . . placed 10 feet away.
The moon is moving away from
Origin: “In Rome 2,000 years ago, the merchant figured his profit and loss using what he called calculi, or ‘little stones’ as counters. So the Latin term calculus, ‘pebble,’ not only gave us calculate but . . . our word calculus . . . one of the most complicated forms of modern mathematics.” (Word Origins , by Wilfred Funk, Litt. D.)
DOPE
Meaning: Drugs
Origin: “This word was originally a Dutch word, doop, meaning a sauce or liquid. Its first association with narcotics came when it was used to describe the viscous glop that results from heating opium. Then, by rapid extension, it came to mean any narcotic.” ( Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, Vol. III , by William and Mary Morris)
DOOZY
Meaning: Something wonderful, superior, or classy
Origin: “The word comes from Duesenberg, an eminently desirable motor car of the 1920s and ’30s. The Duesenberg featured a chromed radiator shell, gold-plated emblem, hinged louvered hood, stainless-steel running boards, beveled crystal lenses on the instrument panel, Wilton wool carpet, and twin bugle horns. Magazine ads for the luxury car carried the slogan: ‘It’s a Duesie.’” ( The Secret Lives of Words , by Paul West)
MANURE
Meaning: Animal excrement used to fertilize plants
Origin: “From the Latin manu operati, ‘to work by hand.’ Farming was constant manual labor, especially the fertilizing, which required mixing by hand. Genteel folks who objected to the word dung, the excrement of animals, were responsible for its euphemistic displacement with the more ‘refined’ manure.
“Even manure became objectionable to the squeamish; they preferred fertilizer. According to a famous story about Harry S Truman, the president was explaining that farming meant manure, manure, and more manure. At which point a lady said to the president’s wife: ‘You should teach Harry to say “fertilizer,” not “manure.”’ Mrs. Truman replied, ‘You don’t know how long it took me to get him to say “manure.”” ( The Story Behind the Words , by Morton S. Freeman)
ADMIRAL
Meaning: High-ranking commissioned officer in a navy or coast guard
Origin: “This is an artificial spelling of the French amiral . The Arabian word amir , commander, is commonly followed by al, as in amir-al bahr, ‘commander of the sea,’ from which amiral resulted.” ( More About Words , by Margaret S. Ernst)
TEMPURA
Meaning: A Japanese dish of deep-fried vegetables or seafood
Origin: “Neither a native Japanese dish, nor a Japanese name. When the Portuguese arrived in the 17th century, the Japanese noticed that at certain ‘times’ (Portuguese, tempora), notably Lent, they switched from meat to fish. With typical subtlety the Japanese concluded that the word meant a variety of seafood.” ( Remarkable Words with Astonishing Origins , by John Train)
Mr. Moonlight
It takes 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds for the moon to go through all of its phases (from one full moon to the next). This is close to the length of a month—which is why the word month means “moon.”
The light that comes from the moon is sunlight reflected off the moon’s surface. It takes 1.25 seconds for the light to travel to Earth.
The moon is 2,160 miles in diameter—about a quarter of Earth’s diameter.
A 3-foot jump on earth would carry you 18 feet, 9 inches, on the moon.
There is no sound on the moon. Nor is there weather, wind clouds, or colors at sunrise and sunset.
The side of the moon we always see is called “the near side.”
The side we never see from Earth is “the far side.” That’s probably where Gary Larson got the name of his comic strip.
Astronauts have brought over 843 pounds of moon samples back to Earth.
If you weigh 120 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 20 pounds on the moon—one-sixth of your weight on earth.
If Earth were as big as a fist, the moon would be the size of a stamp . . . placed 10 feet away.
The moon is moving away from
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