March 15 is known as the ides of March. But why do we need to “beware” of them? What’s so inauspicious about this otherwise normal day? Why has this humdrum mid-month point become a harbinger of ill fortune? Where did the phrase ides of March come from? First, let’s talk calendars—specifically, the ancient Roman calendar. Unlike today, the ancient Romans didn’t simply number their calendar days in …
What is the origin of pi? Pi is the Latin name of the sixteenth Greek letter, π. (Mathematic notation borrows from a multitude of alphabets and typefaces.) The first recorded use of π as a mathematical symbol comes from the Welsh mathematician William Jones in a 1706 work called Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos, in which he abbreviated the Greek περιϕέρεια, (meaning “circumference,” or “periphery”) to its first letter: π. What does pi mean in mathematics? The mathematical …
Even though the standard calendar year is 365 days, Earth actually takes 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 46 seconds to go completely around the sun. (This is called a solar year.) In order to keep the calendar cycle synchronized with the seasons, one extra day is (usually) added every four years as February 29. Where did this practice come from? Who came up …
If you live in the United States and you’re anything like us, you might view Presidents’ Day as just another three-day weekend in February. But the story behind this important commemorative holiday is more interesting than you might think—especially considering Presidents’ Day isn’t the official name of the holiday at all. Presidents’ Day was first established in 1885 to honor the February 22 birthday of …
Four times a year, the season officially changes. And each change is marked by a specific point known as an equinox or a solstice. One term is used for the transition from winter to spring and summer to fall, and one is used for the switch from spring to summer and fall to winter. Join us on a journey through the seasons as we break …
Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May and marks the solemn time when Americans honor the soldiers that died in military service. Why is the holiday called Memorial Day? When the observance was first declared in 1868 by General John Logan, it was called Decoration Day in reference to a tradition of decorating the graves of those whose lives were lost in the Civil …
When someone sneezes, we often use the word achoo to describe the sound. Every time we hear an achoo, we are often compelled to answer with a Bless you or God bless you. But why? Where did the word achoo come from, and why do we feel the need to bless someone whenever we hear a sneeze? This instance of onomatopoeia imitates the sound of …
Mr. and Mrs.: What do they stand for? The contractions Mr. and Mrs. are short for Mister and Missus/Missis. These contractions, like their longer forms, are used in etiquette to show respect to men and women. Mr. and Mrs. are pronounced the same as their longer forms: Mr. is pronounced as [ mis-ter ] and Mrs. is pronounced as [ mis-iz ] or [ miz-iz …
Maybe you’ve heard the terms ethics and morals and wondered what the difference is. Is a moral precept the same as an ethical code? A lot of people think of them as being the same thing. While they’re closely related concepts, morals refer mainly to guiding principles, and ethics refer to specific rules and actions, or behaviors. In this article, we’ll explain the subtle differences between …
The terms empathy and sympathy are often confused, and with good reason. Both of the words deal with the relationship a person has to the feelings and experiences of another person. One involves feeling a certain way about a person, and the other involves feeling the same way that another person does. In this article, we’ll explain the subtle differences between sympathy and empathy, discuss …
You might be able to recite the letters considered vowels in the English language: A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. But what makes a vowel a vowel? Vowels and consonants are two different categories of sounds that linguists (in the branch of linguistics called phonetics) use to explain how speech sounds work. In this article, we’ll explore the difference between consonants and vowels …
