When was the last time you discovered an Easter egg hidden in plain sight? If your answer involved any kind of backyard Easter egg hunt, it’s time to expand your playing field. In the 1980s, the term Easter egg took on a new meaning that keeps the hunt going on all year—inside of video games! What is the origin of Easter egg? But first, let’s …
We love all terms, but terms of endearment hold a special place in our heart. It’s a lot of fun to refer to your special someone by a nickname or pet name. And many terms of endearment have a fun story to tell. If you love pet names and other endearing terms as much as we do, then you’ll fall in love with this quiz …
What is love? People have had a hard time answering that question for a lot longer than you might think. In Ancient Greece, love was a concept pondered over by some of history’s most famous philosophers, including Plato and Aristotle. Greek philosophers attempted to explain love rationally and often categorized the different kinds of love people could feel. Because we love them so much, we …
Good Friday is part of Holy Week, the week before Easter Sunday. It falls between Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday. Good Friday is the most important day of this week, as it commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. Given the day’s significance, it seems odd that we would use the word good to refer to this day. However, there is a, well, good reason …
Say cheese! There are a ton of different cheeses out there, and many of them have unique toponyms, or names that are derived from the name of a place. In fact, many cheeses are officially designated by international cheese organizations—yes, that’s a thing—as so-called “protected cheeses,” meaning only a specific place can legally make a certain kind of cheese. Whether they are protected or not, many …
If you’ve ever been to a Japanese restaurant, particularly in the US, there are certain familiar items you’re expecting to see: miso soup, tongue-tingling wasabi, warm sake, plenty of rice, and equal amounts of fish and other carefully prepared bite-sized portions. But did you know that you don’t actually need fish (uncooked or otherwise) in order to call the dish you’re eating sushi? Those little …
No, Maundy Thursday is not a typo for Monday Thursday. Maundy Thursday—also known as Holy Thursday and Sheer Thursday, among other names—is a Christian holy day that commemorates events known as the Washing of the Feet and the Last Supper. This day is part of the Holy Week leading up to Easter. Maundy Thursday comes after Holy Wednesday, and is followed immediately by Good Friday, …
If there is one thing that emoji most assuredly are not, it is subtle. The ever popular Loudly Crying Face emoji 😭 and Face with Tears of Joy emoji 😂 are two prime examples of that. When someone uses an emoji—or 10—in a text or on social media, it’s obvious what they mean. Right? Not always. Emoji can be a lot more sly than we …
Every spring, the skies explode in bursts of color as people around the world celebrate the Hindu holiday Holi. Friends, family, and strangers alike gather together to joyfully toss brightly colored powders, water, and water balloons, and it doesn’t take long for revelers to be covered in color from head to toe, and the streets to become a wild haze of blue, yellow, red, and green. It’s quite …
We all know what the word preppy means, right? It’s the word we use to describe those rich kids that look down on anyone whose shoes cost less than a car. It’s the perfect word to describe the pompousness and snootiness of the crustiest of the upper crust. Or is it? Recently, the word preppy has found a newer meaning among the teenagers of Generation …
Wobble. Bumpkin. Goulash. Some words are just funny. There’s something about certain combinations of sounds and syllables that just makes us giggle. But why—and which ones? We want to know: what are the secret ingredients that make some words funnier than others? Luckily, linguists have been asking the same question, digging into the data and producing the kinds of studies that have subtitles like “On …
Maybe you’re a diehard hoophead. Or maybe you fill out your March Madness bracket based on mascots. You might know the difference between a double bonus, a double-double, and a double dribble. Or between a one-and-one, one-on-one, and and one. But do you know… What’s the difference between a flagrant 1 and a flagrant 2? Where does the point in point guard come from? What …