Sideswipe: March 8: Experiment inconclusive (and messy)

In 2003, students from the University of Plymouth placed a computer keyboard in the enclosure of six Celebes crested macaques in Paignton Zoo, Devon, UK, for one month. "They are very intentional, deliberate, and very dexterous, so they do want to interact with stuff you give them," offered zoo biologist Vicki Melfi. But "the monkeys aren't reducible to a random process", concluded test designer Geoff Cox. "They get bored and they s*** on the keyboard rather than type."

Nothing new

Word that you would assume were recent creations is sometimes not the case. Here are a few examples from Mental Floss ...
1. Puke has been around since the 16th century. While it is often claimed that Shakespeare invented the term, puke has been found in earlier sources. It meant then what it means now: to vomit. But it also used to be a causative verb, meaning to make someone vomit with a tonic or potion. Your doctor might have you purged, bled and puked for your own good.
2. The use of the word funky in reference to music came around the 1930s, but the "strong smell" sense had been around long before that. Since the 1600s, funk was slang for the stale smell of tobacco smoke and, by extension, anything that stank. Cheeses, rooms and especially ship's quarters could be described as funky.
3. Booze has been general slang for alcoholic drink at least since the 1850s. It has a longer history as a Middle English verb bouse, meaning "to drink excessively", that became a part of thieves' and beggars' can't in the 1500s. It was still a word respectable people might not be familiar with up until the 20th century, as illustrated by this quote from 1895: "She heard some men shout that they wanted some more booze. Mr Justice Wright: 'What?' Mr Willis: 'Booze, my lord, drink.' Mr Justice Wright: 'Ah!'"

Seagull spray

"Taken in Blenheim at a cafe in the town," writes Bev of Bethlehem. "Never saw a seagull or a sparrow so maybe they have got the message!"

Humanity in war

My father served in the 3rd Army in the Pacific, 35th Battalion. He was a Gunnery Sergeant - Vickers Machine Guns, he was quite deaf from that for the rest of his life. Dad didn't talk about the war much but what he did say was that one time - his group had been battling with machetes through a dense area of jungle and they heard the sounds of another group ahead of them. It sounded like English being spoken, friendly and very busy. They had come across a large group of Americans who were calling them buddies and said to join them. The Kiwis had no idea what was going on, some aircraft had flown a lot of items in. The Kiwis were soon told it was thanksgiving and were invited to join in. Dad said their resourcefulness was incredible. Turkeys, corn and pumpkin pie arriving by air. What an unbelievable feast Dad said. He had never seen anything like it. They were shortly back to the business of the war at hand, but Dad said he never forgot the camaraderie and friendly, generous attitude of the Americans they had come across."

The cool dude abides

Peter writes: "A cool dude was a dude who actually was "at home" on the farm, i.e. he/she was actually quite good in the rural arena hence he/she was a cool dude. So if you are called a dude, you are a clueless city slicker but if you are a cool dude, then you are respected on the farm."

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