"I have had this old drinks coaster a long time," writes Sue Forster of Rotorua. "Anyone know just how long? I do remember thinking at the time it was a lot of money."
Words with offensive origins
Oxford Dictionaries has a fascinating look back at nine phrases English speakers useall the time that wouldn't pass today's strict standards if we knew the whole story.
Moron. While the word is still used as an insult today, it usually just refers to a stupid person. However, the word started off as a psychological designation, referring to someone with learning difficulties. In fact, moron was first adopted and given this meaning in 1910 by the American Association for the Study of the Feeble-minded in 1910.
Basket case. Although basket case is typically used today to refer to either a country or organisation with severe financial difficulties or a "person or thing regarded as useless or unable to cope", the term originally referred to a soldier from World War I who has lost all four limbs. The basket refers to the basket that the person would need to be carried around in.
To drink the Kool-Aid. For those not well-acquainted with the news of the late 1970s, the origin of the phrase to drink the Kool-Aid, with reference to a person's demonstration of unquestioning obedience or loyalty, probably seems a little obscure. However, the phrase emerged from the news coverage surrounding the mass suicide of the Peoples' Temple, a political and religious movement in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. The members of the movement drank a cyanide-laced drink compared at the time to the fruit-flavoured drink Kool-Aid.
Clevedon concealment.
A superbly concealed "concealed" sign on North Road, Clevedon. "My wife said to me: "I've never noticed it before". Perhaps because it's...concealed," says Graeme.
Nothing to be sneezed at
Peter Fletcher is perhaps the most unique list maker in the world. He is the force behind Sneezecount, which chronicles his sneezes. Fletcher hasn't always been a list maker, at least not "beyond the administrative-procrastinatory," he says. But on July 12, 2007, Fletcher began to wonder how many times people sneezed in 24 hours. Then he wondered how many times people sneezed in a year. And what about a whole life? "The idea of keeping a detailed count then occurred to me, and struck me as innately ridiculous, and the ridiculousness appealed to me," he says. (Via Mental Floss)
Man stabbed with apology
Lawrence Bridges, 32, San Francisco Municipal Railway bus driver, reported to police that he was stabbed by a man who then leaned over him and said: "Oh, pardon me, I thought you were Jerry." He was stabbed twice, in the cheek and shoulder, as he walked on Sutter St. He will recover.
Picture this:
Ruth took this out the back window of her car yesterday. "I was like, is this a traveling knock knock joke? The 'orange you glad it's not another banana' joke? If it's not then I don't know what it was," she said.
Spotted on Lincoln Road.
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