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Category: Odd

Guinea, Guinea or indeed Guinea…

Guinea, Guinea or indeed Guinea…

August 28, 2020 History / Odd / Words

Let`s have a look at the word Guinea. There is Guinea the country in Africa, New Guinea the Asian country, and  the guinea the unit of currency. They are all connected. Let us start, as the word did, with West Africa. There is in the Tuareg languages of north western …

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What exactly are The Dog Days?…

What exactly are The Dog Days?…

July 2, 2020 History / Odd / Words

The Dog Days start today. Well, it depends who you ask, really. But if you ask the Book of Common Prayer the Dog Days start today, and that’s good enough for me. Dog Days have nothing directly to do with dogs: they are named after the Dog Star, also called Sirius, which is …

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The importance of being a Fainéant…

The importance of being a Fainéant…

July 2, 2020 History / Odd / Words

A fainéant is an idler and a sluggard. Somehow you can surmise that without bothering to dig out your dictionary. Fainéants sound lazy. Why, dear inactive reader, did you suspect immediately that a fainéant was a lazybones, a lie-a-bed, and a lotos-eater? Perhaps it was the suggestion of faint, with …

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Cardinals, Cardinal sins and Cardinal numbers…

Cardinals, Cardinal sins and Cardinal numbers…

June 30, 2020 History / Odd / Words

Way, way back in ancient Roman time, there were hinges, which were called cardos. If something belonged to the hinge it was cardinis. The word was of great metaphorical use as the centre-point around which things turned, for example the celestial poles. So the central and most important priests, those …

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Onion breath…..

Onion breath…..

June 24, 2020 Food / History / Odd

The problem with onions, as we are all aware, is that the damn things smell. Onion breath has been around since the very first chap spotted one and took a bite out of it. Once you’ve eaten an onion, it is obvious that you have which is why Don Quixote …

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A short history of Robin Hood…

A short history of Robin Hood…

May 26, 2020 History / Odd

Our eponymous hero makes his debut in writing in the late fourteenth-century poem Piers Plowman, which is commonly attributed to William Langland, a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer. It was a timely moment for the outlaw to enter literature: English literature as we know it was starting to emerge, and the …

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A short history of the “F” word …

A short history of the “F” word …

May 13, 2020 History / Odd / Words

No other word in the English language gets more colloquial usage than the notorious F-word. The word and its host of variations could and would fill a small dictionary. It is still extraordinary to consider that this short, graphic, four letter swear word is one of the most used nouns, …

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The history of the Mile High Club…

The history of the Mile High Club…

May 12, 2020 History / Odd / sex

The first authenticated shag in an aeroplane took place on November 10th, 1916. Lawrence Sperry ,under the guise of giving flying lessons to the wealthy socialite Mrs Waldo Polk, became the first couple to join the fraternal order of the Mile High Club.They were indulging in a version of physical …

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Hedge funds and a poet…..

Hedge funds and a poet…..

May 11, 2020 History / Odd / Words

Today, I thought that I would try and do something different and offer you an audio piece on Hedges, Hedge Funds, John Dunne and prostitutes.    

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To steal your thunder…

To steal your thunder…

May 4, 2020 History / Odd / Words

When someone steals your thunder they are taking credit for something that you should properly be credited for. The phrase was in regular use by the 19th century, especially by jealous politicians claiming their brilliant and original ideas had been stolen by another. The expression itself, however, was coined in …

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