Episodi
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Waggle Dance is a term used in beekeeping and ethology for a particular figure-eight dance of the honey bee. Dogs eat bees because they like to chase and capture things. Did you know that one of every three or four bites of food we eat is thanks to honeybees? Bees pollinate about 90 different crops, from apples and oranges to almonds and blueberries! People have known about the importance of bees for centuries. Cave paintings in Europe show that people were harvesting honey 8,000 years ago! The Egyptians were beekeepers, and their methods were copied throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East.
The average honey bee can fly at speeds of 20 miles per hour and communicate with each other by dancing! A typical hive has up to 60,000 honey bees in constant bombination. The world couldn’t survive without bees. Einstein predicted that “if the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only 4 yrs of his life left!" The stinger of a bee is one-tenth of an inch long the other nine-tenths is pure imagination. What do you call a person whose grand terror is being stung by a bee? An endidophobe (NI-de-FOBE!) The average American consumes 1.3 pounds of honey a year. We steal honey from the bees and then get mad when they sting us. What’s another word for this kind of hypocrisy? Tartuffish (tor-TOOF-ish)!
What is a word for fear of bees? Melissophobia or apiphobia.
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Well, we’re leaving the goblin season and entering the gobbler season! Did you know only male turkeys (or toms) gobble? Females (or hens) make a clicking noise. The heaviest turkey on record was raised in England and weighed 86 pounds!
Hey ladies, if you’re tired of cooking Thanksgiving dinner every year, you might try to get your guy to barbeque or deep fry a turkey. This involves danger and men love danger. What’s a word for a male cook? A bobachee!
Other countries such as Mexico, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Canada, and more celebrate Turkey Day. Ironically the country of Turkey doesn’t. One thing’s for sure, at my house my sons always fight over who gets the wishbone. What’s a word for stealing food from another person? Leptobiosis!
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Autumn used to be called “harvest” Until about 1500, autumn was just called “harvest.” The full moon closest to the autumn equinox is known as a harvest moon. Before cities were electrified, the bright night, the harvest moon was essential for farmers harvesting their late-year crops.
Apple cider is nearly as popular as pumpkin spice during the fall. But keeping up with the demand for fresh cider requires a whole lot of apples—just one gallon of apple cider requires 36 apples. What’s a word for the last small apples remaining on the tree after harvest? Griggles!
Churn Supper is a term from the 1800s for a feast at the end of the hay harvest, (the onset of autumn with memories of the sweet tang of the newly-crisp air, and the colors of the foliage.) Pumpkins, perhaps the most iconic image of autumn, are grown on six of the seven continents (sorry, Antarctica). Their name comes from the Greek word pepon, roughly meaning “large melon.”
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Let me get right to the question: “Do you have an “innie or an outie”? Yes, we’re talkin’ bellybuttons!” If you’re an outie you are definitely the minority, but that’s good news because you don’t have to worry about a little problem that people with innies have.
Bellybutton lint. I know it’s disgusting but someone’s got to talk about it. Did you know there’s a word for “the small mass of lint, such as that which accumulates in the belly button”? It's called pledget.
Researchers say the color of the pledget in your belly button is related to the clothing you wear, it usually ends up being a blue-grey color just like the lint that collects in your clothes dryer!
Have I turned you into an omphalopsychite yet? That’s a person who’s obsessed with their belly button. Why do you suppose women pierce their belly buttons? Maybe it’s because of all that pledget they need a place to hang some air freshener!
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Who’s smarter, dogs or cats? Cat owners, prepare to extend your claws. Studies at Oxford University suggest canines are smarter than felines, because dogs are more interactive. Cats prefer to be left alone and mollycoddled. To a dog you are family, to a cat, you are staff☺. Dogs also have to listen to all our ballyragging commands such as: Sit! Shake! Roll Over, Quit barking and Get off the couch! Dogs must be in a constant state of botheration from us! In addition to understanding the human language, dogs seem to know the difference between right and wrong! In fact, dogs fit the definition of a snapsauce perfectly. A snapsauce is “someone who purposefully sneaks the last bite when no one is looking!” Our angelic looking Boston terrier would always grab a cookie, wait until my husband walked out the door before jumping on the couch!
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Are you ready to gobble till you wobble? Americans alone feast on 535 million pounds of turkey on thanksgiving! The word ‘turkey’ may originate from the fact that turkeys make a turk, turk, turk, sound when they’re it is scared. The skin that hangs off the turkey’s neck is called a Wattle! Turkeys have great hearing and have a wide field of vision, which makes sneaking up on them difficult. But, when you do, they quickly become bumsquabbled!
Some of us crave certain food for the Thanksgiving meal. Personally, I look forward to the cranberries or bounceberries as they’re sometimes called! (You know they’re ripe if they bounce when you drop them on the floor!) What’s a word for craving a certain food to the point of madness? AHP-suh-MAY-nee-ak) opsomaniac!
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Studies show people who smile more tend to live longer than those who don’t. It seems the simple act of smiling causes a positive emotional state in a person! Of course, smiling can have a positive effect on those around you as well.
It has been shown that waiters and waitresses who smile generate larger tips, especially if there’s a little huzzlecoo, or flirting thrown in! Fake smiles are 10 times bigger than genuine smiles, because they’re meant to be seen! The TV news anchor who wishes you “Good evening” and then proceeds to tell you why it isn’t, is a good example of a person feigning a smile. What's a word for someone who fakes a smile? An eccedentesiast!
Women generally smile more than men. Apparently, the smile muscle, or the zygomaticus major, is thicker in gals than in guys. However, it's unclear whether females are born with a bigger smile muscle, or if it just bulks up from more exercise.
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I didn't realize how much I would miss Cwtch, that's a Welsh word meaning "to hug, or a safe welcoming place.”’ People in Sweden often send virtual hugs via text message, signing off with the word 'kram' which means to hug. Huggle is a cross between a hug and a cuddle, and canoodling is another word for cuddling. As for those people who truly cannot tolerate hugging or touching? They would be known as haphephobic. Someone said when hugging a child, always be the last to let go, you never know how long they need it. Hugs and thanks so very much for listening!
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Women have been wearing lipstick for thousands of years. Even the ladies of ancient Rome wore lipstick, however much of the lipstick from the old days were made with toxic ingredients like lead for example. (No wonder they didn’t live for very long back then.)
Today, lipsticks are safe and come in millions of shades and textures. What’s another word for the noise made by smacking one's lips? Plapper! Lipsticks also range from inexpensive to the dramatical, or luxuriously extravagant. The most expensive and exclusive lipstick in the world is Guerlain’s Kiss Kiss Gold which retails for $64,000 a tube. Of course, this may be because the tube is made of gold and encrusted with diamonds.
Winston Churchill once remarked that lipstick will continue to be produced during the war because it boosted the morale of the women who wore it, and the men who beheld it. What’s a word for a person who is attracted to someone’s lips? A cheiloproclitic! This leads us to the kiss. One kiss uses up to 3 calories, with or without lipstick. Let's hear it for osculating. What’s a word for the art of kissing? Philematology
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What’s a word for a device that saves time and labor? A timmynoggy! Speaking of timmynoggys, I was hiking in Colorado and found some old cans near an abandoned logging camp. The cans were so thick, I wondered how in the world did people open these back then? Early cans for storing vegetables were made of iron lined with tin and could be as thick as 3/16th of an inch. A hammer and chisel wasn’t just the informal way of opening them, it was the manufacturer’s suggested method.
The first can opener was invented by Ezra J Warner who received a patent in 1858. Warner’s can opener was a blade that cut into the can lid with a guard to prevent it from puncturing the can itself. Though never a big hit with the public, Warner’s can opener served the US Army during the Civil War and found a home in many grocery stores, where clerks would open cans for customers. What’s a word for one who depends on others for food? An opscheplooper!
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Valentine’s Day is almost here, or as guys like to call it, Extortion Day! My husband doesn’t understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine’s Day. He says when he thinks about romance, the last thing on his mind is a chubby toddler coming at him with a weapon.” Valentines Day is celebrated worldwide. Studies show that 64% of American men don’t make plans ahead. What’s a word for the act of setting a romantic mood with flowers and a candlelight dinner? Anthorexia! Sounds more like a disease to me. Anyway, as you can see, love is a many-syllabled thing:)
This year as men are on a charrette, or last-minute effort to find the perfect Valentin’s Day card, Hallmark alone offers more than 1400 choices from the romantic to the humorous. Trying to choose the perfect card for your valentine is enough to give anyone abulia, that’s difficulty making a decision! But some don't give a flip! What's a word for the act of falling in love with a schnook when you should have known better? Anaxiphilia!
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While many people say “opposites attract”, when it comes to choosing a mate, research suggests people who are similar tend to do better in a relationship. What’s a word for a well-matched relationship? Homogamosis.
A recent survey of 5000 single people said they would not be able to be in a romantic relationship with someone who didn’t share their political views. Studies show we are naturally more attracted to people who are similar to ourselves in appearance, beliefs, and interests. It’s no fun hanging out with someone who thinks your hobbies are stupid, right?
However, it turns out that introverts and extroverts make great couples. Introverts are typically good listeners and extroverts love to talk. Sounds like the perfect marriage to me. What’s a word for an unhappy marriage? Cagamosis.
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Recently, a pilot helping to fight the fires in California had an unexpected guest board his helicopter mid-flight. Dan Alpiner, a pilot with Sky Aviation, was helping conduct water drops over the Creek Fire in Medera county when mid-flight, an owl flew in through the window and perched calmly inside his helicopter! What’s a word for something being really strange? Ostrobogulous!
Fortunately, the owl didn’t cause any trouble and after riding in the helicopter for a short time, flew right back out the window. A baby owl is called an Owlet. A group of owls is called a Parliament. The name Parliament originates from C.S. Lewis’ description of a meeting of owls in The Chronicles of Narnia. Owls are zygodactyl, which means their feet have two forward-facing toes and two backward-facing toes. What's a word for the fear of owls? Strigiformophobia!
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There are many towns with funny names, but some are truly unfortunate. Take the town of Asbestos in Canada. When you’re named after a carcinogenic mineral banned in 60 countries, it's kind of hard to attract visitors.
The towns of Boring, Dull, and Bland, in the US, Scotland, and Australia were all named after the surnames of their early settlers. Tightwad, Missouri has become somewhat famous for its bank, as customers from all over the country open accounts there just so they can have checks printed with the Tightwad logo on them. What’s a word for making money any way you can? Quomodocunquize!
How would you like to live in Accident, Maryland, or Embarrass Minnesota? There’s even a Belchertown, Massachusetts. But the town that would win my award for the strangest name is Slickpoo, Idaho.
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During these uncertain times, more and more people are feeling pretty stressed out. Well, there’s a forgotten way to help eliminate the stress that’s making a comeback. Cow Cuddling! Some people are turning to this natural wellness practice of snuggling up to cows. Known as Koe Knuffelen in the Netherlands where this form of therapy supposedly originated, cow cuddling, reduces stress in humans by releasing the bonding hormone oxytocin.
The people who lie down next to cows say they find it very relaxing because of the bovine’s warm body temperatures and calm demeanor. What’s a word for having a comfort-loving temperament? Viscerotonic. The word for a cow in Latin is Bos. This is why many farmers call their cows Bossie. Cows are attracted to music and also have the ability to recognize human faces. What’s a word for the condition of not being able to remember faces? Prosopagnosia
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Taking a shower isn’t just good for your hygiene, but according to The Psychological Science Journal, they’re also good for your creativity. For many people, taking a shower provides a sort of zeigarnik effect or a brief respite from our tasks that helps to improve our mental focus. More men than women take daily showers. Showers can be a good way to wash off your troubles if you’re feeling narky or ramfezzled. You might think that Americans take more showers than people in other countries, but Mexico on average has the highest amount of shower takers.
Nolan Bushnell, creator of Atari and Chuck E Cheese once said, “Everyone who has taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference.”
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Have you ever butt-dialed someone? The Dutch have a word for it, broekzakbellen. The English translation is “The pocket-dial giveth, and the pocket-dial taketh away. Butt-dialing someone can be an awkward or even embarrassing miskobble.
But it’s pretty funny when it happens to someone else. What’s a word for deriving pleasure from another’s misfortune? Schadenfreude. It’s estimated that over 100 million calls to 911 last year were butt-dialed. I accidentally pocket dialed my fitness trainer at a restaurant just as I was ordering a cheeseburger and fries. Boy, I felt like a goomstromnoodle.
What do you call the act of being impolite in a social situation by looking at your phone instead of paying attention to the person you are with? Phubbing!
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Since we’ve all been staying home a lot more, many of us have been spending more time in our slippers! According to Mark Forsyth's: A Day’s Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language, pantoffle is another word for a bedroom slipper. The word slipper dates all the way back to the mid 1400’s and there’s really nothing more comfortable to wear around the house.
Most people have a pair of slippers they put on after waking up in the morning. An expergefactor is anything that causes one to wake up. An expergefactor could be a barking dog, or, of course, an alarm clock. What’s another word for the snooze button on an alarm clock? A rawley!
Now that you’re out of bed and your toes are snugly pantoffled, You might look down and notice the indentation on the bed where you’ve been sleeping all night. This little dip in the mattress is called a staddle!
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As much as I love Words You Never Heard, I enjoy a good word joke just as much. Did you hear about the oxymoron that walked into a bar? The silence was deafening. I dated an apostrophe once, but he was too possessive.
Having fun with words has always been a passion of mine and I say this with all jocoseriosity. Jocoseriosity implies a combination of humor mixed with seriousness.
Oddly, I have never been much of a grammar nazi though. Why get all worked up over it I say? Someone who gets upset over trivial things is called a microlipet. Of course, this is just my opinion. What’s a word for a person who loves their own opinion? A philodox. Arial and Helvetica walk into a bar, but the bartender hollered at them to get out! He said they didn’t serve their type!
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You may have heard about the fox that was caught stealing shoes from people’s porches and gardens in Germany.
Berlin resident Christian Meyer noticed that his expensive running shoes went missing from his porch and decided to investigate the theft. After checking with neighbors, he learned he was not the only one who recently experienced missing footwear. Days later, he spotted a red fox with two blue flip-flops in its mouth. He followed the fox to a thicket and discovered a stash of more than 100 shoes!
A group of foxes is called a skulk or a leash. A male fox is a dog and a female is a vixen. Baby foxes are called pups, kits or cubs. Foxes can run up to 31 mph and jump over 6 ft fences. Foxes are also smarter than most dog breeds. The foxy shoe thief apparently preferred Crocs as the majority of the shoes he made off with were these popular sandals and clogs.
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