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Six Nicknames for French Presidents & Presidential Candidates

Morgen Jahnke — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:00:40 +0000

Yesterday’s presidential election in France featured two opponents who, despite their differences, actually have a few interesting things in common: both were born after World War II; neither previously held the office of prime minister or president (a first for a presidential candidate since the 1970s); and both have pithy and sound bite ready nicknames. The winner of the election, Nicolas Sarkozy, is often referred to in the media as “Sarko,” and his opponent, Ségolène Royal, was dubbed Sego (or Ségo).

It seems there is a bit of a tradition of giving French presidents and presidential candidates such hypocoristic (“endearing”) nicknames, as discussed in this fascinating post on the Language Log Web site.

Ségolène Royal: Sego/Ségo
Nicolas Sarkozy: Sarko
Jacques Chirac (Current President): Chichi; le Chi
François Mitterand (President, 1981-1995): Tonton
George Pompidou (President, 1969-1974): Pompon
General Charles de Gaulle (President, 1959-1969): le grand Charles; le grand Charlot

Seven Interjections That Include Personal Names

Joe Kissell — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 14:00:30 +0000

By George! A modernized version of “by Jove!” (in other words, Jupiter).
For Pete’s Sake! A softer form of “for God’s sake” or “for Christ’s sake,” supposedly a reference to St. Peter.
For the Love of Mike! Slightly less popular, according to Google, than “for the love of Pete!” but Pete’s already made the list, so I thought I should send some love the way of St. Michael.
Godfrey Daniels! I’d never heard of this before, but it’s a kinder, gentler way of saying “God damn.”
Jesus ((H.) Christ)! Probably the most commonly used expression on this list (in one form or another), despite Commandment #3 (#2 if you’re Catholic or Lutheran)
Great Scott! According to one theory, this is a folk etymology of the German Gruess Gott (Greet God).
Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat! Frequently misspelled as “Jehosaphat,” this expression apparently originated as a way to avoid saying “Jesus.”

21 Quirky Pub Names

Morgen Jahnke — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 14:00:01 +0000

I first became interested in the phenomenon of pubs with names that contain two nouns (e.g., Crown and Anchor) when I visited Oxford a few years ago. Some combinations seemed natural, like Fox and Hounds, while others left me scratching my head (Angel and Greyhound).

There are various explanations for these puzzling names, including the idea that early publicans distinguished their establishments from similarly-named ones by adding a unique second name. Also, as Bill Bryson points out in his 1990 book, The Mother Tongue, some of these compound names could be corruptions of the original names, such as Elephant and Castle (Infanta de Castille), Pig and Whistle (Peg and Wassail), and Dog and Bacon (Dorking Beacon). Whatever the case was in the past, there is a new trend of giving pubs self-consciously quirky names, as with the Slug and Lettuce chain of pubs in Britain.

United Kingdom:

The Actress and Bishop (Birmingham): This is quite a scandalous pair.
Adam & Eve (London): With a name like this, you might expect apple cider to be on the menu.
Angel and Greyhound (Oxford): I don’t know where the name came from, but these two fleet-footed creatures seem to go together.
The Ape and Apple (Manchester): Do apes eat apples? Try saying that five times fast.
Black Lion & French Horn (London): This pub is not short on adjectives.
Bull & Butcher (London): These two seem like unlikely name-fellows.
Butcher’s Hook & Cleaver (London): At this place you’re sure to have a bloody good time.
The Cock and Bottle (London): What else needs to be said?
Dog & Bell (London): I wonder if this pub has any relation to Ivan Pavlov’s famous experiment.
Eagle and Child (Oxford): Nicknamed The Bird and Baby, this pub was the favored haunt of the Inklings, a writers’ group whose members included J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
Hand & Shears (London): The name of this pub describes the guild sign for the Merchant Tailors of London, sometime proprietors of the pub.
Lamb & Flag (London): This pub is the oldest in Covent Garden (around 300 years old), and was once known as the Bucket of Blood.
The Leg of Mutton and Cauliflower (Ashtead): Wonder what’s on the menu?
The Lion and Lobster (Brighton): Otherwise known as the Surf ‘n’ Savannah special.
The Newt and Cucumber (Birmingham): Quick, two things that are cold and slimy…
The Pig & Porcupine (Manchester): Any relation to Porky Pig?
The Slug & Lettuce: This is actually a chain of pubs, with locations all over the UK.
The Swan and Cemetery (Bury): Sounds like a cheery place to grab a pint.

North America:

Cat & Fiddle (Los Angeles, CA): According to author Bill Bryson, this popular pub name was originally Caterine la Fidèle. The name for this Hollywood hotspot seems apt, considering many of the staff are musicians.
Frog & Nightgown (Coquitlam, BC): As long as it’s not “Frog IN Nightgown.”
Frog and Peach (San Luis Obispo, CA): This spot used to be an ice cream store before becoming a pub, but I hope the name wasn’t inspired by former flavors of icy treats.

Six (or More) Names for the Day Before Lent Begins

Joe Kissell — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:00:45 +0000

In Western Christian traditions, the period of Lent begins 40 days before Easter, starting with Ash Wednesday. The day before Ash Wednesday is known by a variety of names, and is frequently marked by celebrations, such as the famous Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, and the Carnevale of Venice.

Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”): French-speaking countries and most of North America
Shrove Tuesday: UK, Ireland, Australia
Pancake Day: UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada
Sledziówka (“Herring Day”): Poland
Vastenavond (“Fasting Evening”): Netherlands
Carnival, Carnaval, Carnevale, Karnival, Karnaval, etc.: Used for the celebration period ending the day before Ash Wednesday in various other parts of the world

11 US College Match-Ups I’d Like to See

Morgen Jahnke — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 13:00:19 +0000

I’m not much of a sports fan, but I am intrigued by the nicknames colleges give to their sports teams. Although many are uninspired (e.g., Bears, Beavers, and Bobcats), others provide great fodder for creative visualization, like this list of team match-ups I’d like to see.

Meredith College Angels vs. University of the Sciences in Philadelphia Devils
Gettysburg College Bullets vs. Ursuline College Arrows
University of Illinois-Chicago Flames vs. Alverno College Inferno
Texas A& M University-Corpus Christi Islanders vs. Hamilton College Continentals
Humboldt State University Lumberjacks vs. Menlo College Oaks
California State University-Northridge Matadors vs. University of South Florida Bulls
University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners vs. University of South Dakota Coyotes
University of Richmond Spiders vs. College of the Atlantic Black Flies
Rollins College Tars vs. Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne Mastodons
Skidmore College Thoroughbreds vs. Western New Mexico University Mustangs
Wheaton College Thunder vs. Lehman College-City University of New York Lightning

Special thanks to Adam Joshua Smargon for his exhaustive online list of College Nicknames.

Interested in learning more about the origins of college sports nicknames? Check out The College Names of the Games: The Stories Behind the Nicknames of 293 College Sports Teams on Amazon.com.

Nine Overused Baseball Metaphors on The Apprentice

Joe Kissell — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 13:00:04 +0000

I followed The Apprentice avidly during its first couple of seasons, but the show has gotten progressively more annoying. Among the things that irritate me most is the fact that the contestants all speak some weird dialect of Business English that seems to consist mainly of clichéd baseball metaphors. Some of the phrases I hear way too often are:

step up (to the plate) If they could get through an entire episode without anyone saying “step up” even once, I might be willing to watch for another season.
touch base
cover (all) the bases
off the bat
home run
hit/knocked it out of the (ball) park
strike (struck) out
out in left field
major league(s)

18 Potential Acronyms for the Democrats

Morgen Jahnke — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:00:45 +0000

A long time ago the Republican Party gained the nickname “GOP,” which is usually understood as an acronym for “Grand Old Party,” although there have been exceptions to this. I think it’s time that the Democrats had their own handy acronym, and I’ve listed some potential ones below. I offer this list in a spirit of good-natured bipartisanship; I aspire to be an equal-opportunity offender.

ALP: Atheist Lovers Party
BOP: Boring Old Party
CARP: Cut And Run Party
CLAP: California Liberal Activist Party
COP: Congress Owning Party
GAP: Gay Awareness Party
HIP: Hollywood Ideas Party
LIP: Leaving Iraq Party
LISP: Latino Immigration Supporters Party
PEP: Pro Evolution Party
POP: Party On Party
RAMP: Republicans Are Mean Party
SAP: Save America Party
SCAMP: Social Conservatives Are Mean Party
SCRAP: Stem Cell Research Advocacy Party
STEP: Save The Environment Party
TAP: Totally Awesome Party
TARP: Total Abortion Rights Party

Animal Sounds in Different Languages

Morgen Jahnke — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:00:00 +0000

Some of the first sounds we learn to imitate as babies are the sounds animals supposedly make. I say supposedly, since each language has its own idea about what those sounds are. While most people hear the mewing of a cat in a similar way (some variant of mee-ow), there is a huge range of opinion about how best to represent the grunting of a pig (see below).

I’ve always thought the silliest animal sound in English is the traditional “cock-a-doodle-doo” attributed to the rooster. To my ear, the Hungarian “kukuriku” or the Portuguese “cucurucu,” come much closer to the sound of the original since roosters don’t really have the ability to pronounce distinct words as humans do.

Here then are some of the more interesting variations on common animal sounds (transliterated into the Latin alphabet as necessary).

Pig (grunting)

Danish: øf-øf
Dutch: knor knor
French: groin groin
German: grunz
Hungarian: röf-röf
Japanese: boo boo
Russian: hrgu-hrgu
Swedish: nöff-nöff

Cat (purring)

Danish: pierr
Dutch: prrr
Finnish: hrr
French: ronron
German: srr
Hungarian: doromb
Japanese: goro goro
Russian: mrr
Spanish: rrr

Small Dog (barking)

Danish: vov-vov
Dutch: waf waf
Finnish: hau hau
French: ouah ouah
German: wau wau
Hebrew: how-how
Hungarian: vau vau
Italian: arf arf/bau bau
Japanese: kian kian
Russian: hav-hav/gav-gav
Spanish: guau/gua
Swedish: bjäbb-bjäbb
Turkish: hev hev

Rooster (crowing)

Danish: kykyliky
Dutch: kukeleku
Finnish: kukko kiekuu
French: cocorico
German: kikeriki
Greek: kikiriku/kikiriki
Hebrew: coo-koo-ri-koo
Hungarian: kukuriku
Italian: chicchirichi
Japanese: ko-ke-kok-ko-o
Portuguese: cucurucu
Russian: kukareku
Swedish: kuckeliku
Turkish: kuk-kurri-kuuu
Urdu: kuklooku

Source: Dr. Derek Abbott’s Homepage

21 Geographically Confused Names for the Turkey

Morgen Jahnke — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:00:46 +0000

I’ve always thought it was strange that the English word for the bird commonly eaten on Thanksgiving is “turkey,” since it did not originate from the Mediterranean country of the same name, but is native to North America. Upon further research, I’ve found that the early European settlers came up with the name because of the American bird’s resemblance to the African Helmeted Guineafowl, also known as the turkey-cock.

Confusion over the provenance of this particular bird is not limited to the English language, however; many other languages, including Turkish, have geographically related names for the Thanksgiving bird that are just as mixed up as ours. This information comes mostly from the Wikipedia, along with somewhat contradictory statements from the Linguist List (here and here).

Names Referring to India

Turkish: Hindi (from/related to India)
French: Poulet d’inde (chicken from India)
Catalan: Gall dindi (Indian chicken)
Hebrew: Tarnegol hodu (Indian chicken)
Russian: Indiuk
Polish: Indyk
Yiddish: Indik
Maltese: Dundjan
Dutch: Kalkoen (from the Indian city of Calicut)
Bahasa Indonesia: Ayam kalkun (bird + reference to Calicut)
Danish: Kalkun (see Dutch)
Swedish: Kalkon (see Dutch)
Low German: Kalkuun (see Dutch)
Finnish: Kalakuna (see Dutch)

Names Referring to France

Greek: Gallopoula (French bird) [According to some sources, it's a different word meaning "Egyptian rooster."]
Scottish Gaelic: Cearc frangach (French chicken)

Other Countries

(Standard) Arabic: Dik roumi (Roman rooster) [According to some sources, it's diiq hindi, or Indian rooster]
Palestinian Arabic: Diik Habash (Ethiopian rooster)
Egyptian Arabic: “Greek bird” or “Greek rooster” [According to some sources, it's dik-rumi, or Turkish fowl, though that looks suspiciously like the "roumi" that supposedly means Roman]
Malay: Ayam belanda (Dutch chicken)
Portuguese: Peru (refers to the country)

U.S. Towns Named after Planets

Morgen Jahnke — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 13:00:40 +0000

During the recent U.S. mid-term election, the town of Jupiter, Florida was mentioned in the news because it experienced some problems with its voting process. Hearing the town’s name made me wonder if there were other towns similarly named after planets. I found out that there are many, and I’ve listed the states that have towns named after a certain planet, in order of each planet’s distance from the sun. Strangely (or not), there were no towns named after Uranus, but I did find one location that uses that name (see below). Also, even though Pluto was recently downgraded from its former planet status, I’m including it because I’m assuming these towns were named before that switch happened.

Mercury

Alabama
Nevada
Texas

Venus

Arkansas
Florida
Kentucky
Missouri
Nebraska
Oregon
Pennsylvania

Earth

Texas

Also:

Black Earth (Wisconsin)
Blue Earth (Minnesota)
White Earth (Minnesota & Maryland)
Earth City (Missouri)
Middle Earth (Maryland)

Mars

California
Pennsylvania
Texas

Jupiter

California
Florida
North Carolina

Saturn

Indiana
Texas

Uranus

Uranus Ridge, Idaho (not a town, but a topographic feature)

Neptune

Iowa
Ohio
Tennessee
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Pluto

Mississippi
Texas
West Virginia

Source: U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System

41 Bookstores in Hay-on-Wye, Wales

Morgen Jahnke — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 13:00:58 +0000

The Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye (or Y Gelli in Welsh) was the starting point for the international “book towns” movement, now made up of about 20 towns around the world. Boasting 41 bookstores for only 1500 inhabitants (that’s about one bookstore for every 37 residents), Hay-on-Wye also plays host to the annual Hay Festival, a literary gathering that draws 80,000 visitors each May.

The bookstores in Hay-on-Wye are notable not only for being so numerous, but also for their large range of subject matter and unique settings. I’ve read that there are 41 bookstores in the town, but depending on how you count, you can come up with a shorter or longer list. For example, there are numerous stores not listed here that sell books but just not as their main products, at least one wholesale book dealer, and a couple of additional book binderies. Most of the bookstores in this list are from the list of bookshops on the town’s official Web site and this PDF map of the 2006 festival. Feel free to leave a comment if you know of any others.

Addyman’s Books: General selection with a focus on English literature and modern first editions.
Addyman’s Annexe: Offshoot of Addyman’s Books that, according to their Web site, specializes in “the sexier material: beat, sex, drugs, art, modern firsts, poetry, philosophy, left wing history and the occasional occult work!”
Antique Golf & Books
Antique & Book Centre
C. Arden, Bookseller: Natural history and gardening books
Backfold Books & Bygones
B & K Books: Books about bees and apiculture.
The Black Mountains Bindery: Mainly a book repair shop, they also have a small selection of secondhand books.
Bookends: A chain of bookstores with its main operations in Hay-on-Wye.
The Bookshop
The Book Unit
Boz Books: Specializes in Dickens and other 19th century authors.
Broad Street Book Centre
Castle Street Books
The Children’s Bookshop
The Children’s Bookshop (Number 2)
Davidleesbooks.com
Greenways Corner Bookshop
Hancock & Monks
Hay Castle: Bookstore located in the town’s 13th-century castle.
Hay Cinema Bookshop: One of the largest stores in town, and as its name suggests, it was formerly a cinema.
Hay-on-Wye Booksellers
Hay-on-Wye Books Trade
Kestrel Books and Gallery
Lion Street Bookshop
Marijana Dworski Books: Specializes in languages (dictionaries, grammars etc.), and books on the Balkans, Russia, Central Asia and East Central Europe.
Andrew Morton Books
Murder & Mayhem: Offshoot of Addyman’s Books, sells detective fiction.
The New Strand
Outcast Books
Oxford House Books
Pembertons: Sells new books, and is the official bookseller for the Hay Festival.
Rare Comics & Cards
Richard Booth’s Bookshop Ltd: Located in the town’s old firehouse, this bookstore is owned by the man who began the book town movement in Hay-on-Wye in 1961.
Rose’s Books: Specializes in rare and out-of-print children’s and illustrated books.
The Poetry Bookshop
The Sensible Bookshop
The Strand Bookshop
Westhouse Books
Mark Westwood Books
Y Gelli Auctions

Eight poets named William

Morgen Jahnke — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 13:00:35 +0000

Although the name William is very common, there does seem to be a preponderance of poets with that name, including many from my list of favorites. Did the parents of Blake, Wordsworth, and Yeats hope that their sons would grow up to be great poets in the same mold as their famous predecessor, William Shakespeare? Or did they just like the name?

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) Playwright and poet par excellence; his sonnets are among the best known poems in the English language.
William Cowper (1731–1800) Hymn-writer and poet; his major work was The Task, a poem inspired by his parlor sofa.
William Blake (1757–1827) Master engraver and poet; combining poems and images, his illuminated works are justly famous.
William Wordsworth (1770–1850) Leading figure in the Romantic poetry movement of the 19th Century; his joint venture with fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads, was extremely influential.
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) Poet and Irish political leader; considered one of the greatest poets of the 20th Century, Yeats received the Nobel Prize in 1923 for his work.
William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) Physician and poet; known for the brevity and unadorned language of his poems.
William Stafford (1914–1993) Educator and poet; his first book of poems, Traveling Through the Dark, published when he was forty-eight, won the National Book Award in 1963.
Billy (William) Collins (1941– ) Former U.S. Poet Laureate; his latest book of poems is The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems.

IKEA products that could be Shakespearean epithets

Morgen Jahnke — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:00:50 +0000

This is the fourth entry in our series of IKEA lists.

I have great affection for the wonderful epithets Shakespeare coined for his plays; his linguistic dexterity and wit seem to shine most brightly when he is putting these put-downs in the mouths of his characters. There are too many to list from his plays (see for example, Shakespeare’s Insults and Shakespearean Insulter) but here are my humble contributions to the tradition.

Aspudden
Old meaning: Wall cabinet
New meaning: Lazy person
Balser
Old meaning: Chair
New meaning: Adulterer
Bastant
Old meaning: Basket
New meaning: Knave, of questionable parentage
Didrick
Old meaning: Storage unit on casters
New meaning: Fool
Flaj
Old meaning: Box
New meaning: Weakling
Jerker
Old meaning: Add-on shelf unit
New meaning: Violent, brutish person
Pamp
Old meaning: Vase
New meaning: Arrogant person

28 San Francisco Hair Salons with Puns in Their Names

Joe Kissell — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 13:00:30 +0000

For some reason, hair salons, more than most other kinds of businesses, tend to come up with names involving bad puns. There’s the ever-popular Curl Up and Dye, which appears in numerous cities, and many other names involving plays on words like cut, snip, shear, and head. Here for your amusement are some actual salons in San Francisco (not an exhaustive list!):

Alley Cuts & Colors (3027 Fillmore; 415-929-1862)
Blade Runners Hair Studio (1792 Haight; 415-751-1723)
Blown Away Salon (583 Haight; 415-861-7075)
Chop Shop (1714 Hayes; 415-922-6846)
Cutting Corner (2216 Irving; 415-759-1799)
The Cutting Edge Salon (1000 Cortland Ave.; 415-970-3343)
Eclipse Hair Design & Beauty Supplies (2047 Polk; 415-776-1225)
Face It Hair & Skin Care (2343 Market; 415-431-7233)
Grateful Head (103 West Portal Ave.; 415-731-1641)
Hair Majesty (82 Holloway Ave.; 415-334-4247)
Hair Me Out (1929 Irving; 415-661-2323)
Hair Play (1599 Dolores; 415-550-1656)
Hair Today (4553 California; 415-752-0995)
Hannah & Her Scissors (415-440-6033)
Headlights Hair Studio: This is where I get my hair cut. The owner, Glenn De Mattia, is especially good. (494 Hayes; 415-252-9494)
Headquarters for Hair (338 Judah; 415-661-1220)
Heads Up Haircare (1233 Castro; 415-826-0222)
Hot Headz (4027 24th; 415-821-6556)
Mane Attraction (103 Carl; 415-753-5500)
Maneframe (1813 Polk; 415-441-4279)
Mary’s Ocean Waves Beauty Salon: A double pun, considering the shop’s location. (1712 Ocean Ave.; 415-584-7907)
Parsnips (2915 Sacramento; 415-409-0004)
She Bangz (1619 McAllister; 415-351-2264)
Shear Delight Hair Studio (3416 22nd; 415-206-9560)
Shear Elegance (3110 Octavia; 415-771-6557)
Shear Magic Beauty Salon & Spa (4615 Geary Blvd.; 415-387-6363)
Snippety Crickets (3562 Sacramento; 415-441-9363)
Urban Roots Hair Studio (165 10th; 415-252-9121)

You can find another excellent list of hair salon names containing puns at monkey blog, some commentary at Dave Young’s Branding Blog, and some photos of British businesses with puns in their names (some of which are hair salons) at Shop Horror.

Eight Switzerland Comparisons

Morgen Jahnke — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:00:54 +0000

Recently I read an article about the history of the San Francisco neighborhood I live in, Glen Park. In its early days it was known as “Little Switzerland” because of its hilly terrain and the presence of several Swiss-owned dairies in the area.

This inspired me to find other examples of Switzerland comparisons, and I found that there are many of them. Switzerland invites comparison in a variety of ways—primarily for its mountainous landscape, unique architecture, financial savvy, and political neutrality. The list below includes examples from each of these areas.

Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania—Dubbed “America’s Little Switzerland” by the Swiss Tourism board, this picturesque town in the Pocono Mountains has quaint architecture, narrow streets, and a scenic railway running through its center.
Ushuaia, Argentina—Sometimes called the “Argentine Switzerland” or “the Switzerland of South America.”
West Virginia, USA—This state has long been known as the “Switzerland of America.” At various times, Colorado, Maine, New Hampshire, and New Jersey have also been known by this name.
Guinea, West Africa—A traveler to mountainous Guinea refers to the country as the “Switzerland of Africa.”
Little Switzerland, North Carolina—Named by early residents who saw a resemblance between the local landscape and the Swiss Jura mountains.
Doi Tung, Thailand—HRH Princess Srinagarindara of Thailand has built a villa in Doi Tung, the “Switzerland of Thailand,” which features elements of Thai and Swiss architecture.
Isle of Man, UK—An article on SpaceMart claims that the Isle of Man is positioning itself as the “Switzerland of Space” in its attempts to lure space companies to base their operations on the island.
Silicon Valley, California—The software company BEA aspires to be the “Switzerland of software” because of its user neutrality.

20 Most Popular U.S. Baby Names in 2005 and 1885

Morgen Jahnke — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 13:00:05 +0000

There seems to be a trend lately of parents choosing names for their children that may be considered more traditional. I think this may be a backlash against decades of popular baby names that were newly coined or given new spellings. It’s interesting to see that there are some names that remain popular from one century to another.

2005

	boys	girls
1.	Jacob	Emily
2.	Michael	Emma
3.	Joshua	Madison
4.	Matthew	Abigail
5.	Ethan	Olivia
6.	Andrew	Isabella
7.	Daniel	Hannah
8.	Anthony	Samantha
9.	Christopher	Ava
10.	Joseph	Ashley
11.	William	Sophia
12.	Alexander	Elizabeth
13.	Ryan	Alexis
14.	David	Grace
15.	Nicholas	Sarah
16.	Tyler	Alyssa
17.	James	Mia
18.	John	Natalie
19.	Jonathan	Chloe
20.	Nathan	Brianna

1885

	boys	girls
1.	John	Mary
2.	William	Anna
3.	James	Emma
4.	George	Elizabeth
5.	Charles	Margaret
6.	Frank	Minnie
7.	Joseph	Clara
8.	Henry	Bertha
9.	Robert	Ida
10.	Thomas	Annie
11.	Edward	Alice
12.	Harry	Florence
13.	Walter	Bessie
14.	Fred	Grace
15.	Arthur	Ethel
16.	Albert	Nellie
17.	Clarence	Martha
18.	Samuel	Sarah
19.	Louis	Ella
20.	Grover	Mabel

Source: Social Security Administration

Update: This post was featured in the October 6, 2006 edition of the Carnival of Pregnancy.

11 Ways to Say “I’m sorry, I don’t speak ___”

Morgen Jahnke — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 13:00:23 +0000

When traveling in foreign countries, it’s always helpful to know a few stock phrases and key words even (or especially) if you don’t speak the language fluently. One useful phrase is “I’m sorry, I don’t speak [insert language here].” Although it may be difficult to master even that much of the language, it may make the locals more apt to forgive your inevitable linguistic gaffes.

In that spirit, here are 11 ways to plead ignorance in a foreign language.

Catalan: Ho sento, no parlo el català.
Croatian: Žao mi je, ne govorim hrvatski.
Czech: Promiňte, nemluvím c[caron]esky.
Danish: Undskyld, jeg kan ikke tale dansk.
Finnish: Anteeksi, en puhu suomea.
Flemish: Het spijt me, ik spreek geen Vlaams.
Hungarian: Sajnos, nem beszélek magyarul.
Luxembourgish: Et deet mer leed, mä ech schwätchen nët Lëtzeburgesch.
Maltese: Ma nitkellimx bil-Malti.
Norwegian: Beklager, jeg snakker ikke norsk.
Polish: Przepraszam, nie mówię po polsku.

Source: BBC

IKEA products that could be vanity license plates

Morgen Jahnke — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 13:00:53 +0000

This is the third entry in our series of IKEA lists.

Alhagen
Name for: A basket
Could be: A license plate for an ice cream fan
Brallis
Name for: A clothes-hanger
Could be: A license plate for a “natural” woman
Brygd
Name for: A pitcher
Could be: A license plate for a dentist
Espnäs
Name for: A knob
Could be: A license plate for an avid sports fan
Gravyr
Name for: A handle
Could be: A license plate for a diner cook
Skrud
Name for: A candlestick
Could be: A license plate for a carpenter
Skydd
Name for: Wood treatment oil
Could be: A license plate for a NASCAR driver

IKEA products that could be superhero names

Morgen Jahnke — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:00:04 +0000

This is the second entry in our series of IKEA lists.

Another trend I noticed among the IKEA names was that a lot of the one-word names seemed tailor-made for would-be superheroes. There was an attitude of action and identity implicit in these names that seemed perfect for these fledgling caped crusaders.

Bandora
Old identity: Floor lamp
New identity: Superheroine who paralyses her enemies with music
Bläddra
Old identity: Wall newspaper rack
New identity: Superheroine with awesome knife-wielding skills
Glittra
Old identity: Scented block candle
New identity: Superheroine who assaults her enemies with confetti
Grankulla
Old identity: Storage stool
New identity: An elderly superhero with vampiric powers
Hedra
Old identity: Knob
New identity: Superheroine with amazing cognitive abilities
Hokus
Old identity: Quilt cover & pillow sham
New identity: Superhero who uses magic to defeat his enemies
Mimik
Old identity: Tealight holder
New identity: Superhero who can change his shape
Nandor
Old identity: Chair
New identity: Superhero who disarms opponents by throwing Indian bread
Skimra
Old identity: Shade
New identity: Superheroine who can out-read her opponents
Solros
Old identity: Plant pot
New identity: Superhero who can harness the sun’s power
Stryka
Old identity: Ironing board
New identity: Superheroine who overwhelms her opponents with bowling moves
Tindra
Old identity: Scented candle
New identity: Superheroine who can start fires on command

Eight terms for snow crusts

Joe Kissell — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 13:00:12 +0000

The idea that there are dozens of Eskimo words for snow is (mostly) an urban myth, but in English, we have at least eight different terms for a snow crust. These are from the Glossary of Meteorology at the American Meteorological Society by way of Interesting Thing of the Day:

snow crust: the general term for any hard surface on snow
sun crust: a crust formed when the sun melts the top layer of snow, and then it refreezes
rain crust: a crust formed when rain falls on snow and then freezes
spring crust: a crust formed when warmer weather (but not necessarily sunshine) melts the top layer of snow and it refreezes
wind crust: a crust that forms when wind packs down a layer of snow that has already been deposited
wind slab: a crust in which the wind packs the snow at the same time as itâ€™s being deposited
ice crust: a crust that forms when water (from whatever source) flows onto the surface of snow and then freezes
film crust: a very thin ice crust