A LIttle Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

WEREWOLF • In Old English, this word actually translates literally into its meaning. The prefix wer- in Old English meant "man," with the compound form, werewulf meaning "man-wolf." Wer itself derives from the Latin form vir, where it also means "man," from which we also get the English word "virile."

The Word Origin Calendar

A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

CRIME • In Latin, this word's background began as the verb cernere, "to decide." Over time, a more specialized form arose, also in Latin, the noun crimen, meaning "a judgment," or "an accusation." Appearing in Middle English, its first uses were more in the sense of wickedness than illegal behavior. The first use in the modern sense dates to the 1600s.

The Word Origin Calendar

A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

MOUNT RUSHMORE • This famous site of monumental presidential carvings is in the Black Hills of South Dakota. During the early exploitation of the are for its mineral resources, Charles Rushmore, an attorney representing a mining company, arrived in the area to do business. In 1885, according to lore, he asked local miners about a local granite outcropping that had no name. They responded by naming it after him.

The Word Origin Calendar

A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

FLAIR • When first used in Middle English, the word had nothing to do with fashion, it referred to a heightened sensitivity to smell. It comes from the Latin fragrare, a verb meaning "to produce an odor." The same root generated the English word "fragrance."

The Word Origin Calendar

A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

VERMIN • Although this term now refers to offensive animals of all sizes and kinds, it originally referred to only a single kind of creature, a worm. In Latin, the root was vermis, meaning "worm."

The Word Origin Calendar

A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

KEITH • Originally, someone named Keith was from a specific place, a town in Scotland on the Isla River. First used as a surname, it became popular as a first name in the 1800s.

The Word Origin Calendar

A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. - Oscar Wilde

SOME LEFT-HANDERS

Lewis Carroll • Tiberius • Prince Charles • Paul Klee
Gary Sobers • George VI • Paul McCartney • Bob Dylan
Albert Einstein • Nietzsche • M.C. Escher • Bill Clinton
Bill Gates • Fidel Castro • Queen Victoria • H. G. Wells
Cole Porter • Pelé • Phil Collins • Elizabeth II

Schott's Original Miscellany by Ben Schott

And Happy Catholic.

A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

George Washington had to borrow money to go to his own inauguration.

The Book of Useless Information

A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

"Knitting for Britain" became quite competitive [at school]. Who could knit the fastest or make the longest scarf or make the most noise with his needles? A good many of us took up knitting seriously and made socks, sweaters and woolen hats. We would knit in bed after lights out and, some of us, even more surreptitiously, in chapel. Finally, the headmaster had to take steps to limit the activity.

Clinton Trowbridge, "When Knitting Was a Manly Art"

A Little Useless Information

Words with all the vowels in alphabetical order:

• Abstemious
• Abstentious
• Arsenious
• Caesious
• Facetious
• Fracedinous
  

Schott's Original Miscellany

A Little Useless Information

FAMOUS CAT OWNERS

Samuel Johnson - Hodge
Edward Lear - Foss
The Kennedys - Tom Kitten
Charles de Gaulle - Gris Gris
Cardinal Richelieu - Perruque
The Simpsons - Snowball II
John Lennon - elvis
Churchill - Margate, Jock
Alice (in Wonderland) - Dinah
Mark Twain - Beelzebub
T.S. Eliot - George Pushdragon
Nicholas I - Vashka

Schott's Original Miscellany by Ben Schott

Inexplicably not included, Happy Catholic - Truffles. (Next week, of course, will be famous dog owners.)

A Little Useless Information

MISS AMERICA HAIR COLOR

The Miss America title has been awarded (with some breaks) since 1921,
when it was presented to Margaret Gorman. The statics of winners' hair color
might disprove the oft quoted claim that "gentlemen prefer blondes."

From 1921 - 2003
Brunettes - 70%
Blondes - 24%
Redheads - 6%

Schott's Original Miscellany by Ben Schott