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Hole Justice
Today, we describe someone as “in the hole” if they are in debt, upside down on their mortgage, or more generally in dire circumstances, but in medieval Germany that might literally be a description of your day in court. Imagine receiving a court summons that reads: You are hereby ordered to appear before the court…
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The man who almost destroyed the planet… twice
This is a cautionary tale. History is full of inventors who changed the world. Thomas Edison gave us the light bulb. Alexander Graham Bell, the telephone. The Wright brothers taught humanity that flying was not just for the birds. Then we have Thomas Midgley Jr.: environmental historian JR McNeill said of him that he may…
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You probably don’t need to know this
We have already established that as a young boy I was rubbish at sports. It wasn’t for lack of trying. My father, may he rest in peace, had me “try out” for everything, but when it came to a ball, I was simply no good at kicking one down a lawn, hitting one with a…
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Then there’s this
Think, thoughtful reader, about something you use everyday, that everybody uses everyday. If you are Taylor Swift, the Pope, or Vladimir Putin, you use it. Got a PhD in Physics or just completed your training on the deep fryer at McDonalds and are finally moving up from the drive-thru window – you use it. The…
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The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist
It’s time for another of my “curiosity” posts. I have a confession to make: I really enjoy these. An esoteric question pops into my head, like why are there so many ways to say going to the toilet, or I come across some obscure fact like corn flakes were originally developed by John Harvey Kellogg…
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Metonymy
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and I spent my career in Hollywood. Both of those things are true, but they are not literal. I was born in Santa Monica, on the coast about 16 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, and raised in Glendale, a suburb of the city located about 10…
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Money
It’s time to answer one of those questions you didn’t know you had. There are things we all say or do because we always have. Call it growing up. Call it socialization. Call it inculturation. Some of them are practical: don’t put baked beans on a paper plate at a picnic or you’ll soon be…
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The Tipping Point
Tipping, or the practice of giving gratuities for service, is so ingrained in some societies that it feels natural and inevitable. Yet its origins reveal a far more complex and uneven history, shaped by class structures, labor systems, and cultural values. Far from being universal, tipping emerged in specific historical contexts and continues to vary…
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Beware the Ides of March
Today is the the Ides of March, observed on March 15. Its origins are in the ancient Roman calendar, and it has become one of the most famous dates in the history of the world. Though originally a routine marker of time in the Roman civic and religious calendar, the day became immortalized because of…
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Where does the name “California” come from?
Have you ever found yourself wondering where the name “California” for the United States’ 31st state came from? State names like Virginia, which was named for Queen Elizabeth I of England, known as the “Virgin Queen,” or Florida which was named by the explorer Ponce de León in 1513 during the Easter season, known in…
Your mileage may vary.