Word Origins

Some surprising answers for You?

Where do thes words come from

Some folks “sleep like a top‿ when they go to bed. Do you know where this comes from?

Long before the days of high-tech toys and the Internet, a favorite child's toy was a spinning top. To set the top spinning, you wound the string round the shaft, balanced the top carefully upright, and pulled the string with all your might. At maximum spin, the top can appear to be perfectly still, or “sleeping‿. Incidentally; to “sleep like a log‿ has nothing to do with waking up in the fireplace, rather the sound of heavy snoring being likened to that of sawing.


What do you know, Joe?

who hands responsibility onto another is said to be "passing the buck". From where do we get this expression?

A. Gambling


B. Eating and Drinking


C. Hunting

D. Team Sports

Last Post Answers: A. An alley with brick walls covered with ABC (already-been-chewed) gum wads.

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Bubblicious!

For better or ill, I sat on a stump, And was stuck by a lump, Of gum on my rump...And am sitting there still.

Pop goes the Bubble Gum!

For 12 years, the selling, importing, manufacturing and chewing of gum was illegal in Singapore.  The ban was lifted in 2004 - - but the chewy stuff can only be bought at pharmacies.  Customers must give their names and show an identity card before receiving their gum.  Pharmacists who don’t follow these rules can be jailed for up to two years and fined $4,700!

In some parts of the world, especially the South China Seas, piracy still exists today.

Why?

The common misconception among citizens is that personal use quantities of chewing gum are allowed into Singapore. However, according to the set of Regulations, "importing" means to "bring or cause to be brought into Singapore by land, water or air from any place which is outside Singapore ..." any goods, even if they are not for purposes of trade. The set of Regulations also does not make any provisions for personal use quantities to be brought into Singapore. Therefore, bringing chewing gum into Singapore, even small quantities for whatever purpose, is technically prohibited.

What do you know, Joe?

San Luis Obispo, California, is the home of 'Bubble Gum Alley'. What is it?

A. An alley with brick walls covered with ABC (already-been-chewed) gum wads.


B.The place where bubble gum was invented.


C. The home of the largest collection of bubble gum machines.

Last Post Answers: B. 1650–1720

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