Tag: animals
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Turkey (repost)
As Thanksgiving approaches, I’m busy giving thanks with some family visiting Ireland from the states. So, I thought I would dish up this post from the archives on the holiday’s main attraction: the origin of “turkey.” It turns out the bird and the country don’t just make for junior high geography jokes or World War I mnemonics.…
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Inside the etymological cave of “cub”
After a 108-year drought, the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians to win the World Series. The team fought their way back to victory over the Tribe with all the ferocity and tenacity of their ursine namesake – or at least when that cub comes of age. In honor of the champions, let’s have a…
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Of gods and dung: the origins of “ammonia”
Scientists know ammonia as: Ancient Egyptians also knew ammonia with their own, equally complex symbols: Well, in a manner of speaking. Or writing. The story of the word ammonia is one of modern science and ancient history – and of camel dung and supreme deities. Ammonia Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman coined ammonia in 1782 when he identified the substance as…
Mashed Radish 