Q. Happy Winter Solstice. Perhaps you, too, ventured out into the cold: a rainy walk by the ocean, a snowy hike up a wooded trail. The best way to cap off the day? A hot drink by a crackling fire. What’s your go-to hot winter drink? . A. We can

Q. In a world streaked with madness – and budgets at full stretch – many will not be travelling far this holiday season. What ways do you find to escape at home? What say others? . A. In 2023, Savanta polled 2,271 adults from the UK about their favourite forms

Q. If someone calls you ‘out of the blue,’ it is unexpected, a complete surprise. Where does the ‘out of the blue’ phrase originate? . A. An ‘out of the blue moment’ today could be positive or negative – it’s an emotionally neutral phrase. Its 19th century origins – ‘A

Q. Stare all you want. No self-respecting cat is about to show you its real secrets. What luck have  renowned artists had at unlocking feline truths? . A. Let’s see… Goya. Manrique de Zuñiga. 1787-88 . Marguerite Gérard. The Cat’s Lunch. ~1800 . Marguerite Gérard. La Dame avec son Chat.

Q. How did the white dove come to symbolize peace? . A. The peaceful white dove is rooted in the Bible. As we see in the Book of Genesis: the earth has been battered by a deadly flood. Sensing that the waters may be pulling back, Noah releases a dove

Q. It’s rainy, grey and into-the-bones damp. The foliage is thriving, but what are we humans to do? What’s your favourite thing to do on a rainy day? . A. Eureka asked more than 41,000 participants what their go-to activities were for a ‘dreary, rainy weekend day.’ Survey said… Favourite

Q. Happy National Pie Day. Which pies do we Canadians particularly favour? . A. An earlier survey by Tenderflake found … Canada’s Favourite Pie i.   Apple pie ii.  Lemon Meringue iii. Pecan iii. Blueberry iv. Pumpkin . In 2021, Google Trends took an eye to the Canadian pie question… Canadian

Q. When Mum brought in sun-dried laundry off the backyard line, we couldn’t wait to dive onto the basket and breathe in that glorious scent. Weird? Relatable? Which scents trigger warm memories for you? . A. A 2020 Samsung poll unearthed the favourite scents of  2,000 UK adults. Which of

Q. City nicknames are a tricky thing, more often used by people who live elsewhere. When I moved for a while to the Bay Area, new friends were quick to tell me: “Whatever you do, do not call San Francisco ‘Frisco’. And don’t even think about calling it ‘San Fran’.

Q. You might have heard that ‘parasocial’ is Cambridge Dictionary’s 2025 recipient of word of the year. Its meaning? The vivid ‘relationship’ a person feels with someone they don’t actually know, such as a celebrity, a bot, or a fictional character. ‘Oh, Kate. What has Hal done now?!’ What kind