Q. The last family road-trip? Nothing but ear-to-ear smiles. and spread-eagle jumps into roadside lakes . Well, at least if you believe the much-liked photos. But, almost anyone who has been on a long family road trip knows that there will be squabbles. What are families most likely to bicker

Q. Fiction has brought us all kinds of alarming place names. Take C.S. Lewis who, in Chronicles of Narnia, invited us to: Burnt Island, Deathwater Island, Dragon Island .. Back on the workaday end of the wardrobe, what are some alarming town names on our maps? . A. Alligator Pond,

Q. What are some lesser used or unusual words relating to sound? . A. Incoming. You’ll note that, for some of the words below, I’ve only included their sound-related meanings. Asperity Rough sound. Harsh tone. Bombilation A thrumming, humming, endlessly buzzing sound. Borborygmus A rumbling of the intestines as gas

Q. Amaretto – ‘a little bitter’ – is the almond-soaked liqueur you might know from the Amaretto Sour, The Godfather, Blueberry Tea. We know it’s a deeply historic potion with Italian roots, but who can claim inventor credits? . A.  With a name like ‘a little bitter’ are we surprised

Q. Those of us who can’t art for beans are most strategic when forced invited to draw or paint. ‘Hmm. What will it be this time? A swirly ‘abstract’ or a circle flower with five petals?’ But what of those gifted visual artists who can create all manner of delights? How

Q. The mystery genre is as popular as ever – top 3 in best-sellers for centuries. As the perennial favourite Agatha Christie said: “Give me a decent bottle of poison, and I’ll construct the perfect crime.” Amidst shelves and shelves of cryptonyms and creepholes, which detectives, books and authors have

Q. Speaking of broad music polls, how did movie music scores stack up in 2023? . A. In August of 2023, Classic FM reported out on their poll of 10,000 listeners around their favourite movie scores. Coming in at #1? Let’s just say: ‘Please, Mr. Gandalf, sir, don’t hurt me.

Q. Before paint companies stormed into the colour invention business, how did some of the more unusual shades get their names? . A. One person’s turquoise is another person’s … You’ll find much debate around the precise qualities of any one colour, but these colour circles should at least get

Q. Year after year, we get a chance to marvel at the wunderkinds who hammer out the spelling of words most of us have never heard. Yttriferous? Devastavit? What on earth do these words mean? .. A. We can start with 12 of the most difficult category of words – the

Q. Chocolate, sour cherries, sponge cake, kirsch, whipping cream, dark chocolate curls. What’s not to like? What inspired this deliciousness? . A. Black Forest cake – or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte –   gets its name from Schwarzwälder Kirsch, a sour cherry liqueur distilled in Germany. Some say that the inspiration for this 16th