What's in a Name, Lacrimal Caruncle

The lacrimal caruncle, or caruncula lachrymalis, is a small triangle-shaped pink bump located in the corner of the eye. Within it are sweat and oil glands. Some accessory lacrimal glands, hair follicles, and tiny pieces of fat are also contained inside this small cutaneous mass.

The purpose is to lubricate, cleanse, and moisturize the eye, along with serving as an antibacterial.

The glands in it secrete a thick whitish oily substance that is sometimes seen in the corner of a person’s eye after sleeping. On each side of the lacrimal caruncle are two tiny openings called lacrimal puncti that suction tears by vacuum each time the blinking motion of the upper eyelid has ended.

Soccer

Soccer is the national sport of Greenland, but Greenland is not a member of FIFA. Greenland cannot grow or support a grass field, due to its harsh climate. All soccer matches in Greenland are played on artificial turf.

A grass field is a requirement of FIFA, but FIFA's recent approval of FieldTurf may allow Greenland to create FIFA-standard playing pitches and apply to play full internationals.

Wordology, Ironic

Often the word 'ironic' is much misused to remark on a coincidence, such as, “This is the third time today we have run into each other. How ironic.” It is also mistakenly used to describe something out of the ordinary or unusual, “Yesterday was a beautiful, warm day in November. Truly ironic.” It is also wrongly used to emphasize something interesting. For example, “Ironically, it was the best movie I have seen all year.”

A true ironic remark conveys a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning, so in an ironic statement one thing is said, while another thing is meant. For example, it would be irony on a  nasty stormy to say, “What wonderful weather.” If you were suffering from a bad cold you might say, “I feel like a million dollars.” These are both examples of verbal irony.

Irony is also often confused with sarcasm. The two are similar, but in sarcasm there is an intent to ridicule or mock, often harshly or crudely.

Dramatic irony is inherent in speeches or a drama and is understood by the audience, but not grasped by the characters in the play.

Happy Friday

Respect is earned, honesty is appreciated, trust is gained, loyalty is returned.

I earn, gain, appreciate, and love to return a Happy Friday!

Happy Donut Day

The Salvation Army is behind the creation of this holiday. According to its website, "the first National Donut Day was celebrated in Chicago in 1938 to help raise needed funds during the Great Depression and commemorate the work of the “donut lassies” who helped make the donut what it is today by feeding the tasty confection to American soldiers during WWI." In modern times, companies like Entemann’s are donating a portion of their donut profits to the Salvation Army. Canadians eat more donuts per capita than any other country.

Snake Charm Myth Debunked

Snakes do not hear and react to music. Snake charmers play their flute and snakes appear to sway to the music, charmed by the soothing notes. Snakes can feel vibrations, but while the sway appears to be from the music, they are actually responding to the movements made by the snake charmer and not the sound of the flute.

Chicken Noodle Soup

"Chicken with Noodles" soup was a variety introduced to the public by Campbell's in 1934. It is now considered a comfort food, but sales back did not pick up until the product's name was misread during an episode of the popular Amos 'n' Andy radio show.

Once listeners heard the words "chicken noodle soup," and consumer interest was captured. Folks began to ask Campbell's about the "new" soup. It quickly renamed the soup to match the blooper.

I make no bones about adding the following to the discussion about soup. To make no bones about a matter means to speak frankly and directly. A form of this expression was used since the 1400s, meaning to have no difficulty. The allusion is to the occurrence of bones in stews or soup. Soup without bones would offer no difficulty, so one would have no hesitation to swallow soup with no bones.

Robot Grill Cleaner

Grillbot sits on your dirty grill and cleans it. Just press a button to set the amount of time you want it clean and place it on a hot or cold grill. A built in alarm tells you if the grill is too hot for the device. A built-in mini-LCD screen lets you to choose a light or deep clean.

Three motors power three wire brushes. The brushes should be good for one complete BBQ season and are replaceable. The Grillbot comes with a rechargeable battery pack, charger, AC adapter and a hanging storage case. Something to consider for Father's Day.  www.grillbots.com

Take a Raincheck

This phrase is usually meant to mean “I won’t do it now but I will later”. This is the commonly accepted meaning (and has been for a long time) so it is now considered to be correct. It is included here merely out of interest because its original meaning was slightly different. Initially, a raincheck was offered to people who had tickets to a baseball game that was rained out. They would offered a “raincheck” which was a ticket for a game at a later date to make up for the missed game.


This eventually found its way into shopping jargon in general where a raincheck was an offer to sell an out-of-stock good when it arrived back in stock. The meaning has eventually broadened to a point that it is not an offer any longer, just a response.