What's in a Name, Couch

Father's Day for some is spent reclining on a couch. How many ways can you say couch? I can think of Couch, Canape, Chesterfield, Divan, Davenport, Loveseat, Sofa, Sectional, and Settee. Variations include sofa bed and futon.

A couch or sofa is a piece of furniture for seating two or more persons in the form of a bench, with or without armrests, that is partly or wholly upholstered, and often fitted with springs and tailored cushions.

The term 'couch' is used in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. The term 'sofa' is generally used in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The most common types of couches are the loveseat, designed for seating two persons, and the sofa, with two or more cushion seats. A sectional sofa, often just referred to as a sectional, is formed from multiple sections and usually includes at least two pieces that join at an angle of 90 degrees or slightly greater, used to wrap around walls or other furniture.

Other couch variants include the divan, the fainting couch (backless or partial-backed), the canapé is an ornamental 3-seater. To conserve space, some sofas double as beds in the form of sofa-beds, daybeds, or futons.

In the United Kingdom, a Chesterfield is a deep buttoned sofa, with arms and back of the same height. It is usually made from leather and the term Chesterfield in British English is only applied to this type of sofa, but others use the term more generically. The first leather chesterfield sofa, with its distinctive deep buttoned, quilted leather upholstery and lower seat base, was commissioned by Phillip Stanhope, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield.

In Canada, the term chesterfield is equivalent to a couch or sofa. The use of the term has been found to be widespread among older Canadians, but is vanishing from Canadian English. Northern California is the only place in the US where chesterfield is a synonym for couch or sofa.

Making Cotton Candy

This guy takes it to a whole new level. Fascinating to watch. I love to watch an artist at his craft.   http://www.wimp.com/likeflower/

George Washington's Teeth

Here is something for fathers day from the father of our country, his teeth.

George Washington suffered from poor dental health and spent his life in frequent mouth pain. He used a variety of tooth cleaners, dental medicines, and dentures. Dr. John Baker fabricated a partial denture with ivory that was wired to Washington’s remaining real teeth. When Washington was inaugurated President in 1789, only one real tooth remained in his mouth.

Dr. Greenwood fashioned a set of dentures of hippopotamus ivory and gold wire springs and brass screws holding human teeth. Greenwood left a hole to accommodate Washington’s single tooth. When Washington finally lost this final tooth, he gave it to Greenwood who saved it in a special case.

Web and Internet Defined

Internet technically began to exist in the form we know it on January 1, 1983 when its predecessor, Arpanet began using TCP/IP – the system of network communication still used today.

The web was invented by Englishman Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. The World Wide Web is made up of servers (which serve the pages) and clients (like Firefox, Safari, and IE) which display the page.

The Internet is the set of technologies beneath the web which enable the web to exist. If the Internet did not exist, the web would not function. If the web did not exist, the Internet would still function.

Other programs that use the Internet and have nothing to do with the web are email, IRC (Internet Relay Chat), most internet messaging programs, newsgroups, BitTorrent, telnet, FTP, etc.

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.