fIVe + sIX + seVen
5 + 6 + 7 = 18
IV + IX + V = 18
These are the only three consecutive numbers whose sum equals that of the Roman numerals embedded in their names.
Trivia
Misc
- Émile Zola described a work of art as “a corner of nature seen through a temperament.”
- Early printings of Webster’s New International Dictionary defined RAFTMAN as “a raftman.”
- Horace’s motto was Nihil admirari, “Be surprised at nothing.”
- In the 1960s the Bureau of Land Management renamed Whorehouse Meadow, Oregon, to Naughty Girl Meadow on its maps. In 1981, after a public outcry, it changed it back.
- “Never read a pop-up book about giraffes.” — Sean Lock
Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury, cooperated as Humphrey Carpenter prepared his biography, believing that the book wouldn’t be published until after his passing. Eventually he was forced to write,
My dear Humphrey
I have done my best to die before this book is published. It now seems possible that I may not succeed. Since you know that I am not enthusiastic about it you are generous to give me space for a postscript.
Same Thing
In 1998, as aerospace engineer Homer Hickam’s memoir Rocket Boys was being adapted for the screen, Universal Studios’ research warned that women over 30 would not see a movie with that title.
So the name was changed to October Sky — the same 10 letters in a different order.
Misc
- Lady Godiva’s horse was named Aethenoth.
- UGHA in BROUGHAM is silent.
- 7 × 58 × 73 × 28 = 7587328
- APHELIOTROPISMS is an anagram of OMPHALOTRIPSIES.
- “The French for London is Paris.” — Ionesco
“No general proposition is worth a damn.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (a general proposition)
Kennedy’s Waffles
For no reason, here’s a recipe for waffles that John Kennedy ate in the White House, “his breakfast treat for special occasions”:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 egg yolks
1 cup and 1 tablespoon sifted cake flour
7/8 cup milk or 1 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
4 teaspoons baking powderCream the sugar and butter. Add the egg yolks and beat. Then add the flour and milk alternately. This mixture may be kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. When you are ready to bake it, fold in the egg whites, and add the baking powder and salt. Bake on a waffle iron. Serves 3.
“President Kennedy liked melted butter and maple syrup on his waffles.”
From White House chef François Rysavy’s 1972 collection A Treasury of White House Cooking.
Footwork
Thomas Jefferson coined the word pedicure (at least in the sense “a person responsible for pedicure”).
His memorandum book for February 7, 1785, reads “P[ai]d La Forest, pedicure 12f.”
(Thanks, Joseph.)
Misc
- It’s illegal to mispronounce Joliet.
- G.K. Chesterton left an unfinished poem titled Plakkopytrixphylisperadaulantiobatrix.
- Alms has no singular.
- The Spanish village Trasmoz has been cursed and excommunicated by the Catholic Church.
- “The wink was not our best invention.” — Ralph Hodgson
An Irish riddle: Yonder he is through the stream, a man without a coat, a man without a belt, a man of hard slender legs, it is my woe that I cannot run. Death.
Shipshape
These are the punts of Trinity College, Cambridge, moored on the River Cam. What is the significance of their names?
Misc
- Julius Caesar thought that elk have no knees.
- Duke Ellington’s first piano teacher was named Marietta Clinkscales.
- Orizabus subaziro, a rhinoceros beetle, has a palindromic species name.
- POSSESSIONLESSNESSES has 9 S’s.
- “Books are companions even if you don’t open them.” — Disraeli
Misc
- Dante’s 1305 essay “De vulgari eloquentia” contains a 27-letter word, sovramagnificentissimamente, “supermagnificently.”
- Life Savers candies were invented by Hart Crane’s father.
(Colin Rose)
- RETROSUSCEPTION is an anagram of COUNTERRIPOSTES.
- “Of all the reciprocals of integers, the one that I best like is 1/0 for it is a titan amongst midgets.” — Sam Linial
Lord David Cecil called Samuel Johnson “an outstanding example of the charm that comes from an unexpected combination of qualities. In general, odd people are not sensible and sensible people are not odd. Johnson was both and often both at the same time.”