Stranger Than Fact?

Of course, we all know the little plastic things on the end of our shoe laces are called aglets. Here are some other things you may not know. The pound sign is called an octothorpe. A philtrum is the two lines that connect your top lip to the bottom of your nose. Zip in the word zip-code stands for Zoning Improvement Plan. Did you know that DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid? Someone who bites their fingernails is called an onychophagist. Oh, and the white part of your fingernail is called the lunula. The uvula is the little dangle thing in the back of our throats. Concerning mouths, in Tombstone, anyone over the age of 18 can not show more than one missing tooth while smiling.

Are you afraid of your bed? That syndrome is known as clinophobia. While the fear of vegetables is called lachanophobia. Many people know the fear of heights is called acrophobia, while the fear of wind or airborne substance is aerophobia. Then someone decided people could be afraid of both so they called it aeroacrophobia. The silliness doesn't stop there.

My favorite silly thing is looking up blue laws. You know, those little known laws that are overlooked but still remain on the books. For instance, in 1925 it became illegal in the state of California to wiggle while dancing. What year was Elvis born? ( 1935, for those who were going to look it up) While in Utah there must be daylight between a dancing couple. As for daylight in Virgina, chickens can only lay eggs between the hours of 8am and 4pm. In West Virgina, you can not cook cabbage or sauerkraut because of the odor. If you do, you can be imprisoned. You are in luck, though if you are a baby, because you are the only one that is legally allowed to ride in a baby carriage. By the way, did you know the fear of children is pedophobia? Phobophobia is the fear of phobias. Go figure.

Have you ever wondered where those cliche phrases come from? Like, for instance, "rule of thumb". Basically, there is an old English law that states you can not beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb. Yet if you live in Memphis, Tennessee and she wants to drive her husband has to walk in front of the car to warn other motorists and pedestrians. Hale to the woman though for the invention of bullet proof vests, fire escapes, and windshield wipers. Stephanie Kwolek invented Kevlar. Harriet Tracy was credited with the fire escape in 1883. Windshield wipers came from Mary Anderson. The bra was invented by a woman also, Mary Phelps Jacob. In 1917, the United States War Industries Board asked women to stop buying corsets because it would free up close to 28,000 tons of metal.

Speaking of wartimes, did you know that statues of people on horses have unique stories, too? If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. If only one leg is in the air, they died from wounds resulting in battle. Two legs off the ground means he died during the battle. If the head is up, he was a politician.

And last but not least, The Virginia state code of 1930 prohibits corrupt practices or bribery by any one except political candidates. Maybe that is how politico phobia was born. If you would like to read more of these infamous blue laws, dumblaws.com has a rather extensive collection grouped by state.