4.25.2008

Things I learned Today From Wikipedia

The Strand: is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. In the Victorian era, the Strand became a fashionable address. Many avant-garde writers and thinkers gathered here, among them Thomas Carlyle, Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, John Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer, and the scientist Thomas Henry Huxley.

Skittles: is an old European target sport, similar to bowling. In the United Kingdom the game remains very popular as a pub sport in England and Wales.

Coffer: in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault.

Soles: are flat fish of various families, the most common being of the flounder family. In European cookery, there are several species which may be considered 'true' soles, but the common or Dover sole Solea solea, is simply called the 'sole', and is the most esteemed and widely available.

Counterpane: an embroidered quilt or bedspread

Retinue: is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble or royal personage.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I, too, learn much from Wikipedia...Like when I googled ANOSMIA (people who can't smell) and it said that it is very common that children who are born w/o a sense of smell lie to those around them until they are older b/c they don't understand the concept. I think I will blog about this now that you have inspired me! :)

Anonymous said...

(oh, I found that an interesting fact b/c I lied to my family and friends until I was in 7th grade that I could smell) :)

mel sutton said...

i always thought a coffer was where rich people kept their money. i think i heard it in a movie when i was a kid. hollywood is always so wrong.

Kristialyn Johnson said...

I just looked up the word "coffer" on webster.com. Coffer can be used to describe a chest, treasury, or a recessed panel in a vault, ceiling, or soffit. That's a versatile little word.

mel sutton said...

what a relief! who knew one word could mean so much?