“What’s the difference between a centipede and a millipede?”
When my daughter learned that centipedes and millipedes can have roughly the same number of legs, her mind had a question: “What is the difference between centipedes and millipedes?”
“Do millipedes have a million legs?”
About two weeks ago, my daughter asked me if centipedes really had 100 legs. On hearing that some did and others didn’t, she naturally wanted to know how many legs millipedes had.
“Do centipedes really have 100 legs?”
In which I ask the Orkin man how many legs centipedes really have and why they have them. Turns out some centipedes have more than 100 legs, some have less.
“Why are carrots orange?”
Lately, The Eight-Year-Old and I have been seeing purple carrots pop up all over Chicago. Seeing the white, purple, and orange carrot medley on my plate at a recent dinner, reminded my daughter of an old question. “Why are carrots orange?” Turns out there’s more than one answer to that.
“Why doesn’t Dr. Scott ever win a Nobel Prize?”
Every December when the Nobel Prizes are handed out, The Eight-Year-Old waits with baited breath to find out whether Dr. Scott Sampson of Dinosaur Train fame has finally been recognized as the outstanding scientist he is. Every year, she’s disappointed. “Mommyo, why doesn’t Dr. Scott ever win the Nobel Prize?”
“Why does it rain fish in Honduras every year?”
It’s May, which means any day now a massive thunderstorm will form in Yoro, Honduras, pelting the region with heavy rain for hours. By the time the rain’s over, the ground will be covered in small, blind, silver fish. Locals call it the Lluvia de Peces (rain of fish). But why does it happen?
Was macaroni and cheese really one of Beethoven’s favorite foods?
Everything my daughter knows about classical music she learned from reading the comic strip Peanuts. So when she informed me that macaroni and cheese was Beethoven’s favorite food, I decided to check her facts. Turns out, she was right. But Beethoven’s mac and cheese definitely didn’t come out of a box.
“Is Chicago really the windiest city?”
Shortly after being carried off by a wind gust on Michigan Avenue, The Eight-Year-Old naturally wanted to know whether Chicago really was the windiest city in America.
“Why didn’t they ever haul up the Titanic?”
The Eight-Year-Old, like most of us, is fascinated on some level with the Titanic. After last week’s discussion of the differences between flotsam, jetsam, lagan, and…
“What’s flotsam?”
On a road trip somewhere in the Midwest, The Eight-Year-Old asked, “What’s flotsam?” My husband promptly answered, “Jetsam’s brother.” I was all set to file this under Funny Stuff My Husband Says and use it as a quick and easy blog post, but then my husband had to ruin it. “But I bet they have technically different meanings. Mommyo, why don’t you look it up?” So, what is the difference between flotsam and jetsam anyway?
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