Can I read my own palm?

Search: palm reading

Why: On Thought Catalog, "Marriage and Relationships from a 20-Something's Perspective" by Caitlin Stewart Truman:

A palm reader recently informed me that I do not have a union line. However, he also told me that I don’t have a life line. Obviously this means I am a rounded-out loner freak. Take what you will from the mystics, am I right?

Answer: As good as anyone else can! This Read your own PALM! thing looked promising for a few clicks, but then it petered out. They do offer an Online Palm Reading Service, but I don't have a scanner. I am now looking at some of their other resources on the same site.

For starters:

That's all well and good, but I seriously only have exactly 3 lines on my hand. Maybe 4, if you count a wrinkle down near the bottom. Maybe I just moisturize too much?

Uch, hands are so weird.

In good news,

• I will live forever (my Life Line is long and deep [twss])
• and carefully (my Head Line is touching my Life Line)

but also

• without luck (I have no space between my Life and Head Lines)
  
• selfishly / with a broken heart (my Heart Line starts between my 1 & 2 fingers)
• poor (I don't even have a Money Line)
• single and childless (I don't have Marriage or Children Lines, either)
  
• and with lots of complicated health problems (my Health Line is barely visible, at best)
  

It's looking pretty bleak.

But at least my hands are soft!

Source: OFESite

The More You Know: Did you know that the shapes and angles of your fingers and thumbs can tell you things about yourself, too? It's true! For example:

• If your top knuckles are smooth and your middle ones are knotty, then you are a person whose intellect and practicality work well together. A strong instinctive drive is characteristic of well developed knuckles.

WHAT!

I want to see a picture of Brenda Reimer

Search: brenda reimer

Why: In response to this article about the Canadian hippies who are in the news because they controversially refuse to tell people the gender of their baby Storm, Caroline posted this sad tale about a boy (a twin) who - after a botched circumcision - was raised as a girl. He eventually went back to being a boy, and then he committed suicide. Let's watch:

Answer: Aww :( He was born Bruce, called Brenda, and then renamed David Reimer.

As little kids (with twin brother Brian):

And later,

And in between, the Peter Brady years.

Source: Google Images

The More You Know: Because the circumstances seemed so perfect - whatwith the lack of gender identity crisis (at least initially) and with an ideal control (identical twin brother [who turned out to be schizophrenic]) - Bruce/Brenda/David got sucked into being a gender reassignment guinea pig for most of his childhood. Once his dong got destroyed, psychologist John Money convinced Bruce's parents to get him a surgery to remove his testes, call him Brenda, and turn him into a lady. For years, the psychologist wrote notes like this:

The child's behavior is so clearly that of an active little girl and so different from the boyish ways of her twin brother.

I feel like I don't have to tell you that these were just nonsense lies. From 22 months into his teenage years, Brenda - who did not yet have her artificially constructed lady vagina - peed through a hole surgeons had placed in hiser abdomen. Hse was also given estrogen during adolescence so he would grow boobs. But really:

Reimer did not identify as a girl. He was ostracized and bullied by peers, and neither frilly dresses (which he was forced to wear during frigid Calgary winters) nor female hormones made him feel female. By the age of 13, Reimer was experiencing suicidal depression, and told his parents he would commit suicide if they made him see John Money again.

Turns out that the parents had been lying to Money the whole time about the success of the gender reassignment! So at age 14, they began to reverse the procedures with testosterone injections, a double mastectomy, and two phalloplasty surgeries, completing it all in 1997 when David was 32. He married and became stepfather to 3 children. But eventually, his strained relationship with his parents and depression about his brother's death-by-overdose in 2002 caught up to him. He shot himself in the head in 2004 at age 38.

Did someone really propose in the food court of the CNN building?

Search: cnn food court

Why: On Facebook:

Edie - Were you eating in the food court when Train helped the guy propose to his girlfriend?
Rebecca - no!! I think it happened Sunday because I had no idea!! I wish I had been!!
Edie - Eric knows a guy who was sitting and eating in the back ground of the clip that was on cnn.com and works there.

At first, I thought they were talking about this food court marriage proposal, which I saw on the Internets around Valentine's Day and then on ABC News this morning:

Answer: Yep! It was a soldier, and he had the band Train sing the song "Marry Me" to help him out. WHAT! At 8:48 -

Source: CNN.com

The More You Know: All this talk of public proposals is making me thirsty.

What's the real quote by Martin Luther King?

Search: mlk quote

Why: I have seen this quote attributed to MLK between 7 and 45 times in the last day and a half:

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate can not drive out hate: only love can do that.
- Martin Luther King, Jr

but according to Haterade sipper Megan McArdle, it's not real.

Answer: Oh, look, it's almost exactly the same. He first said the following in a 1956 sermon called "Our God is Able," and it's published in the 1963 collection Strength to Love (p. 108):

"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. ... The chain reaction of evil—hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars—must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."

All this hullabaloo started because one poor girl - whose name (Jessica Dovey) will now forever be tied to this embarrassing Internet disaster - inadvertently misquoted MLK on her Facebook status, and then Penn Jillette - professional factchecker - Tweeted it. Oh well.

Source: Good

The More You Know: In related news, Mark Twain didn't say this thing about obituaries:

"I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."

You know who did? Clarence Darrow! Remember talking about him in 8th grade? I do. Here is the truth:

The quotation actually comes from Clarence Darrow, the lawyer of Scopes Trial fame. Here's a fuller version of the quote, which appears in Darrow's 1932 work The Story of My Life:

"All men have an emotion to kill; when they strongly dislike some one they involuntarily wish he was dead. I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction."

Meanwhile, Mark Twain did say / write this:

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying that I approved of it."

Spread the word!

What is a Chinese auction?

Search: chinese auction

Why: Jeff said:

Is it racist to have a "Chinese Auction"
at a Boy Scout flea market.

I thought it was and told them so last night,
but they said "You're no expert on how they hold auctions in China".

Answer: It's a kind of silent auction / raffle hybrid!

In a chinese auction, customers buy a number of tickets for a set price, then use the tickets to bid on the items on display by dropping them in a bowl next to the item.

Buyers are free to put as many tickets as they want in the bowl. At the close of the auction period, the winning ticket for each auction item is then drawn from the corresponding bowl.

Obviously, the more tickets a person deposits in the bowl, the higher the chance that he'll win the item. That means that highly desirable items will draw a lot of tickets, just as they would draw a lot of bids in regular auction.

That's part of the big draw for a chinese auction. Ticket costs are low compared to the ultimate value of the auction items, so lucky winners will get a great deal.

I've never heard of such a thing, but it seems so obvious and smart. What pains me, though, is that even if you put in 20 tickets each worth $5, another person could put in only one $5 ticket and still win. Can you imagine? I would be livid.

There are a few variations of such a thing; you can read about them here in case you're planning a fundraiser.

Source: Fundraiser Help

The More You Know: If I had to guess, I would say the idea of a "Chinese auction" did not really originate in China (although it seems like something they would like, whatwith their affinity for communism and all). Other misnomers associated with places:

• Chinese checkers did not originate in China (nor in any part of Asia).
• Guinea pigs do not come from Guinea (nor are they pigs). The "Guinea" may be a re-analysis of "Guyana,"- though they originate from the Andes, and Guyana.
• Arabic numerals originated in India, though they came to be associated with the Arab world.
• The Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) did not originate in Norway, but from North China.
• French horns originated in Germany, not France.
• The English Horn is, in fact, neither English nor a horn.

What are the words to the Princeton fight song?

Search: princeton fight song

Why: On "30 Rock," Jack says there's nothing gay about the Princeton theme song:

Oh, the merry men of Princeton are charging up the rear
Holding all the balls-

Answer: They go like this!

In Princeton town, we've got a team
that knows the way to play.
With Princeton spirit back of them,
they're sure to win the day.
With cheers and song we'll rally 'round
the cannon as of yore,
And Nassau's walls will echo with
the Princeton Tiger's roar:
(And then we'll)
Crash through that line of blue,
and send the back on 'round the end!
Fight, fight for ev'ry yard,
Princeton's honor to defend.
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Rah! Tiger sis boom ah!
And locomotives by the score!
For we'll fight with a vim
that is dead sure to win,
for Old Nassau.

Source: Lyrics on Demand

The More You Know: And sound like this!

Where is there a character named Sigourney in "The Great Gatsby"?

Search: sigourney gatsby

Why: There's an NES Great Gatsby game. I remember reading on Sigourney Weaver's wiki wiki:

She began using the name "Sigourney Weaver" in 1963 after a minor character (Sigourney Howard) in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby.

And I'm also pretty sure I've read the entire book since then, and also probably flipped through it even further looking for this character. I don't think I ever found one.

Answer: There's not one! But there is one in This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald's debut novel (1920). Weaver did say that, but she was probably being careless - according to an article from the National Catholic Register called "Gatsby's Epitaph":

Fitzgerald's first novel—that scandalous, marvelous, twenty-three-year-old's astonishing bound into fame and fortune—opens with scenes among wealthy Catholic families. This Side of Paradise is dedicated, in fact, to Sigourney Fay, the worldly priest who stood for a time as spiritual (and surrogate) father to the author, and Fay appears, very lightly disguised as Monsignor Thayer Darcy, throughout the book's semi-autobiographical tale of a handsome, pampered, and yet still idealistic young Princeton student named Amory Blaine.

It's a man, man!

Source: ReadLiterature.com, Catholic Education

The More You Know: Sigourney's real name is Susan Alexandra Weaver. Maybe you will recognize her as Alvy's theater date tonight when you're home stuffing your face with ice cream and watching Annie Hall. I know I will.

(JK, we're stuffing our faces and watching "The Bachelor" [and arguing about Michelle. Controversial!].)

Is there a real movie called "Croctopus"?

Search: croctopus

Why: On "Modern Family" this week, Phil and Claire went to go see it in 3D. In 3D!!!!

Answer: No :( not yet...

BUT! Here are some very nice artistic imaginings of how one might look:

Source: nothing, Google Images

The More You Know: A croctopus also lives in the underwater levels of Donkey Kong Country. It is completely invincible, just like the real croctopus, but it really just looks like a regular octopus:

I want to see a picture of Jacquelyn Kotarac

Search: Jacquelyn Kotarac

Why: I am reading 7 Creepy Urban Legends That Happy to Be True (Part 4) on Cracked.com. Kotarac was that woman who crawled down her boyfriend's chimney in August of this year, got stuck, and died. She was an internist in Bakersfield, CA, which seems like a pretty distinguished job for someone with such poor judgment. I just want to see if she looks like a crazy person.

Answer: No :( She even has an Ab Rocket.

Source: Google Images

The More You Know: Be careful out there, you guys.

Are there really inbred blue people in Kentucky?

Search: blue people kentucky

Why: Last night, while watching Avatar:

RICHARD - James Cameron said he had to go to Kentucky and find a lizard that could fly just to film this scene.
DAN - Ha, ha.
ME - What?
RICHARD - You know, those blue people in Kentucky.
DAN - What?
ME - This is a real thing?
RICHARD - Yeah, they inbred so much they turned blue.
DAN - Oh, I thought you were making a joke.
ME - Yeah, a weird one.

Answer: Yes! But they weren't really blue because of inbreeding. Not really.

The Fugate family settled on the banks of Troublesome Creek after 1800. Mary, the wife of the patriarch Martin, was a carrier for a rare disease called hereditary methemoglobinemia.

Due to an enzyme deficiency, the blood of met-H victims has reduced oxygen-carrying capacity. Instead of being the usual bright red, arterial blood is chocolate brown and gives the skin of Caucasians a bluish cast.

Some of the Fugates intermarried with the nearby Smiths clan, one of whom also carried met-H. The first "blue Fugate" was born in 1832, and a bunch of cousins popped up thereafter. There were about 6 in the 1890s, and one was reported as recently as 1975.

Here is a nice story about one who was born in 1950s and the hematologist who came to save them all. Other people have had it, too.

Source: Pravda.ru, The Straight Dope

The More You Know: Did you know that Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 are planned for 2014 and 2015? It's true! I hope Jake and Neytiri have kittens.

Who is Terry Nazon?

Search: Terry Nazon

Why: In the Lemondrop article "Dating Disasters - What's Fixable, and What's Unforgivable" by [Redacted] Guy:

I'm going to assume as a gentle reader of this progressive-minded website that you aren't racist, homophobic, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-Canadian, or pro-Bieber. My guess is you, like me, may accidentally fall prey to more of the garden-variety verbal buffoonery, like casually mocking astrology to someone who goes suddenly ashen-faced because their mom is Terry Nazon (look her up).

Answer: Terry Nazon World Famous Celebrity Astrologer #1 Best Astrologer!

No really:

Let her read your natal birth chart!

Source: TerryNazon.com

The More You Know: Here is a convo I overheard the other night.

H: Yo mane, what's your sign?
G: Scorpio.
H: You got Pisces tendencies.
G: I don't know anything about astrology.

Well, me neither. All I know is that with the Moon in Capricorn influencing my solar 12th House of solitude and behind the scenes activities, today is my day to work hard and complete tasks, which I really feel is what I'm doing right now. Also, in 2010, a long distance relationship will heat up my cold winter nights. I look forward to it! Thanks, Terry!

I want to see pictures of Al Capone's car

Search: al capone car

Why: According to "16 Things You Didn't Know About Automobiles" (by the guy from The Oatmeal [or The Oatmeal himself; I'm not sure if that's the name of his site or himself]):

When Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion, his armor-plated limo was seized by the Treasury Department. The day after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt rode that same limo to Congress to read his declaration of war.

Answer: The 1928 341A Cadillac Town Sedan was green with black fenders - just like the ones driven by Chicago police and officials, wink. Lookin fancy!

It had 3,000 pounds of bullet-proof armor beneath the standard body. Its windshield and windows were made of recently developed inch thick bullet proof glass. The car also had flashing red lights behind the grille and a real police siren. It is also believed to have been the first private car with a police band receiver.

What a scamp.

Roosevelt used Capone’s car until 1942, when Ford armored a 1939 Lincoln convertible limousine the president nicknamed the “Sunshine Special.”

FDR had a snappy response when someone told him where his new car came from: “I hope Mr. Capone won’t mind.”

Source: Associated Content, American Gangster, Federal Times blog

The More You Know: Something else about automobiles:

What is the Blarney Stone?

Search: blarney stone

Why: And why would you kiss it?

Answer: A magical stone shrouded in mystery! Legends of origin:

• It was the rock Moses struck to produce water for the Israelites during the Exodus.
• It was Jacob's pillow, brought by Jeremiah to Ireland, where it became Lia Fáil or "Fatal Stone" and used as the coronation stone of Irish kings.
• It was the coronation stone of Scottish monarchs and then used by St. Columba as a traveling altar when he was a missionary in Scotland. Then it was the Stone of Destiny, the prophetic power of royal succession...

It's a piece of bluestone. Eventually,

In gratitude for Irish support at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 (a Scottish defeat of the English), Robert the Bruce gave a portion of the stone to Cormac McCarthy, King of Munster. Installed at Cormac McCarthy’s stronghold, Blarney Castle, it became known as the Blarney Stone. A century later, in 1446, King Dermot McCarthy then installed the stone in an enlarged castle he constructed.

The castle served as a stronghold for a rill long time. It later hosted a school and became a Court of Poetry, where tons of things were written.

Source: Sacred Sites

The More You Know: Anyway, the kissing thing:

One local legend claims that an old women, saved from drowning by a king of Munster, rewarded him with a spell, that if he would kiss a stone on the castle's top, he would gain a speech that would win all to him.

It's rill hard to get to. You have to sit back on some iron rails and hang upside down like they're monkey bars. Someone has to sit on your feet or you will fall (at least one person has died doing this). Look at this ridiculousness:

Have you ever in your life?

What's the origin of the term "mumbo jumbo"?

Search: mumbo jumbo origin

Why: I saw some stupid billboard that said something like "Jumbo [something] without the mumbo jumbo." And "jumbo" also means "rill big." And "gumbo" means "okra."

Answer: Who knows! Facts:

• The earliest references use capital letters - Mumbo Jumbo was an African deity. From 1738:

At Night, I was visited by a Mumbo Jumbo, an Idol, which is among the Mundingoes a kind of cunning Mystery... This is a Thing invented by the Men to keep their Wives in awe.

• In 1799, the Scottish explorer Mungo Park wrote:

A sort of masquerade habit... which I was told... belong to Mumbo Jumbo. This is a strange bugbear... much employed by the Pagan natives in keeping their women in subjection.

• The god's sole purpose was to scare the womenfolk.
• The writers dismissed the idea of the god as ignorant superstition. This may have led to the definition "obscure or meaningless talk."
  
• No one has mentioned such a deity since the 18th century.
• "Mumbo jumbo" may also be a corruption of nzambi (zombie), Congolese for "god."
• There's a rum-based West Indian drink called mumbo jum.
  

Source: Take Our Word

The More You Know: The word jumbo meaning "huge" (like jumbo shrimp or jumbo popcorn) probably comes from P.T. Barnum's first elephant, Jumbo, who was first brought to the London Zoological Gardens in the mid-19th century. He was given an African name, kinda - in Swahili, jambo means "hello." (That was probably the only African word the zookeepers knew.) P.T. Barnum bought him in 1882, and his flair for publicity soon meant the world equated "Jumbo" with "ginormous."

Hey, jambo jambo.

All night long.

Has a crocodile ever really terrorized a village?

Search: giant crocodile terrorize

Why: You might guess that it's because I watched Dinocroc vs. Supergator this weekend,

but it's not. It's because Leigh was talking about Rogue (which I have not yet seen, but you better believe that I plan to).

Answer: Omg yes! Very recently! From May 24, 2010:

Crocodiles terrorize Kenya village, gobbling up human prey

Villagers in Kenya are literally being eaten alive as crocodiles in the Tana River target human prey with devastating success. People in the village Bilisa say crocodile attacks are on the rise and have claimed 6 lives in the last year.

The crocodiles usually go after women who come to the river for water. Dhiramu Batefu of was gobbled up two weeks ago, while she was collecting water for her family.

"[The crocodile] splashed her with water and grabbed and pulled her into the deep water," said Batefu Hanti, the victim's husband.

After snatching its prey and dragging them underwater, the crocodile always resurfaces for a moment with the victim in its mouth, villagers say.

The crocodile problem has been made worse by the village's broken borehole, or water well, which used to allow villagers to get water without going to the river.

"We are asking well-wishers to repair for us the borehole," villager Mzee Dube Molu said. "Crocodiles will finish our people."

Yiiiipes!! And in 2008:

Raging, Gargantuan Crocodile Terrorizes Australian Workers

A huge crocodile has been terrorizing road workers in the Gulf of Carpentaria after a rival male was shot and beheaded by trophy hunters. Wildlife rangers revealed the 5.8m crocodile had become highly aggressive in the aftermath of the illegal killing three weeks ago of its smaller rival.

Officers said the big croc has since been stalking and lunging at construction crews working on a bridge on the Albert River near Burketown.

“He is a monster and he is very upset,” said Carpentaria Land Council ranger coordinator Kevin Anderson. “He has been hanging around the bridge and snapping and lunging at anything in the water. Those workers need eyes in their backsides.”

Mr Anderson said the huge bull croc became enraged when the dead body of the killed crocodile, a rival male living upstream, floated through his territory.

Workers at the construction site used a large crane to pull the dead 4.4m reptile from the water. It had a bullet wound in its side. Later that night, an unknown “trophy hunter” cut off its head.

“The big croc, twice the size of the one that was killed, will now fight and kill at least three other male crocs as they try to take over the territory.”

Meanwhile, the 4.3 meter crocodile believed to have taken tourist Arthur Booker near Cooktown two weeks ago will probably go to a crocodile farm. Under the state’s crocodile management plan no animal involved in an attack is allowed to be put on display.

“It will not be released back into the wild,” a spokeswoman said. “As it is an iconic animal, the crocodile will not be harmed or killed.”

Shooting this crocodile was a mistake - his angry, massive, brother has sworn a blood oath of revenge against Australians

Alligators occasionally terrorize towns, too!

Source: NY Daily News, Fear Beneath

The More You Know: But Rogue is based on the true story of Sweetheart, a giant crocodile in 1970s Australia who hated the sound of outboard motors so much that he just chewed them up. He was like 70 or 80 years old and 5.5 meters long. That's great big! Now he's stuffed in a tacky museum and ready to pose with you!

Is jenkem for real?

Search: jankem; jenkem

Why: Brian and Ian said it's the hot drug in the third world, describing it as "your own pi--" ... I don't even want to write it. They said you eliminate in a jar and then huff it to get high. They mimed it.

Answer: Yup! The facts:

• Jenkem (or jekem) is the common name for an inhalant made by fermenting raw sewage (aka poop and pee) used by children in third world countries to produce a cheap dissociative or hallocinogenic high.
• From a 1995 report: "Human excreta is scooped up from the edges of the sewer ponds in old cans and containers which are covered with a polyethylene bag and left to stew or ferment for a week." They take "care to leave enough room for methane to form at the top."
• It may or may not also be called Waste, Fruit from Crack Pipe, or Butthash.
• Initial reports came from Lusaka, Zambia in 1995.
  
• A quote from 16 year-old Luke Mpande: "With glue, I just hear voices in my head. But with Jenkem, I see visions. I see my mother who is dead and I forget about the problems in my life."
• It is not a major problem in schools in Collier County, FL, Coffee County, AL, or any other place in the U.S.
  

Source: Snopes, Wikipedia

The More You Know: Let's make a movie.

Wil,

I probably made a mess. And you deserve better.
But love me to take this onto your life, and bear it.
Find another, and carry me in your heart.
I talk to you from there. I talk to you from there.

Love,
Luke Mpande

Does a woodpecker really wrap its tongue around its brain?

Search: woodpecker tongue brain

Why: We saw a beautiful woodpecker pecking wood whilst preparing Bowl Game the other day. Kateloh said woodpeckers wrap their tongues around their brains so they don't jiggle around and get concussed.

Answer: Well, sorta, but that's not why. They do have really tight skulls that hold everything in place. They also have crazy weird tongues. They are sharp and pointed at the tips and have rear-facing barbs that catch and hold food that they find inside the little holes they make in trees. The tongues are long and stretchy, sometimes extending as long as 3 times the length of the beak.

In some, the tongue is so long that it forks in the throat, goes below the base of the jaw, and wraps behind and over the top of the head, where the forks rejoin and insert in the bird's right nostril or around the eye socket. WHAT!

Source: Hilton Pond

The More You Know: This is what Woody Woodpecker looked like in 1941. Nice chompers.

Will white wine really remove a red wine stain?

Search: white wine remove red wine

Why: Chandler saw a guy try it, but didn't see the aftermath, and I had full-on doubt that it worked. Then I just got an article to edit about removing wine stains, and it says, "Pour White Wine on a Red Wine Stain."

Answer: Kinda! Through neutralization. It is a good first step:

When red wine is spilled onto your carpet or clothes, white wine can be your true companion. White wine will neutralize red wine and will make it easier to lift the color off of your carpet or clothing. Simply pour white wine over the stained area and very gently blot the liquid up with a thick towel (be very careful not to rub as this will force the stain into the carpet or clothing fibers).

Once you have the majority of the spill blotted up, take your favorite carpet shampoo or clothing stain remover, whichever the case may be, and clean as you would if the wine stain were a bit of dirt on the carpet or clothing.

Source: Wine.about.com

The More You Know: That thing Mikhail Gorbachev has on his head is called a port wine stain vascular birthmark.

Where did Snopes.com get its name?

Search: snopes name

Why: Last night, I was reading "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner and saw this:

What's your name, boy?" the justice said.
"Colonel Sartoris Snopes," the boy whispered.
"Hey?" the Justice said. "Talk louder. Colonel Sartoris? I reckon anybody named for Colonel Sartoris in this country can't help but tell the truth, can they?

Answer: From the FAQ:

Q: What are 'snopes'?

A: Snopes is the name of a family of characters who appear throughout the works of American writer William Faulkner. See the Faulkner on the Web glossary entry about Snopes for more information.

I think I probably read that before in that Reader's Digest story about the Rumor Detectives, David and Barbara Mikkelson.

That pic is from another story about them on RationalSkepticism.com.

Source: Snopes FAQ

The More You Know: Did you know you can add Snopes to your iGoogle homepage? It's true! I use the one that says "New Urban Legends."

Today I learned that refrigerating batteries actually shortens their lifespan, not extends it.

What's the origin of the term "just joshing"?

Search: joshing

Why: I just joshed Brent.

Answer: Lol:

Josh Tatum was a deaf mute, but a very enterprising young man from the midwest. In 1883, the US Mint came out with a new nickel. It was deemed the Liberty Head Nickel, and the reverse side had a large roman numeral V stamped on it. The new nickel did not have the word "cents" or "nickel" stamped on it. Josh Tatum noticed this as well as the fact that it was nearly the same size as the US $5.00 gold piece, which at the time was used as common currency.

With the help of a friend familiar in gold electroplating base metal, they turned these coins into a literal gold mine. Tatum went from town to town going into shops, stores, & mercantiles. He was very careful not to purchase anything that cost more than a nickel, and he would hand over one of these gold plated nickels. The clerk would accept the coin and in most instances, give Josh back $4.95 in change, which he happily would take. By the time law enforcement caught up to him, he had visited hundreds of towns & had amassed a small fortune!

The Law prosecuted him, but ironically he was found not guilty on the most serious charges: he only purchased items that totaled 5 cents and, because he was deaf & could not speak, he never represented that it was a new $5.00 gold piece.

The same year, the US mint added the word "cents" to the Liberty Head Nickel in an effort to bring this type of fraud to a halt.

Hence the famous saying "your not Joshing me are you"?

Source: WikiAnswers, Professional Coin Grading System

The More You Know: It was also called the "racketeer nickel." From 1883:

But later that year: