Some of the terms we use every day have fascinating historical roots that reflect cultural exchanges, misunderstandings, or adaptations over time. From beverages to sports and beyond, these words carry with them stories of how people adapted traditions or misunderstood foreign concepts.

Here are 10 examples of terms with historical origins that reveal much more than their everyday usage.

Related: 10 Places That Still Bear the Evidence of History

10 Americano (Coffee)

The “Americano” coffee drink emerged during World War II when American soldiers stationed in Italy found the local espresso too intense for their tastes. Used to drip coffee back home, they diluted the espresso with hot water to make it more palatable. Italian baristas began referring to this concoction as “Caffè Americano,” or “American coffee,” as a nod to the unique preferences of their foreign customers. Over time, this became a common menu item in Italian cafes and eventually spread worldwide.

The Americano’s cultural significance lies in its ability to bridge two distinct coffee traditions. In Italy, espresso is consumed quickly and in small quantities, while Americans often prefer larger, slower sips. By creating this hybrid beverage, soldiers inadvertently influenced global coffee culture. Today, variations of the Americano exist, such as the iced Americano, which is especially popular in East Asia. This drink remains a symbol of adaptability and cultural exchange born out of wartime necessity.^[1]

9 French Fries

French fries, despite their name, likely originated in Belgium rather than France. Villagers along the Meuse River in Belgium were known to fry small fish as part of their diet. However, during harsh winters when rivers froze, they used sliced potatoes as a substitute. By the 17th century, this method of preparing potatoes was popular in the region. The term “French fries” was popularized by American soldiers during World War I, who encountered the dish in French-speaking parts of Belgium and assumed it was French.

The mislabeling stuck, and French fries became an integral part of American cuisine. However, Belgium has long fought to reclaim its culinary legacy, even petitioning UNESCO to recognize fries as part of its cultural heritage. In the U.S., the fries’ versatility has led to countless variations, from shoestring fries to curly fries, with regional specialties like poutine in Canada and chili cheese fries in the South adding to their global appeal. The enduring misconception about their origin underscores how cultural misunderstandings can shape global food history.^[2]

8 Soccer

The term “soccer,” often viewed as an Americanism, actually originated in England. In the late 19th century, the sport now globally known as football was formally named “association football” to distinguish it from rugby football. British schoolboys began shortening “association” to “assoc” and adding the playful suffix “-er,” creating the word “soccer.” The term was widely used in England alongside “football” for decades before falling out of favor in the mid-20th century.

Ironically, while England abandoned “soccer,” the term took root in the U.S., where “football” refers to the entirely different sport of American football. The use of “soccer” in America and other countries like Canada, Australia, and South Africa reflects the global influence of British colonial and linguistic traditions. Today, debates over the term’s legitimacy often resurface during international tournaments, but its origin as a British creation is a fact that surprises many.^[3]

7 Hamburger

The “hamburger” takes its name from Hamburg, Germany, where minced beef patties were a popular dish among sailors and dockworkers in the 19th century. Known as the “Hamburg steak,” this preparation involved grinding beef, seasoning it, and cooking it to create a hearty and economical meal. German immigrants brought the concept to the United States, where it was eventually adapted into the sandwich form we recognize today by placing the patty between two pieces of bread.

The evolution of the hamburger into an American icon took place at events like the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, where vendors sold the sandwich as a quick and affordable meal. By the mid-20th century, fast-food chains like McDonald’s and Burger King had turned hamburgers into a global phenomenon. Despite its name, the modern hamburger is far removed from its German origins, showcasing how cultural adaptation and commercialization can transform a humble dish into a worldwide staple.^[4]

6 Pajamas

The word “pajamas” derives from the Hindi and Urdu term pajama, which translates to “leg clothing.” These loose-fitting trousers, tied at the waist, were traditionally worn in South Asia and became popular with British colonists during the 18th and 19th centuries. They brought the garment and its name back to Europe, where it was initially adopted as casual loungewear before evolving into sleepwear.

Pajamas became a symbol of luxury and modernity in Europe and America during the early 20th century. Wealthy individuals often wore elaborate silk or embroidered pajama sets, while middle-class families embraced more affordable cotton versions. The term’s adoption into Western fashion illustrates how colonial encounters influenced global clothing trends. Today, pajamas are a ubiquitous part of sleepwear worldwide. However, their origins in South Asia remain a lesser-known part of their history.^[5]

5 Panama Hat

Despite its name, the Panama hat originated not in Panama but in Ecuador. These lightweight straw hats, woven from the toquilla palm plant, were crafted by Ecuadorian artisans as early as the 17th century. The misnomer arose in the 19th century when these hats were exported en masse through Panama, a major trading hub. Workers building the Panama Canal in the early 20th century popularized the hats due to their practicality in the hot, humid climate.

The Panama hat’s global fame skyrocketed when President Theodore Roosevelt was photographed wearing one during his visit to the canal’s construction site in 1906. This image cemented the hat’s association with Panama rather than its true Ecuadorian origins. Even today, the name persists, though Ecuador has campaigned to reclaim recognition for this iconic accessory, which remains one of its most celebrated exports.^[6]

4 Cantaloupe

The cantaloupe, a beloved melon, takes its name from the town of Cantalupo near Rome, where the fruit was first cultivated in Europe during the 15th century. It was introduced to the region by Armenian monks, who brought seeds from their homeland. The fruit quickly gained favor among European nobility, becoming a symbol of luxury and exotic taste.

In modern times, the term “cantaloupe” creates some confusion. In the United States, it refers to the orange-fleshed melon with a netted rind, but in Europe, the name often applies to smoother-skinned varieties. This linguistic divide highlights the fruit’s long journey from its Middle Eastern origins to its various interpretations around the globe, reflecting how regional adaptations shape the identity of food.^[7]

3 Molotov Cocktail

The term “Molotov cocktail” emerged during the Winter War of 1939–1940 between the Soviet Union and Finland. The Finnish people coined the term as a sarcastic jab at Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, who had infamously claimed that Soviet bombers were delivering “food baskets” to Finland, even as they were dropping bombs. Finnish soldiers created these homemade incendiary devices—glass bottles filled with flammable liquid and a rag wick—to counter Soviet tanks, mockingly referring to them as “cocktails for Molotov.”

The name stuck, and the Molotov cocktail became an enduring symbol of resistance, used in conflicts and uprisings worldwide. Its simplicity and effectiveness have made it a staple of guerilla warfare and protest movements. While it originated in Finland, the term has transcended its historical context, symbolizing defiance against oppressive regimes or overwhelming odds.^[8]

2 Saxophone

The saxophone, a cornerstone of jazz and popular music, owes its name to its inventor, Adolphe Sax. A Belgian instrument maker, Sax patented the saxophone in 1846 with the goal of bridging the gap between brass and woodwind instruments. It was designed to provide the projection of a brass instrument while maintaining the flexibility and tonal richness of a woodwind. Initially intended for military and orchestral use, the saxophone was slow to gain widespread adoption.

Its rise to prominence came in the early 20th century, particularly in the jazz scene, where musicians like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane transformed it into an instrument of unparalleled expressiveness. The saxophone’s distinctive name honors its creator. However, its versatility has made it a universal symbol of innovation and artistry in music.^[9]

1 Jeep

The origin of the term “Jeep” is often attributed to military slang during World War II. The U.S. Army’s General Purpose (GP) vehicle, used for reconnaissance and transport, was nicknamed “Jeep” as a phonetic shortening of “GP.” Another theory ties the name to the character “Eugene the Jeep” from the Popeye comic strip—a small, versatile creature capable of navigating any terrain, much like the vehicle itself.

During the war, the Jeep became an icon of mobility and efficiency, symbolizing American ingenuity on the battlefield. After the war, it transitioned seamlessly into civilian life, becoming a popular off-road vehicle and a cultural symbol of adventure. The Jeep’s legacy continues today, but its quirky name remains one of the most interesting aspects of its story.^[10]

There are thousands of great dishes in the world, and considering this it is not surprising that many people have mistaken impressions of where certain cuisine comes from, or where it is popular. Many dishes that we think come from one country, either do not originate there, or are served in a completely different manner. Some things that we consider to be extremely popular in certain countries, or even believe are national dishes in certain places, may originate loosely in that country but are rarely eaten there. Below are ten common fallacies in regards to the origin of foods.

Misconception: French Fries originate in France.

French Fries are incredibly popular all over the world, but the origin really wasn’t French. While the French have tried to claim them in the past, the truth is that they were invented by the Belgians. While they were invented in Belgium, and still quite popular there, some of the folklore around them is a little fantastic. The stories say that some Belgians would often fry very small fish, and when they had no fish, they would make potatoes in the shape of small fish instead. The story may sound a little fantastic, but all good folk tales do.

Misconception: Chimichangas are a Mexican food.

Many people would name Chimichangas if you asked them to name Mexican foods, but they aren’t really a Mexican food at all. The truth is that Chimichangas would fit more in the category of “Tex-Mex”. However, this deep fried burrito does not originate from Texas either. According to recent developments, it is likely that the state of Arizona invented the Chimichanga, and they have been considering making it the state food.

Misconception: Egg rolls are a Chinese food.

The Egg Roll that we eat in many parts of the western world isn’t really all that much like the most similar Chinese food. The egg rolls westerners know was created by Chinese immigrants to America who were using what they had on hand to make something that would still seem like theirs, but was meant to appeal to Americans. However, the thick hard-shelled egg rolls are nothing like the actual spring rolls that you will find in Hong Kong or elsewhere in China. Spring rolls are much more delicate and light, while western egg rolls are much more like deep fried dough stuffed with lettuce and tiny shrimp.

Misconception: Nachos are a Mexican food.

While nachos were originally invented by a Mexican, they were made to satisfy the appetites of visitors from the USA, out of spare ingredients that were lying around. The man who invented them was known by the name “Ignacio”, which is where the name nacho comes from. A man named Frank Liberto eventually starting selling them at stadiums and the rest was history. They have now become a wildly popular concession food. The nachos often seen in western stadiums today are made with a strange cheese concoction invented by Liberto that would stay good longer and not need to get hot to melt. Basically, Liberto invented mutant cheese sauce.

Misconception: Sushi rolls are commonly eaten in Japan.

Most westerners think of sushi rolls whenever asked about Japanese food, however, the truth is that sushi is not nearly as popular in Japan as it is among those who are trying to emulate Japanese culture. Many Japanese people, just for starters, feel a little bit intimidated when they head down to the sushi bar. More importantly, however, sushi is rarely eaten in Japan. Less than a quarter of Japanese surveyed even ate sushi a couple of times a month or more, sushi is simply a meal usually reserved for an important event. And Japanese people would rarely eat the kind of rolls westerners are used to. What they usually eat is called nigiri and consists of a long piece of fish with a big ball of rice wrapped around it using seaweed.

Misconception: Spaghetti and Meatballs are from Italy.

When asked about foods that come from Italy, many people would think of Spaghetti and Meatballs before anything else, but Spaghetti and Meatballs is not a dish of Italian origin. While it was invented by Italians, they were immigrants in North America. But more to the point, in Italy Spaghetti and Meatballs is not on the menu, and not really something they serve. On the rare occasions that pasta and meatballs are even involved in the same dish, they are definitely not served together.

Misconception: Croissants originate in France.

Many people are under the impression that croissants were invented in France, some westerners even say it with a faux French accent in an attempt to sound sophisticated (in English it is pronounced “cruh-sont”. However, the croissant is believed to have actually come from something called the kipferl. While there are many conflicting stories about how the croissant came to be, most believe that it was by an Austrian man. Legend says the man was an artillery officer from Austria who decided to open up shop in neighboring France, and that after introducing the kipferl the croissant eventually followed.

Misconception: Crab Rangoon is a dish of Chinese origin.

Crab Rangoon for those who don’t know, is a cream cheese filled, deep fried wanton, with crab meat in it. It has enjoyed considerable popularity in the western world, but as you might have guessed, isn’t really Chinese at all. Rather, it fits into that dubious category of “Chinese-American Cuisine”. The main reason why this dish doesn’t make any sense as Chinese is that cheese in generally, especially cream cheese, is seldom eaten in China. Also, while the dish may sound good now, keep in mind that the crab meat inside is rarely actually crab meat. Much crab Rangoon only carries imitation crab meat, and some recipes call for it especially.

Misconception: Pizza is Italian.

While Italian’s do have their own version of pizza, it is nothing like what many in America would expect it to be. And the legends of who invented pizza, and where and how are very murky. However, it is important to note the differences between the two styles of pizzas. In America, pizza is generally slathered in tomato sauce with seasonings, topped with a ton of cheese and then heaped with toppings. However, in Italy, pizza is a much more exquisite creation that might disappointment American food cravings. They don’t always involve tomato sauce—some opting instead for fresh tomatoes— and frequently include fresh herbs and vegetables, some mozzarella and olive oil. While both dishes have the same name, they are strikingly different.

Misconception: Corned Beef and Cabbage is the national dish of Ireland.

With St. Patrick’s Day recently behind us, millions around the world may have eaten corned beef and cabbage in honor of the Patron Saint of Ireland. However, corned beef and cabbage really isn’t all that popular amongst the Irish, and it certainly isn’t the national dish. While Ireland doesn’t really have an official national dish, some believe that the most popular would be a bacon joint, likely served with potatoes and maybe vegetables. There are, however, many different great Irish foods. The key point is that there really isn’t any one national food of Ireland, and Corned Beef isn’t even all that Irish.

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Christmas is a time of traditions, from decorating trees and hanging stockings to sipping eggnog by the fire. While these customs feel timeless, many of them have unexpected origins that stretch back centuries. Ancient pagan rituals, clever marketing campaigns, and practical adaptations have all played a role in shaping the holiday traditions we know today.

Over the years, these practices have evolved, blending influences from various cultures and eras. From the generosity of Saint Nicholas inspiring Christmas stockings to the Yule log’s transformation from a pagan fire ritual to a dessert, the history of these traditions is as diverse as it is fascinating. Here are 10 surprising origins behind some of Christmas’s most beloved customs.

Related: 10 Surprising Traditions Protected by UNESCO

10 Mistletoe: A Pagan Symbol of Fertility and Peace

Mistletoe has long been associated with love and romance during Christmas, but its origins trace back to ancient pagan practices. The Druids revered mistletoe as a sacred plant, believing it had magical properties to ward off evil spirits and bring fertility. During winter solstice ceremonies, they would cut mistletoe from oak trees with golden sickles and use it in rituals meant to ensure a bountiful harvest and protection for the coming year.

The tradition of kissing under mistletoe likely stems from Norse mythology. According to legend, the goddess Frigg declared mistletoe a symbol of love after it was used to resurrect her son, Balder. This association with peace and affection carried over into Christmas celebrations centuries later. The Victorians popularized the custom of kissing under the mistletoe, turning an ancient fertility rite into a romantic holiday tradition.^[1]

9 Christmas Stockings: A Charitable Legend of Saint Nicholas

The tradition of hanging stockings by the fireplace originates from a 4th-century legend about Saint Nicholas. According to the story, a poor widower with three daughters could not afford dowries for his girls, leaving them destined for a life of servitude. One night, Saint Nicholas secretly dropped bags of gold coins down the chimney, which landed in the girls’ stockings that were hung by the fire to dry.

This act of generosity became intertwined with Christmas gift-giving, and the tradition of stockings spread through Europe. In the United States, stockings became a Christmas staple in the 19th century, thanks in part to Clement Clarke Moore’s famous poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” which describes Santa filling stockings with toys. Over time, stockings evolved from practical socks to decorative, oversized versions made specifically for holiday gifts.^[2]

8 Christmas Trees: A Fusion of Pagan and Christian Traditions

The Christmas tree as we know it today has roots in pagan rituals that celebrated evergreen plants during the winter solstice. Ancient Romans used evergreen branches in their Saturnalia festivities, and Germans in the Middle Ages decorated fir trees in honor of the solstice as a symbol of hope and eternal life.

The Christian adaptation of the Christmas tree is often credited to 16th-century Germany. Legend has it that Protestant reformer Martin Luther was inspired by the sight of stars shining through the branches of a fir tree and brought one indoors, decorating it with candles. The tradition spread across Europe and was popularized in England by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the 19th century. When German immigrants brought the practice to America, it became an enduring symbol of the holiday season.^[3]

7 Eggnog: A Colonial Adaptation of a Medieval Drink

Eggnog’s origins date back to medieval Britain, where a drink called “posset” was made by curdling hot milk with ale or wine and adding spices. Wealthy families often included eggs and cream in their recipes, making posset a luxurious treat for special occasions. As the drink crossed the Atlantic with European settlers, it evolved into the eggnog we know today.

In colonial America, rum became the alcohol of choice for eggnog, as it was cheaper and more readily available than imported wine or brandy. The drink became especially popular during Christmas gatherings, where its richness symbolized abundance and celebration. Over time, eggnog became synonymous with holiday festivities, and its enduring popularity has even led to unique regional variations, such as Puerto Rico’s rum-and-coconut version, coquito.^[4]

6 Candy Canes: Religious Symbol or Sweet Marketing Ploy?

Candy canes are often said to represent religious symbolism, with the shape resembling a shepherd’s crook and the red and white stripes symbolizing Christ’s blood and purity. However, this interpretation is largely a modern invention. The earliest candy canes, created in 17th-century Germany, were plain white sticks of sugar candy given to children during nativity plays to keep them quiet.

The iconic red stripes and peppermint flavor were introduced in the 19th century, likely as a way to make the candy more visually appealing and marketable. By the early 20th century, candy canes became a staple of Christmas decorations and treats. Their enduring popularity owes as much to clever marketing as to their supposed religious connections.^[5]

5 Santa’s Sleigh: Borrowed from Norse Mythology

The image of Santa Claus flying through the night sky in a sleigh pulled by reindeer owes its origins to Norse mythology. In the pagan Yule tradition, Odin, the chief Norse god, was said to ride across the sky on an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir during the midwinter season. Children would leave offerings of food in their shoes for Sleipnir, and in return, Odin would reward them with gifts. This myth provided a foundation for the idea of a magical figure delivering presents, especially in regions where Norse traditions mingled with early Christian celebrations.

When Christianity spread across Northern Europe, Odin’s image merged with that of St. Nicholas, evolving into the figure of Santa Claus we know today. The sleigh and reindeer were later popularized in American culture through Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” which introduced the concept of Santa’s eight reindeer. Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, entered the story much later in 1939 as part of a marketing campaign by Montgomery Ward. This fusion of ancient mythology and modern commercial storytelling created one of the most enduring and magical symbols of Christmas.^[6]

4 Gift Wrapping: A Japanese Tradition Turned Western Staple

Gift wrapping, often viewed as a quintessentially Western holiday custom, has its origins in ancient Asia. In Japan, wrapping gifts in furoshiki cloths dates back to the 8th century, when the practice was both practical and symbolic, protecting the gift while adding a personal touch. Similarly, in China, silk cloths were often used to wrap gifts during significant occasions, with elaborate designs symbolizing good fortune and respect. These traditions reflected the importance of presentation in gift-giving long before the advent of paper wrapping.

In the West, modern gift wrap owes its popularity to a happy accident in 1917. Joyce and Rollie Hall, founders of Hallmark, ran out of traditional tissue paper during the Christmas season. They improvised by selling sheets of decorative French envelope lining paper, which quickly sold out. Recognizing the potential, the Halls began producing their own colorful, sturdy wrapping paper.

By the mid-20th century, gift wrap had become a staple of holiday celebrations, with vibrant designs, ribbons, and bows turning the act of giving into a visual spectacle. Today, wrapping paper is a multi-billion-dollar industry, though eco-conscious alternatives like reusable cloths are reviving the ancient traditions it originally replaced.^[7]

3 Advent Calendars: From Religious Devotion to Chocolate Treats

Advent calendars began in 19th-century Germany as a way for families to count down the days until Christmas. Early versions were homemade, featuring candles, chalk marks, or devotional images to mark each passing day. By 1908, Gerhard Lang, a German printer, introduced the first commercially produced advent calendar, complete with small doors that opened to reveal Bible verses or festive illustrations. These early calendars emphasized religious reflection and anticipation during the Advent season.

The modern chocolate-filled advent calendar emerged in the mid-20th century as manufacturers sought to appeal to children. British and American companies like Cadbury began mass-producing calendars with tiny chocolates behind each door, making the tradition more about indulgence than spiritual preparation. Today, advent calendars have expanded beyond chocolate, offering everything from miniature toys to luxury beauty products. This evolution reflects how the tradition has shifted from its religious roots to a fun, highly commercialized part of the holiday season.^[8]

2 Christmas Cards: A Victorian Innovation

The Christmas card tradition began in 1843, thanks to Sir Henry Cole, a British civil servant who wanted an easier way to send holiday greetings. Cole commissioned the first commercial Christmas card, which featured a festive family scene and the message “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” These cards quickly caught on among the Victorian upper class as a fashionable way to convey holiday wishes without the need for lengthy handwritten letters.

The invention of affordable postage stamps, like the Penny Post in England, made sending cards accessible to a wider audience, and the trend soon spread across Europe and the United States. By the early 20th century, companies like Hallmark were mass-producing colorful and decorative Christmas cards, making them a staple of the holiday season. While email and social media have reduced the prevalence of traditional cards, they remain a cherished tradition for many, with millions still sent annually, often showcasing personal photographs or handmade designs.^[9]

1 The Yule Log: From Pagan Fire Ritual to Dessert

The Yule log tradition has roots in ancient Scandinavia, where it was a central feature of pagan midwinter celebrations. Families would select a massive log, decorate it with carvings or ribbons, and burn it in the hearth during the winter solstice to honor the Norse gods. The fire symbolized warmth, protection, and the return of the sun during the darkest days of the year. The ashes from the Yule log were often kept as charms to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits for the coming year.

When Christianity spread, the Yule log was incorporated into Christmas traditions, particularly in Northern Europe, as a symbol of light overcoming darkness. In the 19th century, French pastry chefs transformed the tradition into the bûche de Noël, a sponge cake rolled to resemble a log and decorated with frosting to mimic bark. This edible version of the Yule log became a popular Christmas dessert, blending ancient customs with modern holiday celebrations. Today, the Yule log exists both as a decorative symbol and a tasty treat, keeping its rich history alive in an entirely new form.^[10]

New Year’s Eve is celebrated across the world with a mix of joy, hope, and anticipation, but it’s also steeped in superstitions that reflect the diverse cultural beliefs about starting the year off right. From wearing specific colors to performing quirky rituals, these traditions often revolve around themes of luck, prosperity, and protection. While some are widely practiced, others are truly bizarre and reveal fascinating insights into the societies that uphold them.

Here are 10 of the strangest New Year’s Eve superstitions from around the globe.

Related: 10 Traditions That Brighten the Festive Season

10 Eating Grapes for Luck in Spain

In Spain, the clock striking midnight on New Year’s Eve signals the beginning of a peculiar and high-pressure ritual: eating 12 grapes in 12 seconds. Each grape represents a month of the coming year, and participants must eat them in sync with the chimes of the clock. Successfully completing this task is believed to bring good luck and prosperity for the entire year. The tradition is said to have originated in the early 20th century when Spanish grape growers had a surplus harvest and promoted the practice as a clever marketing ploy.

The challenge is not as simple as it sounds. Participants often struggle to chew and swallow the grapes fast enough, leading to hilariously chaotic scenes at family gatherings and public celebrations. In some cities, such as Madrid, people gather in plazas like Puerta del Sol to perform the ritual en masse, creating a collective sense of anticipation and hilarity. While it may have begun as a practical solution to a farming issue, the superstition has become an integral part of Spanish New Year’s culture.^[1]

9 Smashing Plates for Good Luck in Denmark

In Denmark, New Year’s Eve involves a unique and noisy tradition: smashing plates against the doors of friends and neighbors. This act is believed to bring good fortune to the household receiving the broken crockery. The more broken plates you find on your doorstep the next morning, the more luck you’re said to have in the coming year. It’s a practice rooted in the Danish belief that shattered items ward off bad spirits and symbolize renewal.

Families and friends often save chipped or old plates throughout the year, specifically for this purpose. The tradition doesn’t just involve smashing; it’s also a test of popularity. A doorstep with a heap of broken plates signifies that the occupants are well-loved and have strong social bonds. Though the practice might seem bizarre to outsiders, it underscores Denmark’s focus on community and the idea of starting the year with a clean slate—literally and figuratively.^[2]

8 Jumping Off Chairs in the Philippines

In the Philippines, a nation rich in festive traditions, one unique superstition involves jumping off a chair or table at the stroke of midnight. This playful ritual is aimed primarily at children and teenagers, with the belief that leaping into the New Year will help them grow taller in the months ahead. Parents encourage their kids to jump as high as possible, blending cultural beliefs with a sense of fun and family bonding.

This tradition is just one of many Filipino customs designed to bring prosperity, growth, and good fortune. Families also engage in practices like filling their homes with round fruits, which symbolize wealth due to their resemblance to coins. Firecrackers are set off to drive away evil spirits, while windows and doors are left open to let good energy flow into the home. The combination of these superstitions creates a lively and symbolically rich New Year’s celebration, with the leap into the New Year serving as both a literal and figurative step toward growth and success.^[3]

7 Wearing Red Underwear in Italy

In Italy, wearing red underwear on New Year’s Eve is considered a surefire way to bring love, luck, and fertility in the coming year. This tradition dates back to ancient Rome, where red was a symbol of power, passion, and protection. Romans often wore red garments during winter solstice celebrations to ward off malevolent spirits and ensure a prosperous start to the year. As Christianity spread, the practice was adapted to the New Year’s holiday, keeping its vibrant symbolism intact.

Today, the tradition has become deeply ingrained in Italian culture, particularly as a playful holiday custom. Shops and markets stock up on red lingerie during the holiday season, with many couples exchanging red underwear as a romantic and lighthearted gift. The superstition even comes with a rule: the underwear must be new and ideally given as a present, as this is believed to ensure the wearer receives fresh and untainted luck. This quirky practice combines ancient beliefs with modern holiday cheer, making it both a symbolic and fun way to ring in the New Year.^[4]

6 First-Footing in Scotland

In Scotland, “first-footing” is a centuries-old New Year’s Eve tradition rooted in the belief that the first person to enter your home after midnight will determine your luck for the year ahead. According to custom, the ideal first-foot should be a tall, dark-haired man, as this was thought to bring prosperity and protection to the household. The superstition likely stems from the days of Viking invasions when blonde-haired visitors were associated with danger and misfortune.

The first-foot traditionally brings symbolic gifts such as coal for warmth, whiskey for good cheer, and bread to ensure sustenance. These items are meant to represent abundance and well-being for the coming year. The practice is central to Hogmanay celebrations, with Scots meticulously planning who their first-foot will be to ensure the best possible start to the year. In some regions, first-footing has evolved into a festive event, with neighbors visiting each other’s homes to exchange blessings, making it a blend of superstition and communal celebration.^[5]

5 Burning Effigies in Ecuador

In Ecuador, New Year’s Eve is marked by the dramatic and symbolic burning of effigies, known as año viejo (old year). These effigies, often crafted from old clothes, paper, and wood, represent the misfortunes and mistakes of the past year. At the stroke of midnight, families and communities light the effigies on fire, symbolizing a fresh start and the cleansing of bad luck. This tradition is believed to have indigenous and Spanish colonial roots, combining elements of purification rituals with festive celebrations.

The effigies are often humorously designed to resemble politicians, celebrities, or fictional characters, allowing people to vent frustrations while adding a lighthearted touch. In some regions, participants leap over the burning effigies as a way to leave their troubles behind, a daring and cathartic act. Fireworks often accompany the ritual, turning it into a spectacle of sound and light. For many Ecuadorians, the año viejo ceremony is not just a tradition but a deeply personal and communal way to embrace the possibilities of the New Year.^[6]

4 Carrying Suitcases in Colombia

In Colombia, a playful New Year’s Eve superstition involves carrying an empty suitcase around the block at midnight to guarantee a year filled with travel and adventure. Families and friends enthusiastically take part in the ritual, running or walking quickly with their suitcases as the clock strikes twelve. The belief is that this symbolic gesture sends a clear intention to the universe, ensuring opportunities for exploration and journeys in the coming year.

Some participants take the tradition even further by packing their suitcases with meaningful items, such as maps, postcards, or travel tickets, to enhance the ritual’s effectiveness. Others incorporate the practice into a broader set of prosperity rituals, like wearing yellow underwear for wealth or eating 12 grapes for luck. Entire neighborhoods often come alive with laughter and excitement as families race around their blocks with luggage in tow. Whether or not the superstition guarantees travel, it brings a sense of hope and fun, embodying the spirit of optimism that defines New Year’s Eve in Colombia.^[7]

3 Eating Lentils in Brazil

In Brazil, lentils are more than a hearty legume—they’re a New Year’s Eve staple believed to bring financial prosperity and good luck. Families incorporate lentils into their midnight meals, often in the form of soup, stews, or side dishes. The belief likely stems from Italian immigrants who brought the custom to Brazil, as lentils resemble small coins and are thought to symbolize wealth and abundance.

This tradition is typically part of a larger feast that includes other lucky foods, such as pork (to symbolize progress) and grapes (for general good fortune). Brazilian families might also set aside a few lentils to carry in their wallets, a gesture intended to “attract money” throughout the year. The focus on lentils during the New Year reflects Brazil’s vibrant fusion of cultural influences and its emphasis on starting the year with prosperity and abundance.^[8]

2 Dropping Ice Cream in Switzerland

In Switzerland, a curious New Year’s Eve superstition involves intentionally dropping a scoop of ice cream on the floor to ensure good fortune in the coming year. This quirky ritual is rooted in the belief that offering something symbolic to the universe or gods will bring blessings in return. While the origins of the tradition are unclear, it has become a beloved part of Swiss celebrations, blending humor with hope.

In some families, the ice cream is accompanied by additional symbolic foods, such as bread or wine, to amplify the gesture’s meaning. Children often take special delight in the ritual, turning it into a playful moment during otherwise formal gatherings. While modern interpretations of the tradition vary, the act of purposefully sacrificing a treat remains a lighthearted way for Swiss families to manifest luck and abundance.^[9]

1 Smashing Pomegranates in Greece

In Greece, smashing a pomegranate against the front door on New Year’s Eve is a vivid and symbolic tradition meant to bring prosperity, health, and good fortune for the coming year. The custom traces its roots back to ancient Greek mythology, where the pomegranate represented life, fertility, and abundance. Families often choose their most beautiful pomegranate for the ritual, treating it with reverence before smashing it with dramatic flair.

The scattering seeds are said to predict the household’s luck for the year ahead—the more seeds that spread, the greater the fortune. Some families incorporate additional practices, such as hanging the broken pomegranate’s remnants near the entrance as a protective charm or consuming the seeds during a celebratory meal. This tradition highlights Greece’s deep cultural connection to symbolic rituals, blending mythology, agriculture, and festive optimism.^[10]

Most of our favorite websites and phone apps started off much differently than they appear today. If things had gone according to plan, you would be logging onto YouTube to find that date instead of Tinder or whatever app or website you currently use.

Want to plan a meet-up? You would think Instagram. Or, you just have a thing for comparing people’s photos? That would have been Facebook’s turf. How about if you wanted to know if the person you are about to call was available? You would use WhatsApp for that. The first version of WhatsApp did not even have instant messaging capability.

However, it appears that while the founders made their plans, fate often had other things in stock for them. Many founders watched as their initial plans flopped with only a small part of it becoming successful. Others like eBay, just watched them transform into some new products.

SEE ALSO: Top 10 Disturbing Facts About Facebook

10 YouTube Was A Dating Site

Today, YouTube is a hotbed of videos about almost anything. Curiously, it was intended as a platform to allow users meet prospective spouses at the time it launched in 2005. At the time, its founders, Jawed Karim, Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, wanted users to upload videos of them talking about what they wanted in a potential partner.

In keeping with their intentions, the founders used the slogan, “Tune in, Hook up” as the tagline of their website. No one uploaded any video though. Not even when the founders offered to give $20 to any woman who uploaded a video. The founders later decided to allow people upload videos about anything.

Jawed Karim, one of YouTube co-founders, broke the ice when he uploaded an 18-second video of himself at the zoo. As at the time of this writing, the video, titled “Me At The Zoo”, has over 79 million views with 3.8 million comments.^[1]

Related: 10 Disturbing Channels From The Weird Part Of YouTube

9 Instagram Was Created For Meet-ups

Instagram was founded by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in 2010. It was not the photo-sharing social media site, as we know it today. It was not even called Instagram. It was called Burbn—after bourbon whiskey.

The naming was deliberate. Systrom—who singlehandedly founded Burbn—loved bourbon whiskey and thought it was cool to name his product after it. Besides, the name was in keeping with its purpose. Burbn was built to plan meet-ups. Users could check in at any place they visited, make plans with friends to revisit the place in the future and later post photos of the meet-up.

Burbn soon flopped because it was just too complex to use. Meanwhile, Systrom noticed that users were often more interested in sharing photos of their meet-ups than in using the other features. He brought Mike Krieger on board and they both developed what would later become Instagram.

The duo planned Instagram as something in between Facebook and Hiptasmatic, which were the two top photo-sharing sites at the time. Hiptasmatic had good filters but terrible photo sharing capability. Facebook was the opposite. Instagram would have both.

Systrom did not forget the lesson he learned from the failure of Burbn either. He made sure Instagram was as simple as possible. To achieve this, they removed everything else from Burbn except the photo sharing, commenting and like tools. Now you know why Instagram has a clean and easy-to-use interface.^[2]

Related: 9 Sinister Facts About The Dark Side Of Instagram [WARNING: Disturbing]

8WhatsApp Was Supposed To Be A Phonebook With Attitude

WhatsApp founders, Jan Koum and Brian Acton did not know they had created a messaging app at the time they released the first version of WhatsApp in 2009. Two years earlier, the two future billionaires, resigned their jobs at Yahoo to tour South America. During that time, they applied for jobs at Facebook but did not make the cut.

In January 2009, Koum acquired an iPhone. Then he thought about creating an app that would allow people to have a status update beside their names. The idea was to allow people to send information to prospective callers about whatever was happening to them. The updates could be anything. Like the user’s location or “battery low” when the user’s phone was about to die.

Koum named the app WhatsApp because it sounded like What’s Up. However, it never gained traction and Koum even considering quitting for a while. WhatsApp only became a hit after Apple introduced push notifications in June 2009. Push notifications allowed users to receive an instant notification whenever someone changed their status.

Koum soon realized that WhatsApp users frequently updated their status to communicate with themselves as if it were an instant messenger. He returned to the drawing board and WhatsApp version 2.0 was released soon after.^[3]

Related: 10 Final Messages From People Facing Certain Death

7 Wikipedia Almost Showed Ads

Wikipedia is the online warehouse of information about everything under—and above—the sun. You will find almost everything there. Even other encyclopedias that have been around for centuries are no match for its repository of information.

Wikipedia owes its success to its users. It depends on people to create all of its content for free. But the lack of in-house writers does not mean Wikipedia does not have some overhead costs. It needs to pay its programmers, hosting and fund some other running costs. And how about those lawsuits that will often pop up here and there? You cannot avoid lawsuits when you run a website like Wikipedia.

This means Wikipedia needs to make money somehow. The founders, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, planned to generate money from paid adverts that would be displayed on the site. The sort of thing you see on almost every website today. Larry and Sanger hoped to make enough to cover salaries and hosting, even if they did not make a profit.

Fortunately for information seekers, Wikipedia went the non-profit route when Sanger left in 2002. Wales decided he would never show ads. He would raise money from donations instead.

The management of Wikipedia was taken off Bomis, which managed it at the time, and handed to the Wikimedia Foundation. The for-profit Bomis and the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation are both owned by Jimmy Wales. In keeping with its new intentions, the website switched its domain from the .com domain it used at the time to the .org it currently uses.^[4]

Related: Top 15 Funny and Bizarre Wikipedia Pages

6Ebay Was Created For Buying And Selling Pez Dispensers

Plans for what would later become eBay began sometime in 1994 when Pierre met his then-girlfriend and current wife, Pamela Wesley. Pamela was a collector of Pez dispensers. For the unaware, Pez is a brand of candy. The Pez dispenser is a small container that releases one candy at a time.

Pamela had complained to Pierre about her inability to find people wanting to sell their dispensers. Omidyar got some ideas and on Labor Day (September 4) 1995, launched a small shopping area on his personal website. Pamela and other Pez dispenser collectors used the mini site to meet dealers who were willing to sell their dispensers.

However, Pierre soon noticed that people were showing up to sell everything from dolls to household items. Five months later, Pierre’s shopping mini site was worth $3 billion with over 2 million users. The website had become so big that he had to move to its own dedicated domain we call eBay today.^[5]

Related: 10 Bizarre eBay Auctions

5 Facebook Was For Comparing Pictures

On October 28, 2003, Mark Zuckerberg launched a website he called Facemash. Considered the predecessor of Facebook, Facemash required users to click a button to determine which of the photos of two people was hotter.

To get his first users, Mark hacked into Harvard University’s database to steal photos used on students IDs. The website only lasted for a few days before the management of Harvard University shut it down. Mark was considered for expulsion but was saved when Harvard dropped charges.

Four months later, on February 4, 2004, Mark returned with a second website he called TheFacebook. It was almost like Facemash but with features to allow users meet new people. The photo comparison feature was also removed. Like Facemash, TheFacebook was initially limited to Harvard University students but gradually extended to other colleges, high schools and later, basically anyone.^[6]

Related: 10 Ways Facebook Makes You Smarter

4 Flickr Was Supposed To Include A Chat Room

Flickr was founded by couple, Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake in 2004. While the couple had always intended Flickr as the image sharing and hosting site as we know it today, it was not supposed to be all about photos. The original plans included a chat room.

Butterfield and Fake first unveiled what would later become Flickr at the O’Reilly Emerging Tech Conference, San Diego, on February 10, 2004. Flickr was still in development at the time. It was not even their main product. Their primary product was a virtual game titled “Game Neverending”. Flickr was their side project.

The couple later decided to focus on the photo sharing and hosting program when they discovered its potential. However, they removed the chat capability. Meanwhile, Game Neverending never got past the development stage.^[7]

Related: 10 Strange But Interesting Early Photography Fads

3 We Are Supposed To Send Tweets Via SMS

Twitter was called Twttr at the time it was founded in 2006. Twttr is pronounced “Twitter”, just like Twitter. It is the brainchild of Jack Dorsey even though Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams would later step in as co-founders. Dorsey planned Twitter as a social media site that could only be updated via SMS.

Twitter would quickly run into problems with this model. Workers at Odeo—a podcasting business founded by Williams and Stone—who were beta testing the app, saw their phone bills increase by hundreds of dollars.

This was clearly due to the massive amount of text messages they sent. One employee spent over $400 on SMS in one month. Odeo even started picking up the SMS bills of workers that used the service. Twitter later switched to an all-web program at the time it launched, as the SMS model was clearly unsustainable.^[8]

Related: Top 10 Ridiculous Instances Of Censorship In Pop Culture

2 FaceTime Was To Allow Users To Make Phone Calls From Their Macs

In 2007, Roberto Garcia assembled some Apple staff to develop a program codenamed Venice. Venice was supposed to allow iPhone users to make voice calls from their Macs. However, the program soon stalled and the team moved to other things.

A year later, Garcia morphed Venice into Game kit, an iPhone program that allowed users to video chat while playing online games. He and his team were successful this time. Game kit itself was added to Apple’s social gaming app, Game Center, in 2009.

However, the video calling feature of the Apple Game Center (the former Game kit) was later spun-off to create the first version of FaceTime.^[9]

Related: Top 10 Most Important Apps Of The Decade

1 Amazon Only Sold Books

Amazon sells practically everything these days—from pins to houses (literally houses . . . not just building materials) and home appliances. Interestingly, Amazon had very humble beginnings. It was founded in 1995 to sell books. Just books and nothing else. The only thing it ever sold outside books were music CDs, but even those were considered a secondary product.

Amazon primarily sold books for three years until 1998 when Jeff Bezos started to expand. On August 5, 1998, the New York Times reported that Amazon had acquired Junglee Corporation, an ecommerce and software company that operated a price comparison website and online marketplace. Think of Junglee as the Amazon of 1998.

Amazon also acquired Planet All, an address book and social networking site with 1.5 million users. Amazon itself had 3.1 million users at the time. At the same time, Amazon revealed it would also allow third party vendors to advertise their goods on its site.^[10]

Related: Top 10 Bizarre Things You Can Buy on Amazon

The traveling carnival, often known simply as a carnival, is largely held by historians to have originated from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Carnivals developed a bad reputation from their outset, which continued long after. This was due to two things: The “unsavory diversions” that carnivals offered, such as “freak shows, games of chance, and burlesque,” and the frequently dishonest and scandalous business practices of workers, which included operating “rigged games” and bogus exhibits, exhibiting nude or “scantily clad women,” bribing local authorities, and fighting their local customers, or “clems.”

Despite this notoriety, carnivals were popular, a large part of their attraction being due to the rides they offered, many of the more popular ones that appear on this list. One is actually older than the origin of the carnival itself, and most were invented or further developed during the first half of the twentieth century.

Here are the intriguing origins of 10 popular carnival rides.

Related: Top 10 Deadliest Rides in the World

10 Roller Coaster

The precursor to the modern roller coaster was Russia’s ice slides: 600-foot-long (183-meter) ramps that sleds would rush down, full of riders who had climbed a 70-foot-tall (21-meter) tower for the privilege of taking the thrilling ride. At the end of the ride, the passengers would ride “down a parallel slide,” which would return them to the original starting point.

In 1784, Catherine the Great transformed this wintry pursuit into an all-year pastime when, by her orders, wheels and grooved tracks were added to the coasters so they could be ridden at her palace even during summer.

The French added another innovation to the ride in 1817 when Belleville Mountain in Paris became the first slide to lock cars onto tracks by their wheel axles. A third improvement was the introduction, by the city’s Aerial Walks, of “a system for pulling the cars back up for” additional rides.^[1]

9 Carousel

Thomas Bradshaw invented the first steam-powered carousel in 1861. The carousel itself is much older. The original merry-go-round, as the ride is also known, was built of wood. The horses that passengers rode were motionless, except, that is, for the live ones that powered the ride’s circular platform when people weren’t used for this purpose.

Frederick Savage’s “galloping mechanism” was introduced in 1870. It was an innovation to Bradshaw’s invention, in which the steam engine turned a drive shaft with a cog at the end of it. The cog then turned “an angled bevel gear fixed to an upright pole,” which moved “a ring gear in the canopy,” causing the carousel to spin around.

Savage also added a gear and offset the crank mechanism to the steam-powered horses, making them rise and fall at different times. Another innovation, also by Savage, resulted in the horses hanging at various heights. Finally, a related innovation, the pole’s extension through a hole in the platform, allowed the poles to move a little forward as the ride went faster.^[2]

8 Ferris Wheel

The Ferris wheel was created to represent American engineering at the 1893 World’s Fair. The ride, named for its inventor and builder, George Washington Gale Ferris, an engineer, was built on the principle of the bicycle wheel, with the “lower half suspended from the axle by the spoke rods running downward,” while the upper half of the wheel is supported by the lower half. The only difference is that the Ferris wheel “hangs by its axle, while a bicycle wheel rests on the ground with the weight applied downward on the axle.”

Ferris’s design gave great stability to his invention, which weighed 1,200 tons (1088 metric tons). Its safety was demonstrated by Ferris himself, who rode to the top of the wheel during a severe storm accompanied by winds of 100 miles per hour (161 km/h). Fifty cents was charged to ride the wheel, which was a hit from the moment it debuted, with riders declaring that they wouldn’t “take ten dollars for their experience.”^[3]

7 The Witching Waves

Jeffrey Stanton explains the origin of the Witching Waves ride in his article concerning Coney Island’s independent rides. At the outset of the automobile age, he says, people wanted to ride inside automobiles or even drive them, and it was to this intense desire that the Witching Waves catered.

The ride, invented in 1907 by Theophilus Van Kannel, first became available to the public at Coney Island three years later. The ride is a large oval course consisting of a flexible, stationary metal floor beneath which “hidden reciprocating levers” produce “a wave-like motion” that propels cars steered by their riders.

Actors ride the Witching Waves in the 1917 film Fatty in Coney Island, starring Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton. Improbable antics ensue as the cars travel erratically, collide with one another, crash into an obstacle on the track, spill passengers, and make one rider nauseous.^[4]

6 The Whip

W.F. Mangrels was a manufacturer of carousels and other carnival rides, notably for those at Coney Island. In 1914, he invented the Whip, an open, horse-shoe-shaped car with a rounded front in which one to three passengers ride on a bench-style seat, a safety bar before them, as the cars follow a circular track while the arms attached to the cars periodically “whip” them back and forth.

Several Whip rides are still in use today, including the one at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania, manufactured in 1918, and Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, manufactured in 1926. Manufacturers continued to make several versions throughout the years; however, they are no longer in production.^[5]

5 Bumper Cars

Early in the 1920s, Max Stoehrer and his son Harold were granted a patent for an “Amusement Apparatus” that would eventually become their Dodgem cars after the inventors equipped the cars with “novel instrumentalities” that made it difficult to control with certainty by causing the vehicles to follow an irregular, undefined path and collide with other cars.

In effect, Stoehrer and his son offered riders the thrill of being in a series of safe car crashes. In partnership with Ralph Pratt, Stoehrer started a company to build a floor and roof for customers upon and under which to operate the cars they bought, adding improvements to their vehicles as they received additional patents in 1920, 1921, and 1923.^[6]

4 Tilt-a-Whirl

“A devilish contraption.” That’s how Richard Kautz, the author of The Science of Predictable Random Motion, describes Herbert Sellner’s 1926 invention, the Tilt-a-Whirl. In the ride, each of the cars is mounted on its own circular platform that moves evenly along a circular track with three identical hills.

Boring? The ride might be, Kautz concedes, if the cars were “rigidly attached to the platforms” rather than being “free to rotate about a central pivot point that allows chaos to creep into the machine.” As a result of this innovation, riders are whirled clockwise and then counterclockwise and reverse directions randomly, keeping passengers in suspense as to what will happen next and wishing they’d passed on having eaten a hot dog before boarding.^[7]

3 Bumper Boats

In a November 1997 article for Automobile Magazine, Seth Gussow brought readers up to speed on the 1930s origin of bumper boats. Not surprisingly, they were inspired by the Stoehrers’ bumper cars and were successful for a similar reason. As the Dodgem car had given many a first opportunity to “get behind the wheel of a car,” the boats gave many their first chance to operate a powerboat.

A partnership between the Dodgem Corporation and the Lusse Company operated like Pratt and Stoehrer in selling bumper cars. Two buildings valued at $27,500 were to be put up and mortgaged to the Philadelphia Toboggan Company PTC, and Dodgem was to supply fifty cars valued at $20,000. For the boat ride, PTC was apparently responsible for constructing a channel. Like the bumper cars, the bumper boats proved a smashing success.^[8]

2 Rotor

Owned and operated by its inventor, Ernst W. Hoffmeister, of Hamburg, Germany, the Rotor was built by Anton Schwarzkopf and debuted in 1955. According to Amusement Park Extravaganza, in the United States, due to a patent disagreement among the ride’s makers and operators, the Velare Brothers were assigned the rights to build portable Rotors.” The Anglo Rotor Corporation was assigned the rights to stationary models.

The ride uses centrifugal force to pin its occupants to the outsides of its wooden cylinder until the Rotor reaches its optimal speed. At this point, passengers are safely stuck to the wall, and the ride’s operator lowers the floor, leaving riders high up the wall. As the ride ends, the cylinder gradually slows to a stop, and riders slowly slide down the wall to land on the lowered floor.

The invention of the Rotor was part of the broader trend in the mid-20th century to develop new and thrilling amusement rides that would attract visitors with novel and intense experiences. The Rotor became popular for its ability to provide a thrilling ride experience that was different from traditional roller coasters and other amusement park attractions. Various versions are still found in carnivals today, under several names, including the Round-Up and the Gravitron.^[9]

1 Bounce House

Inspired by the inflatable tent covers he designed for tennis courts, American engineer John Scurlock, who was employed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and taught at Tulane University, invented the inflatable tent design of the bounce house in 1958. While working on the court covers, he noticed his employees enjoyed jumping on the inflated surfaces. This observation inspired him to create an inflatable play structure specifically designed for jumping and bouncing.

Scurlock’s invention aimed to provide a unique and entertaining way for children to play and expend energy. Bounce houses quickly became popular at parties, fairs, and amusement parks, offering a safe environment where children could enjoy physical activity.

The safety of subsequent versions of his original design, created by others, was investigated after a Little Tikes Jump n’ Slide went airborne, reaching an altitude of 50 feet (15 meters) during high winds and injuring two children who “toppled out,” one falling on asphalt, the other on a parked car. Heavier, more durable houses are safe, Space Walk company executives say.

The Mayo Clinic, however, states that each year, children sustain injuries on trampolines and in bounce houses ranging from sprains and broken bones to traumatic head and neck injuries. It recommends a number of actions to prevent injuries, including supervising bounce house use at all times, allowing use only by children of the same size and age, ensuring that the bounce house is securely attached to the ground, and refraining from using a bounce house during high winds and storms.^[10]

Everyone has a favorite candy. Some people like the powdery sugar in Pixy Sticks. Others prefer classics like lemon drops and root beer barrels. Some like chewy candy like licorice, and some like to suck on candy like jawbreakers.

Anyone who has a sweet tooth knows that candy is the best way to sate it. However, you may not know everything about your favorite candy—like where it got its name, how it was first made, or even why.

10 Saltwater Taffy Was Probably Named As A Joke

Although nobody knows who made it first, saltwater taffy got its start either on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, or at Midwestern county fairs in the 19th century.

Taffy is made with sugar, salt, flavorings, corn syrup, and other ingredients that vary between recipes. It is then pulled and molded to aerate the mixture so that it becomes soft and chewy. Regardless of its name, this soft taffy does not have saltwater in it, although some brands do add extra salt.

According to rumor, saltwater taffy got its name from candymaker David Bradley. During an 1883 storm, his taffy stock became soaked with saltwater from the Atlantic Ocean. But even though his store was flooded, customers still came in to ask for his taffy. He jokingly called it “saltwater taffy,” and the name stuck.

In 1923, John Edmiston trademarked the name and tried to get a cut of the profits from anyone selling “saltwater taffy.” But the Supreme Court decided that the name had already been used too often for candy and ruled against him. As a result, Edmiston did not receive any royalties. The term became common again and is now the accepted way to market nearly any taffy, salty or not.

9 Cotton Candy Was Promoted By Dentists

Originally called fairy floss, cotton candy has gone by many monikers, such as candy floss or spun sugar. John C. Wharton and William J. Morrison patented their version of a cotton candy machine in 1899. Then they introduced the machine and their new candy concoction at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. They sold nearly 70,000 boxes of candy at that fair.

As cotton candy is made entirely from caramelized sugar, most people realize that such a sweet overload will probably send you to a dentist sooner rather than later. Interestingly, Morrison was a dentist. To be fair, he was also a lawyer, an author, and a civic leader. But still, a dentist creating cotton candy has to raise some eyebrows.

In 1900, cotton candy was introduced to the Ringling Brothers by Thomas Patton, who had invented a more modern version of the cotton candy machine. Even later, Josef Lascaux, another dentist, created another version of the machine that he never officially patented. He did, however, coin the name “cotton candy.”

As to why more than one dentist had a hand in the rise of cotton candy’s popularity, we can only guess that it has to do with the consequential rise of cavities.

8 Pop Rocks Caused Urban Legend And Widespread Panic

The fizzing candies Pop Rocks were developed in 1956 by General Foods research scientist William A. Mitchell. Originally sold for 15 cents a packet in the early 1970s, they came in orange, cherry, and grape flavors. Pop Rocks are small, crystallized pieces of sugar with air pockets of carbonation that “pop” and “crackle” when the candy melts in your mouth or in water.

This popping sound led to an urban legend. As early as 1979, there were rumors about a child who had exploded after eating Pop Rocks with soda. At one point, the Food and Drug Administration even set up a hotline to field any questions from parents concerned about their children eating the candy.

After a large marketing effort to combat the rumors that were gripping the imagination of the public, Pop Rocks eventually disappeared from market shelves in 1983. They have since popped back up and had a resurgence in popularity.

But the crazy rumors still linger and were even featured on MythBusters. Don’t worry about busting your gut, though. The most that Pop Rocks and soda will do to your stomach is to make it upset.

7 Lollipops Have Strange Name Origins

Since ancient times, candies and sugary sweets have often been put on the ends of sticks for easy eating. It became popular in the 17th century to enjoy boiled sugar treats that were pressed onto sticks to eat. This treat was soft candy rather than hard, but it was one of the forerunners of the modern lollipop.

In the 20th century, the owner of McAviney Candy Company often brought home for his children the leftover sticks used to stir batches of candy. He began selling these sticks in 1908, which coincided with the invention of the first automated machine that put sticks in hard candy. Samuel Born, the inventor of the candy machine, was even awarded a key to the city of San Francisco for his invention.

In 1908, George Smith began marketing the modern version of a lollipop through his confection company, Bradley Smith Company. He coined the term “lollipop” in 1931 after a famous racehorse of the time called Lolly Pop.

When lollipops stopped being produced during the Great Depression, the name fell into the public domain. The name also meant something like “tongue slapper” because “lolly” was Old English slang for “tongue” and “pop” meant “to slap.”

Some linguists have even linked the name to the Roman phrase loli phaba (“red apple”), supposedly referring to the traditional Roman toffee apple treat. So the famous name originates from a horse, Old English slang, or ancient Rome. Or it could be made-up. Whatever the truth, it’s a unique way of looking at lollipops.

6 Snickers Also Has Strange Name Origins

The Snickers bar has an interesting story behind its name as well. Although the Snickers bar was not the first peanut, caramel, and nougat candy bar, it was one of the most popular and most enduring of its time.

Frank and Ethel Mars, founders of Mars, Inc., had great success with the Milky Way bar and were open to developing new candies. After three years of development, the Snickers bar was released in 1930.

Just months before the release of their new candy bar, Ethel’s favorite horse, Snickers, died. This was a hard loss for her as she adored her horse. So she and her husband named the new candy bar “Snickers” in the horse’s honor.

Interestingly, the farm where Snickers had lived was called the Milky Way Farm, just like their other famous candy bar. Regardless of this name theme, Snickers candy bars live on as one of the best-selling candies in the world.

5 Circus Peanuts Inspired Lucky Charms

Fondly remembered as one of the original penny candies, Circus Peanuts have been around since the 1800s. The banana-flavored marshmallows are notorious for their love-it-or-hate-it reputation.

Maybe that’s why no one has admitted to inventing them, much less tried to brand them. Since we don’t know who the creator is, we also have no idea why these peanut-shaped candies have a banana flavor.

Either way, these little gum stickers are the reason why we have marshmallow cereals. General Mills product developer John Holahan found that the mixture of Cheerios and cut bits of Circus Peanuts was good enough to sell, which led to the development of the ever-popular Lucky Charms cereal.

So maybe, even if you’re not fond of Circus Peanuts, you might want to thank whoever made them if you love marshmallows in cereal.

4 M&M’S Lost A Color In Cancer Panic

Forrest Mars Sr., son of Frank and Ethel Mars of Mars, Inc., was inspired by the candy-shelled chocolates in military rations to make the famous M&M’S candies. Named for Forrest Mars Sr. and Hershey executive William Murrie, these candies were patented and put into production in 1941.

Eventually, they were sold only to the military. But when the war ended, their popularity continued with civilians. The candies were sold in cardboard tubes, and the original colors were brown, red, violet, yellow, and green. However, in 1979, one of these colors faded from the mix due to FDA test results.

The dye called FD&C Red No. 2 was linked to tumors in female rats in a 1971 Russian test. However, this test was later found to have been incorrectly performed. The tested dye wasn’t the food coloring that was used in M&M’S anyway.

But the damage had already been done. Mars had to deal with a public that was panicked over the possible effects of FD&C Red No. 2. Used to color several popular foods like soda, hot dogs, ice cream, and candy, the public demanded that the controversial dye be removed.

Although M&M’S were colored with Red No. 40, Mars replaced red M&M’S with orange M&M’S to ease public anxiety. In 1987, the red color was reintroduced for M&M’S and has been popular ever since.

3 Necco Wafers Were Brought To The South Pole By The Ton

These chalklike candies were invented in 1847 when Oliver Chase made the first lozenge cutter. It became the machine that launched the candy industry, and it wasn’t long before its first creation, Necco Wafers, made it big.

The military commissioned a major portion of Necco Wafers’ production during World War II because the candies were easy to transport without melting. They were also cheap enough during the Great Depression to become a popular civilian treat.

Famous Arctic explorer Donald MacMillan gave out these candies to native Canadians on his journeys, but that was nothing in comparison to Admiral Richard Byrd. For a two-year journey to the South Pole, Byrd packed 2.5 tons of Necco Wafers. That was about 0.5 kilograms (1 lb) of candy per week for every man on the crew for the entire trip.

There is no record as to whether the entire amount was consumed. Still, the eight original flavors that Admiral Byrd carried with him can be enjoyed today. Except for the price, not much about Necco Wafers has changed since they were invented.

2 Dubble Bubble Gum Was An Accident

Ancient people chewed on bits of tree bark tar. The Maya and Aztecs also chewed on chicle from sapodilla trees. Then, in the 1840s, John Curtis used spruce tree resin to make gum to chew on and later created the first chewing gum factory.

It wasn’t until 1928, however, that our modern idea of chewing gum was created. Accountant Walter E. Diemer created it by accident. He liked to experiment in his spare time. After expanding on a failed recipe, he found a way to make chewing gum that was easier to chew and more resistant to breakage in packaging.

Interestingly, the iconic pink color was chosen simply because that was the only color available. After a successful trial run, the new gum was packaged and marketed as Dubble Bubble Gum. Eventually, the packages included comics that featured Dub, Bub, and the iconic Pud.

This only helped the popularity of the new chewing gum. At the beginning of World War II, it was even shipped to the military before the scarcity of products forced the factories to stop production. These factories reopened soon after the war ended and still cater to our bubble-blowing, cud-chewing needs today.

1 PEZ Dispensers Were Created To Attract Smokers

The famous PEZ candies were created in Vienna, Austria, in 1927. Originally, they didn’t have the sweet, fruity flavors that we know today. They used to be peppermint flavored. In fact, their name comes from pfefferminz, the German word for “peppermint.”

Packaged in tins, the candies were popular for a time. They were supposed to be used as an alternative to smoking because their creator, Eduard Haas III, disliked smoking.

In 1949, new PEZ dispensers designed by Oscar Uxa were introduced as a way to hygienically share the candies without touching all of them. The dispensers were also designed to draw in smokers. Flicking open the top of a PEZ dispenser was meant to be like flicking a lighter. For a time, Haas even used the slogan “No Smoking, PEZing Allowed.”

In the transition to American markets, PEZ changed to their iconic fruity flavors, and the dispensers acquired their character tops. Whether PEZ have actually discouraged smoking is debatable. But PEZ still exist today as beloved combinations of candies and toys.

+ US Senate Candy Desk

The US Senate candy desk is an aisle desk on the Republican side of the Senate that is stocked with various candies. However, it is open to Democrats as well.

The senator assigned to the seat is in charge of keeping it stocked, traditionally with sweets from his own state. This is the only seat that is not assigned by seniority. Instead, it is usually offered to those who love candy and sweets.

The tradition started in 1965 with Senator George Murphy, who had a legendary sweet tooth. He stocked his desk drawer full of candies and offered them to senators who were passing by. When he lost his seat in 1970, the next senator to occupy the desk continued the tradition.

It becomes an interesting tidbit when the desk changes owners and even caused an uproar in the Senate when Senator Craig Thomas took over in 2007. There was concern that his home state of Wyoming didn’t have any well-known candy companies such as Hershey’s, which supplied 180 kilograms (400 lb) of candy per year when Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum occupied the desk.

But the fear that Thomas would be unable to keep the desk stocked was overblown. Several Wyoming artisan companies stepped forward to supply the candy desk, and the candy tradition continued without a hitch.

Erin S. Miller is a woman working her way through school and her own ambitions. She enjoys the strange and unknown as much as writing about them.

As humans, there are popular phrases that we have come to accept and use without actually taking the time to find out where those sayings came from. If you are curious about the origins of some of the phrases you have become accustomed to, then you need not bother anymore. These are ten intriguing origins of popular sayings:

Related: 10 Sayings and Idioms That Are Often Misunderstood

10 Turn a Blind Eye

To “turn a blind eye” is used to refer to the act of ignoring or failing to acknowledge something you know to be real. The expression finds its roots in the naval exploits of Admiral Horatio Nelson during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. In the midst of the intense battle, Nelson, commanding the British fleet, received a signal from his superior to withdraw from the engagement. However, Nelson, renowned for his boldness and strategic acumen, allegedly raised his telescope to his blind eye, claiming he could not see the signal.

By turning a blind eye to the order, Nelson defiantly continued the fight, ultimately securing a decisive victory for the British forces. This audacious act of disregarding orders by feigning ignorance gave rise to the expression “to turn a blind eye,” signifying the deliberate choice to ignore or overlook something, often out of convenience or expediency.

Over time, the phrase “to turn a blind eye” has transcended its naval origins and become a widely used idiom in the English language. It now encompasses instances beyond military contexts, representing a deliberate act of ignoring or overlooking something, whether it be wrongdoing, inconvenient truths, or uncomfortable situations. ^[1]

9 To Shed Crocodile Tears

The phrase “to shed crocodile tears” simply means to show an insincere emotion or feign sadness or grief. The saying originates from ancient lore surrounding crocodiles. In various cultures, it was believed that crocodiles shed tears while devouring their prey, creating the illusion of remorse or sadness. This belief likely stemmed from observing the watery discharge that occurs when crocodiles open and close their jaws.

Over time, this phenomenon became associated with insincere displays of emotion or false sympathy. The term “crocodile tears” first appeared in English literature in the 16th century, reflecting this ancient notion and suggesting that tears shed were not genuine but rather a deceptive façade.

The expression “to cry crocodile tears” gained popularity in the English language as a metaphor for feigned sorrow or hypocrisy. It implies a superficial display of emotion intended to manipulate or deceive others. Whether used to describe someone’s insincere condolences or political posturing, the phrase captures the skepticism toward displays of emotion that lack authenticity.^[2]

8 Feeling under the Weather

The term “feeling under the weather” is used when someone feels unwell or in low spirits. The saying has its origins in maritime terminology. In the 19th century, sailors used the phrase “under the weather bow” to describe a ship’s position when it was being battered by rough seas and adverse weather conditions. Being “under the weather” meant enduring the discomfort and sickness that often accompanied such conditions.

As time passed, this nautical expression found its way into common usage as a metaphor for feeling unwell or experiencing a mild illness. The association between rough seas and feeling unwell likely resonated with people, leading to the widespread adoption of the phrase in everyday language.

Today, “feeling under the weather” is a common idiom used to convey a sense of physical discomfort or illness. It suggests a temporary state of being not quite oneself, often characterized by symptoms such as fatigue, malaise, or minor ailments like a cold or headache. Whether experiencing a mild illness or simply feeling off-kilter, saying that one is “under the weather” provides a convenient way to express discomfort without delving into specific symptoms or details.^[3]

7 Let the Cat out of the Bag

The expression “let the cat out of the bag” refers to an act of revealing a secret either deliberately or inadvertently. The phrase has two commonly suggested origins. One of the theories refers to the “cat o’ nine tails,” a whipping device infamously used by the Royal Navy as an instrument of punishment aboard its ships. The whip’s nine knotted cords are capable of scratching the back of sailors badly, hence the nickname. The wounds created by the whip are like what occurs when a cat scratches a human’s back.

The second theory of the origin of the phrase—which we believe is the most probable— is the ridiculous livestock fraud that was commonplace at a time in Europe. Merchants would sell customers live piglets that would be put in a bag for easy transport. Sometimes, fraudulent merchants would swap the pig for a cat when the customer was distracted. The buyer would not discover that they have been cheated until they got home and literally let the cat out of the bag.

Over the centuries, “letting the cat out of the bag” has become a widely used idiom in the English language. The image of the cat escaping from its bag remains a vivid metaphor for the unintended disclosure of a secret, emphasizing the difficulty of containing information once it has been set free. Whether used in playful banter or serious contexts, the saying captures the consequences of careless speech and the challenge of maintaining confidentiality in a world where secrets are often difficult to keep.^[4]

6 Like a Bull in a China Shop

When someone behaves “like a bull in a China shop,” the person behaves recklessly and clumsily in a situation where such a behavior could cause damage. This phrase originated from a real-life situation when cattle were brought to the market in London for sale in the 17th century. Some cattle would stray into nearby china shops, causing havoc in the process. The phrase first appeared in print in the early 19th century and quickly became a popular metaphor for describing someone who behaves with reckless abandon or lacks finesse in delicate situations.

The association of a powerful, lumbering bull causing havoc in a setting filled with fragile items vividly captures the idea of someone being clumsy, destructive, or unrefined. The expression is now firmly embedded in the English language. Whether applied to someone’s behavior in social interactions, decision-making processes, or any situation requiring delicacy and precision, the phrase conveys a sense of brute force and lack of grace. It serves as a cautionary metaphor, reminding us of the importance of exercising care and consideration in navigating delicate circumstances to avoid unintended consequences.^[5]

5 Beat about the Bush

The phrase “beat about the bush” means to discuss a matter in a dodgy way without coming to the point. The saying has its origins in medieval hunting practices. In those times, hunters would literally beat bushes with sticks to flush out birds and other game hiding within. However, sometimes the game would be difficult to flush out, and hunters would resort to beating around the bush instead of directly targeting the concealed prey. This indirect approach prolonged the hunt and was seen as inefficient.

Over time, the phrase “beat around the bush” evolved into a metaphor for avoiding directness or skirting around the main point in conversation or action. Since its inception, “beat around the bush” has become a common idiom in the English language, used to describe the act of avoiding the central issue or delaying the discussion of an important topic. Whether in personal conversations, business negotiations, or everyday interactions, the phrase captures the notion of reluctance to address something directly, often due to discomfort, evasion, or a desire to soften the impact of the topic at hand. Despite originating several centuries ago, the idiom has come to stay.^[6]

4 Straight from the Horse’s Mouth

The expression “straight from the horse’s mouth” means that a person has received information from someone who has personal knowledge of the spoken matter. The saying originates from the world of horse racing and betting. In this context, receiving information “straight from the horse’s mouth” means obtaining it directly from a knowledgeable and reliable source, often the horse’s owner, trainer, or someone closely associated with the horse. This phrase gained popularity because obtaining information directly from those intimately involved with the horse provided bettors with the most accurate and reliable insights into its condition, performance, and chances of winning.

Beyond the realm of horse racing, it signifies information obtained directly from a primary or authoritative source, thereby implying its credibility and reliability. Whether used in casual conversation or professional contexts, the phrase underscores the value placed on firsthand information and the trustworthiness associated with information provided directly by those with firsthand knowledge or experience. Thus, the saying has become a powerful metaphor in the English language for authenticity and trustworthiness in communication.^[7]

3 To Put Someone on the Spot

The phrase “to put someone on the spot” means to cause someone embarrassment or difficulty by forcing them to answer a difficult question or make an important decision. The saying finds its origins in the world of theater. In theatrical productions, actors perform on a stage where designated spots, marked by lighting or other cues, indicate where they should stand or perform specific actions during a scene.

If an actor was unexpectedly placed in a spot where they were not prepared to deliver their lines or perform their role, they would be caught off guard and likely feel pressured to respond immediately. This situation of being thrust into the spotlight, figuratively and often without warning, led to the expression “to put someone on the spot,” denoting a moment of unexpected pressure or scrutiny.

The phrase now refers to situations where someone is placed in a difficult or uncomfortable position, often requiring them to respond or make a decision quickly and under pressure. Whether in social interactions, professional settings, or personal relationships, the phrase captures the sense of being singled out or challenged unexpectedly, forcing one to think and act swiftly in the spotlight of attention.^[8]

2 To Get Cold Feet

The phrase “to get cold feet” means to suddenly become too frightened to do something you had planned to do, especially something important. There seem to be several possible theories about its origins, which changed as the expression evolved. A possible theory is from the military back in the 16th and 17th centuries when soldiers went to war in harsh weather and the technology available at that time did not allow for the manufacturing of high-quality protective footwear. The feet of soldiers were often exposed to snow and other elements, which would cause them to freeze. In this state, the soldier could not fight and could not be sent to the front.

Another origin story has its roots in the world of 19th-century American slang, particularly in the context of gambling and politics. It was commonly used to describe a sudden loss of nerve or resolve, especially just before undertaking a risky or important endeavor. The phrase likely originated from the physical sensation of one’s feet becoming cold due to nervousness or fear, leading to a reluctance to proceed with a planned action. In the context of gambling, it referred to a player backing out of a bet at the last moment due to doubts about their chances of winning, while in politics, it described a candidate withdrawing from a race due to apprehension about their ability to succeed.

Several others involve Italian and German influences about a “lack of money” or a “lack of courage.” Although the first literary publication of the phrase as we know it today appeared in Stephen Crane’s second edition publication of Maggie: Girl on the Streets in 1896. Regardless, it has become popular and is used to denote a situation wherein a person has prepared for an important activity only to excuse himself at the last minute.^[9]

1 Bury the Hatchet

The phrase “bury the hatchet” simply means to make peace and end a conflict. The saying traces its origins back to Native American tradition, specifically the practices of certain tribes during treaty negotiations or peace agreements. When tribes would come together to settle disputes or establish peace, they would symbolize their commitment to reconciliation by literally burying a hatchet or tomahawk in the ground.

This act served as a tangible representation of their willingness to let go of past conflicts and grievances, signifying a mutual desire to move forward in harmony. The burying of the hatchet was not only a symbolic gesture but also a practical one, as it ensured that the weapon could not be readily retrieved for use in future conflicts. Although the phrase became popular in the 17th century, the practice of burying the hatchet is way earlier than that, possibly pre-dating the European settlement of America.

This practice has been observed in Massachusetts as early as 1680. The Treaty of Hopewell, which marked a new era of relations between the United States and Native American nations signed by Col. Benjamin Hawkins, Gen. Andrew Pickens, and Headman Mcintosh in Keowee, in South Carolina, in 1795, makes use of the phrase.

Over time, “burying the hatchet” has evolved into a widely recognized idiom in the English language, representing the act of resolving differences or ending hostilities between individuals or groups. Whether used in personal relationships, business dealings, or diplomatic negotiations, the phrase conveys the idea of putting aside past disagreements and animosities in favor of peace and cooperation.^[10]

English is an amazing language with its roots in the Eastern Germanic family of languages with an enormous dollop of influence from the Romance languages (mostly through French). That has led to a number of very curious but definitely fun words to appear over the centuries. This list looks at ten of those words: mostly familiar but seldom used.

See Also: 10 Wrong Words That Are Actually Right

10 Malarkey

You may have heard this word recently when Democratic hopeful for the 1820 presidential election and supercentenarian, Joe Biden, recently surprised everyone with his hilarious use of the phrase “no malarkey” which he also painted on his campaign omnibus. But jocularity aside, what does malarkey mean? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it refers to “nonsense talk” and it originated in the 1920s. The rise in popularity of its use occurred in parts of the US with heavy Irish immigrant influence so it is possibly related to some unknown man by the name of “Mullarkey” but we’ll never know. What we do know is that there is a tinge of irony to the fact that Mr Biden has chosen this particular phrase for his campaign given his recent public speaking blunders, such as “poor kids are as bright as white kids” and the incredibly hilarious, yet so terribly wrong “No man has a right to raise a hand to a woman in anger other than in self-defense and that rarely ever occurs. And so we have to just change the culture. Period. And keep punching at it and punching at it and punching at it.”

9 Flim-flam

Flim-flam is yet another word with much political use! It means insincere talk or deceitful words. Here it is in a sentence: “Ninety percent of political commentary is flim-flam”. Its origins are in the 16th century and the term is a form of symbolic reduplication. Reduplication is a linguistic trick used in most languages to draw attention to something or emphasize it. A recent (and somewhat shocking) form of this is when Whoopi Goldberg absolved Roman Polanski of his child-molestation crime by saying it wasn’t “rape-rape” (so much for #metoo). I’m not certain his 14 year old victim would have felt the same way. Other common uses of reduplication are the words “razzle-dazzle”, “bye-bye”, “hip-hop”, and the funnest form (shm-reduplication) “fancy-shmancy”.

8 Gigglemug

Once upon a time politics was filled with gigglemugs. These days there are more triggeredmugs but that is beside the point. A gigglemug is a face (and by extension a person) who has a smile constantly plastered to their face. The word implies disingenuousness. Hollywood is still bursting to the seams with gigglemugs. The term comes from the British use of the word “mug” to mean face which probably came from the old 17th century mugs that were often decorated with faces (toby jugs are an example of this). This use of the word mug is seldom seen in modern English except in the form a mugshot. And the word giggle comes from the 1500s and is an onomatopoeia for the sound we make when we giggle.

7 Collywobbles

Collywobbles refers to a stomach ache or butterflies in the stomach. Despite what you may have heard about this word originating as an aberration of “cholera morbus” that is unlikely. When this word arose in the early 1800s, there was also a commonly used meaning for the word “colly” which was a reference to coal dust. Here’s a great bit of knowledge for you: you’ve been singing the twelve days of Christmas wrong your whole life. You know the “four calling birds”? They weren’t calling at all! They were “colly birds”—a slang for blackbirds. Anyway, there is no real reason to believe that coal dust was the root of the term either, though both theories have been suggested. Most likely it is just a cutesy word made up to distract a child from his stomach pains.

6 Poppycock

Neither related to opium nor penises, poppycock is a very American term from around the mid 1800s and most likely came from Dutch migrants who used the phrase zo fijn als gemalen poppekak meaning a person with great religious zeal (literally meaning “as fine as powdered dolls shit”). The connection to feces (and dolls obviously) was lost and the term ultimately came to be used in English to mean something which is nonsense. It is easy to see how a term referring to the type of character who preaches enthusiastically on a street corner could come to be used to mean anything nonsensical.^[1]

5 Nincompoop

A nincompoop is a foolish or stupid person—it is somewhat synonymous with the term “Youtube commenter“. The word first appears in the greatest language of all (English, duh), in the 1600s. It’s origins are widely disputed but range from the boring (a reference to the Biblical Nicodemus who naively questioned Christ), to the logical sounding opinion of the brilliant Dr Johnson who claimed it to be an aberration of the Latin non compos mentis (not mentally competent). And then finally the most bizarre origin theory is that it comes from Dutch nicht om poep which could refer to a farting effeminate gay man (I didn’t make that up . . seriously).^[2]

4 Claptrap

Claptrap is a weird word with a slightly different meaning originally to its current use. Now it means something which is a load of rubbish; actually it’s pretty similar to malarkey. The source of this word, however, has theatrical origins. If you are a fan of the hacker named 4Chan, you’ll know the use of the term “trap” to refer to a crossdresser who traps straight guys by tricking them into thinking he is really a girl (this is not related to transgenderism by the way). “Claptrap” came about in much the same way. When something was claptrap, it was a special theatrical trick designed to make people clap unexpectedly. Presumably this was often done with actions that were ridiculous or foolish so in modern parlance the term has no relation to clapping and every relation to ridiculous or foolish talk—in other words: nonsense.

3 Whippersnapper

When not rejecting a bunch of Malarkey, Mr Biden can be found sniffing the heads of young whippersnappers. A Whippersnapper is, of course, a belligerent youth or simply a lazy bored youngun. The term is a fascinating mixture of two things: in the late 16th century and early 17th century some young people took up the habit of snapping whips to pass the time: much like modern kids playing with fidget spinners. Emerging in the English language around the same time was the phrase “snipper-snappers” which referred to street kids. Simply by chance these terms merged and left us with “whippersnapper”. It is not very commonly used these days unless you are in a black and white British moving picture.

2 Mumbo-Jumbo

Mumbo-Jumbo refers to meaningless words: phrases that make no sense or make sense to just a small number of people (such as political jargon). It can also mean the practices of a person involved in strange non-standard religious practices (typically religions deemed sinister or dark such as voodoo or witchery). It is this latter meaning from which the word originates. Maamajomboo is a Mandkinan word (a language in Gambia) describing a man who dresses up in a weird costume to perform rituals. Here is the rather hilarious 1803 Encyclopedia Britannica definition of Mumbo Jumbo: “A strange bugbear employed by the Pagan Mandingos for the purpose of keeping their women in subjection. [E]very man marries as many wives as he can conveniently maintain; and the consequence is, that family quarrels sometimes rise to such a height, that the husband’s authority is not sufficient to restore peace among the ladies. On these occasions, the interposition of Mumbo Jumbo is called in; and it is always decisive.”^[]

1 Trumpery

The French word Tromperie came from their verb tromper meaning “to deceive”. The word travelled, via Middle English (before Shakespeare and that darned confusing modern English of his) to our own language as trumpery, which means the same thing: deceitfulness or a deceitful thing. It has no historical confluence with the current President of the United States of America—though, in a similar fashion to the “backronym” (an acronym definition invented after the acronym itself), many fancifully believe it does. Another word that very much describes politicians in general is “snollygost”—a shrewd and unprincipled person who does things for their own gain. Can you name a politician who has done this? Or more simply: can you name one who hasn’t?

+ Competition Time!

COMPETITION IS NOW ENDED: See the comments for the winner’s names. It’s time for another competition! In order to combat the unfairness of comment voting count when people around the world wake at different times of the day, the winner of this competition will be chosen at random from all the comments. Five people will win a copy of this amazing book! There are unlimited entries allowed (one comment is one entry) but your comment must contribute to the discussion; you can’t just post mumbo-jumbo and hope to win! I’ll pick the winners at midnight (Pacific time). You can be from any country. You can be any age. You need to be a registered user of .com, you can sign up here or log on here. If you are already registered you are eligible. Guest posts are not included.

What do you win? Just the best book on languages ever! The Mother Tongue – English And How It Got That Way by the brilliant Bill Bryson whose books we have featured before. In The Mother Tongue, Bryson “brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language.”

As one reviewer puts it: “Who would have thought that a book about English would be so entertaining? Certainly not this grammar-allergic reviewer, but The Mother Tongue pulls it off admirably. Bill Bryson—a zealot—is the right man for the job. Who else could rhapsodize about “the colorless murmur of the schwa” with a straight face? It is his unflagging enthusiasm, seeping from between every sentence, that carries the book.”

Bryson’s book are some of my favorite so I’m certain it will be loved by the winner. Good luck!

Although they’re literally at our fingertips, we seldom think of them. However, our word processors’ fonts sometimes have intriguing, even surprising origins, and they’re not always free of controversy and criticism.

Businesses have commissioned some of them. Others have been inspired by cartoon lettering, music, road signs, and puzzles. Still others are based on marketplace needs, requirements imposed by technological devices, or innovations in art, design, and manufacturing. Whatever led to the development of these fonts, the inspirations behind them are, at times, inspirational in themselves.

10 Wingdings

Originally, the weird font that became known as Wingdings was hand-drawn before being digitized, printed, and exhibited at the 1984 Association Typographique Internationale conference in London, England. Microsoft bought the font in 1990, renaming it “Wingdings” and remapping the keyboard layout.

But who would want a collection of these weird symbols and why? At the time the font was invented, incorporating images into text documents was difficult and time-consuming. Graphics libraries were limited, and graphics files were large and depended on hard drives with severe space limitations.

Lucida designers Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes offered their strange font characters as a solution. Lucida Icons, Lucida Arrows, and Lucida Stars supplied ready-made, easy-to-use images that users could easily insert into their documents to add a bit of early 1990s pizzazz.

The weirdest thing about Wingdings, though, wasn’t typing a “Q” and producing the image of an airplane or getting a flag in exchange for a “P.” It was a bizarre controversy generated by its use.^[1]

Conspiracy theorists were convinced that using Wingdings was a way of typing secret messages. One such message was allegedly anti-Semitic. Typing “NYC” resulted in a skull and crossbones, followed by a Star of David, followed by a thumbs-up gesture. Conspiracy theorists suggested that this indicated it was acceptable to kill Jews who lived or worked in New York City.

Microsoft insisted that there was no conspiracy. Rather, the substitution of these particular icons for those letters was the result of mere coincidence. In fact, the characters of the original Lucida font, on which Wingdings is based, were selected from a variety of sources, including ancient gestures, medieval manuscripts, modern inventions. Also, Bigelow and Holmes liked fleurons, which are floral designs based on flowers from their yard.

9 Comic Sans

An Internet campaign against the use of Comic Sans argues that the font is too unsophisticated. It is childish, critics contend, bordering on infantile. Worse yet, its users seem determined to print its characters in bright, primary colors, adding to its childish appearance.

What such critics seem to have forgotten, if they’ve ever known it, is that Comic Sans is supposed to look unsophisticated. It was designed to look childlike, if not childish.

In 1994, its designer, Vincent Connare, thought that the font chosen for Microsoft Bob, a new user-friendly software suite for children, was too sedate for the product. He wanted something more dynamic. Connare was inspired by the lettering of the text he saw in cartoon speech bubbles. Using a program for making fonts, he rounded off the letters, making a simple, fun, new font.^[2]

His font wasn’t selected for the Microsoft Bob package, though, because it didn’t fit the company’s existing grids. Instead, when Microsoft later launched its Movie Maker program, Connare’s font was chosen for the new software.

Subsequently, Comic Sans was included with the Windows 95 operating system, making the font available to the company’s millions of customers. Although reviled by those who don’t appreciate its appearance, Comic Sans remains popular with many and is a favorite among people who work with dyslexic children.

8 Centaur

Over the centuries, font weights were added to existing typefaces. For example, italic and bold weights, which we take for granted today, didn’t exist until the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (The weight of a font is determined by a character’s thickness relative to the character’s height. In general, the heavier the weight, the darker the impression created by the typeface.)

English poet and novelist William Morris was so impressed with French engraver Nicolas Jenson’s printing from the late 15th century that Morris sought to revive the font created from that typeface. As a result, he had another font produced for his 19th-century work that imitated Jenson’s earlier typeface.

Morris faced a conundrum, though. Neither bold nor italic font weights existed in Jenson’s time.

Consequently, another 30 years passed before the italic font weight could be added to Centaur. Papal scribe Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi was also a type designer, and he printed several of his works, which included italics based on his own calligraphy. Others also contributed to the creation of italic weights, but he is credited with one of the most elegant and popular versions.

Bold weights appear to have been introduced in 1913 when an international committee met in Paris. During their convention, the committee established “a table of bold sans serif and hairline alphabets in 19th-century style” of various sizes and weights. It became generally accepted and is still used today by mapmakers.^[3]

7 Copperplate Gothic

Despite its name, Copperplate Gothic is not a true Gothic font. Gothic styles lack serifs (small lines protruding from the tops and bottoms of many letters and from the ends of the top bar of the capital “T,” for example).

What’s more unusual about this font, though, is that Frederic Goudy, its designer, created only capital letters for it.^[4] He did that because the font was initially intended only for headings and key words of text.

6 Times New Roman

In 1929, The Times, a British newspaper, commissioned typographer Stanley Morison to design a new font. Created with the assistance of the newspaper’s artist, Victor Lardent, Morrison’s narrow font became popular with printers.

Although it is widely used in a variety of fields, including the legal profession, the staid Times New Roman font is not without its critics. They suggest that the letters are uninspired and stodgy, perhaps reflecting the users’ own lack of imagination.^[5]

Font pundits agree that font selection says something about those who make the choice to use it rather than an alternative.

5 Gabriola

Music inspired the elegant Gabriola font, which is named for a Canadian island. Its designer, John Hudson, was inspired by the idea in music that a melody can be played in a variety of styles without losing its unique character.

This font has eight sets, each in its own style, allowing users to employ it in as many variations.^[6] In addition, the font allows substitutions of characters in various styles to avoid unwanted repetitions of the same kinds of letters.

4 Dyslexie

A dyslexic himself, Dutch designer Christian Boer developed the font Dyslexie to help himself read more easily and more accurately. Dyslexia can make reading and writing difficult because dyslexics tend to transpose or rotate letters in their minds and have difficulty recognizing them.

Boer’s solution was to make the differences in every letter clearer so that the differences stand out better. This makes it easier to distinguish one letter from another.

Boer made letters thicker at the bottom. That way, he didn’t invert them in his mind. By italicizing parts of letters (such as “j”) or enlarging the openings of other letters (such as “a”), he stresses the differences in their appearance.

Boer accomplishes the same result by making some letters (such as “v”) larger than similar-looking letters (such as “w”). These strategies and similar ones have proven to work well for Boer and for dyslexics in general who use Dyslexie.^[7]

3 Trebuchet MS

After he finished his work on Matthew Carter’s Verdana font, Vincent Connare set to work creating the font that came to be known as Trebuchet MS. He was inspired by the style exhibited by US highway signs as well as a number of typefaces. (Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, “typeface” refers to a particular design of type, the metal casts of letters that make ink imprints on paper, whereas “font” refers to the impressions thus imprinted.)

Once he completed his design, Connare needed a name for his new font. The answer to a puzzle question supplied it. The question asked, “Can you make a trebuchet that could launch a person from main campus to the new consumer campus about a mile away?”^[8]

A trebuchet is a medieval weapon capable of launching missiles. Connare, who proposed to “launch words across the Internet” with his new font, considered the image of this engine of war to be appropriate. So he seized its name for his new font.

2 Westminster

Whether by design or accident, some fonts meet technological demands. Leo Maggs created his typeface as a special project for the magazine About the House, which was targeted toward patrons of Covent Garden Opera House.

In 1964 or 1965, he was asked to devise a “futuristic style” for one of the magazine’s articles. To accomplish the task, he needed to create only a few letters. But he finished the rest of the alphabet on his own time, basing his work on the proportions established by Gill Sans, a classic typeface.

Maggs’s font was rejected by Letraset, a typeface manufacturer, as “commercially unviable.”^[9] However, a photo-typesetting company, Photoscript Ltd, accepted Maggs’s design. It proved to be a great success, earning its inventor a series of royalties. In 1993, Maggs licensed Westminster font to Microsoft for a new software package the company was developing.

One reason that Westminster font was so popular is because it was modeled on the account numbers that can be read by machines on bank checks. Therefore, the check-processing machines could read it, which may explain why it was named after the Westminster Bank.

1 Bulmer

Bulmer, one of the fonts marking the transition between the medieval and the modern worlds of typeface,^[10] was designed by William Martin expressly for the purpose of printing the Boydell Shakespeare folio edition.

Bulmer was named for the printing company where Martin worked when he cut the typeface in 1790. It is an update and refinement of the earlier Baskerville typeface which is still in use today.

Gary Pullman lives south of Area 51, which, according to his family and friends, explains “a lot.” His 2016 urban fantasy novel, A Whole World Full of Hurt, available on Amazon.com, was published by The Wild Rose Press. An instructor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he writes several blogs, one of which is Chillers and Thrillers: A Blog on the Theory and Practice of Writing Horror Fiction.