EdFromO's Open Questions
These are some non-mathematical open questions I have been thinking about.
Their purpose is not necessarily to entertain - I really would like to know.
More questions as I think of them, and fewer as they get answered.
Last modified: Sun Aug 3 10:01:20 BST 2003
Unanswered Questions
- Is there a connection between the Hooloovoos in the Hitch Hiker
``trilogy'' and Boolooroo of the Blues (L. Frank Baum)?
- Why does Douglas Hofstadter use the word ``imbue'' so much?
- Is ``The Womble Shuffle'' by Mike Batt just a kids' song, or does it have
any valid sexual/drugual interpretations?
- Alien dope art. What the hell is going on here?
- Why isn't the English for pineapple ananas, as it is in
many other languages?
Edvard
``Eddie `The Eagle''' Nygaard suggests:
In spite of considerable differences in
size, texture and digestibility, pineapples bear some resemblance to the
cones of the pine trees. Most of them have colours between green and
brown, depending on their state of ripeness, and they have similar
apperances with surfaces consisting of roughly diamond shaped shells
protecting the seeds and/or meat. Being a fruit mimicking a pine cone,
the pineapple is actually a ``pine apple''.
The question remains: why doesn't this happen in more other languages?
Rolf Mantel adds:
I would like to point out that the pineapple is called
pina in Spanish,
leaving English as not the only descriptive language. Similarly,
grapefruit is a lot more descriptive than the German word
Pampelmuse,
where no associations with other known fruit are triggered. Grapefruit
apparently grow in grape-like structures, with a lot of them on one stem.
Chris Hohman disagrees!
Someone said something about grapefruit when commenting on the word
origins of pineapple. Since I am from Florida I can confirm for you that
grapefruit grows on trees just like oranges or apples - with large fruit
spread throughout the tree. They absolutely do not grow on a vinelike
structure or in ``grapey bunches'' with more than one or two fruit per
branch since they weigh so darn much.
- Why does drinking Fanta make me feel weird? Is it just me?
- Colin Batchelor ``Bedroom'' asks:
On the A4260 from Kidlington to Oxford, there are notices
on the sides of the lampposts saying ``Do not climb above
the top of the column''. How, exactly, does one climb above
the top of the lamppost?
- Colin Batchelor ``Bedroom'' asks:
What is the origin of the American phrase ``Jack Shit''? Is he somehow
analogous to our ``Jack Frost''? [Or Jacques Tits, the famous
algebraist - Ed.]
- Charles Walkden, an ergodic theorist, asks:
The following thought occurred to me a few days ago [August 1999], and
it's sort-of
related to something on your open questions page. Manufacturers and
retailers always go on about ``This does not affect your statutory
rights''. Now my statutory rights are determined by applicable law
(for example, by the Sale of Goods Act) and
cannot be removed by the
manufacturer(*). My question: so why don't manufacturers use the
phrase ``This is in addition to your statutory rights''? This puts the
manufacturer in a much better light - they are emphasising that they
are giving you something extra, rather than pointing out that they are
not taking anything away.
(*) or can they?
Could, for example, Cheezy Puffs put ``Sold as seen''
on the back of their packets, and then deny the presence of any dead
rodents in the packets was their fault as the consumer should have
checked first.
- What does ``95% fat free'' really mean? Is it equivalent to ``5%
pure fat''?
- Anna Kirsten Nygaard asks:
I thought angora were just rabbits, but apparently, there
are angora goats, too!
Which is the real angora? The rabbits or the goats? Or is the name simply a
matter of geographical origin (Turkey, it seems)? And are mohair and angora
the same kind of wool? If so, why have two names? I've actually become very
keen on knowing the answers to this by now.
- You know the joke:
- Q: What do you call a man with N rabbits up his bum?
- A: Warren.
Why is N always 50? Wouldn't a more realistic value be
funnier?
Answered Questions
- Question:
- Does Father Ted look like Radovan Karadzic?
- Answer:
- Yes.
- Comments:
- I am grateful to Paul ``Ishamael'' Cherry for sorting this matter out.
Father Ted is the eponymous character in a rather good British (pretending to
be Irish) sitcom.
- Question:
- What is Billie short for in the context of American women?
- Answer:
- Wilhelmina, according to Greta ``Goldy'' Braunstein.
- Question:
- Does the German Teppich come from the French
tapis, vice versa, or neither?
- Answer:
- German Teppich comes from the French tapis - it
was probably borrowed about the sixteenth/seventeenth centuries when France
was at the head of the furnishings and luxuries world. Apparently.
- Comments:
- I am grateful to Hugh ``Medea'' Robinson for this information.
- Question:
- Why do the drinks machines in the maths institute never give 5p coins in
change?
- Answer:
- Elizabeth ``Morgause'' Wootten writes: They never give you any 5
pences in change, but that's because they
always give me nothing else. I'm getting your share... do you have my
share of 20 pences ?
- Comment:
- Charles Walkden, an ergodic theorist, adds:
(Presumably this was at Oxford?) [Yes - Ed.]
Was it a Klix machine? We have one
at Manchester (specifically, a Klix 400), and it only ever gives 5s
and 20s in change, even if one pumps it full of 10s and 50s for a few
days beforehand. Conspiracy theories on a postcard to...
- Question:
- Why do people talk about ``meteoric rises'', e.g. to fame? Are meteors
known for rising very quickly? Have I missed something? You never hear
about ``meteoric falls'', do you?
- Answer:
- Wendy ``Elisheva'' Bat-Sarah writes:
I think the point is (or rather was, back when people knew why they said
anything), that those who rise quickly to world reknown tend to crash to
earth rather abruptly as well.
- Robin ``Saomik'' Dawes disagrees:
Hesitant as I am to disagree with Elisheva, I think the allusion is simply
to the speed, brightness, and apparent spontaneity of a meteor's passage.
- Colin Batchelor ``Bedroom'' asked:
- Does heavy petting involve alsatians and St Bernards?
- Answer:
- No.
- Question:
- The r to z functor. Truncate a name at the letter `r' and
turn the `r' to a `z'. Behold - you have a nickname. Is the average person
who uses this aware of the rule? Is this rule really natural? Where did it
come from?
- Answer:
- Colin Batchelor ``Bedroom'' writes:
This is a general feature of languages, the
changing of r to z, and I shall furnish you with a few examples:
- The French chaise comes from the Latin word ``cathedra''. We borrowed it
when it was at the ``chair'' stage.
- Our word ``freeze/froze/frozen'' was originally ``frire/frore/gefroren'',
as I think you'll find it's still similar in German.
- You know the old woman in ``David Copperfield'' who says ``I'm a lost lorn
creetur'', well ``lose'' is cognate with the German ``verlieren'' of which
the p.p. is ``verloren'' and like the still extant English ``lovelorn''.
You can be forlorn and lovelorn but I don't know of any others. Rs often
change to Zs, basically, and folk do this all the time without realising
it.
- However, linguists disagree with the above:
- D. Edward Gund v. Brighoff off sci.lang writes:
Unfortunately, he's got it perfectly backwards. With one exception
(where the change took place before the word was English), these are all
examples of the opposite, the shifting of /z/ -> /r/.
- French has both
chaire and chaise. We borrowed first the one,
then the other.
- I can't find any support for the statement that our
word ``freeze/froze/frozen'' was originally ``frire/frore/gefroren''.
The OED gives the earliest attested forms as
freosan/freas/froren
deriving from Common Germanic *freus-, *fraus, *frozono-. The shift of *r
-> *z before a stressed vowel is regular in West Germanic. English formed
a new past participle by analogy with the present and past forms, while
German went the other route and formed new present and past conjugations
on the basis of the past participle.
- The same story applies to the old woman in ``David Copperfield'',
except in this case we created a new weak past participle
rather than a strong one. Middle High German has
verliesen, which later became verlieren on
the basis of verloren.
- Question:
- The 555 conspiracy: in films/TV, American phone numbers always end in
555 plus four other numbers, to stop idiots ringing the numbers. Is this
really necessary?
- Answer:
- Colin Batchelor ``Bedroom'' writes:
I do know that idiots used to try phoning one of the phone numbers listed
in the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, and the folk who lived at the far
end of it were pretty irritated, but then various Phonedays came along
and changed all that, so yes, 555 is really necessary.
- Another answer:
- Nick Sweeney writes:
After a thread at haddock we
were reminded that Steve Wozniak got himself a 888-8888 number, only for
him to be plagued with heavy-breathing baby callers who were pressing the
button repeatedly.
- Owen Massey adds:
- Oftel has set aside certain ranges of numbers which can safely appear in
TV shows. What's pleasing is that they've taken the trouble to satisfy
those of us with a good working knowledge of telephone number prefixes by
allotting 10 numbers for each of the principal cities in Great Britain and
even for special services like mobiles/pagers.
- See
http://www.oftel.gov.uk/numbers/drama599.htm
- Question:
- Lambros Lambrou,
a pianist, writes:
Further to your question, ``What are my statutory rights...'', I have
a question of my own that I'd like to know the answer to. Why is it,
that on promotional packs of various foods, they always have a
non-purchase option. You know, something like ``No purchase required,
just send... (blah) ...and a promotional pack will be opened on your
behalf...'' Why do they bother? What's the point?
- Answer
- ``R.J.'' Marsh writes:
Further to the question posed by Lambros Lambrou, a pianist, on your
webpage, I would like to offer an answer. The idea of offering to open packets
on your behalf is to ensure that the draw really is free. So, if you don't want
to purchase the product you are still entitled to enter into the draw.
Otherwise
the whole thing would be deemed a lottery and thus subject to somewhat stricter
laws. This answer was brought to you by a quantum group, the number
p and the letter q.
- Question:
- Why is the Latin for ``promise'' pollicio?
Does it have anything to do with a ritual involving thumbs?
- Answer:
- Hugh ``Medea'' Robinson writes:
pollicior is corrupt for pro-licior from liceor, I buy/sell.
- Question:
- What are my statutory rights? Yes, I know they're not affected!
- Answer:
- Rhiannon Macfie writes:
Your statutory rights are many and varied, but the ones that shops insist
are not affected by their guarantees are the rights that you have under
the Sale of Goods Act 1976. This states that if something you buy
malfunctions or is shown to be faulty within seven days of purchase,
then you are entitled to a refund or a replacement (your choice, not
that of the shop).
- Owen Massey adds:
In Burton (the clothes shop, not the home of Bass brewers) I saw a
notice behind the counter reading We are pleased to offer this in
addition to your statutory rights, where ``this'' detailed their returns
policy.
- Question:
- Why are ``love interests'' always female? Or are they?
- Answer:
- Rhiannon Macfie writes:
Historically, the ``love interest'' referred to the romantic subplot
of a primarily non-romantic story - eg a detective story or a thriller.
This subplot, especially in the case of serials, was supposed to make
the story attractive to a wider audience and sustain interest in
the flagging middle portion of the plot. Lazy writing has tended to label
the (usually female, because most heroes (still, unfortunately) are male)
cause of the love interest as the ``love interest'' per se.
- Lambros Lambrou, a pianist asked:
- I have another question to put to all the legal boffins out there.
When you purchase a product and it gives you a coupon which entitles
you to a discount (or whatever), it often states something like "cash
value: 0.000000001p". What are the legal goings-on here? Surely, the
bit of paper itself would technically have a cash-value greater than
this? Does it mean that you could give this bit of paper back to the
company and demand this sum of money from them? How would they pay
you?
- Answer:
- Rhiannon Macfie writes:
The ``cash value'' of a coupon is printed on it and given a low value in order
to stop people brandishing them at the issuer and saying ``Yes, I know this
coupon gives me 5 off a set of matching teacosies, but that must mean
that the token is worth 5, so can I just have my five pounds please?''. The
exceedingly low value is designed to put people off collecting several
off them and getting cash instead of the thing that they want you to buy.
Theoretically, you could save up 100 of these and claim a penny, but ask
yourself: Is chweing your way through all that breakfast cereal really
worth it?
- Why do many pint glasses bear the numbers ``303'' or ``562'' [next
to the crown]?
- Colin Batchelor ``Bedroom'' has been researching this
question.
(Continued page 94.)
- According to
the Guardian's ``Notes and Queries'' column, the number is a function
of the inspector who checked the glass.
- Charles Walkden, an ergodic theorist, asked:
- One often finds the last page of some technical documentation (for
electrical appliances, software, etc) left blank. This page often has
the phrase `Page deliberately left blank' or `Page intentionally left
blank' written on it. Why? Has anyone ever tried to sue a
manufacturer for not making it clear at which point the instructions
stop?
The most recent - and bizarre - example of this was in a preprint I was
glancing through. A (numbered) blank page (which had been
deliberately left blank) had been inserted between the end of the
preprint and the references. It wasn't as if the preprint had been
designed for two-sided printing either...
- Answer:
- Matthew Garrett writes:
Open questions. Does this imply the existence of closed questions?
Probably not. But still.
The reason for pages containing nothing but the words "This is a blank
page" (or derivatives thereof) is obvious, AS ANY FULE KNO. It is to
ensure that it is exceedingly obvious to all concerned that the copy
of the documentation does not contain missing diagrams - after all,
although the chances of a diagram being missing are slim, the chances
of the diagram being missing and the text "This is a blank page" being
in its place are so small as to be considered negligable.
The inherent contradiction in printing "Blank Page" on a blank page
cuased me much amusement throughout my GCSEs and A-Levels. As you may
have guessed, I am very easily amused.
- Does ``trying multi'' (in the context of http) ever actually work?
- Answer:
- George Foot posted the following to ox.test.
This has bothered me for some time, and I think I now know the
answer. It does work, pretty often. CERN HTTPD servers, at
least versions 3.0 and 3.0a, are the ones that produce the error
message, unless they're differently configured.
If you're interested, you can download the source from somewhere
on http://www.w3.org/
and grep it for "even tried multi" and
"HTAA_MULTI_FAILED".
- Is there only one Monopolies and Mergers Commission?
- Answer
- ``Yes'', according to Elizabeth ``Morgause'' Wootten.
- Why? If there used to be more, did they merge?
- Nick Sweeney points out:
Just looked at your open questions, and [this] one needs
revision. As you're probably now well aware, there is no longer a
single Monopolies and Mergers Commission: under the newlabour policy
of ``renaming everything'', it's now known by the moniker of ``The
Competition Commission''. Is this an attempt by the nanny-state to put
a stop to the "why is there only one?" gag, or an attempt to
bust the cartel of crossword compilers and quizmasters?
- Why do all those countries' names end in -stan?
- Answer:
- Colin Batchelor ``Bedroom'' writes:
-stan is Urdu and in a few other languages for -land.
Further, ``stan'' means ``land''. Good, eh?
- Anna Kirsten Nygaard asked:
- Are tadpoles animals? Are frogs' eggs animals? When do they become animals
if they're not at the egg and tadpole stage? What is the scientific answer
to this, as opposed to an ethical answer?
- Answer:
- Edvard ``Eddie `The Eagle''' Nygaard (relation) says: I think
frogs' and toads' eggs become tadpoles when the egg bursts (even if
they look like little tadpoles even before this), and that they become
frogs/toads when the tail drops off (even if the legs grow out a bit before
that). Have no scientific proof for this.
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