Colours

How were names assigned to all different colours?

According to anthropologists colours were always given in the same order but nobody knows why. The number of colours varies from culture to culture, for example Eskimos have 7 words to indicate the colour white. Two American anthropologists, Brent Berlin and Paul Kay have noticed that in general the number goes from a minimum of 2 words (white and black, or clear and dark as in New Guinea) to a maximum of 11 and they appear always in the same order: white, black, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, orange, purple (violet), pink and gray.

Do all people smile in the same way?

Yes and no.  Orientals and Westerners smile in different ways : This  emotion activates different facial muscles. Westerners  use many more muscles of the mouth, while Orientals use the eyes to show mirth. A study done at the University of Glasgow shows clearly, that for the same 6 emotions (happiness, surprise, fears, rage, sadness, disgust) people from the West activate  more muscles of the face and mouth, while the Orientals' emotions are much more difficult to interpret since they only activate eye  muscles. In short Westerners and Orientals smile in different ways.

Why do we bend our head to the right when we kiss somebody?

According to a recent study done by a German psychologist this habit is born in the uterus. The upper part of the spinal cord of the fetus tends to bend to the right as soon as  it starts to develop the heart and the intestine.

Is it true that until the '700 women, in the old world, did not use underwear?

It should be said that in the '500 underwear was only worn by prostitutes. Everyone else started to wear them in the '700 even though the Church did not approve.

 Women started wearing knickers in the 19th century.  Before that time the underwear worn was a long linen garment called a shift, smock or chemise. In the 16th century women began to wear corsets made with whalebone or wire called a farthingale. Later still some women began to wear a roll around their waist called a 'bum-roll' to hold out their dress.

In the US the underwear is called panties a term never accepted in the UK.

 

Did you ever think of becoming a stand up comedian?

A paraprosdokian is often used for humorous or comic effect. Some ofthem not only change the meaning of an early phrase, but they also play on the double meaning of a particular word.

 Paraprosdokians are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently humorous. Winston Churchill loved them.

1.  Where there's a will, I want to be in it.

2.  The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.

3.   Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

4.   If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

5.  We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

6.  War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

7. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

8.  I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

9. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

10. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure...

11. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

12. I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way; so I stole  a bike and asked for forgiveness.

13. The last thing I want to do is hurt you; but it's still on the list.

14. Light travels faster than sound; this is why some people appear bright      

     until you hear them speak.

15. The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.  

16. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops.   On my desk, I have a work station.

17. A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don't need it.

18. Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America ?

19.  Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

20. Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.