Naming animals the fun way
Have you ever wondered where animals' names came from and who actually decided on the names? First, there's the scientific name and a common name. The secondary (and most common) name is often rooted in Latin and Greek, or was originally created by a local indigenous population. Hippopotamus translates to "horse of the river" in Latin and the name "kangaroo" dates back to the Australian Aboriginal Guugu Yimidhirr language, where the leaping mammal was originally known as "gangurru". Here are some amusing, possibly more apt names for some of our most loved animals: penguin (formal chicken), crocodile (American murder log), guinea pig (furry potato), fox (forest corgi) and my personal favourite, ostrich (pantless thundergoose). (Via So Bad So Good)
Shovel, toil and ... trouble
Alf Hoyle of Rotorua writes: "In the late 1950s in need of a job I was grave-digging at a cemetery in Manly, a Sydney suburb. The ground was all clay and it took two of us four hours to dig a grave. On this particular day it was really hot and, as lunchtime arrived when we were close to finishing the digging, we decided to pop down the road to the Manly pub for a refresher. We had half a dozen schooners followed by a couple of whisky chasers. Back to the grave, which we finished off and levelled the sides. As it was so lovely and cool inside we lay down and rested, one of us at each end of the grave. It was so comfortable we fell asleep. We were awakened by an irate vicar. He had a funeral in 20 minutes and the grave smelled as though it would be a cremation, not a burial, if he dropped a match in there. We were sacked on the spot and the minister refused to pay us."
