Series: Deep Questions

Black pepper was valued for two main reasons. One, it helped preserve foods in the pre-refrigeration era. And two, the long distance it traveled to get to European kitchens made it pricey.

Golf courses didn’t always have 18 holes. The number of holes used to vary widely: 11, 22, 24, etc. As with most golf tradition-related questions, the reason why 18 became the standard goes back to St. Andrews of Scotland, the granddaddy of all golf courses.

The original title, Esquire, comes from the Middle Ages — an esquire was the rank above a gentleman, and below a knight. The word derives from the Latin scutum (shield), and Middle English esquier (shield bearer). It was also generally applied to upstanding members of society: judges, sheriffs, lawyers, professors.

In the Biblical book of Exodus, the ark is introduced as the “ark of testimony.” God gives precise instructions to the Israelites for building this small box or chest out of wood. It was covered in gold, and on the lid were two golden cherubim with their wings facing each other to form an enclosed area.

It’s certainly possible to die while laughing — probably by choking on something. But I was unable to find any documented evidence of someone literally “laughing to death.”

Once again, we can blame Latin for a curious term. In English, “Rx” doesn’t seem to have any connection to “pharmacy.” However it does in Latin, albeit in a roundabout way.

No birthday party is complete without cake, candles, and a performance of “Happy Birthday to You.” The song is quick, painless, and everyone knows the words. But while the lyrics are familiar to all, their author remains a mystery.

“People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” The four-year-old continued, “Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”

Thanks to the basketball team’s success, many are eager to know more about the school — specifically, who was George Mason and why does he have a university named after him?

When bees need a new queen, special “queen cells” are made in the hive. Zoo.org describes these cells as extensions of the wax and shaped like a peanut. Young worker bees secrete a special food called “royal jelly,” and place it in the queen cells as food for the special larvae.

When we think of a person saying “that’s all she wrote,” we usually picture someone who’s disappointed for some reason.