25 Words You Might Not Know Are Trademarked Many items we use every day, like zippers and escalators, were once brand names. Even heroin, which no one should use any day, was a brand name. These names are or were trademarked, but are now often used to describe any brand in a product category. 1. You might think you’re riding around on a Jet Ski, but if it’s not made by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, it’s just a personal watercraft. 2. Wikimedia Commons Bubble Wrap is probably the greatest contribution made to our society by Sealed Air Corporation, which they rightly trademarked. 3. Thinkstock The term Onesies, referring to infant bodysuits, is owned by Gerber Childrenswear. 4. Wikimedia Commons Jacuzzi is not only a brand of hot tubs and bathtubs; they also make mattresses and toilets. 5. Crock-Pot.com The Crock-Pot, a brand name for the slow cooker, was originally developed as a beanery appliance. 6. Fluffernutter is a registered trademark of the makers of Marshmallow Fluff, Durkee-Mower, Inc. 7. Wikimedia Commons 8. Wikimedia Commons 9. 10.
14 More Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent Earlier this year, Bill DeMain introduced us to 15 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent . Now that you've integrated those into your vocabulary, here are 14 more. 1. Shemomedjamo (Georgian) You know when you’re really full, but your meal is just so delicious, you can’t stop eating it? 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Milano, Zio Ziegler disegna una Venere di cinque metri - 1 di 11 Arriva a Milano con una performance dal vivo il writer californiano Zio Ziegler, 26 anni e già migliaia di murales sparsi per gli Stati Uniti tra cui gli uffici di Facebook a Las Vegas. Si intitola 'Venere di Milano' il suo primo graffito italiano (ed europeo), che ha realizzato lavorando sei ore consecutive nell’atrio della stazione Repubblica del passante ferroviario. "Non programmo mai il lavoro - spiega , ma seguo ogni giorno l’emozione del momento e la metto sul muro. Voglio cambiare, contraddirmi, sbagliare. Dall’errore nasce la possibilità di creare qualcosa di nuovo". L’opera, su un muro lungo cinque metri, è parte della mostra 'Underground. (fotogramma)
Guide for Writers: Latin Phrases It’s a matter of taste and style, but not long ago American writers attempted to demonstrate their credentials to the world by including Latin and French phrases within works. A dash of Latin was expected of the moderately educated throughout the Western world. annus mirabilis - wonderful year arbiter elegantiae - judge of the elegant; one who knows the good things in life bona fides - good faith; credentials carpe diem - sieze the day; enjoy the present casus belli - cause justifying a war caveat emptor - buyer beware cui bono? caeteris paribus - all things being equal de facto - of fact; it is de gustibus non est disputandum - no disputing tastes; there is no accounting for taste Dei gratia - by the grace of God Deo gratias - thanks to God Deo volente - God willing dis aliter visum - it seemed otherwise to the gods Dominus vobiscum - Lord be with you dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - sweet and seemly it is to die for one’s country ecce homo - behold man ex cathedra - with authority
The 11 Geekiest Tattoos Ever Inked 1. Shoulder to Shoulder Math Equations Anyone who claims tattoos are for idiots should take up their issues with Joe, a molecular biophysicist/biochemist . 2. Yes, this particular blue screen text, from a Windows 98 OS, may already be outdated, but Paul, the tattooee, wanted to reflect how fleeting technology can be in our modern lives. 3. It’s not just that this tattoo incorporates Greek mythology or pathogens, it’s that it has managed to seamlessly blend the two in such an utterly perfect manner. 4. It’s one thing to get a tattoo of your favorite board game or even your favorite Lovecraftian monster, but when you combine the two into an utterly adorable mash up , that’s when you deserve a place on a geeky tattoos list. 5. There are plenty of Hitchhiker’s Guide tattoos, but I have yet to see one as perfectly humorous and complexly obscure to those who haven’t read the series. 6. 7. 8. 8" Ruler Not many tattoos are as functional as this 8” ruler on Flickr user Mikeysklar . 9. 10. 11.
19 Outstanding Words You Should Be Working Into Conversation There are some of our favorite words that appeared in mental_floss stories in 2011. Some are foreign words. Others come from medical dictionaries. And there's a surprising amount of hobo slang. Have fun working these into conversation this holiday season! Gene Lee / Shutterstock.com 1. 2. 3. 4. milliHelen: The quantity of beauty required to launch just one ship. 5. 6. 7. 8. © Joe Giron/Corbis 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. Thanks to Stacy Conradt, Adrienne Crezo, Bill DeMain, Haley Sweetland Edwards, Jamie Spatola, Ethan Trex and a reader named John .
I Won't Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here's Why. - Kyle Wiens by Kyle Wiens | 8:02 AM July 20, 2012 If you think an apostrophe was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, you will never work for me. If you think a semicolon is a regular colon with an identity crisis, I will not hire you. If you scatter commas into a sentence with all the discrimination of a shotgun, you might make it to the foyer before we politely escort you from the building. Some might call my approach to grammar extreme, but I prefer Lynne Truss’s more cuddly phraseology: I am a grammar “stickler.” Now, Truss and I disagree on what it means to have “zero tolerance.” Everyone who applies for a position at either of my companies, iFixit or Dozuki, takes a mandatory grammar test. Of course, we write for a living. iFixit.com is the world’s largest online repair manual, and Dozuki helps companies write their own technical documentation, like paperless work instructions and step-by-step user manuals. But grammar is relevant for all companies. Wrong.
Anthony Lister | Artist Why Some Civil War Soldiers Glowed in the Dark By the spring of 1862, a year into the American Civil War, Major General Ulysses S. Grant had pushed deep into Confederate territory along the Tennessee River. In early April, he was camped at Pittsburg Landing, near Shiloh, Tennessee, waiting for Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell’s army to meet up with him. On the morning of April 6, Confederate troops based out of nearby Corinth, Mississippi, launched a surprise offensive against Grant’s troops, hoping to defeat them before the second army arrived. The Union troops began forcing the Confederates back, and while a counterattack stopped their advance it did not break their line. All told, the fighting at the Battle of Shiloh left more than 16,000 soldiers wounded and more 3,000 dead, and neither federal or Confederate medics were prepared for the carnage. The bullet and bayonet wounds were bad enough on their own, but soldiers of the era were also prone to infections. A Bright Spot And that’s just what Bill did. A Good Light
15 ways to use vodka Keyboard: S - next A - previous R - random 15 ways to use vodka Share on FB 55920 Below Random Pics that horribly slippery slope Share on FB 160 it's the alpha and omega Share on FB 54 what superman batman and spiderman think about the iphone??? Share on FB 256 that's alot of milk Share on FB 153 bet you havent had this in dinner Share on FB 88 reading a good book best dog outfit ever! Share on FB 98 women Share on FB 19 it's frida! Share on FB 120 Home Page Top Month Previous Next
Questioningly Winner: Meet the Bwam Mark On Friday we asked for new punctuation marks. The old ones, like that comma right there or the period that ended the last sentence, suddenly seemed insufficient. We wanted more … but we didn’t want to lift a finger to get them—and that’s why we enlisted our readers. They came, saw, reassessed existing punctuation, and went to work. Some of the new marks were pure slapstick (@cehickman’s slapdash, which was not designed but was described as “useful when you just can’t be bothered to give your sentence structure too much thought”) or @krissyt67’s comalipses (“comma w/ ellipses stacked on top for when a writer loses their train of thought & falls into a deep asleep”). Some drew upon celebrity affectations. Some amended existing punctuation technology: @AlexColangelo derided the interrobang, proposing that there be a new way of expressing incredulity, and @ponder76 proposed putting a comma at the bottom of the exclamation point instead of a period. On to the best.
THE BEST NEW STREET ARTIST OF 2012 – Topman Generation With the efficiency of the internet age just about anyone with a marker pen, a Tumblr account, and a camera phone can portray themselves as a street artist— the streets have become a battlefield, saturated with the red paint of the soldiers sneaking across roofs and ducking into alleyways to practice their craft. So with each cold-fingered insurgent trying to make a name for themselves with their kit bag of stencils, spray cans and paint brushes, we’re making the battle a bit easier, by pointing you in the direction of five great street artists you should really start paying attention to... JASSO Still relatively undiscovered, JASSO hails from the Czech Republic and is recognised for his controversial artworks painted on the walls of Little Village and Pilsen. His handiworks include Mexican revolutionary “Emiliano Zapata” as a rebel Jedi with a lightsabre, NARC agents shooting at Super Mario and Abraham Lincoln wearing a Dr Seuss hat.
11 Weird and Wonderful Webcams In the go-go 90s, the Internet was new and we were all excited about the potential of "webcams," a new technology allowing tiny images, almost-live, to be viewed online. Nearly twenty years after the advent of the technology, the bloom is off the webcam rose, and today the webcam landscape is a bit barren. But fear not, dear reader: I've combed through the remaining sites and collected 11 fun webcams for your amusement (and/or bemusement). 1. One of the more technically impressive webcams is the Garden Bubble Cam . The technical explanation is impressive (the bubble sprayer holds seven gallons of bubble solution!) 2. This cam looks into a London flat through a keyhole. 3. As I pointed out recently , this is a spectacularly boring webcam: if we're lucky, a drop may fall within the next year. 4. Have you ever wanted to watch people waiting in a hallway... live? This is the current situation outside of the County Treasurer's Office (updated every five seconds). 5. 6. "Mr. 7. 8. 9. 10.