The Florida Dept. of Motor Vehicles was stupid enough to issue the now famous A55 RGY as a regular plate. Stick an orange in the middle and get an ASS ORGY.
“Ass” is essentially restricted to American English for this definition, “arse” being preferred in the rest of the English-speaking world. As in Newfoundland, where the the stern of a fishing boat is called “de harse of 'er”.
The British also use the word “bent” to mean homosexual. Get it? NOT STRAIGHT!
Danish jazz pianist and film composer Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, known elsewhere as Bent Fabric, is best known for his perky “Alley Cat”.
The American rockabilly band Stray Cats was formed in 1979, originally under the moniker “The Tomcats”. They recorded two albums in 1981, released only in the UK, and while they were moderately successful, it wasn’t until the following year when their two albums were repackaged as Built for Speed that launched them to superstardom in America and elsewhere.
Brian Seltzer, headman of the Stray Cats would appear on an episode of The Nanny with The Brian Seltzer Orchestra. Fran Drescher would appear in this episode both as The Nanny Fran Fine and Bobbi Fleckman, her character from the movie This is Spinal Tap.
Seltzer and tap were common bar-room words a century ago, when beverages had to be carbonated on the spot with an infusion of seltzer, and draft beer was known as “on tap”.
The German chemist Friedrich Kekule is said to have come to an understanding of the ring structure of the carbon atoms in benzene after dreaming of a snake eating its own tail (an ouroboros).
Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent, is one of the best-known ouroborus in mythology. He is so large that he encircles the Earth. When he lets go of his tail, it will mark the beginning of the end of the world.
Off-game:
Is the phrase “on tap” not used in the States? It’s a very common term in Canadian pubs. “What’s on tap?” is the standard way to ask what draught beer is available.
Manx cats originated on the Isle of Man. The characteristic feature of the breed is that they lack tails.
Humans are the only Primates in the Western Hemisphere that** lack tails.**
Many people think the western hemisphere consists of North and South America, but it also contains western portions of Europe and Africa, the extreme eastern tip of Russia, numerous territories in Oceania, and a portion of Antarctica.
In the late 1990s, officials in North Dakota considered dropping the first word of the state name to appeal more to tourists, as the state had an image among some as being too cold and inhospitable to visit. The proposal was discussed, and mocked, in an episode of the TV political drama The West Wing.
The country with the greatest number of international tourist arrivals in 2013 was France, with 83 million.
The ballet in An American in Paris cost over half a million dollars to film.
The Judgement of Paris was an episode from Greek mythology that was the start of the chain of events leading to the Trojan War. Paris, son of Priam, the king of Troy, was asked to determine which of three goddesses - Hera, Athene and Aphrodite - was the most beautiful. Paris chose Aphrodite when she promised him Helen of Sparta, wife of King Menelaus. Paris and Helen fled to Troy together, and for ten years the Greeks laid siege to Troy to recover her.
An pound of gold is lighter than a pound of feathers, because gold, silver and gems are measured by **Troy **Weight, which differs from the conventional Avoirdupois system.
Galileo postulated that in a vacuum, all objects fall at the same rate, regardless of their weight.
Apollo 15 commander David Scott tested the theory on the moon, dropping a hammer and a feather at the same time. The result confirmed Galileo’s theory.
A hammer is used in the iconic symbol of an American baking soda company and the Soviet Communist Party.
(What was the cost of putting the weight of that feather into space, in order to conduct that experiment? Presumably the hammer had some other useful purpose aboard a space station, carpentry maybe.)
“If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)” was written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays in 1949. It was first performed publicly by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays on June 3, 1949, at St. Nicholas Arena in New York at a testimonial dinner for the leaders of the Communist Party of the United States, who were then on trial in federal court, charged with violating the Smith Act by advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government.
It was not particularly successful in commercial terms when it was first released. However, twelve years later it was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary and became a top ten hit.