germane jur-MAIN, adjective:
Appropriate or fitting; relevant.

Germane comes from Middle English germain, literally, “having the same parents,” ultimately deriving from Latin germanus, from germen, “a bud, a shoot.”

chaise longue shayz LONG noun:
plural chaise longues or chaises longues (shays LONG)

A reclining chair with an elongated seat for supporting legs.

[From French, literally long chair. The prevalent variant form of this term, chaise lounge, is formed by folk etymology.]

after being written to via the website – http://www.binney-smith.com/brands/

Dear Crayola Consumer,

Thank you for your e-mail. In response to your question, “How do crayons work?”, it is the nature of the materials at room temperature. The paraffin wax and stearic acid are susceptible to being transferred to a substrate when pressure is applied and the crayon is moved over the substrate. Friction and the heat produced play a small role, but the crayon would probably still lay down material without friction heat because of the physical nature (its relative softness) of the crayon base at room temperature.

If you have any further questions, please call (800) 272-9652 weekdays between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM Eastern Time and a representative will be happy to assist you.

Thank you for your interest in Binney & Smith and Crayola products.

I know that Mexican jumping beans jump because of worms or larvae inside, but what kind of beans are they, and what kind of worms? What happens to the worm? Does it hatch out as a bug or moth or something, or what?
for the answer….

This might seem weird to a lot of people. It doesn’t come up very often, but here it is.

I don’t shake hands with strangers. I try my best not to touch them *at all*. I’m happy to hug my hippie friends, let the cat lick my face, deep kiss my girlfriend… but I want no part of touching strangers. I’ve gone so far in a business meeting to avoid shaking hands by sneezing right as I’m getting ready to leave, so as to avoid having to be put in the situation.

Why? For a couple of reasons.

I don’t know those people from Adam. Who knows what sort of gross personal habits they have, or what they might’ve picked up? Is this guy a nose picker? Did this woman change her baby son before coming to work without washing? Do they have a cold? Is it slimy, clammy, or wet from them just being a sweaty, clammy or moistly sticky person? Yech. I give blood, I don’t want hep.

Few people know how to shake hands properly.

I’m a scary, big man. I’ve got big hands. People’s hands vanish in mine… imagine a baseball glove. them’s my paws. When I’ve shaken hands in the past, invariably some wanna-be alpha male tries to play the “crush his bones, show him who’s boss” testosterone thing. If I’d been feeling uppity, I’d give the death grip right back, hoping to hear the spintering of bone, and rending of sinews on the wanna be he-man. Other times I just give an impassive look, and returned with a firm, but friendly grip. It’s not limited to men, either. I’ve seen a few “I’m as tough as any man” misguided females try the same thing, and get *nail marks* in my oversized mitt, when they can’t fit the dainty meathook of their own around it.

On the flip side, although I’m a gentle giant… sometimes I don’t know my own strength. I don’t want to do the aforementioned accidental marrow-leaking death grip on a frail person with the bone structure of dried maple leaves.

Then there’s the social side of it. The quote below sums it up for me pretty well…
“if you feel compelled to grab part of my body and shake it, before you can even be friendly, you’ve got far worse problems than you think I have.”

Why should I have to touch someone I don’t know? Can’t a friendly smile and a kind voice do the trick without my having to grasp your palm, and have us feel each other out for some bizarre fraternity rite, placing the grip properly so as to let each other know we’re fellow masons/ boy scouts / ATO brothers / Illuminatus ?

To heck with that noise. As far as I’m concerned, a handshake is a form of social assault and battery.

I’m thinking that my next way of getting out of it is going to be…”Sorry… I don’t shake hands. Not with the ebola and all. Nothing Personal.”

factoid about scotto –

I like to cook. I really enjoy making a tasty, filling meal… but not for myself. I like eating big yummy meals, but can’t be bothered if I’m preparing it solo… mac and cheese or a tasty sammich will do the trick, and takes less prep and cleanup time. I wonder if that means I don’t like cooking, so much as it means that I like to cook for other folks…does that mean I’m a show off, and not a chef? Some kind of low self-esteem? Maybe (and I suspect that this is the true reason) I get more pleasure from pleasing others than from pleasing myself in the same way. It doesn’t have to be romantic…I’m happy feeding my buddy Dan (or making Newtie treats) as well as preparing my sweetheart a lovely candlelight dindin. The odd thing is, until I had this apartment I couldn’t possibly do so… I actually dreamed of cooking for my sweetie last night, lasagna, salad, and low light, with all the romantic trappings.

yum.

What’s for lunch?

hinterland HIN-tur-land, noun:
1. A region situated inland from a coast.
2. A region remote from urban areas; backcountry.
3. A region situated beyond the major metropolitan or cultural centers.

Hinterland comes from German Hinterland, “the land behind (the coast),” from hinter, “behind” (from Middle High German, from Old High German hintar) + Land, “land” (from Middle High German lant, from Old High German).

kickshaw (KIK-shaw) noun

1. A fancy dish; delicacy.
2. A trinket.

Where I live is mostly urban to terribly so… however, my beloved takes up residence in a wooded hinterland north of me, so I’m obliged to the post office to get her the little plastic kickshaw along with some chocolates.

remonstrate rih-MAHN-strayt; REH-mun-strayt, intransitive
verb:
To present and urge reasons in opposition to an act, measure, or any course of proceedings — usually used with ‘with’.

transitive verb:
To say or plead in protest, opposition, or reproof.

If a hailstorm starts, surely instead of remonstrating with it, you try to take shelter. –Victor Pelevin, A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia and Other Stories

Remonstrate comes from Medieval Latin remonstrare, “to show again, to point back to, as a fault,” from re- + monstrare, “to show.”

Cockaigne kah-KAYN, noun:
An imaginary land of ease and luxury.

Cockaigne comes from Middle English cokaygne, from Middle French (pais de) cocaigne “(land of) plenty,” ultimately adapted or derived from a word meaning “cake.”

References to Cockaigne are prominent in medieval European lore. George Ellis, in his Specimens of Early English Poets (1790), printed an old French poem called “The Land of Cockaign” (13th century) where “the houses were made of barley sugar and cakes, the streets were paved with pastry, and the shops supplied goods for nothing.” “The Big Rock Candy Mountain” of American hobo folklore expresses the same idea and was featured recently in the soundtrack to the movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

senescence sih-NEH-sun(t)s, noun:
The state of being old; the process of growing old; aging.

Senescence is from Latin senescere, “to grow old,” from senex, “old.” It is related to senile. The adjective form is senescent.

thegosis THE-go-sis noun

Grinding of teeth as a means of sharpening them.

From Greek thegos, to sharpen.

(Bruxism is the word for night-time grinding of teeth.)

exhort ig-ZORT, transitive verb:
To incite by words or advice; to urge strongly; hence, to advise, warn, or caution.

intransitive verb:
To make urgent appeal; to give warning or advice.

Exhort derives from Latin exhortari, “to encourage strongly,” from ex-, intensive prefix + hortari, “to incite, to encourage.”

estivate ES-tuh-vayt verb, also aestivate

To pass the summer in a dormant state.

From Latin aestivatus, past participle of aestivare, to reside during the summer.

(Like a summer version of hibernate.)

skepticism Skep”ti*cism, n. [Cf. F. scepticisme.] [Written also scepticism.] 1. An undecided, inquiring state of mind; doubt; uncertainty.

2. (Metaph.) The doctrine that no fact or principle can be certainly known; the tenet that all knowledge is uncertain; Pyrrohonism; universal doubt; the position that no fact or truth, however worthy of confidence, can be established on philosophical grounds; critical investigation or inquiry, as opposed to the positive assumption or assertion of certain principles.