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What the...?*

Sometimes I learn something and am instantly dumbfounded that I hadn't know that thing before. For example -- I was 23 years old and in graduate school before I realized the difference between Calvary and Cavalry (I guess before I thought there was only one such word). Now I can only remember which word means which by thinking of the French word "chevalier."

I was equally blown away the first time I learned about Robert Falcon Scott's doomed voyage to the South Pole. Five men died! Why didn't they teach me that in school! AND when I realized, only last year, that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated just one week after General Lee surrendered. Just one week! Wow! Obviously that wasn't covered in Gone with the Wind.

The same sense of wonder came upon me when I discovered the existence of this:


It's an opaki. I'm 38 years old and I've never heard of such a creature. What else am I missing, I wonder?

(It reminds me, in fact, of one of my very favorite blog posts.)

*My kids say "What the...?" all the time. They've both been reprimanded for this by their teachers. Mallory was instructed to say "What the pickle?" Maybe I'll suggest "What the opaki?" -- it has a nice ring.

Comments

aimee said…
What the pickle? Interesting choice...

I knew about an opaki but nothing else you mentioned. I am constantly dumbfounded by what they didn't teach in school either. You know, the interesting stuff about history!
5:34 PM
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