Trivia

A scholar who studies loneliness in this overpopulated world contends most women who go to their beauty parlors do so for two reasons: to get their hair done and to talk to somebody, and when they can’t go, they’d miss the conversation more than the hairdo.

Q. In a sentence like “Give ‘em the works,” what’s the special name for that decapitated pronoun “‘em”?

A. “Enclitic.”

The large tropical seabird called the masked booby lays two eggs, then watches nonchalantly as the first-hatched chick instinctively pushes the second-hatched chick out of the nest to destruction.

Q. What big U.S. town has the largest forest within its city limits?

A. Portland, Ore., research reveals.

Q. What sort of professional person is more likely than any other to be late for a doctor’s appointment?

A. The doctor.

Cemeteries of Paris filled up around 1800. To make room for the new, shovelers dug up the old remains. These they stored in The Catacombs 100 feet beneath the Place Denfert-Rocherau. By climbing down a spiral staircase, you get to their level: all neatly stacked, cord after cord of arm bones and leg bones and skulls.