Trivia

Q. Where’d softball get started?

A. In Florida, according to those who publicize Florida. It was first called Diamond Ball.

Our language man’s list of reconditioned proverbs grows. Add this: “There are more things in heaven and earth than anyplace else.”

Claim is about a third of the people who live in one-family houses nationwide put out bird feeders.

What sort of unconscious gesture do you make, if any, when you get a bright idea? Do you put your hand to your lips? Or snap your fingers? Or open your eyes wide? Whatever. Such a physical response to a thought is called an “ideomotor.” I remember the experience. In college, I think.

Helga Helmut became so famous throughout Europe as the madam of a bordello in what was West Berlin that upon her retirement the Zeppelin Mattress Co. over there sponsored magazine ads featuring her endorsement of its product.