Diana from Tucson, Arizona, reports that when she was young, her Irish grandmother would chase her and her misbehaving siblings around the house yelling, “You omadhauns!” Also spelled amadán, this word of Celtic origin means “fool” or “idiot” or “simpleton.” In Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes (Bookshop|Amazon), one character dismisses another as a diddering omadhaun. This is part of a complete episode.
Scientists decided to name some newly discovered tree frogs in Madagascar based on the boops and trills they make, which reminded the researchers of Star Trek. Among the scientific names for these critters that belong to the rare Boophis frog genus...
The phrase fight the good fight, which means to “try one’s best” and “attempt to do what’s right” is inspired second of the epistles to Timothy attributed to the apostle Paul: “I have fought a good fight, I...
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