In Korea, fairy tales often begin with the saying In the old days, when tigers used to smoke. Turkish children often hear an opening like this one: Once there was, once there was not, when camels were town criers and fleas were barbers, when I...
Depending on its mood, a turkey’s skin can shift from red to blue to white, due to changes in the blood vessels between bundles of collagen. That phenomenon is reflected in the Japanese term for “turkey,” shichimencho (七面鳥), which...
The artists at Walt Disney Studios considered a long list of possible characters before settling upon the final seven dwarves in the Snow White movie. Also-rans included Nifty, Dirty, Goopy, Wheezy, and Chesty. Quiz Guy John Chaneski has created a...
The Spanish phrase estar en la edad del pavo literally translates as “to be in the age of the turkey” — to be at an awkward age. Comer pavo, literally “to eat turkey,” means to sit alone at a dance because no one has asked you to join them. The...
The scientific name for that part of a fowl otherwise known as the pope’s nose or the bishop’s nose is uropygium. The Greek root of this word, pyge, meaning “rump,” is also found in the English adjectives callipygian, which...
Barb in Omaha, Nebraska, heard a Thanksgiving guest praise the turkey tail as the bishop’s nose, the fatty little bump at the bird’s rear. The older name is the pope’s nose, known since the 18th century. Later clerical cousins include bishop’s nose...