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Curiosity Corner: Handwriting on the Wall

Curiosity Corner: Handwriting on the Wall

April 22, 2022
Curiosity Corner Viruses

Curiosity Corner

By

Dr. Jerry D. Wilson,

Emeritus Professor of Physics

Lander University

 

 

Question: Why do we say a person who doesn’t understand something “can’t see the handwriting on the wall?” (Asked by a curious column reader.)

 

Reply: The source of this comes from the Bible. In the Book of Daniel (Dan. 5:25-28), the Babylonian king, Belshazzar, looted the temple and was having a big feast, with wine being drunk from sacred goblets. A hand appeared and put some handwriting on the wall. No one could interpret it. Daniel was sent for and told the king that God had judged and condemned them.

 

Belshazzar was killed that night. Guess he saw the handwriting on the wall and still didn’t understand!

 

Question: Why do they call left-handed baseball players, “south paws?” (Asked by a curious lefty.)

 

Reply: This supposedly goes back to the early days of baseball, when diamonds were set up so that the batter always faced east. This way, the afternoon sun wouldn’t be in the batter’s eyes. (Hey, how about the outfielders?) So, if the batter was left handed, he and his “paws” were on the south side of the plate. Don’t know if this is true, but if so, I’d be a “north paw.”

 

And to round out this highly educational column, did you know…

• The Hawaiian alphabet only has 12 letters: A, E, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, U and W.
• The word “ma” in Chinese has five different meanings: mother, hemp, horse, to scold, and a question marker—depending on the voice inflection with which word is said.
• The oldest commercial carbonated drink (other than natural mineral water) in the U.S. is Moxie, which was originally sold in New England in the 1880s as a nerve tonic. It later became a soft drink, with a taste described as a combination of root beer, cola and licorice. I had some Moxie when I was a kid. It definitely had an acquired taste!

 

Well, there you have it! We used to say a person had a lot of “Moxie,” meaning a lot of courage, gusto, etc. Am I the only one who remembers?

 

C.P.S. (Curious Postscript): “All men make mistakes, but married men find out about them sooner.” -Red Skelton

 

Curious about something? Email your questions to Dr. Jerry Wilson at curiosity.corner@yahoo.com. Selected questions will appear in the Curiosity Corner.

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