The conversation covers various trivia and historical facts. The first microwave oven weighed 750 pounds and was introduced in 1945. The right lung has three lobes, while the left has two. Olympic gold medals are plated with gold but are primarily silver (92.5%). The first gold medals were awarded in 1904. Coffee was the first drink officially Christianized by the church in 1592. Campbell’s Soup was the first national food product to advertise nationally in 1899. The Eiffel Tower’s iron was used in the Paris Olympics’ medals, but the backs discolored due to sweat. The phrase “Dutch Treat” originated from the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 17th century.
Outline
First Microwave Oven and Its Historical Context
- Bob Smith asks Marcia Smith about the weight of the first microwave oven, providing options of 20, 50, 500, and 750 pounds.
- Marcia Smith guesses 500 pounds, and Bob Smith reveals it weighed 750 pounds and was as large as a refrigerator.
- Bob Smith explains that the first microwave oven, built by Raytheon in 1945, required water cooling for the tubes in the magnetron.
- The first microwave oven cost $5,000 in 1945, which is equivalent to about $70,000 today.
- By 1967, microwave ovens were introduced for home use, and by 1975, sales surpassed those of gas ranges.
Lung Anatomy and Capacity
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the anatomy of the lungs, with Bob revealing that the right lung has three lobes and the left lung has two.
- Marcia Smith shares a factoid about the average amount of air inhaled through the lungs every 24 hours, which is 5000 gallons.
- Bob Smith expresses amazement at the body’s processing power for oxygen.
- The conversation shifts to Olympic gold medals, with Bob asking if they contain real gold.
Olympic Gold Medals and Historical Context
- Marcia Smith recalls that gold medals are plated with gold but are primarily made of 92.5% pure silver.
- Bob Smith mentions that silver medals were once first-place medals, and bronze medals were third place.
- The first gold medals were awarded in the St. Louis Summer Games in 1904, and silver medals moved to second place.
- Bob Smith shares a story about Olympic gold medalist Sergey Bubka, who broke the world record in pole vaulting 35 times to receive bonus money from sponsors.
Athletes’ Financial Rewards and Comparisons
- Marcia Smith asks if the United States pays its athletes for winning medals, and Bob Smith confirms that it does, with $37,500 for gold, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze.
- Bob Smith mentions that Simone Biles took home over $100,000.
- Marcia Smith compares the US payout to other countries, noting that Hong Kong pays gold medal winners the equivalent of $768,000.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the additional rewards given by countries like Indonesia, including five cows, a meatball restaurant, and a new house.
Cheddar Cheese and Annatto Dye
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the natural cream color of cheddar cheese and how it is dyed orange using annatto seeds.
- Bob Smith explains that annatto has been used as a food colorant in Europe since the 16th century.
- Marcia Smith shares that annatto is used to balance out the color of cheese as it varies naturally throughout the year.
- The conversation touches on the historical use of annatto in cheese, with documentation dating back to 1743.
Hollywood Walk of Fame and Its Costs
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with Marcia Smith mentioning that there is a fee to get a star.
- Bob Smith reveals that the fee is $75,000, which includes the creation of a 300-pound star, installation, upkeep, and floral arrangements upon the honoree’s death.
- Marcia Smith shares that celebrities are required to attend the installation ceremony, known as the Springsteen clause.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the Ghent Altarpiece, which has been stolen multiple times and is now displayed in Saint Pavos Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium.
Historical Drinks and Their Significance
- Bob Smith asks Marcia Smith about a controversial drink approved by Pope Clement VIII in 1592, revealing it to be coffee.
- Marcia Smith initially guesses wine or beer, but Bob Smith confirms it is coffee.
- Bob Smith explains that coffee was considered magical and was approved for Christian consumption in 1592.
- The conversation touches on the historical significance of coffee in Europe and its perceived powers.
Campbell’s Soup and Its Marketing Success
- Bob Smith asks Marcia Smith about the first national food company to advertise a brand name food product from coast to coast.
- Marcia Smith guesses Campbell’s Soup, and Bob Smith confirms it, explaining that Dr John Thompson invented condensed soup in 1897.
- Bob Smith shares that Campbell’s Soup swept the nation in popularity due to its condensed form and successful advertising efforts.
- The conversation highlights Dr Thompson’s success and the financial legacy he left behind.
Vegetable-Related Phrases and Their Origins
- Marcia Smith introduces a game called “AKA, also known as,” with the category being vegetables.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith play the game, guessing phrases like “diamond measurement” (carrot) and “rotten movie review” (tomatoes).
- The game continues with phrases like “Popeye’s power” (spinach) and “defeat a team” (beet).
- Marcia Smith explains the origin of the phrase “Dutch Treat,” which dates back to the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century.
Financial Expressions and Their Historical Context
- Marcia Smith explains the origin of the phrase “foot the bill,” which dates back to the 15th century when dowries were itemized and totaled at the bottom of a ledger.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the historical context of these financial expressions and their relevance today.
- Marcia Smith shares that the phrase “Dutch courage” also originated from the Anglo-Dutch Wars, referring to the Dutch tendency to drink heavily.
- The conversation concludes with Marcia Smith sharing quotes from Mark Twain and Anonymous, emphasizing the importance of overcoming fear and taking action.
Bob Smith 0:00
How much gold is in an Olympic gold medal?
Marcia Smith 0:02
Why is your right long larger than your left long,
Bob Smith 0:06
and how much did the first microwave oven weigh? Answers to those and other questions coming up in this episode of the off ramp with Bob and
Marcia Smith 0:16
Marsha Smith. You Music.
Bob Smith 0:33
Welcome to the off ramp, a chance to slow down, steer clear of crazy and take a side road to sanity with fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia. Well, Marcia, we’re used to microwave ovens. They’re a little heavy, not too bad. You can usually pick them up off the counter. But how much did the first microwave oven weigh? I’ll give you a choice, 20 pounds, 50 pounds, 500 pounds or 750
Marcia Smith 1:01
pounds. I hope it’s not the latter two. I’ll say 500
Bob Smith 1:06
we’re going back to 1945
Marcia Smith 1:08
really. Okay, 700 750 pounds. Oh, my God,
Bob Smith 1:14
it’s like they built cars back then. You know the bumper on a car was like cast iron or something. Yeah. Raytheon had filed a patent for the microwave cooking process by 1945 and two years later, it built radar range. That was the name the first microwave oven in the world. It was as large as a refrigerator. Oh, my God, but heavier. The tubes in the magnetron had to be water cooled, so plumbing installation was required. So the first microwave oven weighed about 750 pounds and nearly six feet tall.
Marcia Smith 1:47
Oh, my God, could you make popcorn in it? I
Bob Smith 1:49
don’t think so. Okay, it cost $5,000 which in 1945 was about $70,000 My
Marcia Smith 1:57
Lord, You did one helluva kitchen to put that appliance in the corner. But
Bob Smith 2:01
then it was introduced in 1967 for home use. And by 1975 they were much smaller, and sales of microwave ovens surpassed those of gas ranges,
Marcia Smith 2:12
because everyone already had a range, I imagine, I’m sure, but
Bob Smith 2:15
the fact that they were, you know, buying more of those, yeah. And by 1994 more than 90% of US homes had microwave ovens. But again, the first oven weighed 750 pounds. The first countertop unit weighed 500 pounds, so they were all heavy. Today you can buy a microwave as light as 25 pounds. Yeah, I went out on the web and found out how much weight,
Marcia Smith 2:38
yeah. Okay. Do you remember what decade we bought our
Bob Smith 2:42
first microwave? I think it was in the 80s. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 2:44
yeah. It was a big one.
Bob Smith 2:46
I did take a course in college in the 70s, and it was cooking for men. And one, one of the things we cooked everything on a microwave. No, we didn’t cook everything on microwaves, but we did use microwaves. Why did you stop? Because I didn’t have a microwave after I got out of
Marcia Smith 3:03
college. That’s why I didn’t cook. Okay, all right. Bob lungs, did you know you had one bigger than the other? I did not know one was bigger than the other. I didn’t either, and it’s the right one, the right one. Yeah, I didn’t know that. Yeah, the left lung has two internal chambers called lobes, which fill with air when we breathe. Well, the right side has three so one side has one extra lobe. The left lung is also slightly smaller to make room for the heart. That’s it. See,
Bob Smith 3:33
that was what I was going to suggest. Maybe that’s the reason you need to have a little room in there for
Marcia Smith 3:37
the heart. Yeah, that and the extra lobe. Wow. So
Bob Smith 3:40
the right lung is larger than the left. It has three lobes, and there’s only two lobes in the left lung. Just
Marcia Smith 3:47
to add on to that Bob little factoid, the average amount of air in gallons that we inhale through our lungs every 24 hours is 5000 gallons. Wow. Who measures that and how, what a
Bob Smith 4:01
wonderful thing that we have that kind of processing power. It processes that much oxygen in a day, 5000 gallons. That’s amazing. Good. All right, Marcia, I’m going back to a few more Olympic questions. We’ve been awash in Olympic in Olympic news.
Marcia Smith 4:18
We have an awash away. Or, as
Bob Smith 4:21
Elmer Fudd would say, whip it a wash and a whipping. News, is there really gold in Olympic gold medals? Is a question. Well, gosh, you
Marcia Smith 4:30
told me this earlier in the week, and I’ve retained it, not a little bit. I’d say maybe a little gold. Sure,
Bob Smith 4:37
that’s right, it’s just a little bit. The first place. Metals have six grams of gold plating. All right, gold medals are plated, but gold is not the primary element used. The IOC requires both the gold and the silver medals to be made with a minimum of 92.5% pure silver. So they’ve got 92.5% silver. So they. They played it with gold to make it a gold medal. Yeah, did you know that silver medals were once first place medals at the modern Olympics?
Marcia Smith 5:07
No, I didn’t. Yeah, what was third wood?
Bob Smith 5:10
There was no third place. Okay, they only gave first and second place. What
Marcia Smith 5:14
was second bronze? So silver and bronze? Yeah, competitors
Bob Smith 5:18
who came in second place received a bronze. There were no medals for third place competitors.
Marcia Smith 5:25
You know, I’m glad they have three, because to be in the top three is commendable. The
Bob Smith 5:29
first gold medals were awarded in the St Louis Summer Games in 1904 so they did two Olympics before they got to the gold medals in the modern era, according to the IOC, that’s when the silver medals moved to second place. The bronze became third. And
Marcia Smith 5:44
especially today, they the point difference between first, second third is almost infinitesimal. Sometimes it’s
Bob Smith 5:52
amazing, yeah, yeah, all those three people. It’s not really first, second and third, best. These are, like, these athletes are almost all equal up there. That’s right, I’ve got a funny one about the Olympics. This comes from the Be careful what you’re encouraging category during the 1980s and 90s, Olympic gold medal winner Sergey Bubka, he was so dominant at pole vaulting that sponsors awarded him bonus money every time he broke a world record. Sounds like a
Marcia Smith 6:20
good idea, right? Sounds like what’s his name, Mundo. What
Bob Smith 6:23
could possibly go wrong with that? So Bubka cleverly took those sponsor pledges and he stretched them out over a lucratively long time. He broke the world’s record for pole vaulting 35 times, often improving on a record he himself set just a centimeter at a time so he could break it again for another bonus. Wow. Good for him. Going back for more money. I like I can make it one inch, 1.5 inch, 1.6 inch. Well, that’s not easy. I don’t know how you calibrate that when you’re pole vaulting, but he could do it. He could do it. He broke it 35 times. He was an Olympic gold medal winner, and as he had sponsors giving him money every time he broke.
Marcia Smith 7:06
Okay, Bob, you’ve heard that numerous countries pay bonuses to its athletes when they win medals. Does the United States pay its athletes?
Bob Smith 7:16
Think they do? That was something that was started a few years ago. But I don’t know. Do they get I don’t even know how much money it is, if they do, how much gold? $37,500
Marcia Smith 7:29
Oh, okay, 22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze. Well, that’s
Bob Smith 7:34
more than I thought it would be. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 7:36
that means Simone Biles took home over 100,000 well deserved too. Okay, that’s for sure. Now, many countries paid a lot more than the US paid for their winners. No one pays more than the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, really, which competes separately from China, by the way. Did you know that? No, I didn’t know that. Yeah, it pays each gold medal winner the equivalent of $768,000
Bob Smith 8:01
holy cow, Singapore
Marcia Smith 8:03
is second. 745,000 and Indonesia pays gold medal athletes. 300,000 jeez, even countries like Ukraine and Poland pay more than the United States. Wow, really for their individual metal winners, for their winners. But it’s not always about the money. Bob at the Tokyo Games, two Indonesian badminton gold medalists, not only one cash. They were given five cows, a meatball restaurant and a new house,
Bob Smith 8:32
a meatball restaurant. Cows, wow. And Indonesia pays its people. Well, 300,000 you said. So in addition to that, they did this, yeah, but those countries didn’t win as many medals as we did. We had 126
Speaker 1 8:47
medal winners in the Paris Olympics. So what did the US pay in total, $8.3 million Wow. Okay. Not bad. In terms of ranking. Where does that make the US overall?
Marcia Smith 8:59
We were third in total payouts because of the 126 total Okay, and it’s all paid by the US Olympic Committee.
Bob Smith 9:07
All right. Well, good. That’s good information. All right, what common foods? Color has been dyed orange for years, but it actually normally has a creamy color. This will hit home for you.
Marcia Smith 9:19
Is this a vegetable? This is not a vegetable. We’re not talking about locks.
Bob Smith 9:24
No, this is a dairy product. Dairy product. This comes from britannica.com
Marcia Smith 9:29
so day one lot. No, I don’t know who. What is it?
Bob Smith 9:33
Well, badger girl,
Marcia Smith 9:35
not cheese. It’s
Bob Smith 9:36
Wisconsin, cheddar cheese. Yes, you could say that that familiar shade of orange is its branded color, but cheddar, made in Wisconsin today, is naturally cream colored orange. Cheddar cheese is dyed using the seeds of a fruit called the annatto. Annatto annatto and cheddar isn’t the only variety that’s colored. Annatto adds shades of orange. To 12 varieties of cheese, cheddar, Cheshire, Colby, Colchester, Munster, red, Leicester, st paulan and Shropshire blue cheeses. All those are colored with the seeds from this plant. Just stab
Marcia Smith 10:14
me in the heart. Isn’t that?
Bob Smith 10:17
All the good news is it’s a natural color.
Marcia Smith 10:19
What is natural anatto. Oh, yeah, that’s what I was. It’s been used
Bob Smith 10:23
as a food colorant in Europe since the 16th century. That’s
Marcia Smith 10:26
good. It’s not a red dye number 24 or something. No, that’s the earliest
Speaker 1 10:29
known documentation of its use in cheese. Is a 1743 Dutch publication called household dictionary. Uh huh. No, that’s cool. But at the time, annatto was called Orlean or Orleans. Okay, it grows in tropical areas of the Americas. It’s found in Mexico to Brazil. Why is it needed
Marcia Smith 10:48
to distinguish it from Swiss? No, why? Because
Speaker 1 10:51
now this is, according to Wikipedia, the yellow and orange hues of cheese vary naturally throughout the year as a cow’s feed changes. So they use annatto, a n, n, a T, T O, to balance out the color. Ah, okay, so much for your orange Wisconsin cheese.
Marcia Smith 11:10
Yeah, I love real long age cheddar too. You know, five year age it’s
Bob Smith 11:15
but again, they use that to color cheddar.
Marcia Smith 11:17
I get it. Don’t need to get defensive now, all right, Bob, the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You’ve been there. I’ve been there. Who was the first star,
Bob Smith 11:27
the first Hollywood Walk of Fame? Yeah, I think I read this. Wasn’t it a producer? Oh, come
Marcia Smith 11:32
on, right, yeah.
Bob Smith 11:34
Who is the producer? Oh, it was the guy who did Dr Strangelove. No,
Marcia Smith 11:39
he did Mad. Mad World, The Defiant one. What’s his name? Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Stanley Kramer. Stanley Kramer, okay. Stanley Kramer, in 1960 March 28 on Hollywood Boulevard,
Bob Smith 11:52
you were talking about a meatball restaurant, yeah. What ethnic restaurant in this country was started by people not of that ethnicity. Oh, a lot of them, I’m sure. Okay, the biggest chain name in pizza I don’t know, Pizza Hut. Oh, really, started by two Irish American brothers, Dan and Frank Carney. They opened a pizza parlor when they were in their 20s. In 1958 they got a $600 loan from their mother’s life insurance, and they opened their first pizza hut in Wichita, Kansas. Did
Marcia Smith 12:23
it have a potato topping?
Bob Smith 12:24
I don’t think so. They were Irish Pizza Hut. They used that name, yeah, because the number of letters fit the building’s existing sign. Oh, that’s funny, yeah, and because the building resembled a shack,
Marcia Smith 12:35
that’s why, really, oh, that’s funny, yeah. See form and function. They
Bob Smith 12:39
were in Kansas, so they had to give away free samples right away, because people, what’s this pizza stuff? 1958
Marcia Smith 12:45
so 58 we didn’t our country didn’t have pizza yet. There
Bob Smith 12:49
was pizza in New York City from not a chain. No, no, that’s the first chain. Okay, so it was started by Irish American brothers. Okay,
Marcia Smith 12:55
all right. I’m going back to one more Hollywood star question, okay, is there a fee? Connected with your Hollywood star?
Bob Smith 13:02
Is there a fee? Yes, you have to pay for it. How much do you think? I don’t know. How much
Marcia Smith 13:07
75,000 Okay, and every year, the Walk of Fame committee receives around 200 submissions and selects two dozen or so applicants. However, the Walk of Fame is a nonprofit, so nominees and usually their movie studios or record labels. They’re the ones that pony up the cash. Okay, want their guy a gal on the walk? Right? Today, it’s 75,000 but with that, you get the creation of a 300 pound star. Those are 300 pounds, wow. I didn’t know that, as well as installation, upkeep and things like floral arrangements upon the honorees death. So there you go. We’re putting in a little money for when you die,
Bob Smith 13:52
like a cemetery association so
Marcia Smith 13:54
funny, and it’ll cover your bouquet of posies when you kick the bucket. Celebrities are required to show up to the installation, a rule known as the Springsteen clause.
Bob Smith 14:08
Why did they call it that? Because
Marcia Smith 14:09
after the New Jersey musician didn’t show up for his ceremony, they thought, the hell with this. Be there. You have to show up. You
Bob Smith 14:17
have to be there if you’re gonna get your star on the Walk of Fame. 300 pound star,
Marcia Smith 14:21
geez, that’s a lot. Okay, the Mona Lisa Bob has only been stolen once in its history, yes, but this work of art tops the stolen list with seven times it’s been stolen.
Bob Smith 14:34
Is it the scream?
Marcia Smith 14:37
That’s good. No,
Bob Smith 14:38
okay. What is it?
Marcia Smith 14:39
Probably you never heard of it. It’s called the Ghent Altarpiece, also known as the adoration of the mystic lamp.
Bob Smith 14:47
Oh, is this the one? It’s like a triptych or something. It’s three pieces. It’s
Marcia Smith 14:50
it’s five pieces. Yeah, you’re right. 12 panels, actually. Wow. 12 panels, and it keeps getting solo. I mean, this is a big. Endeavor, right? Oh, my goodness. Oh, my God. Since its completion in 1432 the 12 panel oil painting by Flemish brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck has become the most stolen artwork of all time. It’s been taken at least seven times, including by none other than Napoleon, and the painting has also been burned and nearly blown up on several other occasions, most recently during World War Two.
Bob Smith 15:27
So it survives to this day, yeah,
Marcia Smith 15:29
but to this day, one panel remains missing, and they have a fake one in there. The copy depicts a group of men, including Van Eyck himself, on horseback, and it’s on display with the rest of the altarpiece in Saint pavos Cathedral in Ghent Belgium. That’s
Bob Smith 15:46
why it’s called the Ghent Altarpiece. The Ghent Altarpiece,
Marcia Smith 15:49
very good deduction.
Bob Smith 15:50
How do you spell Ghent?
Marcia Smith 15:51
J, h e n t, g,
Bob Smith 15:53
h e n t, yeah, yes.
Marcia Smith 15:55
What did I say? J, I did. Yeah, it’s G, I know. Don’t you know that?
Bob Smith 15:59
I’m telling you. Okay. Marcia, what controversial drink did Pope Clement the eighth approve of as fit for Christian consumption in 1592 it was the only drink to have been officially Christianized by the church.
Marcia Smith 16:15
Well, it’s either wine or beer.
Bob Smith 16:17
It’s neither one of those. Marcia vodka. It is not that.
Marcia Smith 16:21
Is it gin.
Bob Smith 16:22
Let me repeat the question, what controversial drink did Pope Clement the eighth approve of as fit for Christian consumption in 1592
Marcia Smith 16:31
oh my gosh, wow. What
Bob Smith 16:33
was happening around 1592 the 1500s what new thing had come into Europe and was just taking off like crazy the plague, no coffee. Coffee. Coffee was all the rage in Europe in the 1590s
Marcia Smith 16:48
so you could drink, according to the Catholics, coffee. Coffee
Bob Smith 16:52
had been brought to Europe in the 1500s and was said to have almost magical powers. People thought it allayed fatigue, it renewed strength. It restored victims from shock and poisoning, some ascribed other powers to it, black magic and witchcraft,
Marcia Smith 17:07
and it kept you awake during service. That’s probably why he said
Bob Smith 17:11
okay to it. It was known as the infidel drink, and many European church people banned it. Infidel, yes, but in 1592 Pope Clement issued an order which approved the new drink as fit for human consumption, making Coffee the only beverage ever officially Christianized that’s from the Encyclopedia of amazing but true facts, yeah, by
Marcia Smith 17:34
the hysterians, is that? Oh, I’m full of wordplay. I think we’re way overdue for a break. All right, let’s
Bob Smith 17:41
take a break and have a cup of coffee. We’ll be back in just a moment. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith, we’re back, and we’ve had our cups of coffee, and we’re feeling so much better, so much alert perky.
Marcia Smith 17:54
More alert than before does perky come from percolated you’re
Bob Smith 17:58
listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith, the show dedicated to lifelong learning. We do this every week for the Cedarburg Public Library, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and its internet radio station. And after the show airs on the radio, it goes on podcast platforms and is heard all
Marcia Smith 18:16
over the world. Yes, that’s right, all right.
Bob Smith 18:19
What was the first national food company to advertise a brand name food product from coast to coast. What National Food Company was the first to advertise a brand name food product from coast to coast in the United States, and their advertising efforts began with signs on streetcars in 1899 really? Okay? What product
Marcia Smith 18:40
is this like? Is this dinner food, or is it a drink? Is it a food?
Bob Smith 18:45
It is a food. Is it it is a liquid?
Marcia Smith 18:49
It’s a liquid food, yeah, like, like a cocoa or No,
Bob Smith 18:54
a liquid food, coffee?
Marcia Smith 18:55
No, it’s not a food. Liquid food, a liquid food with vegetables in it, a smoothie, but not back in the 1800s No,
Bob Smith 19:02
it’s not a smoothie. Boy, you talk about not getting it. Yes, you cut it out, liquid food with vegetables in it, soup,
Marcia Smith 19:11
that’s Campbell Soup. That’s vegetable soup. It
Bob Smith 19:15
was Campbell’s Soup thanks to Dr John Thompson, Doris, a brilliant chemist, brilliant. He joined that company in 1897
Speaker 1 19:23
he invented condensed soup, simply removing the water, and the soup swept the nation in popularity because the other three companies selling canned soup were shipping the soup in bulky, waterlogged cans, and Campbell’s became the first company to condense soup. You add your own water, right? You there’s some water in there, but you add more. And in 1899 Campbell’s began advertising with the signs on New York City streetcars. Their first national ad was in good housekeeping in 1905 and today, Campbell still has about 80 or 90% of the canned soup market in the United States. It was so successful when Dr Dorrance died in 19. 30. In 1930 he left in a state of $115 million Oh, my word. So he was okay, and he was well off, but yeah, that’s the first product, the first food product to advertise a brand name, food product from coast to coast, not bread, but
Marcia Smith 20:15
soup, and it was Campbell Soup, interesting. Oh,
Bob Smith 20:19
I think now it’s time for AKA, also
Marcia Smith 20:24
known as Marsha’s favorite game. All right, all right. The category today Bob is vegetables, vegetables, vegetables. So if I say diamond measurement, what’s the vegetable? Diamond
Bob Smith 20:37
measurement? Talking about diamond measurement, a carrot, that’s it, okay, okay,
Marcia Smith 20:43
how about rotten movie review?
Bob Smith 20:46
Tomatoes, that’s
Marcia Smith 20:46
right, yeah, yeah. Popeyes. Power.
Bob Smith 20:48
Popeye’s what?
Marcia Smith 20:50
Power?
Bob Smith 20:51
Power, spinach, that’s
Marcia Smith 20:53
it, okay. That’s the vegetable. Here’s the AKA, defeat a team. What vegetable defeat a
Bob Smith 21:00
team a vegetable that defeats a team the onions? No, okay.
Marcia Smith 21:05
Now, what’s another word for to defeat somebody? You what?
Bob Smith 21:12
You kill them. You, you beat them.
Marcia Smith 21:14
Beat them. Beat it’s a vegetable. Bob, okay. Beat, all right. Now this, you have to put both words together to get the vegetable. I’m
Bob Smith 21:22
trying real hard here, Lassie and tulip, dog flower clothes, Lassie and tulip, yeah, cauliflower, yeah,
Marcia Smith 21:34
okay. And finally, oh, dear, these kill you, don’t they? Belgium city growths. Belgium
Bob Smith 21:41
city growths, yeah, Belgium city growth What
Marcia Smith 21:46
vegetable am I talking about? What’s the big city in Belgium? How about mussels from Oh, Brussels.
Bob Smith 21:53
Mussels from Brussels. That’s right, that’s right, that’s right.
Marcia Smith 21:56
Okay, so what’s the vegetable from Brussels sprouts?
Bob Smith 21:59
That’s
Marcia Smith 22:00
it. Brussels sprouts from Brussels they
Bob Smith 22:02
grow. Okay,
Marcia Smith 22:04
I gotcha. Okay, that’s it, okay.
Bob Smith 22:06
And I’ve got this item. As you can imagine, winning an Olympic medal is a thrill for any athlete, but the medal winners in Paris’s Summer Games in 2024 took home pieces of the city’s greatest landmark in their medals. I thought this was wonderful. Each gold and silver and bronze metal had pieces of the Eiffel Tower embedded
Marcia Smith 22:25
in it. That is so cool, isn’t it? Yes,
Bob Smith 22:27
that’s the metal hexagon that was the center of the metal. It contained iron fragments, 18 grams of iron removed from the Eiffel Tower during renovations in the 20th century. They took the iron from cut from girders and other components, and they just stored it away. And the French mint created the medals, the same firm that creates the coin. Unfortunately, after being exposed to human skin and sweat, the backs of some of those medals began to discolor the week the athletes were at the Olympics in Paris. You’re kidding. No, they would what would happen to them. The backs of some of the medals began to discolor from their sweat, and, you know, having it against your skin. So hopefully, the faces of the medals will retain their looks and character for years to come. The medals were designed by the show me. The show may jewelry house to reimagine the medals as pieces of jewelry, a first in Olympic history. What a cool idea that everybody would take home a little bit of the Eiffel Tower. Very cool.
Marcia Smith 23:25
Very cool. All right, Bob, when two people share the cost of a date, we say they’re going Dutch Treat. That’s right. Where do we get that phrase from? Where did it originate?
Bob Smith 23:36
Because the Dutch people were considered very thrifty. I think that was it. But I don’t know where did it come from.
Marcia Smith 23:43
It’s sort of that, but it actually wars have influenced our language a lot through the years. For instance, when an English soldier runs from battle, the French say he’s gone traveling English style. Oh, is that right? Well, the English say that he’s on French leave.
Bob Smith 24:02
Oh, that’s funny. They don’t like each other at all. Well, you know, it’s just how
Marcia Smith 24:05
people are in war. So during the Anglo Dutch wars of the 17th century, you recall that?
Bob Smith 24:12
Oh, I don’t recall that. I’m not that old, that
Marcia Smith 24:14
British said a Dutch Treat meant that everyone had to pay their own way, which, of course, was not a treat at all. So no kidding. So it came from the war in the 17th century. They also thought they drank too much, and that’s where the term Dutch courage comes from. Dutch courage comes from. Where from a bottle? Okay? Okay, Bob, so Dutch Treat. Let’s move on to the opposite. Why do we say they’ll foot the bill when someone is paying all the costs? Oh, that’s
Bob Smith 24:44
interesting. Why is it the foot the bill? Why not they’ll palm the bill, or they’ll hand the bill or hold the bill, but they’ll foot the bill, foot the bill, huh? And did it have anything to do with purchases, the foot, kicking things around or something? No,
Marcia Smith 25:00
that’s interesting. No, okay, what is it? Okay, foot the bill dates back to a time when women had no means of financial support couple months ago, so families, so families, offered dowries to eligible men to marry their daughters. The cost of the wedding and the dowry were footed up, meaning itemized. Footed up used to mean itemized, then totaled at the bottom of a ledger in the 15th century, Bob, the foot was the bottom line. Okay, so to foot the bill meant to pay the full amount at the bottom of the invoice. I’ll be darned, and that’s where it came from.
Bob Smith 25:38
You could still say it’s the foot of the sheet of paper, yeah,
Marcia Smith 25:41
the bottom line or the invoice, bottom line of so you foot the bill,
Bob Smith 25:45
means you pay the full price. Yeah, all the expenses added up. Oh, dear.
Marcia Smith 25:49
That goes back. Just kills me. It goes back 15th century. Wow,
Bob Smith 25:53
1400s that’s amazing. So
Marcia Smith 25:56
you would get your money’s worth with the woman you were gonna marry, as long
Bob Smith 26:01
as her family foot the bill. Oh, God, all right. Footed the bill.
Marcia Smith 26:06
You know how much my family gave you to marry me. See, what
Bob Smith 26:09
was that? Wait. We
Marcia Smith 26:11
didn’t tell them. They kind of like, Oh, I didn’t get anything. Okay? Well, you got me, and you thanked them many times, that’s for sure. Okay? And Bob, my Quotes Of The Day, okay? Mark Twain, courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.
Bob Smith 26:27
That’s true. Yeah, you have to recognize the fear and you master it. Yeah, okay.
Marcia Smith 26:31
And from my close personal friend, anonymous, they said, Don’t let your fear of what could happen make nothing happen. Isn’t that nice. That’s like
Bob Smith 26:42
analysis paralysis, almost like looking at it there. I don’t know.
Marcia Smith 26:46
Yeah, I don’t know. Don’t let your fear of what could happen make nothing happen. Well, that’s
Bob Smith 26:50
the way of all kinds of things in life. You don’t hesitate. Yeah, he who hesitates his loss his foot footed, has to foot the bill. Okay?
Marcia Smith 26:58
Goodbye.
Bob Smith 26:59
We hope you join us again next time, when we return with more fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia here on the off ramp. The off ramp has produced an association with CPL radio online and the Cedarburg Public Library, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, visit us on the web at the offramp. Dot show, do.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
