Bob and Marcia Smith discuss the peak of brain function, now believed to occur between 55 and 60, based on studies combining reasoning, verbal ability, emotional understanding, and moral insight. They explore Native American roles in the US Civil War, highlighting Stan Watty, the last Confederate General to surrender, and Eli Parker, who drafted the terms of surrender at Appomattox. They also delve into the origins of terms like “restroom” and “water closet,” and trivia about historical figures and phrases. The episode concludes with a discussion on the cultivation of bananas and the etymology of “loo.”
Outline
Peak Brain Function and Native American Roles in the Civil War
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss when the brain reaches its peak mental acuity, with previous research suggesting it occurs in the 20s.
- Marcia Smith explains that new studies show the brain is more dynamic, with deeper forms of intelligence continuing to grow into the 50s, 60s, and beyond.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the integration of knowledge, empathy, and problem-solving, suggesting that the peak may occur later in life.
- Bob Smith asks how Native Americans played major roles in ending the US Civil War, leading to a discussion about the last Confederate General to surrender, a Native American named Stan Watty, and the Native American Eli Parker who drafted the terms of surrender at Appomattox.
Native American Contributions to the Civil War
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the role of Native Americans in the Civil War, including Stan Watty, the last Confederate General to surrender, and Eli Parker, who drafted the terms of surrender.
- Marcia Smith explains that Stan Watty was a brigadier general in the Confederate army and commanded a mounted brigade of Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole fighters.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the reasons why some Native Americans joined the Confederacy, including their displacement and the belief that the Confederacy would offer a better deal.
- Marcia Smith highlights the contributions of Native Americans to the war, including their roles on both sides and the split within the Cherokee Nation.
Historical Trivia and Word Origins
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith engage in a game of “Where in the World,” guessing the locations of various cities based on clues.
- They discuss the origins of the term “restroom,” explaining its evolution from quiet lounges in public spaces to include plumbing.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith explore the origins of phrases like “son of a gun” and “water closet,” providing historical context and etymologies.
- They discuss the term “laboratory,” tracing its roots to Latin and its evolution into a term for a bathroom.
Quickies and Language Trivia
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith play a game of “quickies,” where they guess the origins of various phrases and words.
- They discuss the origins of the term “mock banana” and its use as a substitute during World War II.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith explore the history of the term “John” for a toilet, tracing it back to Sir John Harrington’s invention of the flush toilet.
- They discuss the origins of the term “loo” and its various explanations, including medieval warnings and brand names on outhouses.
Final Thoughts and Reflections
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith share their thoughts on the importance of learning and the vast amount of information available.
- They discuss the contributions of Native Americans to the Civil War and their roles in post-war negotiations.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith reflect on the origins of various terms and phrases, emphasizing the rich history behind common words.
- They conclude with a humorous note, discussing the term “skip to the loo” and its playful interpretation.
Bob Smith 0:00
How did Native Americans play major roles in ending the US Civil War?
Marcia Smith 0:06
When does our brain reach its peak?
Bob Smith 0:09
And why do we call toilets rest rooms and a dozen other words? Answers to those and other questions coming up in this episode of the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith.
Bob Smith 0:36
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. So when does our brain peak?
Bob Smith 0:48
Yes,
Bob Smith 0:49
As in, looking at something, peeking at something. No we’re talking about when we’re at our apogee, at our highest
Marcia Smith 0:55
Yeah, peak of mental acuity.
Bob Smith 0:58
Okay, I’d say it’s when you’re youngest, probably when you’re 18 or 19 years old.
Marcia Smith 1:02
And that’s what previous research has shown. But things have changed. For decades, scientists assumed that mental capacity increased through adolescence and hit a high point in the 20s. In fact, that’s what I always thought.
Bob Smith 1:14
Yeah, right
Marcia Smith 1:14
Because I think we had that question a long time ago, and the answer was, in your 20s.
Bob Smith 1:18
And we thought, well, we’ve been going downhill ever since, right?
Marcia Smith 1:21
But things have changed. Now it’s believed that the brain is far more dynamic than we once thought. It remodels itself, constantly responding to how we live, what we learn and how we connect. Some kinds of quick thinking may slow with time. Oh, not in this house,
Bob Smith 1:38
No, no, no!
Marcia Smith 1:39
But deeper forms of intelligence, such as judgment, emotional regulation and creativity continue to grow as the decades stretch on.
Bob Smith 1:48
So when are they thinking the peak is now?
Marcia Smith 1:51
Studies have shown that adults in their 40s, 50s and 60s continue to expand their vocabularies and refine their decision making skills.
Bob Smith 2:00
Well, I would say that’s true.
Marcia Smith 2:01
Yeah. In fact, when researchers combined reasoning, verbal ability, emotional understanding and moral insight into a composite measure of cognition, they found that the average mental peak occurred between 55 and 60.
Bob Smith 2:16
Oh, so that’s when they think you’re at your best.
Marcia Smith 2:19
Yep.
Bob Smith 2:19
Well, that’s wonderful!
Marcia Smith 2:21
So it’s –
Bob Smith 2:23
Not on the slow road to hell I thought I was
Marcia Smith 2:25
So if peak brain function means raw speed, then that occurs when you’re younger. You know, you can see when our son is thinking, it goes very fast. And then you and I, not so fast. But if it means the integration of knowledge, empathy and problem solving, the ability to balance logic with perspective, the real peak likely then comes later in 50s, 60s or beyond.
Bob Smith 2:50
Whoa!
Marcia Smith 2:50
Or beyond.
Bob Smith 2:51
You’ve given me so much hope today. Okay, all right, Marcia, how did two Native Americans play major roles in ending the US Civil War now both deal with the surrender of the South.
Marcia Smith 3:03
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Bob Smith 3:04
How did Native Americans play major roles in ending the US Civil War? I didn’t know this until recently, but major roles were played in ending the war by Native Americans.
Marcia Smith 3:15
I didn’t know that. Okay, so tell me they helped end it. Yes. Were they the last to surrender or something?
Bob Smith 3:21
That’s right, the answers are
Marcia Smith 3:24
Good grief!
Bob Smith 3:24
The last Confederate General to surrender was a Native American. He was a Confederate General. Yes, I’ll tell you about him in a second. And the terms of surrender for the Confederacy were drafted by a Native American as well.
Marcia Smith 3:38
No kidding.
Bob Smith 3:39
At Appomattox.
Marcia Smith 3:40
Wow
Bob Smith 3:40
Now the last Confederate General to surrender. You picture the end of the war. You think of Robert E Lee at Appomattox. But that wasn’t the end, not even close. The last Confederate General to surrender wasn’t Lee or Jeb Stuart or Stonewall Jackson. It was a Cherokee leader, a Native American, Stand Wati. He was a brigadier general in the Confederate army. Now you are saying, why would they join the Confederacy? Because they were all dealing with being displaced, and since the Confederacy was fighting the Union, which was the federal government, they thought, well, let’s side with the people fighting against the federal government. Maybe we’ll get a better shake with them on our tribal lands.
Marcia Smith 4:19
You would think they’d identify with the slaves at that point, you know, just from being downtrodden
Bob Smith 4:25
No, they did not. Some Native Americans owned slaves, so that’s not the problem there. Y
Bob Smith 4:30
eah.
Bob Smith 4:31
Anyway, Stand Wati was a brigadier general in the Confederate army. He was the only Native American to hold that rank, and he commanded a mounted brigade of Cherokee Creek and Seminole fighters in what was then called Indian territory. And long after the Confederate armies gave up, he kept fighting. He finally surrendered June 23 1865, two months after Appomattox. So the civil war didn’t end in that Virginia farmhouse. It ended with a Cherokee general in Oklahoma and. Now the second event dealt with Appomattox itself. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Marcia Smith 5:04
Okay, sounds good. Meanwhile, I’m going to do where in the world. Okay, okay, all right, three clues for three questions. All right, how quick you can get them? Clue one, this city’s historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bob Smith 5:21
The city’s historic center is UNESCO, okay, is that Rome?
Marcia Smith 5:25
No, all right. Clue two, the city is famous for its handmade lace and chocolate shops. Oh, this must be Brussels, no.
Bob Smith 5:34
Oh, is it in Belgium, though? Yeah.
Marcia Smith 5:36
Okay. And third, yes, a Belgian city with cobbled streets and medieval buildings.
Bob Smith 5:44
Which one is in Belgium? Yes, I was, it was in Brussels.
Marcia Smith 5:47
But where is Bruges? Oh, okay, that’s the where in the world. Bruce, yes, it close to Brussels.
Bob Smith 5:53
Everything is close to Brussels. It’s a small country.
Marcia Smith 5:55
Country, I think it’s a small country. Okay, ready? Here’s another where in the world? Okay? Clue one, home of the Jade Emperor pagoda, a Taoist shrine.
Bob Smith 6:07
Okay? Would that be in Burma, or would it be in China? No, okay.
Marcia Smith 6:13
Clue two, the choo Chi Tunnels run under the city and were used during military campaign.
Bob Smith 6:19
The Chu Chi Tunnels. Oh, my goodness. What’s the next
Marcia Smith 6:22
clue, formerly known as Saigon. Oh, okay,
Bob Smith 6:26
so this is, was it Ho Chi Min city? Very, good. So it’s Vietnam, South what used to be South Vietnam, yeah. Okay, Ho Chi Minh. And then you got another
Marcia Smith 6:36
one, where in the world, where in the world, clue one, nicknamed Phoenix City because it has survived many wars, conflicts and invasions throughout its history.
Bob Smith 6:47
Okay, I’m gonna say Damascus, Syria.
Marcia Smith 6:49
Oh, interesting. No. Okay, too. There is a Mermaid statue in the center of the city’s Old Town.
Bob Smith 6:56
A Mermaid statue, yeah. So is this up in is this in the Netherlands somewhere?
Marcia Smith 7:01
No. Okay, clue three, all right, the city stands on the Vistula River. The What river? The Vistula V, i, s, t, u, l, a,
Bob Smith 7:11
I’m sorry, I have no idea, right?
Marcia Smith 7:13
It is Warsaw. Oh, no kidding, yeah, in Poland. Yeah. See, we didn’t know any of those clues, and I didn’t either. Well, that’s really good.
Bob Smith 7:21
Yeah, there’s so much to learn about the world. Oh, there is. And there’s so much to learn about history. Marcia, so
Marcia Smith 7:27
and I think you’re going to
Bob Smith 7:29
tell me, we just talked about the last Confederate general, yes, surrendering, being a Native American. And now here’s the second event. It’s more surprising when Robert E Lee walked into the McLean house at Appomattox to surrender to the Army of Northern Virginia. He noticed a man in Union blue who didn’t look like all the others. The man was Eli s Parker. He was a Seneca engineer, a lawyer, a diplomat and a Native American. He served on General Ulysses S Grant’s staff as Military Secretary. Okay, and it was him, this Native American, who drafted the terms of surrender that ended the Civil War. So this guy
Marcia Smith 8:06
was on General Grant’s team.
Bob Smith 8:08
Yes. And Lee reportedly said to him, I’m glad to see one real American here. Oh, and Parker said, we are all Americans, sir. Those are famous words from the Civil War.
Marcia Smith 8:20
No kidding, the Indians said that.
Bob Smith 8:22
Yes, yes. So the Native American Eli Parker wrote the document that ended the Civil War. That’s the second key event. So Native Americans had major roles. And do you know how many Native Americans fought in the Civil War? How many sites were there? Hundreds, 1000s, 1000s, roughly 20,000 Native Americans fought in the Civil War. That’s amazing, on both sides too. Some tribes aligned with the union, some with the Confederacy. Some tried to stay neutral. The Cherokee Nation, which we spoke of earlier, that was split in half, Stan Watty on one side, and then the Chief John Ross on the other. Another leader led 1000s of refugees north to escape the Confederates. So it was a mess. In many ways. It was a civil war within a civil war. But after the war, it was equally interesting what these two fellows went on to do. Parker, the Native American who literally wrote the words that ended the war, was appointed by President Grant as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. He was the first Native American to hold that office, and he oversaw US relations with the tribes during Reconstruction. He pushed for fairer treatment of Native nations, and he tried to curb corruption in the bureau. Later in life, he worked as a banker and lived quietly in Connecticut until his death in 1895 Native American Stan wat, the last Confederate General to surrender. Went on to engage in diplomacy, representing the southern Cherokee Nation in post war negotiations in Washington, DC, he sought recognition and reparations, and he helped collect and preserve Cherokee legends and oral histories. And then he retired to his plantation at Honey Creek Indian Territory, where he died. In 1871 Parker wrote the peace. Wadi surrendered the rebellion. That’s how two Native Americans helped end the civil war.
Marcia Smith 10:09
All right, Bob, next up, here’s a question, okay, what? Somerset mom novel has been filmed three times.
Bob Smith 10:16
Somerset mom wrote a novel that’s been filmed three times. Yes, you know, I’m familiar with the name, but I’m not familiar with his work. You’ve never read
Marcia Smith 10:24
any of his work. I don’t think so. The book is Of Human Bondage. No kidding. It’s a coming of age story about a guy named Philip Carey who was an orphan and had a
Bob Smith 10:34
club foot that was filmed three times. Yeah, I
Marcia Smith 10:38
don’t think I ever saw the movie. The bondage refers to Phillips inability to break free from his self destructive obsessive love for Mildred Rogers, sort of like you and me.
Bob Smith 10:50
Mildred Rogers. Rogers a period
Marcia Smith 10:53
name isn’t Yeah, and I’ve never seen the film either, but it does sound enticing. Well, it must
Bob Smith 10:59
have been good to have been filmed three different
Marcia Smith 11:01
times for movies. A lot of intrigue. Just in that paragraph, I read Wow. Story guy with a club foot, and he’s an orphan and he’s got a compulsion,
Bob Smith 11:10
sounds like had a lot of problems.
Marcia Smith 11:12
Yeah, does. I don’t think it ends well for him.
Bob Smith 11:16
All right, Marcia, we both love word origins, yes, and most of these are histories documented from the Oxford English Dictionary. Let’s go through a couple of them here. Why do we call toilets rest rooms? Ever think of that? Yes, okay. Why do we call it that? Trying to remember, I read it now. This was the late 19th, early 20th centuries. Is when this term first emerged and first in the United States. Okay, tell
Marcia Smith 11:43
me I do recall reading it Well,
Bob Smith 11:44
originally a rest room, often written as two words, was a quiet, comfortable parlor or lounge found in public spaces like department stores, theaters, and they were furnished with sofas, armchairs and sometimes day beds and that’s all. It was just a rest room.
Speaker 1 11:58
There was no toilets,
Bob Smith 11:59
no and then when indoor plumbing came about, building designers naturally began placing those toilets and sinks directly adjacent to the resting lounges.
Marcia Smith 12:08
They still have them in all the fancy stores, the fancy department stores, the restroom and the I always look at it as a lounge when I walk
Bob Smith 12:17
in, yeah. Part of the reason they kept the name restroom was because Victorian society was highly squeamish about discussing bodily functions. So instead of announcing toilet, patrons would say, Excuse me, I have to go to the
Marcia Smith 12:28
restroom, and I say it. You say
Bob Smith 12:31
it, don’t you? Oh, yeah, always. And then sometimes powder room was a term they
Marcia Smith 12:35
used too. Ladies would powder their noses. But before that,
Bob Smith 12:39
the restroom was a place you’d go to powder your wig too. Oh, really, yes, it goes back. Isn’t that funny? It is. So rest room came about because there were these little rooms that were designed just for resting, and then they added the plumbing later.
Marcia Smith 12:53
Yeah, all right, it’s time for a break. I think I’ve got more toilet stores.
Bob Smith 12:57
I’ve got more I’ve got to go to the restroom. We’ll be back in just a moment. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith, we’re back. I’m fully rested. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith. We do this every week for the Cedarburg Public Library, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and after that, we put it on podcast platforms where it
Speaker 2 13:19
is heard all over the world.
Bob Smith 13:21
Oh, yes.
Marcia Smith 13:22
Can I do a word origin? Sure, I have one here that I like a lot. What’s the origin of the phrase son of a gun? It had to
Bob Smith 13:31
do with ships. It was the Navy thing, yeah. And then was it the didn’t they have women on board who had babies and was the son of a gun? That’s what they named the baby
Marcia Smith 13:41
or something. Yeah, well, you’re definitely on the right track. Okay, early in the 18th century, wives, girlfriends and sometimes prostitutes, were allowed to go to sea with the sailors of the Royal Navy during a long voyage. Who knew right? If someone became pregnant, the common place to give birth was between the two deck cannons behind a canvas curtain, there was, there was some privacy, privacy, yes, if fatherhood was of dubious origin, the birth was listed in the ship’s log as son of a gun. Did I just snort again? Yes, you did.
Bob Smith 14:20
I thought it was funny, and I liked it. Okay? I want to go back to the restrooms. I’m on the restroom kick, alrighty. You’ve heard the term water closet. Yes, I have. I was considered a toilet term, right? Where did that come from? Well, is
Marcia Smith 14:35
that because the water used to be in compartment above the toilet, well, like a little drawer and it would come down into the toilet.
Bob Smith 14:44
There was that too, yes. But before indoor plumbing, people used chamber pots or outhouses sometimes called Earth closets. And then, when the miraculous new indoor flushing toilets were invented, they needed a name to describe these small private rooms that used water to wash. Ish waste away, and they called it a water closet. So it’s all based on plumbing. It’s all based on plumbing. Can we move away from bathrooms? Now, okay, what? What do you want to talk about now? Marsh, two quickies.
Marcia Smith 15:12
Okay, what kind of Apple is on the beetle Apple label?
Bob Smith 15:17
Oh, okay, well, it’s a green apple. I know that was it a Macintosh. That’s what
Marcia Smith 15:23
I would have thought. No, it was a Granny Smith. Huh? Then here’s another quickie. What precedes that phrase? And never the twain shall meet?
Bob Smith 15:33
What precedes it?
Marcia Smith 15:34
Yeah, there’s a sentence before it. Oh, okay, and I’ve heard it all my life, and so have you all right, what is it? It’s East is East and West is West. Oh yes, and never the twain shall meet. You know where that comes from.
Bob Smith 15:47
Was that? Was that our famous American short story writer, he wrote the story about the man and the woman who gave each other gifts at Christmas time, and, oh yeah, they sort of both bankrupted themselves together.
Marcia Smith 15:59
Oh no, it was Rudyard Kipling. Rudyard Kipling, yes, he wrote an 1889 poem, The Ballad of East and West. And despite the phrase I just read, The poem is actually about people from different cultures finding common grounds. Oh No
Bob Smith 16:15
kidding, even though it’s never the twain shall meet.
Marcia Smith 16:19
Who knew? I didn’t know that.
Bob Smith 16:20
Rudyard Kipling, I always liked his stuff. Remember, we had to memorize, if by Rudyard Kipling, if you can keep your mind when all about you others are losing their heads
Marcia Smith 16:28
and all, yeah, I had to do frost and Shakespeare, a lot. Okay, different, different schools. I did Robert Frost too.
Bob Smith 16:35
Yeah, stopping by the woods and snowy.
Marcia Smith 16:37
I like that. Everybody likes that. Okay, all right. Ready for, aka, yes, also known as a card game that comes in a big box. And I happen to love it and use it against Bob every week. Okay, I will give you the category languages. Okay, so if I give you a word like the type of measles, what language am I talking
Bob Smith 16:59
about? What type of measles?
Marcia Smith 17:01
Yeah, it’s a type of measles, German.
Bob Smith 17:03
That’s it German measles, a tongue kiss. Oh my goodness, a tongue kiss, yeah.
Marcia Smith 17:10
What language? Yes, oh yes. Okay. Pool ball, spin, pool, like billiards,
Bob Smith 17:18
eight ball. What are we asking about?
Marcia Smith 17:20
Language. What language are we talking about?
Bob Smith 17:22
Remember, we just put some scotch on it.
Marcia Smith 17:25
No, it’s close. Put some Irish on it.
Bob Smith 17:28
Close. I can’t remember English. Oh, put some English. Well, it’s, you know, it’s from the British Isles. Put some scotch on that scotch tape, please.
Marcia Smith 17:36
You’re amazing. Oh, my goodness. Okay. Now think about this, not all languages are countries. Billboard, what kind of language are we asking for?
Bob Smith 17:45
Billboard? What kind of language?
Marcia Smith 17:47
What is a billboard? It’s
Bob Smith 17:48
outdoor sign, sign language.
Marcia Smith 17:50
That’s it, okay, all right. Now think this through moving too fast language. Are we talking about?
Bob Smith 17:58
Talk about my brain right now, moving too fast. What kind of language? This is a bit of a stretch rush, Russian language.
Marcia Smith 18:06
I didn’t think you get
Bob Smith 18:08
that 1am. I at the 50 to 60 year old stage here? Or am I fruit
Speaker 3 18:13
filled pastry?
Bob Smith 18:14
Fruit filled pastry? Fruit filled in a language?
Marcia Smith 18:18
What language Am I looking for
Bob Smith 18:22
something in Europe. What is it? What is it in Danish, that’s
Marcia Smith 18:25
it, okay. And last one, okay. Think about it, him, beer, her. Beer, him. Beer, him, beer, what? What language am I talking about?
Bob Smith 18:35
Him, beer, you I don’t know he brew. Oh, my goodness. Oh, dear lord. Okay, all right, it
Marcia Smith 18:45
wasn’t easy. I give you that one.
Bob Smith 18:46
Back to language again, and instead of talking about what I talked about before, we’re talking about laboratory. Oh, forgot, that’s another euphemism for the restroom. So where did the term laboratory come from?
Marcia Smith 19:00
Good heavens, what rabbit hole did you go down?
Bob Smith 19:02
Kind of interesting. I thought, Okay,
Marcia Smith 19:05
where did it come from? I don’t
Bob Smith 19:07
It’s Latin. There’s a lavatorium, a place for washing that’s derived from the verb Lavra to wash. Well, in the 1300s a lavatory wasn’t a room, it was the sink or the basin itself. And then evolved into eventually, where the basins or sinks were kept. That was the 1600s it took 300 years. And then today, people call it laboratory or the lav. They started in England a common, slightly formed word for a toilet. And in America, it’s still used in technical plumbing or airplane context. Yeah, I need to go to the laboratory or the bathroom, or the restroom. That’s true. That’s why it’s called the bathroom, a place to wash, laboratory bathroom, see, yeah, I get it. I get it. Okay, thought it was kind of interesting myself. All right, are we done with that?
Marcia Smith 19:52
Okay? In England, Bob during World War Two, there were many food shortages. But. Bananas were one of them. What food was used as a substitute for bananas, or a mock banana? During the war, they had a lot of mock foods back then, so you could pretend yes, that it was what you missed.
Bob Smith 20:15
Okay, yes, man, I don’t know the answer to that. What would be a mock
Marcia Smith 20:19
banana? Guess something?
Bob Smith 20:20
Okay, yellow stick. I don’t know you’re gonna eat a yellow stick. What would be a mock banana?
Marcia Smith 20:28
Well, the parsnip, of course, oh my gosh, really, yeah, the humble root vegetable, the parsnip, it was boiled or roasted until soft, then mashed with sugar and a splash of artificial banana essence, the mixture took on a surprisingly banana like texture and the taste, though far from the real thing, sometimes tasted a little bit like a banana. Some thrifty cooks even tinted the result yellow to help it. Children who had never tasted a real banana kind of fell for it,
Bob Smith 21:02
and then later were upset with their parents.
Marcia Smith 21:04
You tricked me. When the first post war shipment of bananas, 5 million of them arrived in 1945 the whole country staged a celebratory parade, and children were the first allowed to get a taste.
Bob Smith 21:18
This is in England, yeah, okay,
Marcia Smith 21:20
after years of fake fruit fashion from Parsons, oh, my goodness, the real thing was nothing short of magical. Well, I’m sure
Bob Smith 21:27
that that celebration had a great appeal
Marcia Smith 21:29
for people so easy. How many kinds of bananas you think there are? Oh, there are all kinds.
Bob Smith 21:35
There’s different species. How many you think maybe five or 10,
Marcia Smith 21:39
a little bit more 1000 Wow, 1000 varieties of bananas. And where do you think they were first cultivated? I think it was either
Bob Smith 21:46
in Indonesia or it was India.
Marcia Smith 21:48
It’s 1000 BC in New Guinea, okay, yeah, that part of the world, that 1000 years BC, gosh. How do you cultivate a banana? If you’ve never
Bob Smith 21:59
seen one? Well, they cultivated them there. They grew different varieties, and then they brought them to England. I forget there was a famous guy who brought the first one to England, and his name was attached to it for a long time. Oh, yeah. Speaking of names, there’s another word we use for the bathroom, the John. Do you know where that came from? Sir John Harrington. He was an English courtier and the godson of Queen Elizabeth. He invented the first flush toilet for his manor, and he named the invention the Ajax, which was a pun on a Jakes. At the time, Jakes was a common slang for a toilet. And then Queen Elizabeth was so impressed with the device, she had one installed in her palace. And while Harrington called it the Ajax, his name, John became so synonymous with it that people started referring to going to
Marcia Smith 22:44
the John. Well, what about Mr. Crapper? What did he do?
Bob Smith 22:49
Many people think Thomas Crapper was an inventor of flush toilets. No, but he marketed flush toilets. Oh, really, yeah, his name was stamped on manhole covers and toilets all over London, but the word crap actually predates him by centuries. Okay, Middle English, but the popularity of his brand, crapper certainly cemented the slang in the modern era. So he didn’t invent them, but his name was all over them. That’s why people called them crapper.
Marcia Smith 23:16
All right, moving on. I have one more. Oh, my God. All right, okay.
Bob Smith 23:23
Where did Lou come from? The British slang, I’m going to the loo.
Marcia Smith 23:26
I like. That’s a lot more pleasant than some other names. Okay, there
Bob Smith 23:31
are three thoughts on that. One is called the guardy Loo. Thought in medieval Edinburgh, Scotland, residents of the tall tenement buildings would empty their chamber pots out the window into the street, and to warn passers by, they would shout, Gardi Lou to corruption of the French, meaning garde lieu, watch out for the water that’s believed Lou is simply the shortened version of that warning cry. And then le Lu, L, E, L, i, e, u was also a term that was the place. Go to the place. And then the third one is Waterloo. There was a brand called Waterloo prominently displayed on Iron cisterns in British outhouses in the early 20th century. And they believe that people just started calling it Lou, because they’d see this name water go to the loo. Yeah, over there where the Waterloo is on the sign on the sister abbreviation, yeah. So that’s where that came from. And then finally, why is the toilet called the head in the Navy? Oh, it was it at the head of the ship. That’s exactly right. That dates back to 1485 if you went to go to the restroom, you go to the head of the ship. And from that point on, it was just called the head.
Marcia Smith 24:36
I’m going to the head. I think my dad used to call it the head. What did your father call it? Just the restroom, hmm, okay, I
Bob Smith 24:44
never he was in the army, so, yeah,
Marcia Smith 24:46
okay, that makes it, okay. Another two quickies, okay, okay. What was Miss piggy’s original
Bob Smith 24:53
name? Miss piggy’s
Marcia Smith 24:54
original name? Yeah, did you know that she knows he wasn’t nervous.
Bob Smith 24:58
This like a maiden name. She had, or is this a name? Was this a working name they had before
Marcia Smith 25:03
the game? She was in some things as this, and then they changed it
Bob Smith 25:06
was she pigletty or something like she was Miss Piggy. Lee, piggy. Oh my, whoa. Peggy Lee probably got ticked off, I think back in the day, yes. Peggy Lee, the entertainer, probably wasn’t too happy about piggy.
Marcia Smith 25:18
Lee, okay, and then what is the definition of botanophobia?
Bob Smith 25:24
Botanophobia a fear of botanical things, which we fear of plants and things like that, exactly. Really botanophobia?
Marcia Smith 25:32
It’s an intense fear of plants.
Bob Smith 25:35
I had no idea.
Marcia Smith 25:36
I didn’t either that I have a fear when you walk past the jade plant that you’re going to knock it over.
Bob Smith 25:43
We have this jade plant that just keeps growing. And they’re very fragile.
Marcia Smith 25:46
You could just touch it in a
Bob Smith 25:48
peaceful but they’re beautiful looking. Yeah, they really are. I think that’s it. Do you have a thought for the day? Okay?
Marcia Smith 25:54
Henry David Thoreau, okay, very interesting man. Two things. He said a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let go.
Bob Smith 26:05
Oh, that’s a good one. Isn’t that nice? That’s the way he lived, yes,
Marcia Smith 26:08
or tried to live, pretty much. And here’s one that’s really good for today’s day and age. Men have become tools of their tools. And here’s an anonymous one in the same vein, he who dies with the most toys still dies.
Bob Smith 26:23
It doesn’t matter how many you have. That’s right, you’re gonna go,
Marcia Smith 26:28
what are the Egyptians put all their toys inside the cryptic they’re still dead. They’re not there, but their toys are.
Bob Smith 26:37
That’s right, the toys will outlive you. So to speak, so to speak, all right. Well, it’s time for us to go, not to the loo. Skip to the loo. Oh, I’m sorry, yes, skip to the loo. There you go.
Marcia Smith 26:46
There’s a I don’t think it’s what it’s referring I think that’s a whole different thing. Thank you for listening. I’m moving on, Bob. Say goodbye, Tracy. Oh my
Bob Smith 26:58
goodness, okay. I brought up too much on that. I’m Bob Smith. I’m Marcia Smith. Join us next time when we return with more fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia and no more toilet stories here on the off ramp, skip to my Lou. I like that. Never thought of it that way. Skip to the loo. The off ramp is produced in association with the Cedarburg Public Library, Cedarburg Wisconsin, visit us on the web at the offramp. Dot show.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
