Yahoo!7 Answers Blog Australia

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A Canadian friend of mine referred to a police van as a paddy wagon the other day and it had never occurred to me that this wasn’t an Australian colloquial term. I went seeking out the origin of the “slang” description and there it was on Answers that the name comes from a time when Irish immigrants often became unruly and had to be carted away by the police.

Later when reading a magazine and seeing the use of (sic) after a spelling mistake my curiosity was piqued again, so it was back to Answers to find out why this follows a badly spelt quote in publication.

It’s strangely habit forming, as I’m sure you’re aware, that once you’ve started using Answers lots of questions keep coming to mind. Like why is it called a KitKat? And who decided on the name for soap operas? And why is some olive oil known as “extra virgin”? All these questions can be answered – and quite often they already have been, so it’s worth doing a search to see if the correct response is already there.

Although it may sometimes annoy your friends that you constantly say “let’s ask on Answers!” (until they get used to using it themselves) it is very handy at trivia nights and when making conversation at parties to be able to explain that St Elmo’s Fire is an electroluminescent coronal discharge caused by the ionisation of air during thunderstorms and that the reason brides throw their bouquets is that it’s meant to distracts other fair maidens from tearing shreds off her dress for luck so the bride herself can make a quick getaway.

Have a great weekend!

Clea

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