Fun Facts Can Save You Money

* For all of you unfortunate souls out there who have to drive cars, let me clear up some myths about gas mileage for you. Although like all matters that are relatively trivial, there is some debate as to whether turning your heat on or kicking it to your favorite overplayed radio tunes affects gas mileage. But the debate is not very interesting, so I will will provide the short answer: No. Running the heat or air conditioning does not have any affect on gas consumption. Playing the radio has a negligible impact. What does have an impact, however, is rolling the windows down. "Playing convertible" weighs down the car and requires more fuel. Which is a shame because I really heart real air and really unheart fake air. Hope you can save some cash money, Loren!

* Today I came across the word "epicene" while reading. Epicene is a fun word that means partaking of the characteristics of both sexes. It has the connotation of being effeminate. It can be used as an adjective or a noun. A word can also be epicene, such as an "attendant", as opposed to a "stewardess".

Welcome to I Heart Fun Facts

Hey All! Do you heart fun facts? Because I do. And I'd like to share my facts with you. So from now on, when I come across a new word or wonder about the origins of something obscure, I will research the matter and post the answers on this blog for everyone to enjoy.

Here are some interesting factoids I recently learned.

*Ever hear of a nut graph? It sounds like a surgical procedure involving testicles, but it is in fact a term used in journalism. Unless you are a journalist- or an English teacher forced to teach journalism- you probably have not heard the term. But you have seen them. A nut graph is an isolated paragraph in an article that gives you the facts of the story. The who, what, where, and why. Or in other words, a nut graph tells you the article "in a nutshell". When one is creating a nut graph, they are said to be "nut graphing". That individual is properly called a "nut grapher". Perhaps by calling someone a nut grapher, you could make that person feel insulted and uneducated at the same time.

*Out of the 50 States in our Union, four of them are called commonwealths: Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky. Why? When the constitutions for each of these states were written, the founders just simply chose for the territory to be called a commonwealth. It was a popular term at the time that referred to a government formed by the consent of the people. These states however, are not really commonwealths because the U.S. federal government recognizes them as states. The state of Rhode Island is actually called "the State of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations" in its constitution.

*Timmy (Joseph Mazzello) from Jurassic Park will be starring in the new/ umpteenth millionth World War II Drama on HBO.

*Umpteenth is a word. It means indefinitely numerous.