Ask Scoates

I like this possibility:

"But why do we hiccup? The short answer is that no one knows. Thousands of years of speculation have brought us no closer to a conclusive answer. Nonetheless, one theory has hovered in the background for many years: the idea that hiccups have a function during fetal development and that the adult version is just a residual reflex left over from that time.

Fetal hiccups were reported in 1899, and then confirmed once ultrasound became available. Premature infants are thought to spend a phenomenal 2.5% of their time hiccuping. Thus some people propose that hiccups allow a fetus - which can't actually take a breath in the womb as there is no air available - to exercise the inspiratory muscles that it will need immediately after birth in order to breathe air. In other words, hiccups may allow the fetus to practise vital 'breathing' motions while protecting it from inhaling amniotic fluid.
(http://www.nature.com/nsu/990819/990819-12.html)"

I like it, but I don't buy it.

OK, here'ya go. link for papal and other hiccups

Dear Dr, Scoates,

1. Is an orange called an orange because it's the color orange? Or-- Is the color orange named orange because it looks like an orange?

2. How come you know all the words to the cartoon show theme songs of the eighties?

3. Are you a guy or a girl?

Signed,

P4

(Perplexed, near Pasadana, and in the Path of Planet X)

Most dearest Fealola my dear,
The color was named after the fruit. The orange originated in china and worked its way westward from there. Along the way it went through several alterations as it was translated from language to language. For example, the old italian version of the word is melarancio, which is derived from "melo" which means "fruit" and "arancio" which was the name of the tree it came from. When this word was passed to france they directly translated the word fruit, but the tree itself fell victim to a bit of french influence, being called pume orenge, altering the latter portion of the word to match the name of a french town. It is clear how our english version was born from that. Amazingly, the COLOR orange was not discovered until at least a century after the invention of the orange itself (since our eyesight wasn't as evolved as it is now, and we couldn't perceive the full spectrum of light). Purportedly the name of the color was only officially accepted into the english language at the turn of the 20th century, before which if you asked someone what color an orange was they would say "yellowish red."
Moving on, I was born in 1981, and am a boy.

Scoates

When posting an article - why do some people paste the article into the post and others link? What is A2K's position on this? And when a person gets a chunk of their eyebrow clipped out with clippers as a prank what is the expected recovery time? (Size of the clipping is 3/4" square - thick eyebrows).

Eagerly awaiting your sage replies

Well Scroty, I have to hand it to you, you have lightened my mood after reading Ann Coulter. Speaking of whom, do you know her name is really Noun, Rectal; and that Ann coulter a silly anagram.

Good answer on round yellowish red fruit and visible electromagnetic spectrum, except spelling thereof. I think you will find you have been missing out your U s as in COLOUR and OURANGE. A minor point.

Jer, once you loose your eyebrows they are gone forever! It's a scary thing. I have never had this happen to me, or anyone I know or have read about. But there was that guy on Deep Space Nine who didn't have eyebrows... Odo, I think... and I can only assume that he lost them in some tragic accident, and not even Hollywood has advanced in their makeup techniques sufficiently to replace them even temporarily for the camera. You're sunk, my friend. I suggest waiting for technology to catch up to your needs.
As for you first question, I myself have done both. My reasons for linking involve laziness. Also it can be a little classier in expecting them to be willing to read the entire article. I have only pasted when I only want to cite part of an article, rather than the whole of it.
A2K has positions? Weird.

Steve,
Indeed?! I am offended at her actual name. Silly how people feel pseudonyms would need to be restricted in any such way...

SCoates,

Thank you for your insight on the eyebrow situation - I will endeavour to ensure that it never happens to me.

I also appreciate your comments on my first question - that's kinda how I look at it too.

Cheers,

-Jer-

Is Orange really spelled OURANGE on the other side of the Atlantic? Or is it some kind of joke, like calling the sounds bagpipes make music?

Jer be careful re if you have a thyroid deficiency, as that can also cause eyebrow loss. Tragic, but true; mine are currently creeping in from either side of my head.

Okay, TMI, I know.

SCoates, what should I make for dinner tonight? Please keep in mind that tomorrow is shopping day, so we're more or less just down to anchovy paste and stale ramen. I think we also have Dijon mustard.

PS Thanks in advance.

Joe, it is a joke, but not like unto the joke you compared it to. There are people who actually like bagpipes! I know it sounds absurd, but the same people (whom I shall not mention) also drink a lot. It may be related.

Jespah, do you have any curry powder or Catsup? If you mix those two ingredients with the Dijon, it makes a suprisingly good sauce when heated. I would suggest mixing it in with your ramen to disguise its stalicity.

Thank you; I'll see about warning RP before I serve it to him.

Joe,

Dr Scrotum was right. Over here we spell orange without the u and fruit with a u as in nut.

And bagpipes are forbidden in the rutting season.

Dear Dr Scoates,
Have you ever noticed how you name is a crippled anagram of Socrates?

Scoates, interesting question. I would say "A cute little anagram" rather than crippled. You don't want to imply that my wisdom is crippled, which I am afraid some might associate. My wisdom is fine, it is merely cute, and little, compared to that of Socrates.

Dear Socrates,

keep playing football and forget philosophical pretension to SCoates

Jespah, I finally made the dish of my internet name, ossobuco, the other night. The secret ingredient was anchovies...
well, that and lemon peel. No, no, no, I didn't use veal...

So, scoates, what if you were a vegetarian, well, a fish eating vegetarian, which is probably a pescatarian...
what would you do with a few anchovies and lemon peel..

(waiting, worried...)

I would throw away the anchovies, and refer my wife to the following site:

http://www.italianmade.com/recipes/recipe317.cfm

oh my, the great and powerful cannot cook?