Shampoo comes from the Hindi word chhampo meaning ‘press’. To shampoo someone was to massage them.
The meaning changed over time and as shampooing was part of the Turkish Bath ritual it changed to mean part of the cleansing process.
To shampoo the hair was to cleanse and massage the scalp. Shampoo still has this meaning [more…]
Welcome to our new-look website, which our Webmaster has been slaving over day and night, to make it user-friendly and fun to take part in. Read the latest news about Lovatts puzzles and gremlins, have your say in the Mailbag, and comment on other readers’ letters. You can order your subscriptions here too and [more…]
We had quite a few enquiries about clue 135ac in The Demon of our February BIG Crossword. And we agree this was a devilish clue but we know you expect nothing less of us.
At 129dn Gold leaf needed to be GILT and not GILD and at 124dn Lingered (on) was DWELT, as in [more…]
My wife has a sore hip so she needs me to knead her,
I have a bad back so I need her to knead me,
So, it is needless to say that we both get relief from being needed (kneaded).
Ross La Spina
Bicton, WA
Have you ever wondered why it is thought that impatience leads to undressing?
This exclamation comes from a time before modern manufacturing technology allowed clothes to be mass produced.
A shirt was a much more expensive item than it is today and so if someone were to get into a fight, it made good economic sense [more…]
Could you please settle an argument for me? As I live by myself I always buy the monthly BIG magazine. I send in what I can do each month. My other favourite hobby is Bingo. Sometimes I take my book to Bingo and when we have a break I often ask the ladies some of [more…]
You can sound posh, look posh, come from a posh family, visit a posh restaurant or go to a posh school. We all know what it means but where does POSH originate from?
We usually associate POSH with the British upper-classes and it has gained the wider usage to describe, sometimes pejoratively, ‘smartly-dressed, well-groomed, looking [more…]
If a physician is described as a quack, he is to be avoided, but how did the term come about?
The word has nothing to do with ducks, but comes from the Dutch quacksalver, from quacken meaning prattle and salf meaning a healing ointment.
A quacksalver then was someone who prattled on about the efficacy of [more…]
