The "left bank" of a river is the left side as you look downstream

The Rx sign that pharmacists use was originally the astrological sign for Jupiter

Taresthesia is what you call it when your foot falls asleep

The original name for the butterfly was 'flutterby'

Women who wink at men are known as "nictitating" women

The letters KGB stand for Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti

Hydroponics is the technique by which plants are grown in water without soil

The permanent teeth that erupt to replace their primary predecessors (baby teeth) are called succedaneous teeth

The raised reflective dots in the middle of highways are called Botts dots

Sunbeams that shine down through the clouds are called crespucular rays

A "pogonip" is a heavy winter fog containing ice crystals

The thin line of cloud that forms behind an aircraft at high altitudes is called a contrail

The forward slash character on your keyboard is also known as a slant, virgule or solidus

In the Chinese written language, the ideograph for "trouble" represents two women under one roof

A misomaniac is someone who hates everything

The infinite sign is called a Lemniscate

Priests in Australia advise you to say Happy Christmas, not Merry Christmas, because Merry has connotations of getting drunk.

The act of yawning and stretching is called "pandiculation."

A group of crows is called a murder

A "clue" originally meant a ball of thread. This is why one is said to unravel the clues of a mystery

In circus parlance, a "Joey" is a clown with at least five years of experience.

'Smithee' is a pseudonym that filmmakers use when they don't want their names to appear in the credits.

A collector who attempts to collect an example of every item in a particular field is called a 'completist'.

Mummies, are so called because of the wax (or ‘mum’) which is smeared on to the bandages for waterproofing

The "O" when used as a prefix in Irish surnames means "descendant of"

The dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle

A 'bibliophile' is one who collects rare books.

A 'bibliopole' is a seller of rare books.

A nihilist believes in nothing.

The little bits of paper left over when holes are punched in data cards or tape are called "chad".

The name "piano" is an abbreviation of Cristofori's original name for the instrument: piano et forte, or soft and loud.