Why is April 1 the day on which legs are pulled?
The history of April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day began in 1564 in France with the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, when New Year's Day was moved from April 1 to January 1. The Gregorian calendar, which replaced the Julian calendar in 1582, confirmed this switch. As Catholic countries adopted Pope Gregory XIII's calendar, many traditionalists refused to acknowledge the change and continued to recognise the New Year only on April 1. These people were labelled "fools" by the general populace, were subject to ridicule and sent on "fool errands", sent invitations to non-existent NYE parties and had other practical jokes played on them. It took the English, who only switched calendars in 1752, to turn the jokes into an art form.
David Buley, Seaforth
April the first marks the date on which Tibia Maximus, official food taster to the Roman emperor Caligula and a famous practical joker, was executed for pretending to fall down dead after tasting the emperor's breakfast.
Norm Neill, Leichhardt
When and why did CEOs stop "building" businesses and start "growing" them instead?
It happened sometime in the early 1990s, promoted by the American Society for Affectatious Business Language (ASABL, as in babble), whose members are mainly management consultants, trainers and gurus.
It was part of a "world class", "best practice", "benchmark" "process" seeking to "add value", "going forward" for a "positive outcome". Language reactionaries "branded" this business newspeak as being verbal ordure, whereupon the ASABL acolytes, always looking for an "opportunity", "harmonised"
the metaphorical merde into "growing" the business. An "innovative", "results-oriented approach" "cross-fertilised" by opposing forces!
Keith Davis, Croydon Park
Where does the saying "to cut the mustard" come from?
Theories abound. The expression cut the mustard, meaning "to do what is required", is said to have first been used by O. Henry in a short story called The Heart of the West from the early 20th century: "So I looked around and found a proposition that exactly cut the mustard."
But another theory states it comes from an old western expression, the proper mustard, meaning "the real thing" at first and then "the best". Canadian linguist Mark Israel cites O. Henry's story Cabbages and Kings, in which he used mustard to mean the main attraction: "I'm not headlined in the bills, but I'm the mustard in the salad dressing, just the same."
There's another theory that it comes from the Latin monstrare "to show", as in the military phrase "to pass muster".
Michael Piastri, Redfern
More Big Questions - exclusively for online readers
Why is April the first the day on which people's legs are pulled?
It is linked to the changing season of the Christian Lent. The passion and death of Christ was reported as a saga of humiliation with Christ treated as an ambihtious fool intent on establishing an earthly kingdom. In pulling someone's leg we humiliate them and make them look foolish. At the same time we temper our actions with the old adage of giving them "a pinch and a punch for the first of the month" which in our house equates to a tickle.
Gail Hennessy, Rankin Park
In 16th-century France, the start of the new year was observed on April 1. It was celebrated in much the same way as it is today. Then in 1562, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world (the Gregorian Calendar used today), and the new year fell on January 1. There were some people, however, who hadn't heard or didn't believe the change in the date, so they continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April first. Others played jokes on them (sometimes called 'pulling someone's leg', in a good humoured way) and called them April fools. Perhaps Mark Twain summed it up best when he wrote, "The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year."
Alison Sweeney, Randwick
I was told as a child that April Fool's Day commemorated Jesus's mistreatment at the hands of the Roman soldiers. The story goes that he was blindfolded then punched and spat at by the soldiers who demanded that he use prophetic powers to say who had hit him.
Pat Sibbald, Hassal Grove
Where does the saying "not cutting the mustard" come from?
The expression "cut the mustard", meaning "to do what is required" is first recorded, according to the Historical Dictionary of American Slang, in 1902 in an O. Henry book, Works: "So I looked around and found a proposition that exactly cut the mustard."
That's easy enough, but what's the origin? Theories abound. They include:
THAT it comes from an old Western expression, the proper mustard, meaning "the real thing" at first and then "the best". Canadian linguist Mark Israel cites O. Henry's Cabbages and Kings of 1894, in which he used mustard to mean the main attraction: "I'm not headlined in the bills, but I'm the mustard in the salad dressing, just the same." Israel also says the use of mustard as a positive superlative dates from 1659 in the phrase "keen as mustard", and the use of cut to denote rank (as in "a cut above") dates from the 18th century.
THAT it comes from separate meanings of both cut and mustard. Donald Graeme in his Dictionary of Modern Phrase says cut in this sense derives from its meaning of "to perform or achieve", and mustard is "hot or sharp", both of which adjectives have come to mean "able and clever".
THAT it comes from the Latin monstrare "to show", as in the military phrase "to pass muster" (this accords with Graeme's point about cut meaning achieve - old soldiers will tell you that making it to the early morning muster parade is sometimes a huge achievement after a night in the mess).
Israel adds: "The more-or-less synonymous expression cut it (as in " 'Sorry' doesn't cut it") seems to be more recent and may derive from cut the mustard."
Anthony Harris, Drummoyne
"Cut the mustard" results from mishearing the phrase "cut the muster". This refers to the ability of individuals to meet the requirements when mustering, ie assembling, a military force. Hence those who were deemed unsuitable would fail to make the cut for the muster.
Eric Papas, Paddington
Is it possible, literally or figuratively to go "back to the future"?
Grammatically it is possible, as in, 'He was going to get married' or She would have married him'. This is called the "future in the past" and can also be expressed with 'was/were about to', and 'was/were to do something'. They may be fulfilled or unfulfilled actions.
It is also possible to "go forward to the past" as in 'I will have lived here for 5 years by next March', known as 'the past in the future'.
Caroline Deane, Carrara
We know about MI5 and MI6, but what are MI 1, 2, 3 and 4?
The various British Military Intelligence units are the subject of much speculation, and only relatively recently have any MI departments been officially acknowledged. Some departments were only temporary, many have merged, others may be entirely apocryphal. A tentative list might be:
MI 1 Director of Military Intelligance
MI 2 Responsible for Russia and Scandinavia
MI 3 Responsible for Germany and eastern Eurpoe
MI 4 Aerial Reconnaissance during WWII
MI 5 Domestic intelligance and security
MI 6 Foreign intelligence ans security
MI 8 Interception and Interpretation of communications
MI 9 Clandestine operations - Escape and Evasion
MI 10 Weopens and technical analysis
MI 11 Field Security Police
MI 14 German specialists
MI 17 Secretariat body for MI departments
MI 19 POW debriefing unit
Ben Schott, Bloomsbury
The official MI5 website (www.mi5.gov.uk/) states there was up to MI19. MI1 handled codebreaking, MI2 Russian and Scandinavian intelligence, MI3 with Eastern Europe and MI4 with aerial reconnaissance. All these departments have been subsequently absorbed into The War Office, MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.
Michael Bacina, Toronto
I could tell you about MI 1 to 4, but if I did I'd have to kill you.
John Tuckfield, Abbotsford
It seems like every suburb and town in Australia has a Criterion Hotel. From where does it get its name?
Criterion is a yardstick or standard so the publican used the name to promote the excellence of the accommodation (perhaps internal plumbing was a feature in the early years of hospitality)
Bill Eyre, Northbridge
Indian cricketers are said to be from the subcontinent. What is a subcontinent?
Readers offering a plate tectonics answer to this question are out by a century. Plate tectonics dates from the middle of the 20th century and subcontinent was in use in the middle of the 19th century.
A subcontinent is either a land mass of great extent, but smaller than those generally called continents, or a large section of a continent having a certain geographical or political independence. The term applied formerly to South Africa, and more recently to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
The first recorded use in print is in Thomas Huxley's "Evidence as to man's place in nature", 1863.
Anton Crouch, Glebe
What was so good about the bee's knees?
Honey, you should have seen them - they were swell.
Carol Hayllar, Alstonville
I always believed it to mean, something small and nice - a bit like the Ducks Nuts.But if we're really going small, nothing beats the Mozzies Cossies.
Neil Feller, Potts Point
How do you become a "mover" and would I be better off as a "shaker"?
From your question, I would say you are more of a stirrer.
Robert Gotts, Winmalee
* Why is it that tables and placemats are square but plates are round?
* Where did the expression "the whole nine yards" come from?
* Why do men wear ties?
* Does the landmass comprising Scotland, England and Wales have a name?
* What does the "D" in D-Day, the allied invasion of Europe on June 6, 1944, stand for?
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