When I was a schoolboy, I was taught that there are three fundamental states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. I think it is now generally accepted that there is a fourth ground state, which is plasma. Plasma is a state without specific shape or volume and, in this sense, resembles a gas. In a plasma, electrons were torn from their nuclei, forming a conductive electron «sea». Plasmas are formed from gases by applying a massive voltage difference or extremely high temperature. A glee club is a choral group, usually composed of men, that sings short songs known as «glees». Une jubilation is a song with three or more voices performed without accompaniment. Nowadays, most mobile phones have SIM cards. SIM cards contain the personal data of the subscriber, the acronym being the abbreviation for «Subscriber Identity Module». Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York is named after William A. Shea, the man credited with bringing National League baseball back to town in the form of the New York Mets. Shea Stadium was demolished in 2008-2009, and the site now offers additional parking for the nearby new stadium called Citi Field.

The gas pump was actually there before the cars were on the road. The first dispenser was the invention of a Sylvanus Bowser from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Its first pump was designed to pump kerosene for lamps and stoves and was introduced in 1885. As automobiles became popular, he changed the design to pump gasoline. He introduced the self-measured fuel battery pump in 1905. He marketed his equipment worldwide, and in some parts the name «Bowser» is still sometimes used to refer to fuel pumps and even some tanker trucks. The law degree, abbreviated J.D., stands for «Juris Doctor» or «Doctor of Jurisprudence». Cabo San Lucas is a major tourist destination at the southern tip of Mexico`s Baja California Peninsula. «Cabo» is sometimes referred to as the «Fort Lauderdale of Mexico.» Alee is the direction away from the wind. When a sailor points to the wind, he or she points to the weather.

What we know today as a pogo stick was invented in Germany by Max Pohlig and Ernst Gottschall. The name «pogo» is composed of the first two letters of the inventors` surnames: Po-hlig and Go-ttschall. Should we forget knowledge and never remember it? Will we forget knowledge, and auld lang syne! In 1859, a Swiss businessman named Henri Dunant met with French Emperor Napoleon III to discuss how it might be easier to trade in occupied French Algeria. The emperor was stationed at Solferino, where France and Austria were involved in a great battle. One day, Dunant saw 40,000 soldiers die in battle and countless wounded on the battlefield without organized medical care. Dunant abandoned his business program and instead spent a week caring for the sick and wounded. Within a few years, he founded the forerunner of the Red Cross and was awarded the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. Plasma TVs are so named because the screen is made up of tiny cells that contain electrically charged ionized gases (plasmas). Each of the cells is effectively a tiny fluorescent lamp. Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus was founded in 1870 as the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. OSU sports teams are called Buckeyes, named after the Ohio state tree. In turn, the buckeye gets its name from the appearance of its fruit, a dark nut with a shiny spot believed to resemble a «goat`s eye.» Phencyclidine is a recreational drug commonly referred to as «PCP» or «angel dust».

Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France and is located in the southwest of the country. Today, Toulouse is known as the headquarters of Airbus and is known as the center of the European aerospace industry. A water molecule consists of an oxygen atom with two hydrogen atoms on approximately opposite sides (at an angle of about 150 degrees). Sometimes the molecule is represented by «HOH», although it is usually «H2O». A veranda is a type of porch and design that originated in Hawaii. A friendly reader of the blog tells me that the etymology of «Lanai» does not seem clear, but that the name of the island «Lana`i» is not related. In the 1800s, «tad» was used to describe a small child, and this extended to our use of «small amount» in the early 1900s. The original use of «tad» for a child is most likely a short version of «tadpole».

1 Long story: SAGA 2 «What a shame!»: UNFORTUNATELY! 3 What a sail is related to: MAST 4 Approximately: OR SO 5 Quantity: Abbreviation: AMT 6 «I was with my girlfriend all evening», e.g. ALIBI 7 Donation to the Red Cross: BLOOD 8 Data breach info: Abbreviation: SSN 9 «Already gone?»: IF SOON? 10 «It seemed right to me»: I THOUGHT SO 11 Like most vegetations: GREEN 12 Keep everything to yourself: HORT 14 Breakfast sizzles: BACON 15 And the others: abbr. : ET AL 21 «Charmanter» Schmuck? : BRACELET 22 What a skinny-dipper missing : SWIMSUIT 23 Art of club for singers : GLEE 24 Little rapscallions : IMPS 25 Home of Timbuktu : MALI 26 Theatrical: DRAMA QUEEN 27 Takes too much, in short: ODS 30 Buckeyes` sch. : OSU 31 12, für 1/3, 1/4 und 1/6: Abk. : LCD 32 «The Marvelous ___ Maisel»: MRS 34 In addition to: MORE than 35 Repetitive sound during an exam: PSST! 37 Slightly: A TAD 38 Word repeated in «Waste ___, want ___»: NOT 43 Throat: GULLET 44 Give back to: REPAY 45 Hawaiian porch: LANAI 46 Things «golden» in the Bible: IDOLS 47 Light blue hues: AQUAS 48 Essman actress from «Curb Your Enthusiasm»: SUSIE 49 Take a chair: SEITS 52 «Huh, fun to run into you!»: OH, HI! 53 Indian flatbread: NAAN 54 «Is it true?»: IS THAT IT? 55 posts with Alexander Hamilton above: TENS 57 Degree of Attys: JDS 58 drug also known as angel dust: PCP The Republic of Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa south of Algeria. Formerly known as French Sudan, Timbuktu is the country`s most famous city. Mali is the third largest gold producer on the continent after South Africa and Ghana. We could call a little elf a «Rapscallion», an evolution of «Rascallion», which in turn comes from «naughty». It`s unclear how the word «cheesecake» was used for a provocative image of a woman. It is known that the term originated in the 1930s and was originally applied to the covers of pulp magazines, which used images of attractive young women to attract a predominantly male audience.

One theory is that during the depression years, the sumptuous cheesecake dessert was out of reach, as were the «sumptuous» models depicted on magazine covers. The male equivalent of «cheesecake» is «beefcake».