Ever wonder why...
...men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's are on the left?
It's easier for right-handed people - the majority- to push buttons on the right through holes on the left, and so men's buttons are on the right. When first used, buttons were expensive and worn primarily by the wealthy. Women in that class were usually dressed by servants. Since a maid would face the woman she was dressing, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right- the woman's left- where they've remained
...a zero score in tennis is called "love"?
In France, where tennis first became popular, some people apparently thought a big zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg- and therefore called it the egg, which is l'oeuf in French. When tennis became popular in England, the British copied the French and also called the zero l'oeuf, but pronounced it "love."
...people cross their fingers for good luck?
Early Christians secretly made the sign the cross this way to ask for divine assistance without attracting the attention of pagans.
...people clink glasses before a toast?
It was once thought that the devil was omnipresent at festive occasions but could be repelled by the sound of bells. Revelers, therefore, would clink their glasses, producing bell-like noises to scare him away.
...pretzels are made in a loose-knot pattern?
Invented by medieval monks as rewards for children learning their holy lessons, pretzels were shaped to represent a pair of arms folded in prayer across a child's chest.
...croissants are crescent-shaped?
In 1683, the Ottoman Turks' attempt to occupy Vienna was repelled. To commemorate the victory, Viennese bakers created the croissant, shaped like the crescent in the Turkish flag.
...the sky is blue?
When sunlight- which is a mixture of all colors of the rainbow- passes through the earth's atmosphere, gas molecules and dust particles scatter its colors. Those colors with the shortest wavelengths are the most easily scattered. Since the shortest lightwaves appear blue, it's blue we see when we look at the sky.
...most pencils are hexagonal?
Hexagonal pencils are cheaper to make than round pencils Nine hexagonal pencils can be produced from the same amount of wood needed for eight rounded ones. The hexagonal pencil is also less likely to roll off a desk.
...when a woman spurns a gentleman, she is said to be "giving him the cold shoulder?"
In the early 19th century, when the phrase was first recorded by Sir Walter Scott, it was customary for a hostess to serve hot meat to those who were not. Since the cold meat given to the unwanted guest was usually a shoulder of mutton, the hostess was said to be "giving him the cold shoulder."
Article taken from March 1995 Reader's Digest, by Douglas B. Smith