nPostednon July 8, 2013
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n“Scud”nusually means to move quickly in a straight line. The word isngenerally used for clouds. Sprinters running their races movenquickly, in straight lines—but you rarely hear that the sprintersnscudded down the race track. We much more often hear that clouds arenscudding across the sky.
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nTherenis another “Scud,” and it is an unhappy word: certain missilesndeveloped by the Soviet Union, back when there was such a nation, andnlook-alike missiles, are called scud missiles.
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nButntoday is not about clouds or missiles. In this case, “SCUD” is annacronym that means “Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama.”
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Todaynwe are urged to stop being Drama Queens and Kings, to shrug thingsnoff, tone things down, laugh things off. And laugh at ourselves. Andnlaugh and laugh and laugh.
Todaynwe are urged to stop being Drama Queens and Kings, to shrug thingsnoff, tone things down, laugh things off. And laugh at ourselves. Andnlaugh and laugh and laugh.n
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nAnwhole lot of laughter…
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Laughingncomes naturally to humans. You may have noticed that babies can laughnand giggle before they can talk, but did you know that other animalsnlaugh, too? I’m not talking about “laughing hyenas”; when spottednhyenas “giggle,” they are being serious and saying, “Leave menalone; this is MY hunk of meat!” (Or something like that.) I’mntalking about the sounds animals make as they play and chase onenanother, or when they are tickled. Dogs and chimps make pantingnnoises that are similar to human laughter, and rats chirp in soundsnsimilar to young humans’ squeals and giggles.
Laughingncomes naturally to humans. You may have noticed that babies can laughnand giggle before they can talk, but did you know that other animalsnlaugh, too? I’m not talking about “laughing hyenas”; when spottednhyenas “giggle,” they are being serious and saying, “Leave menalone; this is MY hunk of meat!” (Or something like that.) I’mntalking about the sounds animals make as they play and chase onenanother, or when they are tickled. Dogs and chimps make pantingnnoises that are similar to human laughter, and rats chirp in soundsnsimilar to young humans’ squeals and giggles.n
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nItnis interesting to learn more about laughter. The study of laughter isncalled “gelotology” (which looks to me a lot like “Jello-tology,”nwhich I find very funny!), and some of the questions scientists arenstudying include:
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nWhy can’t I ticklenmyself?
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nWhy is surprise so oftennpart of humor?
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nWhy do we sometimes laughnwhen we are nervous or even scared?
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nAlsonon this date:
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Anniversary of Vasco de Gama setting sail
Anniversary of Vasco de Gama setting sail n
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nAnniversarynof the first ice cream sundae (maybe!)
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nCocancola inventor John Pemberton’s birthday
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Plannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on Julynholidays, historicalnanniversaries in July,nand Julynbirthdays.
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest pages on Augustnholidays, historicalnanniversaries in August,nand Augustnbirthdays.
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