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Showing posts from December 10, 2015

Today's word/phrase

Wool-gathering: Many years ago the wool industry was of the greatest importance in England.  Wool was not plenty and poor people used to go about collecting any scraps of wool they could find by the wayside torn by thorns and bushes from the sheep's back.  In the course of their collection, they could have no set route and so they wandered about aimlessly and appeared to be putting little thought into their work.  In due course. this woolgathering and wandering aimlessly came to be associated together.  Nowadays we use the term to denote people whose minds are not attached or fixed to the subject on hand but wander. 

Today's word/post

An Ostrich Buries its Head in the Sand: This is an incorrect belief.  Actually, it does not bury its head in the sand.  It is a popular, but an erroneous idea based on the assumption that if it buries its head in the sand, it could see nothing and so it cannot be seen by anyone else.  What really happens is that at the approach of danger, the ostrich sinks into a heap on the ground, where it is extremely difficult to distinguish it from the surrounding mounds and anthills.