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MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Faces Are Sometimes Called “Mugs”

You know the drill: when you break the law, they haul you downtown & take a few pics of your face at the police station. We call those photos “mug shots”, since the word “mug” is slang for face. But, why are faces called “mugs”?

Most details point to an 18th-century form of British drinking cups called “Toby jugs”. There’s actually even an American Toby Jug Museum, in Illinois, and they note that the original Toby jugs were ceramic pitchers shaped & painted to look like a “seated, jovial, stout man dressed in period attire, wearing a tricorn hat, puffing on a pipe, and holding a mug of ale”. As for who Toby actually was, that’s still a matter of debate. Some folks think he was modeled after Sir Toby Belch, the rowdy party animal in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Others believe “Toby” was inspired by Henry Elwes, one of Yorkshire England’s most infamous ale-drinkers from that time. Elwes, who was fondly nicknamed “Toby Philpot”, was even memorialized in a drinking song called “The Brown Jug.”

In that song, Toby was described as a “thirsty old soul” who sat “with a friend & a pipe, puffing sorrow away.” In the song, Toby dies suddenly, and his body eventually deteriorates into the clay beneath his grave. The ballad ends with a potter happening upon that patch of clay & using it to make a brown jug for ale.

As years passed, though, potters started producing containers that bore the likenesses of other people & characters. And, while the original Toby jugs depicted a whole man & had a spout for pouring, a lot of the later versions were simple drinking mugs that only featured the person’ face. And, as those faces were a bit caricaturish, that’s the most likely reason why the word “mug” is so often used to describe an unappealing face or facial expression.

And, if you think about it, not too many criminals ever seem to look their best in a mug shot. So, I guess that particular idiom actually pretty appropriate.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected].

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Airtron Heating & Air Conditioning

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Do We “Push The Envelope”?

Have you ever been told that some idea you had or some thing you wanted to do would be “pushing the envelope”? Basically, anyone who takes a risk is said to be “pushing the envelope.” It’s such a widely-used phrase that we don’t ever really question it, even though it really doesn’t seem to make much sense…until you look into WHY we say it. So, why would ambition be tied to moving a paper container around? Why would we invoke stationery when speaking of risk-taking?

Well, actually, we aren’t. In this particular instance, the word “envelope” doesn’t have anything to do with parcels. It actually refers to the aeronautical terminology for the physical limitations of space and/or technology.

Both the noun “envelope” & the verb “envelop” come from the Anglo-French word “envoluper” (“voluper” means “to wrap”). When speaking of air travel, the envelope means the operating threshold of an aircraft. To push an airplane past its speed or altitude limits would be to exceed, or push, its envelope.

“Pushing the envelope” entered our collective vocabulary thanks to author Tom Wolfe & his 1979 book, The Right Stuff, chronicling the early days of the American space program. The book stated that test pilot Chuck Yeager surpassed “the supersonic envelope”, and that a lot of pilots back then spoke often of “pushing the outside of the envelope”. Wolfe believed the metaphor likely originated with test pilots at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station here in Maryland back in the 1940s, based on the “envelope” of air or gas containers in balloons & airships.

According to Wolfe, “The ‘envelope’ was a flight-test term referring to the limits of a particular aircraft’s performance, how tight a turn it could make at such & such a speed, and so on. ‘Pushing the outside’, or probing the outer limits, of the envelope seemed to be the great challenge & satisfaction of flight testing.”

In most scenarios, the envelope is something to be broken through as a means of innovation. And so the pushing of an envelope means there’s danger & risk.

So, you see, it’s all about pushing boundaries, and has nothing to do with remaining stationary.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected].

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Airtron Heating & Air Conditioning

Thomas Rhett, Jordan Davis and Justin Moore All Share The Same Birthday!

Three of your favorite country stars share a birthday today! Although they are all different ages, Thomas Rhett, Jordan Davis AND Justin Moore all share the same birthday of March 30th. Celebrate the day by listening to each of their first #1 hits!

Thomas Rhett turns 31 today. Here\’s his first number-one, \”It Goes Like This.\”

It\’s Jordan Davis\’s 33rd trip around the sun. \”Singles You Up\” was his first number-one. 

Justin Moore celebrates his 37th birthday today. His first chart-topper was \”Small Town USA.\”

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Is Leaving Your Car Running While You Pump Gas Actually Bad?

The are a lot of myths surrounding cars & driving, whether it’s about dirty cars being more fuel-efficient, or the notion that it’s more probable that red cars will get pulled as opposed to other colors. But, when it comes to letting your engine run while you pump gas, what you’ve likely heard is very much fact-based. So, why is it not a good idea to leave your car running as you fill up the gas tank?

Well, for starters, gasoline’s highly flammable. That’s why gas stations prohibit smoking or having any kind of open flame around the pumps. It’s also why gas stations ask customers to shut off their engines before refueling.

Sure, cars are designed for safety, but there’s a unique interplay of things going on at & around gas pumps that can create hazardous conditions. In some cases, the heat & electricity produced by your vehicle can be enough to ignite liquid gas that might splash out of the pump, or perhaps gas vapors in the air. (While that doesn’t happen often, it definitely has happened, according to industry groups.)

When it’s cold outside, it can be really tempting to leave your car on while you’re at the pump. Or, maybe you’d rather wait in the warm/dry car while filling up your tank. But, the safest thing to do, regardless of the weather or time of year, is to stand by the pump from the moment you start pumping until the moment you screw the gas cap back on. Because even when the engine is off, normal static electricity created by just moving around could be enough to ignite fumes around the pump. Simply re-entering and/or exiting your vehicle could cause static to build up (especially in the winter, when the air’s drier & you have on more fabric layers). Your safest bet is to touch your bare hand to the metal side of your car door so that you ground yourself before pumping gas.

For now, gassing up is still a regular part of everyday life. So, it’s better to be safe than sorry!

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected].

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Airtron Heating & Air Conditioning

Pet of the Week- Zeus

WFRE PODCAST #6: R2D2, Tots, and Mozzarella

Back on Monday!!! Patrick refuses not to sound old, Laura reveals that she is the mastermind behind Gabby’s biggest ideas, and Gabby lived life mardi gras style at the Shop Local Event this weekend.

Topics Links:

Laura-ism: “You Really Cleared That House.”

Featuring: Gabby (Weekdays 10a-3p), Laura (Weekdays 7p-Midnight), and Patrick Hanes (Midnight-5a).

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