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Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 51, 23 November 1929, Page 28

DO YOU KNOW? 1. What colour is water? 2. Are there any mermaids? 3. Why good English is called the King’s English? 4. How plants make animals and insects work for them? 5. What first started the slang expression, “Takes the cake”? ANSWERS 1. Pure water in a thin layer is colourless, but in layers of greater thickness it is blue. 2. No; the idea probably originated in the imagination of those in ancient times who saw dolphins and porpoises sporting in the sea. 3. When many different dialects were spoken in different parts of Eng-

land the language used in the Kings Court was considered the national speech, and came to be called the King’s English. 4. They want to have their seeds carried away to grow in other places, so they make their seeds look like something which insects and birds will carry away because they think it is something good to eat; one plant makes its seed-pod look like a caterpillar which birds like; another makes a seed exactly like a beetle, while the cowwheat has a seed exactly like an ant’s egg so that the ant is deceived. 5. The negros In the South American States have a favourite competition in which a cake is placed on the ground, and the competitors walk round it in a circle. They must walk in pairs, boys and girls, or men and women. The ones who do this most gracefully are declared the winners, and are allowed to “take the cake” as their prize.