Dandelion is from a French phrase dent de lion, from Latin dens leonis ‘lion’s tooth’ – based on the deeply toothed edges of the leaves of this weed. Dandelion is the name given any plant of the genus Taraxacum of the family Asteraceae (aster), perennial herbs found widely in temperate regions. Its bright yellow flower is followed in fruit by a round head of white down, which is an adaptation for wind distribution of the seed-like fruits. Though many think of it as a weed or lawn nuisance, it is an extremely useful plant and can be made into coffee, wine, and medicine; used for salad greens; and in making rubber. Some say there is a ‘missing link’ in this (and other words’) etymology: that of Anglo-French. Dandelion is said by the authorities to be first found in English in the 16th century and to be an adaptation of the French dent-de-lion. Yet Godefroy’s (Godefroy, F., Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols; Paris, 1880-1902) sole example of dandelyon comes from the Englishman Palsgrave, a dating which clearly refutes the claim that the sixteenth-century English word is “adapted” from continental French.

As with many slang and idiomatic phrases, the origin can be a bit unclear. The first recorded use of the phrase cut the mustard was by O. Henry in 1907, in a story called The Heart of the West: “I looked around and found a proposition that exactly cut the mustard”. The modern sense of the idiom is ‘to succeed; to have the ability to do something; to come up to expectations’, but the phrase is most often used in the negative form, as “can’t cut the mustard,” meaning ‘not able to handle the job’. The cut probably refers to harvesting the plant, so if one cannot cut the mustard, one cannot supply what is best. A phrase preceding cut the mustard is to be the mustard (c. 1903) meaning ‘to be special’ or ‘to be exactly what is needed’ with mustard being a slang term for importance. There is also another phrase keen as mustard meaning ‘very enthusiastic’.

You know the joke: If you pick up dropped food within five seconds, you can still eat it. Turns out, it’s not a joke – and you may have more time than you think. In an experiment at Connecticut College, a group of microbiology students left both wet food (apple slices) and dry (hard candies) on the floor of a cafeteria for intervals ranging from five seconds to five minutes. When they tested their samples for bacteria growth, they found it took 30 seconds for germs to appear on the apples and up to 5 minutes for the candies to become germy. Of course, you have to use good sense too. If the floor is dirty or pets walk in it, even a nanosecond could be risky.

Here are hidden benefits of all that avoiding, procrastinating, and dithering.

Daydreaming might feel like the ultimate waste of time, but it’s just the opposite. Recent research suggests that during daydreaming, your brain may actually be processing important issues that aren’t relevant at that immediate moment. So forgive yourself for spacing out during that boring PTA meeting: though you may not even be aware of it, you’ve got other things on your mind.

Napping does a mind and body good. A 15 to 20 minute snooze can make you more alert and energized and improve your stamina, and longer naps can even help you learn and retain information better, according to research. That’s all the excuse you need to rest those dropping eyes for a minute.

Messiness is in the eye of the beholder. Just because your idea of “organized” is scattered or mixed up doesn’t mean you’re necessarily slower or less efficient; you may just have your own system. And if you’re naturally sloppy, what really wastes time is struggling to maintain strict order. Sure, always searching for your keys isn’t exactly time efficient, but think of the treasures you’ll discover in the depths of your bag.

The name “koala” means in an extinct Aborigine language “does not drink.” Even if called koala bear, this animal has nothing to do with the actual bear; it is not even a placental mammal, but a marsupial, like the kangaroo. Its closest living relatives are the wombats. A koala (Phascolarctos cinererus) is about 60-80 cm (2-2.6 ft) long and weighs 5-14 kg (11-30 pounds). The extremely fine gray fur is the reason why koala has been heavily hunted in the past. The blunt muzzle, long nose, small eyes and large ears give koala a funny look. Koalas are unique amongst mammals in the adaptation of their limbs for arboreal life: they have opposable digits in an arrangement of two against three (like in chameleons).

The koala is a nocturnal mammal; during the day, it sleeps in the canopy of
the eucalyptus trees. Like in most marsupials, the koala male has a double-headed penis. Female koalas are notorious for their lesbian “sex sessions,” rejecting male suitors (females are slightly larger!) and trying to mate with each other, sometimes up to five at a time. This tendency has been observed till now only in individuals kept in captivity, while in the wild, they seem to remain heterosexual. In captivity, koalas have a ratio of three homosexual mating sessions for each heterosexual one.

The researchers have tried to explain the bizarre behavior: lesbian sex could be used by females to turn on the males; it may also be a hormonal impairment occurring in captivity, or employed to relieve stress.

The female gives birth to an offspring the size of a pea grain. She takes it with her mouth and places it into her marsupium (poach). In 6 months, the young can get out and feed on leaves. At the beginning, the young feed on semi-digested food from the mother. This way, the infant receives the microorganisms required for digesting plant food (imagine that some rodents take them by eating the parents’ excrements!). A female koala gives birth once at 2 years, and between mother and young strong bonds establish.

This animal feeds almost exclusively on eucalyptus leaves. The eucalyptus leaves, besides being toxic for most animals, are rich in cellulose and poor in proteins and fats. The adult must detoxify leaves (with energy expense), while cellulose is hard to break down. Because of this poor diet, koalas save energy by sleeping most of the day, while their movements are very slow. One individual consumes about 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of eucalyptus leaves daily and it may never drink water!

Koala is related to two of the most formidable marsupials that have ever existed. One is the extinct Australian marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex), the largest carnivorous marsupial mammal ever. This animal would have killed a modern African lion (Panthera leo) in a fight. Thylacoleo killed its victims very quickly, penetrating with its “bolt-cutter” teeth through the hide and flesh of large animals, causing huge wounds and blood loss. Its massive carnassial cheekteeth effect major trauma and a rapid kill.

The other koala relative is the Diprotodon, an Ice Age species that was the biggest of all marsupials that have ever existed: as large as a hippopotamus! Diprotodon was 2 m (6.5 feet) tall and 3 m (10 feet) long, weighing around 3 tonnes and was part of a pre-historic Australian “mega-fauna” that included giant cow-sized kangaroos and marsupial lions.