Episode #1102

News Items

      Question #1: Model Railroaders

      • I was disappointed to Cara’s off hand comment that made out that Model Railroaders are all Autistic! It was shocking of her to disparage a fabulous hobby! I get the point that she was trying to make but I found it insulting at the least. I have been in the hobby for over 60 years and “playing with trains in the basement” is not a sign of mental issues! I am not saying there are not some strange people in the hobby but by and large we are as sane if not more so than average. Having a hobby, any hobby, is a great stress reliever. It could be said that anyone who has as their hobby to constantly chase down pseudosciences might be a little bit strange too. Model Railroading has always had a poor outlook by people as “boys playing with their toys” whereas no one seems to think someone who “plays” with little squares of paper (Philately) is strange. Obviously Cara has never been around a true Model Railroad as compared to toy trains as there is a huge difference. May be in future think about comments like this before uttering them! Graeme
      • Regarding Steve’s off-the-cuff comment about Bald’s Leechbook and leeches, here’s a good ‘What’s the Word’ for you: the word leech in Leechbook has nothing to do with the animal. It is a modernised form of the Old English lǣċe-bōc, in which lǣċe meant ‘physician’ or ‘healer’. To quote Etymonline, the word is ‘probably from Old Danish læke, from Proto-Germanic *lekjaz ‘enchanter, one who speaks magic words; healer, physician”. We still have this word in modern Scandinavian languages, including my native Swedish: läka (‘to heal’) and läkare (‘medical doctor’). In the English-speaking world, calling a doctor a ‘leech’ comes from this sense; however, it has become confused with the animal ‘leech’. Again, quoting Etymonline, ‘The form merged with leech (n.1) in Middle English, apparently by folk etymology.’ Doctors in olden times did use leeches, though; this is not in dispute. 🙂 Sources: https://www.etymonline.com/word/leech https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald%27s_Leechbook Christoffer
      • Follow up on genetic diversity of crops.

      Science or Fiction

      Skeptical Quote of the Week.

      “By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.” - George Carlin