Ask Spoon...

This is the section where you can ask Spoon to answer any questions that have baffled you for years. If the answer can be found, Spoon will find it. Email your questions to Ask Spoon without further ado.
Why do we use £ for pounds and $ for dollars? (new)
£ is a corruption of the letter L which has meant a monetary pound ever since Roman times. Their currency was based around divisions of a pound of gold (a "libra"), with the most important divisions being Denarii and Solidi. The currency itself may have changed but this Roman heritage did not. Hence the designation of 'Lsd'. which meant 'Librae, Solidi, Denarii' and the L became £ as writing styles became more extravagant.

$ is clearly an S, right? Well actually it's not. Not exactly. Back in the olden days much of America was run by Mexicans. The Mexican currency is the Peso. Shops would display prices in terms of PS with the letters gradually merged together as such things often are. Hence a $ is a distorted P written on top of an S.
Why can’t you have your cake and eat it?
The saying "You can't have your cake and eat it" is actually an error which has some how survived despite the new version's complete lack of common sense. The phrase was (and should be) "You can't eat your cake and have it" which may seem a pedantic change but now the sentence makes sense. You cannot consume something and still possess it.
Who was Granny Smith?
The Granny Smith apple was named after its discoverer Maria (or Mary) Ann Smith (died 1870), an Australian gardener.
Why do we drive on the left and the USA drives on the right?
It is actually stunningly logical. Most people are right handed so used their sword with their right hand. This meant that the sword hung on the left side of the belt to allow easy access. It was considered polite to ride ones horse on the left of the road so the sword was on the opposite side to those riding in the opposite direction. Under Napoleon, the French were ordered to ride on the right to show that they were part of Napoleon's empire and not under British control. After the American war of independence, they too adopted the riding on the right principal to show they too were not part of the British Empire.
What is soap and how does it work?
To understand how soap works, one has to look at an individual soap molecule composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.  It has a "head" composed of carboxyl that attracts water and a hydrocarbon "tail" that is hydrophobic (afraid of water) but loves oil and grease.

You may have noticed that when you first step into the shower, water beads on the surface of your skin. This is because the surface tension of the water prevents it from reaching and clinging to the skin.  When soap is introduced, the hydrophobic end of the soap molecules tries to get as far as possible from the water, while the water loving end of the molecule is attracted to the water.  The result is a film that breaks the surface tension of the water allowing it to stick to the skin.

Now that the water and soap can reach your skin, the molecules enter phase two of the cleansing process.  The pores of your skin secrete oils that create a barrier to protect you from the environment.  This layer of grease traps dirt, dust, and other matter that makes us "dirty".  When the oil and grease loving tail of the molecule comes in contact with the skin, it attaches itself  to the oily layer containing the impurities.   Once water is applied to rinse, the water loving head of the molecule literally pulls the dirty tails off the skin, leaving you squeaky clean. 

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Why do judges and barristers wear wigs?
English judicial attire in its present form dates from about 1660, the time of the Restoration of the English monarchy. Upon the return of Charles II from France, the fashion of the Court of Louis XIV for powdered wigs became de rigueur for the smart members of English society. Since England had just emerged from a bloody civil war between those who wore their hair short (the "Roundheads") and those who wore their hair long (the "Royalists"), the pervasive use of wigs was an obvious way to cover over the divisions in society. In short, English judges and barristers began wearing wigs and robes because everybody in polite society was wearing wigs and robes in those days. They continue to wear them because nobody has ever told them to stop.

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When was the world's first computer virus created?
The first computer virus was developed by two brothers in Pakistan and was named the Brain virus. It was created in 1986, but it didn't show noticeable infections until 1988. The brothers wrote the virus when they noticed that the boot section of a floppy disk could contain instructions besides loading. Supposedly, the purpose of the virus was to prevent people from using illegally obtained programs that the brothers created. The virus would just put a copyright in the directory of the program. Also, this virus couldn't affect hard disks; it could only affect floppy disks, and it is the only virus ever found that contains the real names, addresses, and phone numbers of the creators.

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Where did the political party names "Tory" and "Whig" come from?
Tories were Irish criminals who supported the Crown. The Whig Party insulted their pro-Crown opponents by calling them "Tories" and the name stuck.

The Whigs were originally known as the Country Party (the opposition), believed they represented the interests of the people rather than those of the government and were named after the Whiggamores (Scottish Presbyterian rebels)

So both Tory and Whig were terms of abuse which stuck. Interestingly, "Prime Minister" was also invented as a term of abuse for Robert Walpole who was seen to be taking too much power for himself.