What Big Ben and Chilean Sea Bass Really Are

I watch a lot of YouTube videos. I usually use the channel as a break, like when I’m done with one project and want to pause before continuing with what’s next on my to-do list. I have my favorite channels, too: WhatCulture, Cultaholic, partsFUNknown (and anything with Adam Blampied), Facts Verse, CineFix (now IGN Movies and TV), CinemaSins, Grunge, FivePoints Vids, The Wide World of Stadiums and Be Kind Rewind.

Another is Top Tenz, one of several channels hosted by Simon Whistler. In this one, he does what you think: lists 10 things related to a category. I found one particularly interesting: “Common, Everyday Things That Aren’t Actually Called What You Think They Are.”

Here they are, alphabetically:

Big Ben — The Palace of Westminster in London is a famous and oft-photographed landmark. But Big Ben is just the nickname for the Great Bell (Whistler says it’s 13 tons) that one hears from the clock. The tower was originally called the Clock Tower but was changed to Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the queen’s diamond jubilee. Whistler says the name Ben comes from either Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw the tower’s construction, or English heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Caunt.

Chilean sea bass — It’s actually a Patagonian toothfish. Whistler says it’s all marketing: One name sounds better and less ugly than the other. 

Font — Words look the way they do on computers because humans have invented various designs to make the letters look differently. We all have an option on our computer to choose how we want letters to appear, but they’re incorrectly called fonts. What we’re actually choosing is a typeface. A font is a variation within a specific typeface, such as taller, shorter, bold or italic.

Gargoyles — As Whistler explains, not every stone monster carved into the side of a building is a gargoyle. A gargoyle has a specific function, as with a waterspout coming out of its mouth to draw away water. What we think is a gargoyle is actually a grotesque. It’s a carving meant for decoration.

Hashtag/PoundNumber Sign/Sharp — For people of a certain age, the tic-tac-toe symbol on the telephone and computer is called pound or number sign (Whistler says there are cave drawings of the symbol, so it’s been around). Younger people know it as hashtag. Music people know it as a sharp. It’s actually an octothorp.  

Mad Hatter — If you read Lewis Carroll, you’ll see the character is never called that. Carroll called him “The Hatter.” (Interestingly, who we know as Lewis Carroll was really Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, much like Mark Twain was really Samuel Langhorne Clemens.) Whistler suggests the term comes from “mad as a hatter,” which predates Carroll and came from hat makers exposing themselves to mercury — and the physical and mental ailments that came with it.

Mexico — The country to our south is actually called United Mexican States. Just like we sometimes call our country America or United States when the real name is United States of America, and just like we call ourselves Americans, our neighbors refer to their county as Mexico and themselves as Mexicans. As Whistler explains, this was the name the people gave their country upon becoming independent from Spain. The name Mexico goes back to the Aztecs.

Panini — It’s a plural form of the actual sandwich, a panino. Whistler points out that the word refers to a small bread roll, so any sandwich on this type of bread can be a panino, whether it’s grilled or not. 

Penny — Nowhere on the coin featuring Abraham Lincoln on one side and the Lincoln Memorial on the other do you see the word penny. It’s a one cent piece. Penny is a British term from “pence,” but the word has been around for hundreds of years.

Solitaire — Actually, anything done by oneself is solitaire. The card game is actually called Klondike.

Until next time! Use the right words!

leebarnathan.com