17
Firefighters use chemicals to make water
“wetter.” The wetting agents reduce the surface
tension of plain water so it spreads and soaks into
objects more easily, which is why what fire crews
use is known as “wet water.”19
Frogs’ eyes help
them swallow. Like
snakes, frogs swallow
their food whole—and
alive. When a frog closes
its eyes, they are pressed
into their sockets and
down toward the roof of
its mouth, pushing on
the food and moving it
down the throat.20
The second got
its name for being
the second unit of time,
after the minute. The
Romans called 1/60 of
an hour pars minuta
prima (first small part),
so it was logical that
1/60 of a minute would
be pars minuta secunda
18 (second small part).Kiwis were
originally called
Chinese gooseberries.
After New Zealanders
started growing and
exporting the fruit, they
changed the name in a
marketing move. “Kiwi-
fruit” was more appeal-
ing to U.S. consumers,
and it drove home the
idea that it came from
“Kiwis,” a nickname for
New Zealanders.21
Movie trailers originally
played after a movie.
They “trailed” the feature
film—hence the name. But
theaters noticed that the
audience would leave before these de facto
ads ran, so they were moved to before the
film, with their old name trailing with them.Reader’s Digest
toeyfatboy/shutterstock (hose). khumthong/shutterstock (kiwi)64 february 2019 | rd.com