Scholastic Canada - Funny You Should Ask: Weird But True Answers To 115 1/2 Wacky Questions

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Funny You Should Ask: Weird But True Answers To 115 1/2 Wacky Questions

Scholastic Canada Ltd.
ISBN 0-590-12489-7
160 pages
Ages 10-14

by Marg Meikle

Can humans spontaneously combust? Can you really dye your hair with Kool-Aid? How was duct tape invented and why do so many people still call it "duck" tape? All the weird and wonderful answers to these questions and other irresistible and intriguing questions are here for you to discover.

Winner of the Silver Birch Award

About the Author-
Marg Meikle is a well-known author and was dubbed "The Answer Lady" after her stint on CBC Radio. She receives thousands of letters and emails from kids asking questions they have to know the answer to. A winner of the Silver Birch Award for Funny You Should Ask, Meikle always comes through with fascinating and surprising information.


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Excerpt from FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK
by Marg Meikle

Why is it so hard to get rid of the hiccups?

Hiccoping (or hiccoughing - that's a clue) is a funny and rather rude reflex action, sort of like coughing or sneezing or even vomitting. Maybe you ate or drank too fast, and swallowed some air. It might be a stomach problem and you need to get rid of some gas. It might even be that you have a tickly throat, or maybe the nerves that control your diaphragm are a bit jumpy. Whenever one of these things happens you can react with a hiccup.

Most people hiccup for a minute or two. It can be somewhat annoying, but is usually quite funny. Sometimes, though, people can't stop. One man in Iowa starting hiccuping in 1922 and stopped in 1990. That's sixty-eight years! In the meantime he got married twice, had eight children, and led a normal life. Obviously he even figured out how to sleep.

If you are just a regular hiccupper, a loud "Boo!" can often make you stop. It'll scare the extra breath out of you. What happens is that the shock of the scare distracts your nervous system and it "forgets" to hiccup. If you sneeze, the same thing can happen. But getting yourself to sneeze is pretty hard. You can gargle, tug on your tongue, or try drinking water upside down. But mostly, when your hiccups want to stop, they will... hopefully before sixty-eight years have gone by!

From Funny You Should Ask, copyright © 1998 by Marg Meikle.

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"I think this book is very informative and funny! My family and I had loads of fun reading it together!" C.T., Age 9, U.S.A., Rating: 9

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