Mr. Jalopy writes a great commentary on Royal Copenhagen’s Hippopotamus Service (warning – link to PDF). That would be service as in twelve dozen pieces of hand-painted porcelain – Royal Copenhagen will not check your hippo’s fluid levels (and don’t get me started on another definition of service as a verb).

My brain just cramped – I needed to go look it up, but anyway – hippos are bulls, cows and calves. Remembering this kind of info has a slightly higher current priority; when I went in to vote in the recent primary the Town Moderator was trying to convince the Town Clerk that the right word for a male bear was… I got the quiz, answered boar, sow, cub and was declared a genius by the Moderator. That discussion was occasioned by the presence – in the playground of the elementary school next door to my house – of a medium sized black bear. The kids didn’t get to go out for recess that day and it’s been the talk of the town since.