Amuse-bouche: In New York, pressed the brakes. Stopped my car between the lines, call that Central Park.

---

Today’s Wonderful Word: “oneiromancy.”

Definition: divination through dreams.

Etymology: Oneiromancy is based on Ancient Greek óneiros, “dream,” and manteía, “divination.” Óneiros is of uncertain origin, with relatives in Albanian and Armenian but in no other languages. Manteía comes from mántis, “prophet,” which is also the source of praying mantis. Oneiromancy was first recorded in English circa 1650.

Example: Though oneiromancy doesn’t quite have a scientific basis, dreams may serve as windows not into the future but rather into the subconscious.

Have you ever wondered how…

• when you clean out your vacuum, you become the vacuum cleaner?
• fire trucks are actually water trucks?
• when you flip a light switch on with your middle finger, you are flipping it on and flipping it off at the same time?
• if “poli” means “many” and ticks are blood-sucking creatures, then what does politics mean?
• if your parachute fails, you have the rest of your life to fix it?
• no one has ever been in an empty room?
• every book you’ve read is just a remix of the dictionary?
• a straw has only one hole? (Or does it have two?)
• your car keys have travelled farther than your car has?
• if you go in a bookstore and ask where the self-help section is, that sorta defeats the purpose?
• if you run behind a car, you get exhausted?
• if someone tells you you’re gullible, you can’t be sure whether to believe them?
• if you’re a kleptomaniac, is there something you can take for it?

---

Answer to Saturday’s riddle:

Start by flipping both hourglasses at the same time. When the seven-minute hourglass runs out, immediately flip it over to start it again. Then, once the 11-minute hourglass runs out, flip the seven-minute one back over again. Once that one runs out, 15 minutes will have elapsed.

---

A+