

November 6, 2004

Normally, there are four basic types of taste bud on our tongue - sweet, sour, bitter and salty. However, there are a number of drugs, such as certain antibiotics, that as a side effect alter the taste receptors of the nerves in our tongue, giving a sensation of the taste of metal or salt or bitterness.

John Frith, Paddington

Eat metal? That is precisely what the dentist is armed with.

Wendy Jones, Five Dock

What happens to you if you swallow chewing gum?

As a long-time swallower, I can assure you that swallowing gum has the exact same effect as swallowing any kind of food. The story of it not being digested for seven years is nothing but a myth. If it was true, my stomach would have been full long ago.

Adam Pemberton, Sylvania

Chewing gum could get you arrested ... in Singapore.
Shane Sullivan, Singapore.


A lack of red meat - and no doctors to prescribe iron tablets - meant that many of these women were anaemic. Anaemia decreases the blood's ability to carry oxygen to the brain. Any form of excitement (romantic, sexual or otherwise) would increase the brain's oxygen demand and cause these women to swoon. How romantic.

Victor Bourke, Bronte

If you wore a corset that cinched your waist in to 20 inches (51 centimetres) and prevented you from breathing, you would feel giddy, too.

Jayne Coates, Petersham

Those prone to fainting were usually women of the "genteel class". They did not participate in active sport or become physically involved in running their household - servants did the manual work. Further, it was not considered attractive for genteel ladies to look robust and healthy. Heavy clothing, laced bodices and corsets - not generally worn today - also must have contributed. It was also an attractive female attribute to be considered helpless and somewhat delicate, indicating the need of a strong male partner.

Stuart Benson, Gloucester


To get the teflon to stick to the bottom of the pan, turn the stove up high.

Anthony Jones, Artarmon

More Big Questions - exclusively for online readers

What happens to you if you swallow chewing gum?

You heave it left and right, then Mrs Donegan (Lonnie's mother) tells you not to be so spiteful.

Bob Dengate, Bathurst

You get adhesions.

Arthur Gray, Wentworth Falls

My mother said it would stuff up my cakehole (bottom, actually). Wrigley's says it is digested like ordinary food. Fiction beats fact any day, which makes it pretty hard to swallow.

Peter Dixon, Maitland

The same thing as when it gets in your hair, on your clothes or on the sole of your shoe ... pain and suffering.

Angie Dee, Potts Point


It's much easier to breathe in cotton or lace underwear, as opposed to corsetry with metal boning. I speak with authority on both.

Vicki Tzortzis, Allawah

Natural selection: living in the present time is not for the faint-hearted.

Eugene O'Connor, Terara

Corsets; not unlike the reason high-class Chinese women couldn't run well.

Mary Purnell, Revesby


Ask John Howard. Nothing sticks to him either.

Tracey Schreier, Vaucluse


Because southerlies are too cold.

Peter Phythian, Oakhurst

What happens to roadkill?

The smaller animals are cleaned up by the crows. Larger animals, stock, for example, are removed by the council or shire.

Edith Richmond, Springwood, Qld


Don't be fooled into believing that this is an ironic expression of good luck. Acting roles are so scarce and the industry so cutthroat, that actors can do with as little competition as possible.

Matthew Gibbs, Leichhardt

"Break a leg" means a second encore; The curtain call and first encore are taken with a bow. A second encore is taken with a curtsey, by bending the right knee the actors are "breaking a leg".

Kenneth Smith, Marrickville

Whilst no doubt this phrase was whispered by frustrated understudies to their principal in the wings before an onstage entry, there is an alternative theory: in ancient Greece, where applause was more common by foot than hand, a performance could, were the reception rapturous enough, result in one or more lower limbs dislodged in the audience.

(Alas, a lack of convincing archaeological evidence leaves this theory with nary a leg to stand on.)

Adam Sebire, Observatory Hill

The origin of "break a leg". The rope used to raise a stage curtain is called a "leg". Due to constant use over time in raising the curtain, the "leg" will eventually fray and break.

When an actor tells another actor, to "break a leg", it is not so much to wish him/her luck, but to encourage him/her to give a performance which would receive so many curtain calls, that the end result would be for the "leg" to break.

Bob Arnold, Berry

Why are ancient Egyptians always painted in profile?

Ancient Egyptians are always painted in profile because they believed that the face was most beautiful from that angle. For the same reason, even the though the face is in profile, eyes are always painted from the front their most beautiful perspective.

Melissa Mitchell, Chapel Hill

They believed that only the body parts shown in the paintings would be accessible to them in the afterlife. Hence they're painted side-on to capture all the limbs etc and nose, and then two eyes are shown so that they received both in the afterlife.

Sian Taylor, Glebe




* What is the origin of the expression to "up the ante"?

* How did Mussolini make the trains run on time?

* Why does the US persist with imperial units of measurement?

* What is the origin of "state of the art"?

* Why does sunburnt skin remain hot even days after sun exposure?
