http://blogs.georgetown.org/askthelibrarian Compilation of questions submitted to the reference librarian. To submit a question, email reference@georgetowntx.org Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:07:49 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I'm curious about the Easter-time tradition of serving "hot cross buns". I understand the symbolism of the cross, but how did the custom get started? -- Frances Shull Traditionally, hot cross buns are a sweet, spiced yeast bun made with currants. The buns are actually part of a tradition older than ... http://blogs.georgetown.org/askthelibrarian/2008/08/27/hot-cross-buns/ What are the qualifications required to be classified as a librarian? Is this requirement the same for each state in the U.S. Why is a master's degree required? -- Email from MH Generally, in the United States and Canada, a librarian must have a master's degree from an accredited university in ... http://blogs.georgetown.org/askthelibrarian/2008/08/26/librarian-qualifications/ When did we start using contractions? – C.J. Contractions have been around for a long, long time. As an example, in the early development of Latin, to express the negative of the verb volo which means “I want”, one could use non volo, but over time that phrase would be replaced ... http://blogs.georgetown.org/askthelibrarian/2008/07/06/when-did-we-start-using-contractions/ In response to a request from a coalition of the Georgetown Chapter of Dads United and the Williamson County Council of Grumpy Old Men, the Bookworm has gathered the following information on the observance of Father’s Day and famous fathers in fact and fiction. Over the centuries and around the world ... http://blogs.georgetown.org/askthelibrarian/2008/06/15/fathers-day/ I endlessly hear on TV the words HOT and COOL to describe opinions on persons, products, movies, automobiles, etc. It seems to me that these words which describe extremes have definitions known only to young people. Would you explain their meanings? -- A senior citizen. According to the Dictionary of American ... http://blogs.georgetown.org/askthelibrarian/2008/06/06/is-that-hot-or-cool-and-is-that-good-or-bad/ What does the expression “lickety split” mean? – HM Lickety split is a colloquial adverbial expression meaning “at full speed” or “headlong”. During the early nineteenth century the word lick was introduced as a synonym for “a spurt at racing”. In 1859 the Bartlett Dictionary of Americanisms included an entry for ... http://blogs.georgetown.org/askthelibrarian/2008/06/06/what-does-the-expression-lickety-split-mean/ Isn’t Mother’s Day just another “Hallmark holiday”? – Name withheld While it is true that retailers have exploited Mother’s Day, unlike some other celebrations that are heavily promoted, Mother’s Day is not the creation of Wall Street. Since ancient times there have been holidays to celebrate the ideals of motherhood. Roman ... http://blogs.georgetown.org/askthelibrarian/2008/06/06/mothers-day/ What is the longest novel in any language? – George Art Well, like a lot of things in life, there is no one answer to that question. First, there is the difficulty in determining what to count. If we count words, what constitutes a word? Word counts can vary widely depending ... http://blogs.georgetown.org/askthelibrarian/2008/06/06/what-is-the-worlds-longest-novel/ I’m planning a trip with the grandkids this summer. On our itinerary is a stop at the Seattle Space Needle which was built for the 1962 World’s Fair. This has got me to thinking about world fairs – haven’t heard too much about them in the past few years. What’s ... http://blogs.georgetown.org/askthelibrarian/2008/06/06/worlds-fairs/ Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day? -- PCS Who sent the first Valentine card to their sweetheart? – RLV There are no definitive answers to either of these questions. The celebration of the feast of Saint Valentine began so long ago that its history consists mostly of legend and tradition. To ... http://blogs.georgetown.org/askthelibrarian/2008/06/06/valentines-day/