"BIG"er Than Life!
The biggest living land mammal on Earth
What is an African elephant? The blue whale is even larger than the elephant.
When nighttime temperatures drop below freezing, do this to your faucets.
What is dripping the water? The operative word is drip; you do not need a steady stream of water.
The money you pay for insurance
What is a premium? It’s derived from a Latin word meaning “reward” or “prize.” When you cash in on homeowners’ or auto insurance, it can feel like a prize rather than paying out of pocket.
In a multi-dog or multi-cat household, this Greek letter indicates the leader of the pack.
What is alpha? The term is also applied to a dominant, confident, or aggressive person.
April showers are necessary for these.
What are May flowers? April is traditionally a rainy month, followed by a profusion of flowers in May.
Men who have two wives
What are bigamists? In 1862, the U.S. Congress passed the first anti-polygamy law, commonly referred to as the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
If you don’t clean your dryer vent, you risk this.
What is fire? In addition to cleaning your lint filter after each use, professionals recommend annual dryer maintenance, which includes cleaning the dryer vent.
Payment to support an ex-spouse
What is alimony? Unlike child support, which is typically granted, alimony is not always granted, even if the ex-spouse makes little or no money.
We learned in high school geometry that this letter represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.
What is pi? That ratio is constant: 3.14159, or more commonly, 3.14.
We turn the clocks this way during spring daylight saving time
What is forward? The easiest way to remember the daylight saving time shifts is to think “spring forward” in the spring and “fall back” in the fall.
The biggest (heaviest and longest) wall in the world
What is the Great Wall of China? What’s even more mind-boggling than its length, at 13,000-plus miles, is its age. Some phases of the Wall were built as early as the seventh century BC
These come in café, ruffled, and shower
What are curtains? The English word curtain comes from the Old French word cortine, meaning “tapestry” or “drape.”
Payment to release kidnap victims
What is ransom? During the 1970s, ransoms peaked in the millions of dollars. The highest ransom on record is $134 million, paid for the release of a Hong Kong businessman’s son.
This is the term for the final test before the release of a product or software program, and also a type of brainwave.
What is beta? Beta tests allow users to find bugs that developers have overlooked. Beta brainwaves are associated with a conscious, thinking state.
April is peak season for these blooming trees in Washington, D.C.
What are cherry trees? In 1912, Japan gifted the United States with 3,000 cherry trees. Today, there are around 3,800 cherry trees in Washington, D.C.
The bigger between a solar system and a galaxy
What is a galaxy? Our solar system consists of the sun and the planets, moons, and smaller bodies that surround it. Our galaxy is the Milky Way, which consists of 200 to 400 billion stars. Billions of galaxies comprise the universe.
Electrical panels used these before they had circuit breakers.
What are fuses? Fuses had to be replaced; you only have to flip the circuit breaker.
Excessive interest charges
What is usury? There is no federal limit on the interest rates that credit card companies can charge, but they must communicate their interest rates to cardholders and card applicants.
Sediment that flows downstream in a river can build up and move from its mouth into this other body of water, creating a wetland.
What is a delta? An example is the Mississippi Delta. As the sediment builds up, it can cause flooding.
Simon & Garfunkel recorded this April song on their 1966 album Sounds of Silence
What is “April Come She Will”? Paul Simon wrote the song in 1964 about a girl he met in England.
Country where the biggest pyramid by volume is found
What is Mexico? The Great Pyramid of Cholula in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, is the biggest by volume. The Great Pyramid of Giza, in Egypt, is the third-largest pyramid.
This is the three-letter word for a Grecian jar, often shaped like a vase.
What is an urn? Urns date to antiquity, and you can buy copies of ancient urns.
A formal gift, often for research or education
What is a grant? Pharmaceutical companies partially fund drug research and development through grants. University professors fund some of their salaries through research grants, while students can finance part of their tuition through educational grants.
These essential fatty acids are found in polyunsaturated fats and are commonly found in the 6 and 3 forms of this letter.
What are omegas? Omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are known as essential fatty acids because the body cannot produce them. Sources include organic eggs, pastured beef, wild-caught salmon, walnuts, and dark, leafy greens.
This is celebrated on April 1 in Japan
What is April Fools’ Day? The annual day of pranks is celebrated around the world, including in Japan.