Did you know that …

M&M is medical shorthand for “morbidity and mortality”? The Statue of Liberty’s index finger is eight feet long? Melba toast was created at the Ritz to ameliorate Dame Nellie’s diet? Never odd or even is a palindrome?

That’s just a sampling of the countless things you’ll learn from Schott’s Original Miscellany, a collection of arcana, tidbits, and quips. The book, all the rage across the pond, has just come stateside and is certain to liven up everything from dinner with the parents to a painful blind date, to say nothing of boosting your popularity by the watercooler. From the scientific to the literary, the historic to the goofy, it’s in there.

To wit, the subject headings on pages 116 and 117: