Monday, August 18, 2008

Heads or Tails Happy Birthday!


Barb over at Skittle's Place is the host of Heads or Tails, the weekly Tuesday meme. Today is the first birthday of HoT! Congratuations, Barb.

The topic is heads or tails * or * heads or tails!

Have you ever heard the expression, "I can't make heads nor tails of it!"This phrase espresses the concept of opposites as in the Heads or Tails coin toss game.

Coin flipping as a game was known to the Romans as "navia aut caput" (ship or head), as some coins had a ship on one side and the head of the emperor on the other.

In Italy this game is called Testa o croce.
In Spain Cara o cruz.
In Catalonia the game is called Cara o Creu (all "head or cross").
In Germany the game is called Kopf oder Zahl ("head or number", because the other side shows the coin's value).
In Ireland it is usually called Heads or Harps, since the reverse side of Irish coins (both Euro and the former currency, the Irish punt) always shows a harp.
In Brazil, it is called Cara ou Coroa ("face or crown"). On Brazilian coins, one of the sides are called "Cara" (marked with a face); the other side is called "Coroa" (crown, or another symbol).

And I'll leave you with thid video of JoDee Messina singing her hit song live, "Heads Carolina, Tails California."


13 comments:

  1. I struggled to think of a video to tie in with the theme.. and here you found one that was perfect! :)

    Thank you so much for being such a loyal Hottie!

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  2. Wow....I am totally impressed with this research you've done on the expression. Amazing. I love learning things like this. You made my day.

    Happy day to you.
    Hope you can stop by and view my HoT entry.

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  3. Very informative! And great video choice to go with this week's HOT :)

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  4. sounds interesting, and well done you with all your translations :)

    my hots is up too. Love you to stop by ;)
    http://www.mummydiariesblog.com/2008/08/heads-or-tails-edition-52.html

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  5. What a great post. It sounds like heads or tails has been around the world for a long time.

    Perfect song! Love it.

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  6. Interesting. I love the new look by the way

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  7. Thanks for the ‘heads or tails’ LESSON today and the video … very ‘kewl’ response to this ‘anniversary’ prompt.
    Hugs and blessings,

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  8. Well, I learned something again today! Have a great Tuesday.

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  9. Hello again...
    To answer your question...yes, Wicked is the 1st book...then, he had several more in between. The 2nd book Son of a Witch continues the story of Wicked after Elphaba the witch died in the first. Now, the new one continues with the Cowardly Lion. All are tied into Wicked.

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  10. I've never heard that expression before, but thanks for doing a little research this week. Quite interesting. :) Thanks for sharing this Tuesday!

    P.S.
    My HoT is up a little later than usual, but feel free to take a look.

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  11. Great post!
    I like all your associations of heads or tails.

    Hope you can stop by mine.

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  12. Thanks for all the info! I love that song too! Take care - Kellan

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I love comments! Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

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