Something that made me think

Once, in chemistry, I’d learned that objects never really touch — because of ions repelling, there’s always an infinitesimal space, so that even when it feels like you’re holding hands or rubbing up against something on the atomic level, you’re not. That was how I felt these days… I knew that, no matter how hard I tried, I’d never close that microscopic gap.

–Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care.

Open Skinny Sesame!

“What’s a sesame seed grow into? I don’t know we never give them a chance, what the fuck is a sesame?! It’s a street… It’s a way to open shit…” — Mitch Hedberg

One of my co-workers was shaking sesame seeds onto a salad this evening, and thought of the above Mitch Hedberg joke. As is my usual reaction, after laughing at the joke I began to wonder about the seed, where it comes from, and why we say “open sesame.” So, here’s the skinny: Sesame plants are most common in sub-saharan Africa, but have also been successfully grown and cultivated in India. They are harvested specifically for the edible seeds, which come from and grow into white, purple, or blue flowers.

Many cultures have legends about the sesame seed — In Hindu legends, sesame seeds are used in rituals to pacify the gods. Also, in Assyrian legend, the Gods met to create the world over wine made from sesame oils.

The phrase, “open sesame,” comes from Arabian Nights, and was first used as a reference to the flower springing open to release the seeds when it reaches maturity.

“Sesame Street” was, in fact, named after the phrase “Open Sesame,” as a means of exciting the children who watched it, as if each show were a revelation to a secret space. Because the show was originally targeted to an urban/inner-city audience, the Arabian Nights seemed relevant to its minority audience.

Note: The phrase “the skinny” in reference to a bit of information most likely comes from the slang term ‘skinny’ as in bare, or naked. ‘The skinny’ is the most basic details, the bare truth or most revealing information. It also may come from the use of very thin paper (similar to onion skin), which was used in the military during the 1930′s and 40′s, the paper was used for important and revealing information (I cannot confirm or deny this).