Free Uncle John’s Briefs by Bathroom Readers’ Institute Page B

to build.” Chiu explained: “Since the bathroom is the creation of me and my husband it is very meaningful to us and therefore we decided to have our ceremony in here.” Not explained: Why seven other couples joined them, making it the largest group wedding ever performed in a lavatory.
    Honoree: Bryan J. Patrie, a Stanford graduate student
    Notable Achievement: Inventing the Watercolor Intelligent Nightlight, which informs bleary-eyed midnight bathroom-goers whether the toilet seat up is or down…without turning on a blinding light.
    True Story: Patrie introduced the device in the early 1990s. He explained: “When you get within five feet of the dark commode, it will sense your motion. It looks to see if the room is dark. Then it looks upward by sending out an infrared beam. If it gets a reflection, it knows the seat is up. If it is, the red light comes on.”

    HIS & HERS BATHROOM PEEVES
    According to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Toilet Paper Report, women’s #1 bathroom complaint is men leaving the toilet seat up. Men’s #1 complaint: waiting for women to get out of the bathroom.
Amphibians’ eyes come in a variety of shapes, including square or heart-shaped pupils.

FILTHY WATER PEOPLE
    Did you ever get a lousy nickname that stuck? You’re in good company. Many Native American tribes are known today by unflattering names given to them by their neighbors. Here are a few examples .
    C HEYENNE
Meaning: Red-Talkers
Origin: This Great Plains tribe called themselves the Tsitsistas , which means the “Beautiful People.” The neighboring Dakota people may have agreed, but they couldn’t understand what the Tsitsistas were saying, because they spoke a different language. They called the Tsitsistas the “Red-Talkers,” meaning “those who speak unintelligibly,” or, in Dakota, the Cheyenne .
    APACHE
Meaning: Enemy
Origin: Like many Native American tribes, this one, famous for legendary chief Geronimo, called themselves “the People”— Dine (di-nay) in their native language. But the neighboring tribe—victim of many of their war parties—the Zuni, called them “the enemy,” or apachu . Over time, that evolved into their permanent name, the Apache .
    ARAPAHO
Meaning: Tattooed People
Origin: These Plains Indians called themselves the Inuna-ina , which translates to “the People.” Their neighbors, the Crow, identified them by their distinctive body markings and called them “Tattooed People,” or, in their language, Arapahos .
    HURON
Meaning: Boar’s Head
Origin: This tribe lived in the area between Lakes Huron and Ontario and called themselves the Wyandot , meaning “Those from the Peninsula.” But the French called them Hures , or “Boar’s Head,” because the men inthe tribe wore their hair in bristly spikes that resembled boar’s hair—and Hures eventually became Huron .
Of the world’s 100 largest economic entities, 51 are corporations and 49 are countries.
    WINNEBAGO
Meaning: Filthy Water People
Origin: These Great Lakes Indians were named by the Chippewa people. Their own name was Horogióthe , or “Fish-Eaters.” But the Chippewa called them the Winnebago —the “Filthy Water People,” possibly because the Horogióthe painted themselves with clay when going to war, which made them appear to have bathed in muddy water.
    MOHAWK
Meaning: Man-Eaters
Origin: This tribe from upper New York State and eastern Canada called themselves Kaniengehagaóthe , or “Flint People.” That proved to be a very difficult word to pronounce for Europeans, who called them what their neighbors, the Narragansett, called them: Mohawk , or “Man-Eaters.” Why? They engaged in ritualistic cannibalism.
    GROS VENTRES
Meaning: Big Bellies
Origin: This tribe from what is now Montana and Saskatchewan called themselves the Ahahninin , or “White Clay People.” When early French fur trappers and traders asked members of neighboring tribes about the name, they responded—in Native American sign