For a long time, I’ve kept my ear (and eye) out for heteronyms: words that are written the same but said differently. Homonyms are easy to spot - things like chip (food, processor), or bark (dog, tree) - but heteronyms are sneaky and you don’t notice them as easily. Fiddly things like windy, present, read, or close.

It always strikes me they must make English a pain to learn - “what do you mean read can be said as red or reed??! How’m I supposed to know that??”

A few other common ones (try to spot both pronunciations, it’s a little like the old out-cube/in-cube Necker illusion): bow, does, dove, import, lead, project, refuse, sow, tear, minute…

Also known as a homograph (homo - same, graph - writing)

Hat tip to Richard Stevens for his nifty vintage-style heteronym list

Heteronym: spell it the same, say it differently

…regulate temperature and (maybe) to keep feathers clean while eating. Keeping the feathers clean was my inspiration for this sketchplanation - there’s something about the cold practicality of not messing up your feathers while you’re tucking into some carrion. However, it looks like it is more likely to be for the more prosaic reason of regulating temperature and keeping cool. As Dominic McCafferty, at the University of Glasgow points out:

‘…other groups of scavengers, particularly giant petrels, have feathered heads. Large mammalian scavengers also don’t have bald heads, so why vultures?’

Should you be interested, read more at the University of Glasgow’s Why do vultures have bald heads?

Vultures have bald heads to…

Turns out a bunch of substances have the power to make you sleepy - tryptophan, vitamin B6, calcium, glycine, lactucarium and carbohydrates are some of the major ones. Some even interact with each other for maximum sleepiness. A few common foods with these compounds in good measure include:

turkey, walnuts - tryptophan
tuna, pistachios - vitamin B6
dairy - calcium
chamomile - glycine
lettuce - lactucarium

So an evening turkey or tuna, walnut, cheese and lettuce sandwich with a glass of milk and a side of pistachios or walnuts and you’ll be set for a good night.

Get my new weekly sketch in your inbox

Sleepy foods