Putrescent

Hakarl samples

The national dish of Iceland is a putrescent shark meat called Hakarl. Poisonous when fresh, it must be fermented and hung to dry for four to five months. The result is an ammonia-rich food that smells much like cleaning products and has produced some of the strongest reactions from chefs around the world. Anthony Bourdain of the Travel Channel called it “the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing” he had ever eaten, while Andrew Zimmerman of Bizarre Foods said it reminded him of “some of the most horrific things” he had ever breathed. Although first-time tasters usually gag, Hakarl is served in traditional Icelandic food and sold in stores year-round.

Putrescent (pyoo-TRES-ənt)

Undergoing a process of decomposition, especially of protein by microorganisms, which results in foul-smelling matter; rotting.

Source

Wikipedia: Hakarl |  Photo by chrissy575

Apocryphal

Mummies have been used for some strange purposes. During medieval times, they were ground into a powder and taken as medicine. Later, they were used for the brownish tinge in the paint color, “mummy brown”. In the late 19th century, thousands of mummified cats were used as fertilizer. It has even been bruited that mummies were used as locomotive fuel, although this statement is apocryphal. It comes from an excerpt in Mark Twain’s book, The Innocents Abroad, which second-hand sources failed to realize was written tongue-in-cheek.

Apocryphal (ə-POK-rə-fəl)

Of questionable authorship or authenticity.

Synonyms

spurious, mythical, unsubstantiated

Source

The Straight Dope: Do Egyptians… | Wikipedia: Animal Mummies | Photo Credit

Garden-Variety

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is considered a priceless relic of the prehistoric age; it was erected in 2500 B.C. and used as sacred burial site for at least 500 years. Now, it is legally protected as an ancient monument. But a couple centuries ago, builders often treated it as a garden-variety pile of rocks which they would steal from for local construction projects. Archaeologist Dennis Price believes he has spotted one of the most important pieces in a nearby English village, stating that the “fabled and once-lost altar stone from Stonehenge now stands in two pieces in a nearby village either side of a small lane, in plain view of anyone who wishes to inspect them.”

Garden-variety

Common; unremarkable: situation comedies and other garden-variety television fare.

Synonyms

banal, pedestrian, mundane, quotidian

Source

Wikipedia: Stonehenge, Netscape: A Missing Piece

A Nonpareil Dessert

Gold-Plated Chocolate Bar

If you are looking for a decadent dessert, the Frrozen Haute Chocolate of New York restaurant, Serendipity 3, is a nonpareil among its kind. The sundae consists of a blend of 28 exotic chocolates infused with 5 grams of 23-karat gold, atop of which sits whipped cream blanketed in more gold. This dessert will run you $25,000—but you do get to keep the spoon—which incidentally, is made of gold.

Nonpareil (pronounced “non-pə-REL”)

1. *A person or thing that has no equal; a paragon.
2. Painted bunting (a type of finch).
3. A small, flat chocolate drop covered with white pellets of sugar.

Synonyms

paragon, ideal, ne plus ultra

Source

Reuters: New York’s $25,000 Dessert

Photo by: jamescronin

Jerry-built Towers

Not an actual Marshmallow Challenge tower

Tom Wujec has conducted design workshops around the world that feature the Marshmallow Challenge.  Claiming the exercise yields deep insights into the nature of collaboration, he instructs groups of four to build the tallest structure possible with various odds and ends: 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow.  One of the consistently best-performing demographics is recent graduates of kindergarten; they more than double the heights of the jerry-built towers of business school students, and nearly do the same for lawyers. They even have a slight leg up on CEOs when the team has no executive admin.

Jerry-built

Of inferior workmanship and materials; “mean little jerry-built houses”

Synonyms

ramshackle, slipshod, faulty

Source

Ted.com: Build a Tower, Build a Team, Photo by: Vivevans