One thumb down

...one to go.

I think I've reached a new low in my life today: I managed to staple myself in the thumb.

Which, funnily enough, reminded me of a story my Croatian flatmate used to tell me: that the Swiss German word for stapler - bostitch - was derived from the name of its inventor, a Croation guy called Bostic. Of course, I never believed him.

Well, today I decided to look it up, fearing the worst - that the story would actually turn out to be true. But what do you know, a little bit of internet research uncovered the following:

Originally known as the Boston Wire Stitcher® Company, the first syllables of the words "Boston" and "Stitcher" were joined to make "Bostitch®", and the name was adopted for product use after the manufacture of machines began.

So there it is. Another urban (Zagreb, I suppose) legend debunked.

The thumb still hurts, by the way.

JJtags:

• thumb
• urbanlegend