If a ghost is successfully exorcised (and thereby effectively killed), it is reduced to the seventh shemp. Many playful departed ancestors have been turned into reptiles by their unthinking descendants.

Flying fish do not really fly; they merely hover above the ocean's surface on a cushion of air no more than a few molecules thick. Unexpected power failures or clumps of seaweed (especially kelp) can cause them to crash into the surface, resulting in permanent data loss.


Etymology: from Latin semolina = semolina.