The only “bad” penny is a slug, or a bent coin, or one that falls through a coin-operated vending machine without counting toward the purchase of the merchandise. Other than in gum ball dispensers, some of which still cost 1¢, the odds of receiving the same penny as change twice in one’;s lifetime is minuscule.

The expression refers to the unpleasant ability that troublesome people have of bothering those who have tried to get them out of their lives. The mooching relative, the money-grubbing friend, or the boring office worker never grasps that he or she is not wanted, and always seems to show up at the most inopportune time.

REALITY CHECK

Flushing Down Under

For some reason, many people believe that water swirls down the drain in one direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in the other direction in the Southern Hemisphere. They are probably confusing the swirling action of a tub full of water with a phenomenon first noted by a civil engineer named Guastave-Gaspard Coriolis in 1835. The “Coriolis Effect” or “Coriolis Force,” as it has come to be known, addresses why a moving object appears to change direction depending upon where one is standing while viewing it. For example, a ball tossed from a moving car will appear to veer backwards to someone inside the car, yet the ball will appear to fly in a straight line to someone standing on the curb as the car goes by.

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