Mary Roach Quote

Meaning by way of the anus. Per annum, with two n’s, means yearly. The correct answer to the question, What is the birth rate per anum? is zero (one hopes). The Internet provides many fine examples of the perils of confusing the two. The investment firm that offers 10% interest per anum is likely to have about as many takers as the Nigerian screenwriter who describes himself as capable of writing 6 movies per anum or the Sri Lankan importer whose classified ad declares, 3600 metric tonnes of garlic wanted per anum. The individual who poses the question How many people die horse riding per anum? on the Ask Jeeves website has set himself up for crude, derisive blowback in the Comments block.

Mary Roach

Meaning by way of the anus. Per annum, with two n’s, means yearly. The correct answer to the question, What is the birth rate per anum? is zero (one hopes). The Internet provides many fine examples of the perils of confusing the two. The investment firm that offers 10% interest per anum is likely to have about as many takers as the Nigerian screenwriter who describes himself as capable of writing 6 movies per anum or the Sri Lankan importer whose classified ad declares, 3600 metric tonnes of garlic wanted per anum. The individual who poses the question How many people die horse riding per anum? on the Ask Jeeves website has set himself up for crude, derisive blowback in the Comments block.

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About Mary Roach

Mary Roach (born March 20, 1959) is an American author specializing in popular science and humor. She has published seven New York Times bestsellers: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003), Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife (2005), Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (2008), Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void (2010), Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal (2013), Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War (2016), and Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law (2021).