Anyone who has ever been in the close quarters of a cruise-ship cabin (or seen the Marx Brothers' "A Night at the Opera") might wonder what's so stately about a stateroom. Despite its usually less-than-stately size, "stateroom" actually is a first cousin of "stately." The word originally referred to just the captain's quarters on a ship, and later was any room reserved for ceremonial occasions.

The brand name Jif is familiar to Americans as the largest ...

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