By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/15/2025 3:01 PM
Peru claimed victory in the "World Cup of Breakfasts," a viral online contest organized by Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos, with its signature pan con chicharrón. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/15/2025 1:35 PM
A Florida woman taking her dog for a walk near a stagnant creek ended up punching an alligator in the face to rescue the canine from the predator's jaws. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/15/2025 12:57 PM
Hundreds of people sharing the same first name met up in New York for the second-ever "Rytoberfest" to celebrate the moniker Ryan and attempt a world record. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/15/2025 11:28 AM
A herd of escaped goats in Baltimore were rounded up and returned home by police in cooperation with local animal control officers and neighborhood children. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/12/2025 3:04 PM
A small gecko from the Mediterranean region found its way onto the Channel Island of Guernsey via a traveler's suitcase, a local animal rescue said. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/12/2025 2:36 PM
A Michigan man was in for a happy surprise after learning he won $150,000 -- three times what he expected -- in a Powerball drawing in August. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/12/2025 9:00 AM
In the realm of unique but unofficial holidays, Friday marks National Video Games Day -- not to be confused with National Video Game Day celebrated in July. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/11/2025 1:51 PM
A New York resident's home security camera captured the moment a package of pet food was stolen from their porch by a masked porch pirate -- a hungry raccoon. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/11/2025 11:07 AM
A champion ice skater from Hungary took her jump rope out onto the ice and broke a Guinness World Record for most skips in one minute with her skates on. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/11/2025 10:43 AM
A British zoo announced the hatching of eight casque-headed iguana babies whose eggs were laid in unusual circumstances -- their mother has never met a male. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/10/2025 1:23 PM
Police in Texas reunited a man with his blind and flightless pigeon after the pet bird hitched a ride in the bed of a pickup truck at the owner's business. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/10/2025 12:58 PM
A Florida family's missing cat turned up weeks later at a North Carolina shelter more than 900 miles from her home, and was reunited thanks to a microchip. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/10/2025 11:40 AM
Animal rescuers in Ontario are trying to find the owner of a large exotic reptile -- a desert kingsnake -- found wandering loose along a road in Cambridge. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/10/2025 11:05 AM
Firefighters in England responded to a call for "an animal in need of rescue" in Berkshire and ended up saving a pet lizard stranded high up in a tree. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/9/2025 2:20 PM
A Florida sheriff's office shared video from the tense encounter that resulted when a K-9 searching for a suspect in the woods came face-to-face with a bear. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/9/2025 2:10 PM
A serial Guinness World Record-breaker took some time during an ocean cruise to spit a table tennis ball at a wall and break a record for the third time. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/9/2025 1:15 PM
A Saudi Arabian motorcyclist performed a nearly 1,000-foot wheelie while holding a handlebar with his mouth to break a Guinness World Record in Jeddah. ... Read full Story
By United Press International, Inc. | | 9/9/2025 10:59 AM
Police in Germany were called to an apartment building on a report of someone repeatedly ringing doorbells late at night and discovered the culprit was a slug. ... Read full Story
Officials in western Germany have sought to calm online speculation following the deaths of 16 candidates, including seven from a far-right party, in the run-up to a local election. ... Read full Story
"In other cultures they might look askance at such a gnarly, leggy thing wedged into a loaf. But we know that a whole fried soft shell crab is one of the gifts of southeast Louisiana's robust seafood heritage." — Ian McNulty, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate Online, 1 May 2025
Did you know?
As with the similar word side-eye, writers over the years have used askance literally when someone is looking with a side-glance and figuratively when such a glance is conveying disapproval or distrust. Back in the days of Middle English you could use askaunce and a-skans and a-skaunces to mean “in such a way that,” “as if to say,” and “artificially, deceptively.” It’s likely that askance developed from these forms, with some help from asqwynt meaning “obliquely, askew.” Askance was first used in the 16th century with the meaning "sideways" or "with a sideways glance.”