Buzz Sturgis, age 10, of Enid, Oklahoma for his question:

How did stalactites and stalagmites et their names?

Stalactites are those stony icicles that dangle down from the roof of a cool, damp cave. Stalagmites are the matching stony spikes that poke up from the floor. It is not easy to remember which of these fancy names belongs to which formation. Sometimes the history of words helps to solve such problems. But not in this case. Stalactite and stalagmite are coined from two different Greek words. But their two word ancestors are very much alike    and both of them mean dripping.

Stalactite was coined from a Greek word meaning to ooze in dripping drops. Stalagmite was coined from a Greek word that means dropping and dripping. It is true that both these stony formations are formed from drip dripping water. But how they got their names does not help to tell which is which. Andy himself uses a simpler system to solve the problem. Stalactite has a letter C    to show that it dangles from the ceiling. Stalagmite has no C for ceiling, so it must belong on the floor.