(GAL-ucks-see)

You already know this word, but are you aware of its picturesque origins?

The Greek astronomer Ptolemy referred to the whitish swath of stars that cuts across the night sky as the "galaktikos kyklos"--literally, the "milky circle." The "kyklos" is an ancestor of English words like "cycle," and the "galaktikos" comes from Greek "gala," which means "milk."

(Incidentally, the Romans called this cloudy collection of stars the "via lactea," or literally, the "milky way"--hence our own term.)

"I'm sorry, which galaxy did you say you were from?"