Yet Another Possibility in a Quest for the True Meaning of the Letters USC

No matter what UCLA students say about their cross-town rival, it’s obviously untrue that the letters USC stand for “University of Spoiled Children.� But what do the letters stand for? David Boone of Los Angeles thinks he found the answer (see photo).

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Thou shalt not use a double negative: Dan Giang noticed that a bus-stop ad was guilty of the sin of sloppiness in quoting the First Commandment (see photo).

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Food for thought: Don’t know if it’s a computer glitch or what, but many food manufacturers, when printing the “best before� date on their products, continue to run together the day of the month and the last two digits of the year.

In one such case, Ben Weiss thought he had come across a 99-year-old breakfast offering (see photo).

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Questionable home-sales tips: Despite what one real estate newsletter recommended (see accompanying), P. West of Long Beach said: “I’ve found having my houses as empty as possible while showing them is much more conducive to a quick sale.�

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Making waves: The Long Beach Press-Telegram reports that the artist Wyland has finished a 300,000-square-foot whale mural in Destin, Fla. -- a depressing reminder to locals that Long Beach had once been listed in the book of Guinness World Records as the home of the planet’s largest mural.

Compared to the Florida piece, Long Beach’s artwork, also designed by Wyland, is practically postage-stamp-sized at a mere 116,000 square feet.

What’s worse, Long Beach’s whale mural has been an object of some confusion for tourists, who figure that the building it graces must be the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Actually, it was painted before the aquarium was built and covers, instead, the nearby Long Beach Arena.

I’ve often thought that Wyland should have taken his paint brush and created the world’s biggest directional sign -- “No, we’re over here!� -- on the aquarium.

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Cold facts: I mentioned that the book “The War Between the State� quotes Mark Twain as saying, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.�

Kathleen Sheldon referred me to boondocksnet.com, which questions several quotes attributed to Twain.

The Frisco wisecrack, for instance, apparently cannot be found in any of his writings. He may well have uttered it in a saloon -- he was known to have a drink or two -- but there is no proof.

Then there’s the Twain quote, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.�

He did write that, but he was quoting English statesman Benjamin Disraeli.

The website says additionally that there is no proof that Twain ever said, “So I became a newspaperman. I hated to do it, but I couldn’t find honest employment.�

I’m not surprised by that disclosure. I’m sure that confession was uttered long before Twain -- possibly by the first newspaperman.

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miscelLAny: Malaprop of the Week honors go to one KCOP-TV Channel 13 anchor who was discussing a Polish helicopter. The media website

ronfineman.com caught her pronouncing “Polish� as one would the stuff that makes your shoes shiny.