“Discovery”

Lore has it that when the Greek scholar Archimedes stepped into a bath and the water level rose he understood the relationship between the displacement of water and the volume of the object being placed in the water.  Presumably at the moment of discovery he called out “Eureka” the Greek equivalent of I have found.  Discovery can be a powerful moment.  What discovery was made on a bus full of middle school students I am not sure.  As we traveled down the road the moment of discovery must have occurred for one student, for he yelled out, “Urethra”.  There was a moment of silence when all heads turned towards him.  “What?” he said as he faced his fellow students. At this point the stares had changed to laughter.  Trying to ease the awkwardness of the situation I said, “A very fine scientific word but possible not one to be shouted out on a bus.” With a genuinely confused look he said, “What do you think I said?”  It was repeated by those around him.  Now with a blush to his face he said, “No I said Eureka, I said Eureka.”  With much laughter he was reassured of what he had really said.  He lowered his head in embarrassment and all soon returned to normal.  Before he left the bus he looked at me and asked, “By the way what does that mean?”  I assured him he had not entered the world of words that mom will wash your mouth out for and that he should just go home and look it up.  His friend said he would but he was afraid his mother would check his internet history on the computer.  They say knowledge is power, but a little knowledge in the hands of a middle school student is a dangerous thing.