Q: I've always been a fan of "The Three Stooges," but only recently noticed Curly's name sometimes is spelled Curley when they show the heads of Moe, Larry and Curly at the beginning of the episodes. Which spelling is correct?

A: I also have loved watching the Stooges all my life. I even like the episodes with Shemp, although — let's face it — there was only one Curly.
But which name was Curly born with — the one with or without the "e" in his name?

Actually, neither. According to biographical information I have found on him, he actually was born Jerome Lester Horwitz. And, according to the Internet Movie Database, his nickname was Babe. Curly Howard — with the first name spelled without the "e" — ultimately became his stage name, and the "e" was removed after the initial episodes.

I found some good information from the movie database and threestooges.com, which is recognized by the trio's official site, threestoogesfanclub.com.

According to the sites, in real life, Curly was a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and was the younger brother of Moses "Moe" Horwitz and Samuel "Shemp" Horwitz, who were in performer Ted Healy's act. Moe and Shemp also changed their last name to Howard. Of course, Healy had an additional performer: violinist Larry Feinberg, who later became Larry Fine.

Interestingly, Curly had long, wavy dark hair and a mustache when he talked with Healy about joining the act, and had to agree to shave his face and head.

One other thing: You know that exaggerated walk Curly had? It actually was real. He had accidentally shot himself in the foot with a pistol as a child, and was too scared of surgery to do anything about it.

And that's the truth, ya' buncha knuckleheads.

Q: What is that symbol that looks like a combination of an R and X used at pharmacies and on medication?

A: The QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins explains that the R portion of the symbol derives from R being short for the Latin recipe, meaning "take."

The X actually is a slant across the leg of the R and is a sign of Jupiter, who was the Roman god of medicine.

Staff Writer Bernie Delinski writes Just Ask, which runs Wednesdays in the TimesDaily. If you've got a question, e-mail it to bernie.delinski@TimesDaily.com, call him at 256-740-5739, fax it to 256-740-4717 or send it to Just Ask, c/o TimesDaily, P.O. Box 797, Florence, AL 35631.