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Thread: Very Interesting Stuff

  1. #1
    Veteran Member lethalsoul's Avatar
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    Default Very Interesting Stuff

    VERY INTERESTING STUFF


    In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have 'the rule of thumb'
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    Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled 'Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden'...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
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    The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
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    Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S . Treasury.
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    Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
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    Coca-Cola was originally green.
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    It is impossible to lick your elbow.
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    The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:
    Alaska
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    The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)
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    The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
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    The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $ 16,400
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    The avera ge n umber of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour:
    61,000
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    Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
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    The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
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    The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
    ----- - ----- -------------------------------------------------------------
    Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:

    Spades - King David
    Hearts - Charlemagne
    Clubs -Alexander, the Great
    Diamonds - Julius Caesar
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    111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
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    If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
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    Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
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    Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?

    A. Their birthplace
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    Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?

    A. Obsession
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    Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter 'A'?

    A. One thousand
    ---------------------------------------------- -- ------ ------------------
    Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?

    A. All were invented by women.
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    Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?

    A. Honey
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    Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?

    A. Father's Day
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    In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.
    When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... 'goodnight, sleep tight.'
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    It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calend ar was luna r based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
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    In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.'

    It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'
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    Many years ago in England , pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. ' Wet your whi stle' is the phrase inspired by this practice.
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    At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!
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    Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can read it.

    I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and ls at ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
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    YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2008 when...

    1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.



    2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.



    3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.



    4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.



    5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.



    6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.



    7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen



    8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.



    10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.



    11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )



    12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.



    13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.



    14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.



    15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list. ~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~
    NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.
    lethalsoul

  2. #2
    God/dess SundayMorning's Avatar
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    Nice! Thanks for sharing...and the last list was soooo completely true!


  3. #3
    God/dess phillyvixen's Avatar
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    i found some of those facts really interesting



    Quote Originally Posted by Hatshepsut View Post
    Tell him that he's a load his mom should have swallowed.

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    Featured Member Meea's Avatar
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    yes, that gave me the giggles for sure.... I have, so many times, used my cell phone in my driveway to ask for help with the groceries! haha

  5. #5
    God/dess xdamage's Avatar
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    Quote Originally Posted by lethalsoul View Post

    Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?

    A. All were invented by women.
    Hmmm, being a computer geek myself, my recollection is that laser printers have their history at Xerox and the invention is generally attributed to Gary Starkweather. Some argue the invention really started with Chester Carlson since Gary just added the laser, but the copier is where the invention really started.

    http://www.castleink.com/_a-lphis.html

    http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18838549

    http://www.sfu.ca/pamr/news_releases...s02070301.html


    You can find more articles if you Google it.

    One problem with attributing "inventions" to individuals... it tends to be somewhat arbitrary since most inventions are just evolutionary steps building on previous work done by others. For example, one of the reasons we laugh when someone claims credit for being the inventor of the "Internet" is because there is a long history of inventions from electronics, to communication protocols, to format protocols, which led up to what we think of as the internet. No one person can claim credit as the inventor of the whole thing.

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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    Quote Originally Posted by lethalsoul View Post
    In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.'

    It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'
    Not quite....

    In old England, money was often short before pay day, so the customers would be given credit. The amount of beer they drank was chalked up on a board so they could see what they owed. "Putting it on the slate".

    Customers could order either a pint or a quart (two pints). What they drank was recorded on the slate as pints (P) or quarts (Q). Some landlords were known to take advantage of drunk customers by putting down a quart (Q) instead of the pint (P) they'd actually ordered - hence their friends telling them to "watch their P's and Q's".

    Phil.

  7. #7
    God/dess xdamage's Avatar
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    Quote Originally Posted by Phil-W View Post
    Not quite....
    This is more along the lines of the story I heard as the explination.

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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    Also, they might well have had mead in Babylon but the earliest usage of 'honeymoon' (according to the OED) is from 1546, in England. It's more likely a European term, as well as convention.

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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    the GOLF one is pretty funny. interesting stuff

  10. #10
    AudreyLeigh
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    <--- didnt try to lick her elbow

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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    I did try to lick my elbow, lol

  12. #12
    Senior Member confrontingmydemons's Avatar
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    I tried to lick my elbow, too..
    If you are timid enough to stop at what is natural, then nature will elude your grasp forever.

    Marquis de Sade

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    God/dess GoldCoastGirl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    Yay! I'm not the only one !!!

    I gave it a good go as well... oh dear......................


    enter: E3167322D9 for your 10% discount

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    Veteran Member Delilah27's Avatar
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    I really enjoyed that list thank you for sharing

  15. #15
    Jay Zeno
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    I realize that Wikipedia is not the most trusted source, but...

    "The notion that the "rule of thumb" was a law that limited the width of a rod that a man may use to beat his wife has been partially discredited. Wife beating has been explicitly illegal in British law since the 1700s and has never been legally sanctioned in America...

    "It is now firmly entrenched as an urban myth."

    In the , there are other rules of thumb mentioned as in tailoring, sailing, and so on.


    I don't know about the honeymoon story, but I doubt it. They would've had much different words for "honey" and "moon" back then. The earliest the dictionary records the word is in the 1500's.


    I'd always heard that "mind your p's and q's" was necessary because they can be confused in writing or typesetting. But I don't know.
    Last edited by Jay Zeno; 01-05-2008 at 07:15 AM. Reason: rules of thumb, not rule of thumbs. Geesh.

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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    those were cool. i learned lots of new little facts.

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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    A lot of these just don't add up.

  18. #18
    Featured Member Kabukicho's Avatar
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    Totally trying to lick my elbow. So close.

  19. #19
    Featured Member aussiebelle's Avatar
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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    I love random facts.....and yes I too tried to lick my elbow.

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    Default Re: Very Interesting Stuff

    OK - one of my interests is 18th century naval history. Many of the phrases we now use originate from the age of sail.

    I'll give you an example "coming to the bitter end".

    Old time sailing ships had a heavy baulk of timber around which the anchor cables were secured. This was called the riding bitt. Accordingly, the inboard end of the anchor cable was called the bitter end.

    When ships came to anchor they always used less than the full length of the anhor cable to moor the ship. If there was a storm and the anchor started to drag, the sailors slowly let out the extra anchor cable to reduce the strain on the anchor and stop it dragging.

    There was only so mch cable you could let out, so when they'd run out of cable, they'd "come to the bitter end".

    A second example is "not by a long chalk". The Royal Navy spent long periods of time blockading enemy ports during the Napoleonic wars. (Nelson famously spent 22 months aboard HMS Victory without seeing foot outside of the ship).

    In order to pass the time, the sailors invented a number of simple games. One of those was jumping up and seeing who could put the highest chalk mark on the main mast. Eventually, if something was difficult or out of reach, they got into the habit of saying "not by a long chalk".

    There are dozens of other examples.

    Phil.

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