And Now for something Completely Different!

[Irishcat922]

In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"

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.

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.​

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury.​

Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

Coca-Cola was originally green.​

It is impossible to lick your elbow.

The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska

The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)​

The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%

The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400​

The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000​

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.​

The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.​

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


111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321​

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.​

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.​

Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?​

A. Their birthplace


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

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

A. Honey

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

A. Father's Day

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."​

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 calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month which we know today as the honeymoon.​

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"

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 whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.​

~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~​

At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.

..............

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
rdgnieg.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 lsat
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?​

 

[Catholic Dude]

Funny stuff

Many years ago inEngland, 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 whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.​

Im pretty sure its "wHet your whistle", not "wet".

 

[seekingpurity047]

Well, taht was fun.

Hey! People who tried to lick their elbow, admit it!

I didn't!

 

[Rick Otto]

I bet Gene Simmons can!




View larger picture

 

[Paleoconservatarian]

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than theUS Treasury.]​

This is not true. The US Treasury prints monopoly money too!

 

[rmwilliamsll]

several of these are wrong and refutted in snopes for example. several are interesting but the whole picture needs to be looked at:

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in oldEngland, 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"

Two popular theories revolve around the mirror-image quality of the two letters. The phrase was recorded in 1830 as meaning "to learn one's letters." It was aimed at children learning to hand-write the lowercase letters p and q, which are quite similar. Another explanation along the same lines comes from the world of printing. Typesetters used blocks of type that were mirror images of the letters, so it would be easy to mix up lowercase p and q. This origin would give "mind your Ps and Qs" a connotation of being careful and paying sharp attention.

from: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=1006020803151

the rebuttal to golf is at:
http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.htm

the fun thing is to take a piece of these internet chain letters and google it.

for example
What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
yields 574 hits.
go looking for the rebuttals and things that aren't the original chain letter.


the big point is that nothing, not even trivia, if posted often enough or for long enough, on the net remains unanswered.....and unexamined.

 

[VictorianAngel84]

And there's always the one guy trying to ruin everyone's fun. J/K! I found them amusing anyway.

 

[Rick Otto]

Now help me with lickin' my elbow.
Maybe if I pulled my arm out of its socket...
Friend of mine said it only took him two years to learn to do it without passin' out.

 

[cygnusx1]

in England the pubs used to have sawdust on the floor (known as spit and sawdust pubs/inns)

these pubs are almost vanished , I have been in the beer trade for over 25 years and I have only seen 1 pub with sawdust all over the floor , and it did look rather strange ........... it no longer has this spectacle

 

[seekingpurity047]

in England the pubs used to have sawdust on the floor (known as spit and sawdust pubs/inns)

these pubs are almost vanished , I have been in the beer trade for over 25 years and I have only seen 1 pub with sawdust all over the floor , and it did look rather strange ........... it no longer has this spectacle

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I know that in pubs here... there are peanut shells all over the floor... pointless info...

 

[Imblessed]

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty
uesdnatnrd
waht I was
rdgnieg.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 lsat
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?

that cracked me up, because I had absolutely no trouble reading it! really weird.........

 

[Imblessed]

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

now see, this is proof that some people have wayyyy to much time on their hands!!!! LOL

 

[Jon_]

Funny stuff


Im pretty sure its "wHet your whistle", not "wet".

To "whet" is to sharpen: as in a whet(ting) stone. So, no. It would not have been "whet."

Soli Deo Gloria

Jon

 

[Jon_]

several of these are wrong and refutted in snopes for example. several are interesting but the whole picture needs to be looked at:




from: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=1006020803151

the rebuttal to golf is at:
http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.htm

the fun thing is to take a piece of these internet chain letters and google it.

for example
What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
yields 574 hits.
go looking for the rebuttals and things that aren't the original chain letter.


the big point is that nothing, not even trivia, if posted often enough or for long enough, on the net remains unanswered.....and unexamined.

Right. Most of these are urban legends. As already pointed out by Mr. Williams, the acronym theory for golf is wrong because the popularity of acronyms is very recent. They were virtually unknown and unused prior to the 20th century and golf is much older than that. The names of the four kings is extremely speculative as well. At some point, the four kings might have symbolized those ancient kings, but it is not at all apparent from history that this is the case. The "wilderness" statistic really needs a definition of "wilderness."

I'm much too critical...

If I hadn't already seen these, I might have been fooled, though.

Soli Deo Gloria

Jon

 

[Catholic Dude]

To "whet" is to sharpen: as in a whet(ting) stone. So, no. It would not have been "whet."

Soli Deo Gloria

Jon

from what I see on google both terms are used, but it appears that "whet" is the correct term.
dictionary.com says:
--make keen or more acute; "whet my appetite"--

 

[Jon_]

from what I see on google both terms are used, but it appears that "whet" is the correct term.
dictionary.com says:
--make keen or more acute; "whet my appetite"--

Uhhh, did you not read the definitions given directly above that? The definition, "to sharpen," is where the phrase originates from. What does sharpening something do? It makes the object keener and more acute. That's why the phrase rings, "Whet my appetite."

In any case, it still has nothing to do with wetting your whistle. Simply because other people misspelled the word "whet" in the phrase "whet your whistle" (which is exactly what you'll get when you google it) that does not mean it is correct.

From Brian Degnan:

Great site, guys, as always, and glad to see you're back better than ever in weekly working order. My question is from your last publication in issue 113 wherein you discussed improper etymologies. One of the phrases was wet your whistle. My question is, isn't the phrase whet your whistle? Such as is with to whet one's appetite, I feel whet your whistle means to stimulate your whistle; *eh-hem* that is, your voice or throat. I don't believe that I've seen it spelled wet, unless we were using chat room spelling. Just my thoughts. What do you opine, fine etymologists?
​

Wet your whistle definitely came before whet your whistle. It's quite old...

First whet thy whistle with some good Metheglin.

- Flatman, The Belly God, 1674​

...but not as old as:

So was hir ioly whistle wel y-wet.

- Chaucer, The Reeve's Tale, 1386​

So, we have wet all the way back in Middle English and whet not heard of until the 17th century. It's our guess that whet your whistle was simply a misunderstanding of wet..., with influence from whet one's appetite.
Whet means literally "sharpen", so that whetting one's appetite means to "stimulate" the appetite, while wet one's whistle means to "slake one's thirst". Thanks for the good words about the site, Brian!

Soli Deo Gloria

Jon

 

[edie19]

This is not true. The US Treasury prints monopoly money too!

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Paleoconservatarian again.

​

That's why we should revert to the gold standard - but that's a whole other topic.