Spotty's Little Known Facts

[TANGODANCER]

^^

Ah yes. The Roebuk wasn't one of my haunts so I missed it. Made me think back though to The Prince Bill (William) on Bradshawgate that I did go in back a ways. So many pubs have gone now, even the King Bill opposite Burnden ( now Mystry Printing) is a distant memory as a pub.
Night matches in there with the Whites on TV's all around was a brilliant atmosphere.

[KeyserSoze]

Ghosts say 'boo' because boo in Latin stands for roar or shout.

And apparently the latin word is derived from 'bos' or 'bovis'. This insinuating that the ghost is making the sound of a cow.


Monty, feel free to dredge the Library of Alexandria to verify or illuminate. Anyone who went to one of them there schools that force you to do dead languages, feel free to denounce

[Montreal Wanderer]

Ghosts say 'boo' because boo in Latin stands for roar or shout.

And apparently the latin word is derived from 'bos' or 'bovis'. This insinuating that the ghost is making the sound of a cow.


Monty, feel free to dredge the Library of Alexandria to verify or illuminate. Anyone who went to one of them there schools that force you to do dead languages, feel free to denounce

I'm not sure I can give a definitive answer, kinty. There are two different kinds of 'boos' - one the loud sound a ghost may make and two the derision that rings down upon Bolton Managers, etc.

The boos of derision do stem from imitation of the sound cattle make The OED states: A sound imitating the lowing of oxen; also used to express contempt, disapprobation, aversion. Used subst. as a name for itself, esp. as the sound of hooting. However, the origin seems to be onomatopoeic rather than Latin.

The loud and frightening boo does seem to have a classical etymology, but not from bovis. Again the OED states:
Etymology: A combination of consonant and vowel especially fitted to produce a loud and startling sound: compare Latin boāre, Greek βοᾶν to cry aloud, roar, shout.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

It's a little known fact that reported ebola cases and deaths are still increasing linearly on a logarithmic scale (c.f. to exponential) despite the increased response orchestrated by the UN. Another month at this rate and it will be at the thousands a week rate.
No doubt someone (Lord Kangana for example) will point out that although this is a tragedy for the thousands dead, that I'll need to retain a sense of proportion and generally get a grip as more people are killed each week choking on their hamburgers or somesuch.
In answer to that, he may be correct, but if in December the Ebola rate rages unabated then I'll confidently predict that January 2015 will begin to look a lot like the beginning of an epidemic period few of us have actually experienced, and I refer to 1918 and the millions who died of flu that year...

[TANGODANCER]

Currency. When we were kids there were still farthings and silver three-penny (bits) pieces around. They, along with half-pennies, the octagonal three-penny bits, sixpences, shillings (now five-penny pieces), florins or two shilling pieces, half crowns and various changes in notes (we had a white fiver that was about A5 size and you had to sign your name and address on the back before anybody would change it) have all gone.

But back in the years 1811-1816 there was a shortage of pure silver (of which coins used to be made) and the Bank of England issued three shilling pieces and one and sixpenny pieces as standard denomination coins. Anybody got change of a three-bob piece?

[Montreal Wanderer]

Currency. When we were kids there were still farthings and silver three-penny (bits) pieces around. They, along with half-pennies, the octagonal three-penny bits, sixpences, shillings (now five-penny pieces), florins or two shilling pieces, half crowns and various changes in notes (we had a white fiver that was about A5 size and you had to sign your name and address on the back before anybody would change it) have all gone.

But back in the years 1811-1816 there was a shortage of pure silver (of which coins used to be made) and the Bank of England issued three shilling pieces and one and sixpenny pieces as standard denomination coins. Anybody got change of a three-bob piece?

I expect you remember the groat, Tango. Although the UK went decimal after I had left, I am sure millions of school kids would be thankful if only they knew the complications of dividing £39 s14 d7¾ by 7! I still have a couple of crowns - one for the Coronation and one for Winnie's 80th birthday.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

A new scholarly paper has raised suspicions in boffinry circles as to whether last year's breakthrough discovery by CERN was indeed the fabled, applecart-busting Higgs boson.

The report from the University of Southern Denmark suggests that while physicists working with data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) did discover a new particle, the data might not point to the fabled Higgs boson, but rather to a different particle that behaves similarly.

"The CERN data is generally taken as evidence that the particle is the Higgs particle. It is true that the Higgs particle can explain the data but there can be other explanations, we would also get this data from other particles," said associate professor Mads Toudal Frandsen.

"The current data is not precise enough to determine exactly what the particle is. It could be a number of other known particles."

The Southern Denmark researchers suggest that the particle discovered by the LHC may not have been the Higgs boson, but rather a "techni-higgs" particle that's composed of "techni-quarks." Such a particle might behave similarly to the Higgs particle but in fact is very different from the genuine Higgs boson.

If the researchers are right, their report would discredit the claims of discovery of the Higgs boson, which has been sought because its existence would fill vital holes in the Standard Model of physics.

The researchers claim that although their findings may disprove the Higgs boson discovery, they also pave the way for the discovery of another force – one not yet uncovered – that would be responsible for binding the techni-quarks into particles, including those that form dark matter.

The group says that more data is needed to establish whether the particle observed by CERN was indeed the Higgs boson or otherwise. One way, they say, would be for CERN to build an even larger collider to better observe the particles and provide more evidence as to the existence of the theorized techni-quarks

Come on you Euro-boffins, build us a bigger thingymajig.

[TANGODANCER]

If Per Frandsen's relation said it, it must be true....

[Lost Leopard Spot]

If Per Frandsen's relation said it, it must be true....

Aye, indeed. That was my first thought too.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

and here's another one (two in one day eh!)

There are very few places on Earth that have absolutely no trees growing within their defined borders, and even fewer 'countries' (even Greenland has a tiny grove of trees outside of Thule). But Svalbard is one of them. And yet there is only one territory in the world where every single habitation is constructed out of wood - guess where?

Correct: Svalbard, better known to us as Spitzbergen.

[Bruce Rioja]

Svalbard, better known to us as Spitzbergen.

No it isn't. I've never heard of either.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Svalbard, better known to us as Spitzbergen.

No it isn't. I've never heard of either.

Really?
It's Norwegian... An overseas territory thereof (claimed by the bloody Russians) but indisputedly Scandinavian - one of your favourite parts of the world.

[Bruce Rioja]

Svalbard, better known to us as Spitzbergen.

No it isn't. I've never heard of either.

Really?
It's Norwegian... An overseas territory thereof (claimed by the bloody Russians) but indisputedly Scandinavian - one of your favourite parts of the world.

OK then, I'm fibbing, but I seemingly have a reputation as a grumpy old c*nt, inebriated to the brink of crapulence to maintain. So expect plenty more from where that one came, Buddy Boy.

Actually, my tent's a Ferrino Svalbard 3, now I come to think of it.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Svalbard, better known to us as Spitzbergen.

No it isn't. I've never heard of either.

Really?
It's Norwegian... An overseas territory thereof (claimed by the bloody Russians) but indisputedly Scandinavian - one of your favourite parts of the world.

OK then, I'm fibbing, but I seemingly have a reputation as a grumpy old c*nt, inebriated to the brink of crapulence to maintain. So expect plenty more from where that one came, Buddy Boy.

Actually, my tent's a Ferrino Svalbard 3, now I come to think of it.

I bet the fecking thing is wooden... you drunken fart...

Crapulence - I applaud you, sir. The first ever usage of that word on TW: liddleknownfacsRus

[TANGODANCER]

What's the time? No idea mate..

The Duties on Clocks and Watches Act 1797 (38 Geo. III, c. 108) was an Act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, instituting a tax on clocks and watches. The tax nearly ruined the manufacturers of clocks and watches as demand decreased considerably so that in less than a year the production of these had been reduced by a half, with thousands of people made unemployed. The tax was thus repealed within a year, in April 1798.[1]

[Lost Leopard Spot]

It's a little known fact that Comet 67P (which Philae is attempting to land on today) is mostly composed of water ice and yet its surface is blacker than coal.
The photo below, which shows one of the very few flat areas on the comet, had to have the pixels vastly contrast enhanced by ESA to bring out any detail at all...

[KeyserSoze]

Those cardboard coffee cup holders you get in ubiquitous barista bar/snot coffee joints are called...zarfs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[bobo the clown]

It's a little known fact that Comet 67P (which Philae is attempting to land on today) is mostly composed of water ice and yet its surface is blacker than coal.
The photo below, which shows one of the very few flat areas on the comet, had to have the pixels vastly contrast enhanced by ESA to bring out any detail at all...

On the BBC Radio, interviewing one of the Brit's involved on this yesterday the questioner said "we've had lots of messages saying 'well done, but what's the point ?' .... how do you reply to people who think there are better things to spend our money on ?"

His reply ? .... "well, eventually, the Earth will become uninhabitable and these are the early steps to finding the population a new home". He actually said this.

So, 10+ billion of us queuing for our space buses at Moor Lane then. Baggsie the back seat

[Bruce Rioja]

Seemingly it's a little known fact that some of us couldn't give a flying fecking shite about someone landing something on a comet, and are subsequently sick and fed up of listening to non-stop prattle about it, chiefly from the BBC.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Seemingly it's a little known fact that some of us couldn't give a flying fecking shite about someone landing something on a comet, and are subsequently sick and fed up of listening to non-stop prattle about it, chiefly from the BBC.

Bobo's got your seat on the space bus.
We've given you the job of Earth janitor.
Verbs will be a zillionaire... He's grabbed the zarf concession on the Virgin Comet Express.