Some Triv !!

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Bruce Rioja
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Some Triv !!

Post by Bruce Rioja » Thu May 25, 2006 10:30 am

In the 1400s a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to
beat his wife with a stick any 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 but women can hear
better.

Coca-Cola was originally green.

It is impossible to lick your elbow.

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

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

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

Bruce's mum makes the best chips, it's official !!!!!

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.

What do bullet-proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and
laser printers all have in common?
All invented by women.

Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey

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 was traditionally 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.
May the bridges I burn light your way

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Re: Some Triv !!

Post by CrazyHorse » Thu May 25, 2006 11:26 am

Did you get these from the 'Walter Mitty Big Book of made up nonsense'? Especially this little gem here:
Bruce Rioja wrote:Bruce's mum makes the best chips, it's official !!!!!
:wink:
Businesswoman of the year.

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Post by Gertie » Thu May 25, 2006 11:40 am

The mum of one of the Monkees invented tip-ex

(as well as making chips)

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Post by superjohnmcginlay » Thu May 25, 2006 11:42 am

Thats a load o bollox.............





























she never made chips.

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Post by Gertie » Thu May 25, 2006 11:49 am

She was American, I think she said she made fries???!!!

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Post by Little Green Man » Thu May 25, 2006 11:52 am

Iceland is Europe's biggest grower of bananas.

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Post by Bruce Rioja » Thu May 25, 2006 12:32 pm

A raisin dropped in a fresh glass of fizzy pop will bounce up and down continually from the bottom of the glass to the top.
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Post by blurred » Thu May 25, 2006 12:51 pm

Coca Cola was never originally green, by the way.

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Post by Montreal Wanderer » Thu May 25, 2006 1:43 pm

Various sources define p's and q's as 'manners; behavior; conduct'; and define minding them as watching your step, being careful or polite. The earliest citation recorded for this use in the OED (1779), "You must mind your P's and Q's with him, I can tell you," expressed the need for careful behavior in the face of potential criticism ...or worse.

Where the phrase comes from is another matter. Frankly, it would be difficult to find another English expression that has spawned more putative origins than this one--from pronunciations and puns through pubs, printing, and pedagogy. Here are some samples, each offered as if true:

Pronunciations and puns: (1) The term, reduced to "peas and kyous," comes from p(l)eas(es) and (than)k yous (which would establish a pretty direct connection to manners). (2) In the court of Louis XIV, dancing masters cautioned fledgling courtiers to mind their pieds (their dancing feet) and queues (their full wigs--the so-called "periwigs" or long "perruques" worn by fashionable men, sometimes including an even longer braided strand hanging down the back and tied with a ribbon). What with all that bobbing and curtsying, it would have been awkward if the courtiers' wigs fell off or they tripped on their hair. (3) Attested in an earlier citation (1602), "Now thou art in thy pee and cue," the references are to a fashionable "pea coat" and probably again to a "queue."

Pubs: A cumulative tally of bills for befuddled customers, showing how many pints and quarts they had each imbibed, was kept on a board near the bar, using these letters as abbreviations. Barkeepers would be warned not to confuse the more expensive "Q" with the piddling "P." Even with no intentional mistake, a hastily scrawled circle with a tail pointing vaguely downward from its bottom could wind up looking ambiguous.

Printing: Early printers had to deal with text as a mirror image. Try it with lower-case p's and q's and you'll see why apprentices would have been apprised of the risk of confusion. The question is: why wasn't that confusion attributed as easily to b's and d's?

Pedagogy: The poor 5- and 6-year-olds learning to read and write, having spent their little lives learning that objects remain constant no matter how you turn them around, now find that p's and q's are not like cups with handles, which always remain cups with handles; instead these letters switch identities when the "handle" moves from left to right. Once more, however, why not b's and d's?

Each theory has its own appeal. Etymologists have been unwilling to commit more than half-heartedly to any one of them, although there is some leaning toward the pedagogical possibility. If the phrase does come from pubs, printing, or pedagogy, I can only speculate about the drift in meaning from an admonition to distinguish letters carefully and meticulously to an admonition to behave. Perhaps when mind your p's and q's became a parent-to-child cliche, it--like just about any other parental warning (from "Please wash your hands first." to "Be careful crossing the street!")--was bound to be interpreted simplistically by young children as the more general "Behave! Be good!" Ask any mother or father.

(copied from the internet)
"If you cannot answer a man's argument, all it not lost; you can still call him vile names. " Elbert Hubbard.

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Post by blurred » Thu May 25, 2006 2:22 pm

Montreal Wanderer wrote:(copied from the internet)
It must be true, then :wink2:

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Post by ratbert » Thu May 25, 2006 3:18 pm

blurred wrote:Coca Cola was never originally green, by the way.
But it was originally marketed as a headache cure.

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Post by blurred » Thu May 25, 2006 3:28 pm

Budweiser labels used to contain trace amphetamine until the manufacturing process was changed.

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Post by ratbert » Thu May 25, 2006 3:30 pm

Well you have to be on drugs to enjoy it...

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Post by Bruce Rioja » Thu May 25, 2006 3:39 pm

ratbert wrote:
blurred wrote:Coca Cola was never originally green, by the way.
But it was originally marketed as a headache cure.
Whereas Pepsi was originally marketed as a cure for dyspepsic ulcers, hence it's name.
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Post by Gertie » Thu May 25, 2006 3:46 pm

Boy seahorses give birth to young

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Post by blurred » Fri May 26, 2006 12:00 am

To young what? :)

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Post by Dujon » Fri May 26, 2006 2:39 am

Monty, the reference to 'b's and 'd's has indeed passed down through the world of pedagogism. Naturally, like many other aphorisms, it has moved out into the general populace - in a bastardised form - as a basic truth.

I refer of course to the phrase 'bees knees'. As we are all well aware this means that someone is rather good at a particular task or, more generally, a good all round fellow. What is little known is the fact that the phrase originated in tutorial assessments where "bees and dees - good" was the usual nomenclature when praising a student for effort in handwriting and word recognition. The degenerative course is obvious.

In a way it is almost the opposite of the 'p's and 'q's situation, which started as an admonition to pupils when undertaking their studies though was later extended to the more general use (e.g. "He minds his 'p's and 'q's").

(This was not stolen from the Internet and is a figment of my imagination). :wink:

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Re: Some Triv !!

Post by sluffy » Fri May 26, 2006 10:04 am

Bruce Rioja wrote: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.
Urban myth apparently -

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.htm

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Post by Gertie » Fri May 26, 2006 10:12 am

blurred wrote:To young what? :)
Good point my blurred pal... young Seafoals I would guess... I'll look it up in a book ;)

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Post by blurred » Fri May 26, 2006 12:21 pm

Gertie wrote:
blurred wrote:To young what? :)
Good point my blurred pal... young Seafoals I would guess... I'll look it up in a book ;)
Well... love is the law, or something like that :)

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