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seanchai
12-21-2006, 11:35 PM
I know we've seen some of these before - but they're more fun than a Xmas Cracker joke!

1) 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".

2) 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.

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

4) It is impossible to lick your elbow.

5) Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

6) Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king in history:

Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs - Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar

7) 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

8)Question: If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?
Answer: One thousand

9) 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."

10) 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 mthe honeymoon.

11) 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"

12) 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 usedthe whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

13) 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, mbut the wrod as a wlohe.

Amazing huh?

whatsupwithat
12-22-2006, 02:24 AM
3) Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.


Shhhhh.

flombago
12-22-2006, 08:02 PM
I know we've seen some of these before - but they're more fun than a Xmas Cracker joke!

5) Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

13) 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 ...


We can measure the amount of zinc and copper but it's difficult and controversial to establish a measure of intelligence.

And on the last point (13), I don't think it's the "phenomenal power of the human mind" that enpowers us to read those phrases. Instead, it is the redundancy built into language. I'm not a linquist but I think there is an evolutionary pressure that favors redundancy. The reason is that writers and speakers make mistakes (spelling errors, typos, slips of tongue) and the redundancy allows the meaning to remain clear. And it's not that some experts consciously put the redundancy in when they created a dictionary; rather, the language evolved that way because it was better.

Anyway, Merry Christmas (when is someone going to start a Merry Christmas thread ?). :)

Trogdor
12-22-2006, 11:22 PM
Hitler only had 1 nut.

Cockroaches bathe themselves more than cats do.

The brain produces enough electricity to power a 12 watt light bulb :idea:

Cocaine was Coca-Cola's secret ingredient, and also the orgins of the fat jolly version of Santa Clause.

Transformers the Movie was Orsen Well's final role.

The autopsey of John Wayne revealed he had 40+ pounds of fecal matter impacted in his colon. Elvis had 30+ pounds, and it was solid as concrete.

A roach will live for 10 days without its head.

The origins of the word Sabotage involved workers, who fearing machines would take away their jobs, tossed in their wooden shoes called Sabos into the machinery.

There is a North American indian tribe that has a test of courage and endurance that involves piercing a man's pectorals and sticking in a wooden rod. The man is than suspended by ropes attached to the rods, and he stays up there for quite sometime, or until the fleash rips.

No one knows why when one sees a person yawning, that person feelings like yawning too.

It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

The 3 Stooges never got a pay raise durring their career with Columbia pictures. $20,000 a year only and they tried going to the president of the screen actors guild to get their raises and compensation for no royalties payed to them over the years, but were refused. The president of the screen actors guild at that time was Ronald Reagen.

If you are starving, check to see if your shoes or other clothings you are wearing are made of leather. Leather can offer a small amount of nutrition by chewing on it.

If one were to be excuted by beheading, one could pay the executioner a small fee so he would try to swing his axe hard enough to chop off your head with one blow. Pity Marie Antwonnette did not do that.

Molds used to make plastic items are more expensive to make and use than molds used to make metal items.

deadparrot
12-23-2006, 03:16 PM
these are great. I'm very much an information pack rat. Thanks guys

Texxx
12-24-2006, 04:16 AM
alright here are some for you:
the only reason people think fiber prevents colon cancer is due to an observation by a sociologist on an african tribe. NO SCIENTIFIC study has ever shown a benefit to fiber!
NO human has EVER been autopsied to find meat of any kind 'rotting' in their colon.
no gum either.

there have been fewer deaths in combat since 2001 than on D-day alone.