How can you live without knowing this?

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.

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
wonder what is will cost to raise Lucy?


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 - Charlemagn
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 ofIndependenceon July 4th, John Han**** andCharlesThomson. 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

I knew a few of these, but the others...WOW, how utterly fascinating! Thanks, Guin, as I love learning new tidbits of "why/how" things came to be, or things that are just WEIRD!

(and yes I tried to lick my elbow...and I got close, but couldn't do it! :p )

I already knew I couldn't, I tried years ago:p

Well, I hope more of those will not be negated! I should know by now not to believe everything just because it is printed....as I tell my students that all the time!!! BUT I just love things that is seem exude weirdness and knowledge into one NEAT package!

OK No Excuses.....

Check them all out for me, before I print the dang thing, ok???

SHEESH...cannot I believe anything anymore (or anyone)?

suicide...it's still fun to discuss urban legends! They even teach classes on it in universities!

In your classes you can challenge your students to seek the truth behind a lot of misconceptions. Helps them in learning how to research.

I used to do tours of the library with uni students and would give them a list of urban legends and see how long it would take them to find the truth! LOL

My oldest son asked me just yesterday ( I swear) where the saying "mind your p's and q's" came from!

That was really interesting Guin!

Originally posted by ~Guinavere~

Coca-Cola was originally green.



wasn't coca-cola also orignally filled with cocaine?

Didn't know alot of that........and with some of that for instance the rule of the woman (rule of thumb), I'm sure glad we live in this day and age etch!:eek:

I have a feeling all of the Agelss memebers have tried to lick their elbows after reading this thread. I can just picture you :D :D

Originally posted by ~Guinavere~
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321




Well, this one can't be negated by snopes.com.

Besides, how do we know that snopes is correct over other references? hmm?

Maybe we need a spinoff poll about the elbow licking.... I did not try to lick my elbow...LOL

I just tried to lick my elbow! Doh!

Ooooo, that 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 was neat!! It took me entering into my own calculator before I realized that the numbers are sequential: 12345678 9 87654321 Neat!!!

Ummm... I can lick my elbow. :o Not smack dab in the middle of the elbow, but I can dang well lick the nobby end out there.

And if I can do it, I can guarantee that Litical can, as his elbow is double jointed and he can literally flip his hand completely over and lay it flat on his lap (with a full twist!)...

Call me... ~phosphorescent the elbow licker....

ROFLAO

Anybody old enough to remember the expression when you're in trouble at work as "Getting called on the carpet" - it comes from the time when all floors were wooden and only the wealthiest people in the company, i.e. the boss, had a carpet in his office. (It was usually oriental and very expensive.)
Little aside, I learned this when I worked in an insurance office. All of us grunts had old wooden floors and NO AIR-CONDITIONING, but the corporate floor had all the best, including deep, thick carpets!

Another old one, "Walk in with your hat in your hands." (usually used when you have to ask for something like a favor or forgiveness) simply comes from a time when all workers wore hats and they would remove their hats before walking into the boss's office. Since very few workers walked into the bosses office unless they were in trouble or needed something, such as a raise, the expression became associated with being in a weaker position and needing something from a person that has power over you.

Excuse me if these are too old for most readers. I really like learning how expressions orignated.

Oh yeah (think most of you already know this, but for those who don't) back in the day when computers took up an entire room and only the government can afford them, one of the Navy's computer systems stopped working. One of the workers, a female officer who later achieved the highest rank of any female in the Navy) opened the back of a machine, and found a dead moth. When she removed it, the system started working again.
And that's where we get the expression, "A computer bug" which evovled into "A bug in the software."

Interesting stuff chatterbox! Thakns for that!

Now I just wish I could get fos and litical out of mind with the elbow licking and hand twisting activities...ROFLMAO:D

LOL Hey, I just read the rules against posting bizarre sexual acts!
Moderator! Moderator!

EDIT ADD

Oh Oh, it actually says no graphic sexual descriptions .... don't look at my posts when I was re-discovering my sexuality!!!

EDIT ADD

Oh oh, checking the date the rules were written, maybe my posts back then are the REASON for the rule!!!

Originally posted by fos4snt
Ummm... I can lick my elbow. :o Not smack dab in the middle of the elbow, but I can dang well lick the nobby end out there.

And if I can do it, I can guarantee that Litical can, as his elbow is double jointed and he can literally flip his hand completely over and lay it flat on his lap (with a full twist!)...

Call me... ~phosphorescent the elbow licker....

ROFLAO I cant lick my elbow. Yes, I had to try. Trying to figure out if you have a very long neck or the area from your shoulder to elbow is shorter or if you have a very long tongue ;)

Originally posted by Jo-Admin
My oldest son asked me just yesterday ( I swear) where the saying "mind your p's and q's" came from!

That was really interesting Guin!

"Mind your p's and q's" has nothing to do with pints and quarts, but rather with penmanship.

Originally posted by charo
I cant lick my elbow. Yes, I had to try. Trying to figure out if you have a very long neck or the area from your shoulder to elbow is shorter or if you have a very long tongue ;)

I do have a long neck. And my tongue is not exceptionally long. Litical's is... oh and YES he CAN lick his elbow!! :D

Elbow licking is FUN. ROFLAO!!!

~phos

I am just laughing and laughing and shaking my head -- man, we never know WHERE a thread is gonna go, do we?

I'm still shaking my head that the last name of one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence can't be spelled out--is that auto-censor doing it?

I'm going to try, just to see

John Han****

apparently, I also can't write

****tails

****erel

ball****

nor can i refer to a rooster by any other name

is there a way to modify this feature? seems a bit excessive

Catlover you made me chuckle at how you wrote that... as I have been saying that same thing...well actually nopt saying but YELLING to my computer as one time I really wanted to use the word ****y = conceited but could not...and another time something was in the middle of the word and got wiped out!

AND No Excuses.... how many more do you have to go before you are through with this list? Foot tapping over here! :p

Originally posted by catlover
I'm still shaking my head that the last name of one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence can't be spelled out--is that auto-censor doing it?

I'm going to try, just to see

John Han****

Yeah the censoring is pretty crazy! I usually leave a space or reverse the letters to get it out there or just add one asterisk

John Hanc ock....or Hanc0ck...or Hanc*ck

Well that sounds like a **** and bull story to me!! Tee hee

Just want to see what happens if I type, and the rooster said,
"****-a-doodle-doo!"

SuicideBlonde: I have the SAME feeling! I LIKE the word *****. I think of it as a term of endearment. Here's an idea, we can speak "French": poosay!

I am having fun with this, but in case the question was serious:

- I was upset when I learned that there was no "swearing" allowed, but I figured that, whoever owns this site, (Rob) has the right to allow or disallow whatever he chooses. If you'll read the rules, he originally banned discussions of a religious or political nature, but he changed his mind on that, so he might reconsider this anti-cussing idea.

HOWEVER, whether he does or doesn't is his prerogative. In essence, we are guests here.

wow interesting tidbits and i did not try to lick my elbow

Thank you No Excuses.... and yes the irony of it all in regards to internet claims proving/disproving other internet claims. Sheesh.... somestimes I long for the days when ignorance WAS bliss and my "desire to know" remained just that. Sigh.....

(and did THIS sound at all "feisty"? :p )

Yeah, it's an auto feature, and it's tricky to get it just right. Don't know if we will ever overcome it.

Just so you don't feel along....I used to have a quote in my signature line that included the word c o c k...and it moderated me too. We laughed about that a lot at the time, how the administrator had been moderated.

I just find it amusing that-well, we have software that can do miracles--but it edits out a portion of a word that includes something offensive. I would think that with the level of sophisticated technology out there the program would have been written to ignore the word when it was part of a larger word, and to ignore it when it isn't used in an obscene context.

Given that my phone anticipates the words I want to put in text messages, I just naturally assumed that this software could do something similar

Well if you can come up with a way to NOT know... besides becoming a hermit.....let me know! Also, if it is possible to 'unlearn" something as compared to just plain ole forgetting as nepenthe is not legal in the USA.

and whew.... I passed the feisty test (well for now, at least! ;) )