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View Full Version : Strange, but true ... Did you know this?


geetrue
09-17-07, 12:37 PM
A nice lady from England sent me this today ...

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 was 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 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

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

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
(only my calculator just goes up to 12 characters so I can't verify that!)

If a statue in the park of a person is on a horse with 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.

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 bullet-proof 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

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.

AVGWarhawk
09-17-07, 12:41 PM
How come I get this feeling that there will be Snopes links here momentarily?

Tchocky
09-17-07, 12:43 PM
How come I get this feeling that there will be Snopes links here momentarily?

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/snopes.png

fatty
09-17-07, 12:45 PM
The GOLF and rule of thumb thing appear to be wrong, not sure about the others.

The Avon Lady
09-17-07, 12:53 PM
Snopes on green Coke (http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/green.asp).

UPDATE: Snopes on "GOLF" (http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.asp). I'll stop now. You get the idea :roll:

geetrue
09-17-07, 01:09 PM
She's a very nice lady, plus today is her birthday ...

It was entertaining to me and not worthy of a snopes trial ...

I thought P's and Q's had something to do with the use of english in writing,
but why spoil her birthday.

Letum
09-17-07, 01:30 PM
Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey


I know for a fact this is wrong!

The Munster
09-17-07, 01:44 PM
The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma Flintstone


mmmm.. :hmm:
Are you sure about that ? Thought it might be Morecambe & Wise.
:rotfl:

antikristuseke
09-17-07, 02:19 PM
A nice lady from England sent me this today ...
It is impossible to lick your elbow.


Actualy its more like MOST people cant lick their elbows, I can and so can a few other people. Though to be honest, in my case it isnt exactly painless and requires a thurough warmup.

Sailor Steve
09-17-07, 05:06 PM
It's been posted before, and this version doesn't even have the end part:

"75% of the people who read this will try to lick their elbows."

sunvalleyslim
09-17-07, 05:10 PM
[quote=geetrue]A nice lady from England sent me this today ...

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"

OK Geetrue I have heard this explained a different way. If you went to a pub and ran a tab until the end of the night, it was best to know just how many pints or quarts you drank so the bartender didn't over charge you.......Hence mind your P's and Q's

Letum
09-17-07, 05:33 PM
Its been a long time since I saw a quart :cry:
Just Pints and Halfs now

Etienne
09-18-07, 06:35 PM
She's a very nice lady, plus today is her birthday ...

It was entertaining to me and not worthy of a snopes trial ...

Yeah, well, it's mostly bunk (Or completly uninteresting, see the "one thousand" thing.). I don't see how stopping it's propagation would have hurt her feelings.

And the Flintstone thing is false. They didn't even sleep in the same bed. (They had twin beds in a single bedroom)