Silly Interesting Facts

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.

The "save" icon on Microsoft Word shows a floppy disk, with the shutter on backwards.

The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways.
The following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."

The verb "cleave" is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious, meaning "containing arsenic."

Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian coat of arms for that reason.

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means, "the king is dead".

Pinocchio is Italian for "pine head."

Camel's milk does not curdle.

An animal epidemic is called an epizootic.

Murphy's Oil Soap is the chemical most commonly used to clean elephants.

The United States has never lost a war in which mules were used.

Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald Reagan All porcupines float in water.

Cat's urine glows under a blacklight.

If you bring a raccoon's head to the Henniker, New Hampshire town hall, you are entitled to receive $.10 from the town.

The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

Non-dairy creamer is flammable.

The airplane Buddy Holly died in was called "American Pie." (Thus the name of the Don McLean song.)

The only nation whose name begins with an "A", but doesn't end in an "A" is Afghanistan.

When opossums are playing 'possum', they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.

The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

If you toss a penny 10,000 times, it will not be heads 5,000 times, but more like 4,950. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on the bottom.

The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified.

The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. The only other word with the same amount of letters is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its plural.

Hydroxydesoxycorticosterone and hydroxydeoxycorticosterones are the largest anagrams.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Ben and Jerry's sends the waste from making ice cream to local pig farmers to use as feed. Pigs love the stuff, except for one flavor: Mint Oreo.

Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

Wilma Flintstone's maiden name was Wilma Slaghoopal, and Betty Rubble's Maiden name was Betty Jean Mcbricker.

The Ramses brand condom is named after the great pharaoh Ramses II who fathered over 160 children.

Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

A pig's orgasm lasts for 30 minutes.

The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "Its A Wonderful Life."

The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

"Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.

The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover Cleveland's baby daughter, Ruth.

Armadillos have four babies at a time and they are always all the same sex.

Armadillos are the only animal besides humans that can get leprosy.

A group of unicorns is called a blessing. Twelve or more cows are known as a "flink." A group of frogs is called an army. A group of rhinos is called a crash. A group of kangaroos is called a mob. A group of whales is called a pod. A group of ravens is called a murder. A group of officers is called a mess. A group of larks is called an exaltation. A group of owls is called a parliament.

Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.

The phrase "sleep tight" derives from the fact that early mattresses were filled with straw and held up with rope stretched across the bedframe. A tight sleep was a comfortable sleep.

"Three dog night" (attributed to Australian Aborigines) came about because on especially cold nights these nomadic people needed three dogs (dingos, actually) to keep from freezing.

Gilligan of Gilligan's Island had a first name that was only used once, on the never-aired pilot show. His first name was Willy.
The skipper's real name on Gilligan's Island is Jonas Grumby. It was mentioned once in the first episode on their radio's newscast about the wreck.

In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.

Ivory bar soap floating was a mistake. They had been overmixing the soap formula causing excess air bubbles that made it float.
Customers wrote and told how much they loved that it floated, and it has floated ever since. [It floats in gasoline, too.] Studies show that if a cat falls off the seventh floor of a building it has about thirty percent less chance of surviving than a cat that falls off the twentieth floor. It supposedly takes about eight floors for the cat to realize what is occurring, relax and correct itself.

The saying "it's so cold out there it could freeze the balls off a brass monkey" came from when they had old cannons like ones used in the Civil War. The cannonballs were stacked in a pyramid formation, called a brass monkey. When it got extremely cold outside, they would crack and break off... Thus the saying.

Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it will digest itself.

The Sanskrit word for "war" means "desire for more cows."

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. (ed. note: if the rider's head is up the horse's ass, the rider died a politician.)

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple.

Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them used to burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get fired."

Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village."

There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.

More Stuff for ya all

1. In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's image was either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington showed him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others showed both legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based on how many people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms and legs are "limbs;" therefore, painting them would cost the buyer more. Hence, the expression, "Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg."

2. As incredible as it sounds, men and women took baths only twice a year! (May &; October) Women always kept their hair covered while men shaved their heads (because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs. Wealthy men could afford good wigs. The wigs couldn't be washed so to clean them, they could carve out a loaf of bread, put the wig in the shell and bake it for 30 minutes. The heat would make the wig big and fluffy, hence the term "big wig." Today we often use the expression "Here comes the Big Wig" because someone appears to be or is powerful and wealthy.

3. In the late 1700's, many houses consisted of a large room with only one chair. Commonly, a long wide board was folded down from the wall and used for dining. The "head of the household" always sat in the chair while everyone else ate sitting on the floor. Once in a while an invited guest would be offered to sit in this chair during a meal whom was almost always a man. To sit-in the chair meant you were important and in charge. Sitting in the chair, one was called the "chair man." Today, in business, we use the expression/title "Chairman."

4. Needless to say, personal hygiene ! left much room for improvement.  As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to stare at another woman's face she was told "mind your own bee's wax." Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term "crack a smile." Also, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt, and therefore, the expression "losing face."

5. Ladies wore corsets which would lace up in the front. A tightly tied lace was worn by a proper and dignified lady as in "straight laced".

6. Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the "ace of spades." To avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 cards instead. Yet, since most games require 52 cards, these people were thought to be stupid or dumb because they weren't "playing with a full deck."

7. Early politicians required feedback from the public to determine what was considered important to the people. Since there were no telephones, TV's or radios, the politicians sent their assistants to local taverns, pubs and bars who were told to "go sip some ale" and listen to people's conversations and political concerns. Many assistants were dispatched at different times. "You go sip here" and "You go sip there." The two words "go sip" were eventually combined when referring to the local opinion and thus, we have the term "gossip."

8. At local taverns, pubs and bars, people drank from pint and quart-sized containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in "pints" and who was drinking in "quarts." Hence, the term "minding your "'P's and Q's."

The next time you are washing your hands and complain 

because the water temperature isn't just how you like it,

think about how things  used to be.

Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most  people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still  smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so  brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom  today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of  a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of  the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and  finally the children-last of all the babies. By then the water was so  dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the
saying,  "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched  roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for  animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs)  lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the  animals would slip and fall off the roof.
Hence the saying "It's raining  cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into  the house, that posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other  droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with  big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's  how canopy bed's came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only  the wealthy had something other than dirt.. Hence the saying "dirt  poor."

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the  winter when it got wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep  their footing. A the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you  opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was  placed
in the entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold." 

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that  always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to  the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would  eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and 
then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that  had been there for quite a while. Hence, the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot,  peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." 

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite  special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show  off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon.   "They would cut off
a little to share with guests and would all sit around  and chew the fat."

Those with money had plates made of  pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto  the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with  tomatoes, so for the next 400 years
or so, tomatoes were considered  poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the  burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top,  or "upper crust.."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.  The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone  walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for  burial. They were laid
out on the kitchen table for a couple of days  and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they  would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake." 

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of  places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the  bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins,  1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they  realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would  tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up  through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in  the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; 
thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead  ringer."

And that's the truth...

Now , whoever said that  History was boring ! ! !

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