Did You Know?! ©copyright 2002

[chrisjk]

Did You Know?

The youngest letters in the English language alphabet are "j" "v" and "w"


Did You Know?

According to superstition if you use the same pencil to take a test that you used for studying for the test, the pencil will remember the answers


*awaits the pig orgasm one*

[sail3005]

1. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."

2. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt"

3. Almonds are members of the peach family.

4. The symbol on the "pound" key (#) is called an octothorpe.

5. The dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle.

6. Ingrown toenails are hereditary.

7. The word "set" has more definitions than any other word in the English language.

8. "Underground" is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters "und."

9. There are only four words in the English language which end in "-dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

10. The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

11. The only other word with the same amount of letters is its plural: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosesl.

12. The longest place-name still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwe-nuakit natahu, a New Zealand hill.

13. Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reinade los Angeles de Porciuncula" and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size,L.A.

14. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

15. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

16. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button. It was eliminated when he was sewn up after surgery.

17. Telly Savalas and Louis Armstrong died on their birthdays.

18. Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy.

19. The muzzle of a lion is like a fingerprint - no two lions have the same pattern of whiskers.

21. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

23. There is a seven-letter word in the English language that contains ten words without rearranging any of its letters, "therein": the,there, he, in, rein, her, here, ere, therein, herein.

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

26. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

27. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

28. Cranberries are sorted for ripeness by bouncing them; a fully ripened cranberry can be dribbled like a basketball.

30. The letters KGB stand for Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti

31. 'Stewardesses' is the longest English word that is typed with only the left hand.

33. 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."

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

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

36. Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian seal for that reason.

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

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

39. 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.

[chrisjk]

The idea is to post a couple at a time, you could have stretched those over several weeks!

[filburt1]

Originally posted by sail3005
5. The dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle.

*giggle*

[sail3005]

Oops.

Oh well, with so much useless info out there, i am bound to find/think of more!

Can i be vice president of the Did You Know?! organization?

[sail3005]

Originally posted by filburt1


*giggle*

LOL, i knew someone would point that out.

I expected it to be markman though.

[chrisjk]

Originally posted by sail3005
Can i be vice president of the Did You Know?! organization?

Sure, you may post "Did You Know?!" threads as a bonus

[sail3005]

[chrisjk]

Official Did You Know threads that is, not these unofficial immitations, but the real mccoy

[sail3005]

I will be sure not to violate any international copyright laws

[DragonFly]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by sail3005
[12. The longest place-name still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwe-nuakit natahu, a New Zealand hill.

Any Kiwi's out there, is this Taumata Peak in Hawkes Bay?

Very informative sail3005

[nishantp]

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

I would love to hear the reasoning behind that one If you give blood, you're allowed to waste blood...

[Jethro]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DragonFly

Originally posted by sail3005
[12. The longest place-name still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwe-nuakit natahu, a New Zealand hill.

Any Kiwi's out there, is this Taumata Peak in Hawkes Bay?

Very informative sail3005

Er...that would be Tamata Peak in Hawkes Bay, you have heard of Hawkes Bay Does the term "Hawkeye" have any meaning to you beyond MASH...

The Maori, (NZ Native ppl, just think Native American Indians with attitude and liking Bob Marley music in a bad way), name you mentioned is up North.

Roughly translated...

"Auckland, waiting place for future Bondi Dole Bludgers"

Only because no where else on the web would this have been published...


"There's something about a Magpie
there's something about a Magpie
That is fine, fine, fine"

Actually team songs look crap when you print the lyrics

OK back to

"The last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
And there ain't nothing like the kisses
from a jaded chinese princess"

Must add the immortal Chisels to favourite album thread..

[DragonFly]

Originally posted by Jethro


Er...that would be Tamata Peak in Hawkes Bay, you have heard of Hawkes Bay Does the term "Hawkeye" have any meaning to you beyond MASH...

The Maori, (NZ Native ppl, just think Native American Indians with attitude and liking Bob Marley music in a bad way), name you mentioned is up North.

Roughly translated...

"Auckland, waiting place for future Bondi Dole Bludgers"

Only because no where else on the web would this have been published...


"There's something about a Magpie
there's something about a Magpie
That is fine, fine, fine"

Actually team songs look crap when you print the lyrics

OK back to

"The last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
And there ain't nothing like the kisses
of a jaded chinese princess"

Must add the immortal Chisels to favourite album thread..

Struuuuuuuuuuuuuth, ask a simple question........but then again
it is a Kiwi answering


Yes I've been to Hawkes Bay, is a top spot, the wine is unreal
and Napier is one of the nicest towns I've ever been......but the
term "Hawkeye" is a mystery to me.......some strange sheep
related reference perhaps?

You are right about the team song lyrics



BTW the Cold Chisel song is actually:

The last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
only 7 flying hours - til I'll be landing in Hong Kong
and there ain't...

"Auckland, waiting place for future Bondi Dole Bludgers"

reminds me of the funniest piece of graffiti - once seen on the
seawall at Bondi:

"Sydney Sux" to which someone had added "Auckland Nil"

[markman]

Originally posted by sail3005


LOL, i knew someone would point that out.

I expected it to be markman though.

you mean something by that?

[chrisjk]

this one's quite old

I've been stockpiling some more