Did you know ?

Err, I think the expression "Mind your p's and q's" actually comes from printing because it's easy to get the two mixed up when you're compositing (that's "putting a page of text together" before anyone makes any comments!!)

As for the "Coke/ Nail" comment: http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/tooth.asp

Originally Posted by Graham

Err, I think the expression "Mind your p's and q's" actually comes from printing because it's easy to get the two mixed up when you're compositing (that's "putting a page of text together" before anyone makes any comments!!)

As for the "Coke/ Nail" comment: http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/tooth.asp

There a few derivatives of this Graham , believe what you like.

Maybe you can explain the derivative of the word "Err"

[Scrubbs]

Originally Posted by Graham

Err, I think the expression "Mind your p's and q's" actually comes from printing because it's easy to get the two mixed up when you're compositing (that's "putting a page of text together" before anyone makes any comments!!)

As for the "Coke/ Nail" comment: http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/tooth.asp

ahh ..so thats why the "q" is at the opposite end to the "p" on the keyboard

[Chimaera]

Originally Posted by Scrubbs

just an added bit
the beer was bought "on tick" it was written down on a chalkboard how many
"P's and Q's" you owed
If you didn't behave no more beer

where does "on tick come from anyway??

A quick google search bought this explanation up:

To have something on tick is to have it on credit. Tick in this instance is an abbreviated form of "ticket", i.e. the note that was written to record the debt

[Xaccers]

P's and Q's is definitely pints and quarts as it's a phrase older than the printing press.

The words "bloody" is offencive because it's a contraction of "by our lady" and there for blasphimus

sh*t and f**k are saxon for rubbish and sex.
We were invaded by the Normans (Norse men of France) and it became fashionable to speak Norman French (saxon was considered course and for the peasants) so if you wanted to shock you'd say something in saxon.
Over the years the shockability of those words increased, until recently when they've become more mild.
c*nt is another saxon word, the word quaint comes from it.

When the Normans invaded, they put someone (can't remember his name) in charge of Scotland as Steward.
This evolved into Stewart, where the Stewart clan comes from.
Mary queen of scotts lived in France, and couldn't pronounce Stewart properly, so she changed the spelling to Stuart.

[iadom]

Trust me to post this, The name Hotpoint ( which does appear strange on a fridge) comes from a time when the parent company (possibly Canadian Light & Power) developed an electric flat iron that got hot right up to the toe.

[Chris W]

The english way of making an offensive sign two someone uses two fingers because this goes back to the time people used bow and arrows. It was to symbolise the pulling the of the string of the bow ready to shoot someone.

If anyone could explain why Americans swear with the middle fingers it would be appreciated

MB

[Scrubbs]

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

The english way of making an offensive sign two someone uses two fingers because this goes back to the time people used bow and arrows. It was to symbolise the pulling the of the string of the bow ready to shoot someone.a famous battle in france, the french cut off the the index and middle finger of any english archer they caught. hence the one's outside the castle give 2 fingers to say "I've still got my fingers and your'e in trouble I think we won

If anyone could explain why Americans swear with the middle fingers it would be appreciated

MB

middle finger = swivel on this i.e. stick this where the sun don't shine

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

The english way of making an offensive sign two someone uses two fingers because this goes back to the time people used bow and arrows. It was to symbolise the pulling the of the string of the bow ready to shoot someone.

If anyone could explain why Americans swear with the middle fingers it would be appreciated

MB

Yup it was a sign to the French to say I've still got my fingers and can kill you, as they used to chop them off any english captured (course we just retrained with the remaining fingers)

As for "the bird"
The first literary reference to The Finger in a 423 B.C. version of Aristophanesâââ€à …¡Ã‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ The Clouds.
It represents waving your phalus at the opposition

The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.

Nice !!!!!

[Xaccers]

A ****roach can live for 8 days without a head before starving to death

[Stuart]

Does anyone know why we use the "QWERTY" layout for keyboards, and not the more logical alphabetical layout?

Well, apparently the first generation of typewriters had an alphabetical layout. However the mechanism inside the typewriter could not keep up with the typist and jammed repeatedly. The Qwerty layout was designed to slow typists to the point where the mechanism could cope without jamming.

Computer keyboards could cope with the speed of human typists easily, but keep the same layout purely because it is now standard.

[Sipowicz]

I was told that our favourite term for telling someone to go forth and multiplying, came from a time when copulation amongst the royal staff had to have the Kings consent, and an appropriate licence issued. This licence bore the term: Fornicating Under Consent of the King abbreviated to.......F**K

If it isn't true, it is still an interesting explanation!

[sir_drinks_alot]

did you know.....

Heaviest Ever Newspaper
On average, the New York Times is read by 1,094,000 people on weekdays, and by 1,650,000 on Sundays. The owner of the paper, The New York Times Co, has no trouble getting its message out as it also owns the Boston Globe, 18 regional daily newspapers, eight television stations, two radio stations, and a number of magazines. The record-breaking edition of the newspaper, published on September 14, 1987, had a staggering 1,612 pages!






info from Guinness World Records

[Sipowicz]

This one I do know: The term "Toeing the Line" comes from the Houses of Parliament. In the days when our MP's WERE gentlemen and carried swords, heated debates often ended in sword fights between front benchers. In order to restrict this habit, the then Speaker ordered opposing MP's to stand opposite each other, sword tip to sword tip and a line was painted on the floor of the chamber at the tip of each foot. Afterwards, anyone making a speech from the front benches had to stand with their toes behind the line without crossing it!!