Did you know ? - Page 7

danielf · 11-05-2004, 21:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theodoric

There is a small village in Sweden that has no less than 4 of the chemical elements named after it.

And the village is Ytterby. The elements Erbium, Terbium, Yttrium and Ytterbium. I know, I'm sad, but I was intrigued and looked it up...

Theodoric · 11-05-2004, 21:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by danielf

And the village is Ytterby. The elements Erbium, Terbium, Yttrium and Ytterbium. I know, I'm sad, but I was intrigued and looked it up...

OK, time for some real anoraking.

Ytterby is pronounced something like 'ooterbee' and it means something like 'outer village' (remember all those place names in the north ending in 'by' that were named by the Vikings).

Sipowicz · 12-05-2004, 22:25

Did you know...... that Anoraknaphobia is the fear of train spotters!

Sipowicz · 12-05-2004, 22:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by sir_drinks_alot

yep that's right it was and what a Kick ass Album it was to

I preferred Revolver!

iadom · 19-05-2004, 15:59

Did you know that Sweden has a National "Pee outside Day" designed to save water and remove prudish inhibitions.

Defiant · 19-05-2004, 16:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by iadom

Did you know that Sweden has a National "Pee outside Day" designed to save water and remove prudish inhibitions.

Prudish , inhibitions & Sweden get our of here lol

Theodoric · 19-05-2004, 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by iadom

Did you know that Sweden has a National "Pee outside Day" designed to save water and remove prudish inhibitions.

And in mid-winter it's renamed National Popsicle Day.

Stuart W · 19-05-2004, 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaccers

Letting the cat out of the bag comes from a pig-in-a-poke
Pigs used to be sold in sacks, but dishonest business men would catch a cat, put it in a bag and sell it as a pig.
When the buyer opened the bag, letting the cat out, the secret was revealed

Nope.

The 'cat' was a cat-o-nine-tails used to punish men at sea.
It was kept in a bag on the main mast as a reminder to the crew about harsh punishment.

Also,
You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours is from the same place!
Officers were not allowed to punish the crew directly as this would lead to mutiny, so instead they would order another member of the crew to issue the punishment.
You must be hit by the 'cat' until you bleed, hence, you scratch my back instead of lacerating it, and I'll scratch yours when your punishment comes.

And another....
3 square meals a day....
It was hard to get people to go to sea as it was a dangerous life.
One of the bonuses advertised was 3 square meals a day. The square part comes from the 'plates' used at sea (in the times of Nelson and before) they consisted of a square of wood with wooden rdges tacked to it. This stoped the 'plates' sliding around when not in use.

19-05-2004, 20:55

Did you know that the term ' Freeze the Balls of a Brass Monkey' is an old British naval term. The cannonballs (made of cast iron) where stacked in a pyramidal shape, and kept in place by a Brass Monkey. When the weather was really cold, the cannonballs would shrink and then fall out of place as the ship pitched on the ocean.

Russ · 19-05-2004, 21:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earl of Bronze

When the weather was really cold, the cannonballs would shrink and then fall out of place

Yep.

**Paul** · 19-05-2004, 21:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart W

Nope.

The 'cat' was a cat-o-nine-tails used to punish men at sea.
It was kept in a bag on the main mast as a reminder to the crew about harsh punishment.

I don't see how that relates to the phrase meaning "to reveal a secret"

The other explanation made more sense.

Tristan · 19-05-2004, 21:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaccers

Polar bears are actually black skinned

...and their fur is transparent.

sir_drinks_alot · 19-05-2004, 21:36

this year is the 60th anniversary of both d-day

and operation Market Garden

19-05-2004, 21:36

Did you know that during a military execution (by firing squad), of the ten rounds given to the squad one would be blank, and the rest would be live. This was done in an effort to give the members of the firing squad a mental 'out' from the emotionally traumatic order to kill one of their own.

Theodoric · 19-05-2004, 21:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by sir_drinks_alot

this year is the 60th anniversary of both d-day

and operation Market Garden

It's the 60th anniversary of quite a lot of things; 1944 was a busy year. Off the top of my head, I can think of:

Monte Cassino

Operation Anvil (the invasion of southern France)

The Battle of the Bulge

The Russian army smashing Army Group Centre and finishing any hopes of even a stalemate for Germany.

Stalin deliberately stopping the Russian army short of Warsaw so that the Polish Home Army was destroyed.