Saturday, March 22, 2008

Happy Easter!

I didn't actually realize this was Easter weekend until i received a tasteless email from someone intending to wish me a happy holiday. It was a photo of a hunting dog with a dead, mangled rabbit in its mouth. The caption read, "Don't bother looking for the eggs."

Luckily the only other holiday email i got was from my cousin. It included a bunch of trivia bits. Here are some of my favorites:

In the 1400s, a law was set forth in England that a man was 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 were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S. 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 percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)

The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%

The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $ 16,400


Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.


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.


Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.

Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
A. Their birthplace

Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A. Obsession

Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser pri nters all have in common?
A. All were invented by women.


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.'

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 cu ps. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. 'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by this practice.


At leas t 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!

Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can read it.
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm . Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

Yes, i tried to lick my elbow.

8 comments:

GCDavid said...

Africa and North America? Not a good comparison. Africa is much bigger, with 11,668,545 sq. miles. North America (which include Greenland) has 9,365,000 sq. miles. So, while NA might have more "wilderness" (whatever that means) as a percentage, it is likely that Africa has more wilderness. Happy Easter!

PEANUT said...

i actually think it had some hidden environmental message that was lost on me too.
happy easter too! Today i celebrated by riding my new (antique) fixed gear bike - photos to come! Enjoy the day!

GCDavid said...

I spent the morning running 23 miles! Boston Marathon only 4 weeks away. Lance is going to be there, with a big ol' bull's eye on his back! Grrrrr.

PEANUT said...

BEST OF LUCK!!!! Let me know how it goes.

goat said...

Love the post!

Anonymous said...

Great Easter post Christine!

Love the useless facts! Another great one is that it was LEGAL to shoot a Scotsman on site on the sle of Man until only about 20 years ago when the ancient law was revoked.

I guess it was a throw back to the middle ages when England and Scotland were at war! I'm not sure how many Scotsman have been shot on site and the law used as defence in court?

Anyway where do people get off sending emails like that??? Regardless of your persuasion, religious or indeed dietary that is just OFFENSIVE! I'm sorry you have to endure that sort of thing...

Did you ride over the weekend... I got 5 hours in yesterday, in the SE of England... Snow, sleet, sub zero temps wind chill... bla bla... I kept telling myslef this was good for me and that it was Belgium!

Hope you had a good time

CT

:)

PEANUT said...

CT: Yesterday i only made it outside for 1 hour. It was such a miserable blizzard that i had to abandon for safety sake. I wasn't able to see more than 20cm in front of me...nor were the cars i suppose! That combined with the pecking of the hail and the hard winds coming in all directions, almost sweeping me off my bike a few times, made me stop.
Today I woke up to the same snowstorm blizzard - all of Belgium is WHITE!

Dave Shishkoff said...

I dunno..i bet if you tried really hard, or paid me enough money, you could lick my elbow.