You learn something new everyday.

topper75

Yeah the fear dubh was beyond the human world.

A Toureg lad wouldn't be much darker than a Spaniard so I have doubts about that other theory. I don't think sub-Saharan lads were up here much back in the day and I don't think many Irish boats were visiting their lands either. Maybe a small number came in the medieval times as crew alright. Many of the sub-S guys have a blueish hue on their skin. To me it is as blue as it is 'black' so I find daoine gorm makes perfect sense.

the purple tin

Jasper from the Simpsons full name is Jasper Beardley.

cj maxx

I learned this week that Trent Reznor ( 9 inch nails) is alive and well ( not as I thought, took his own life years ago) and that despite what I was told as gospel (that Armagh was the smallest county in Ulster ) according to Google it's in fact Monaghan. ( Google includes the section of lough neagh in Amagh)
I also learned not to trust everything from Google.

the purple tin

Christmas carol The Holly And The Ivy was written by King Henry VIII.

iamstop

I just learned the word 'Sparge'

moisten by sprinkling with water, especially in brewing.

Sardonicat

the purple tin wrote: »

Christmas carol The Holly And The Ivy was written by King Henry VIII.

Were Holly and Ivy the lesser known Boleyn sisters?

Seamai

Sardonicat wrote: »

Were Holly and Ivy the lesser known Boleyn sisters?

They were, Holly was prickly and Ivy was poisonous. B**ches the two of them

iamstop

Seamai wrote: »

They were, Holly was prickly and Ivy was poisonous. B**ches the two of them

Ah here, leaf it out.

Sardonicat

iamstop wrote: »

Ah here, leaf it out.

No need to lose the head over it.

cj maxx

That the deadliest creature is not a tiger/ hippopotamus/ great white shark . It's mosquitoes
750 K per annum

iamstop

cj maxx wrote: »

That the deadliest creature is not a tiger/ hippopotamus/ great white shark . It's mosquitoes
750 K per annum

Deadliest to humans for sure, but deadliest species to all other species is humans.

ablelocks

from the irish products thread - turophile means a lover of cheese.

its_steve116

I'd like to point out an error in the title, it should be: "You learn something new every day". Everyday (one word) is an adjective meaning ordinary or commonplace.

I guess you learn something new every day!

Capt'n Midnight

iamstop wrote: »

Deadliest to humans for sure, but deadliest species to all other species is humans.

https://xkcd.com/1338/

iamstop

iamstop wrote: »

A delta is where a river meets a standing body of water. (Could be a lake)
An estuary is where a river or rivers meet the coast and create a brackish mix of water.

https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-estuary-and-delta.html#:~:text=In%20short%2C%20the%20basic%20difference,it%20joins%20a%20standing%20waterbody.

A delta is the accumulation of sediment as a landform!

iamstop

Spoiler alert for anyone watching or planning to watch The Ripper on Netflix.

He only died last month! And from Covid no less! :eek:

the purple tin

Cruelty to animal laws do not apply to chickens in America.

Loafing Oaf

Ocado's name is inspired by the avocado - "Wholesome, fresh and enjoyed worldwide in innovative ways"

the purple tin

Cop and copper were originally a derogatory term for the police. Up until the 60s I think

the purple tin

the purple tin wrote: »

Cop and copper were originally a derogatory term for the police. Up until the 60s I think

The "old bill" is cockney rhyming slang for pig's swill.

bnt

I learned that Peach Melba is named in honour of the soprano Dame Nellie Melba, and that her stage name “Melba” was simply short for her home town of Melbourne, Australia.

Speedsie

bnt wrote: »

I learned that Peach Melba is named in honour of the soprano Dame Nellie Melba, and that her stage name “Melba” was simply short for her home town of Melbourne, Australia.

Melba Toast is also called after Dame Nellie!

the purple tin

King Canute was not trying to turn back the tide, he wanted to show his subjects that a king was just a human being and did not have god-like powers.
His story got twisted over the years and now he is wrongly remembered as a dope with a massive ego.

the purple tin

Deleted User wrote: »

The "old bill" is cockney rhyming slang for pig's swill.

Aha that's where the term pigs came from as well then.

ILoveYourVibes

Deer shed velvet from their horns ..and its really uncomfortable so they try scratching it off.

Only steers and females keep their horns during winter. Intact males don't. So santa prob uses steers.

vriesmays

In WW1 the British navy fed gulls from their submarines. When a German sub was in the English Channel gulls would see it submerged and fly over it giving away its location.

Capt'n Midnight

vriesmays wrote: »

In WW1 the British navy fed gulls from their submarines. When a German sub was in the English Channel gulls would see it submerged and fly over it giving away its location.

Sadly it didn't work.

https://www.audubon.org/news/the-british-tried-training-gulls-find-submarines-world-war-one

One such scheme emerged from the British Board of Invention and Research in 1915. It involved feeding wild gulls from a dummy periscope, in the hope that the birds would come to associate submarines with a free meal. The sight of a wheeling, whirling flock of gulls would warn ships of a U-boat lurking nearby.

It didn’t work, though one admiral tried to salvage the effort by suggesting that the gulls be taught to defecate on the periscopes, thus blinding the submarine crews.

Long story short during the Cold War the British came up with the Chicken Powered Nuclear Landmine.

Loafing Oaf

vriesmays wrote: »

In WW1 the British navy fed gulls from their submarines. When a German sub was in the English Channel gulls would see it submerged and fly over it giving away its location.

On a not entirely unconnected note, the term 'limey' for a British person derived from the practice of British sailors of consuming citrus fruits to ward off scurvy.

the purple tin

The first ever ATM was unveiled in a Barclays branch in London in 1967. The actor Reg Varney from On the Buses was the first person to use it.

fussyonion

the purple tin wrote: »

The first ever ATM was unveiled in a Barclays branch in London in 1967. The actor Reg Varney from On the Buses was the first person to use it.

I'm freaked out cos I was thinking about this very fact this morning.

If you stretched out your DNA, it would go as far as Pluto.
And back.
17 times.

Loafing Oaf

Read in a history magazine that the Olympic torch relay originated with the Nazis. One of their more enduring contributions to civilsation...

vriesmays

They also invented methadone.

the purple tin

The reason we never do up the bottom button on a waistcoat is because of King Edward VII's big belly. He was more comfortable leaving it open because of his massive gut, especially after eating. The aristocracy and royal staff started copying him and it caught on everywhere after a while.

If you're ever watching an old period drama or films set before the 20th century keep an eye out for any open bottom buttons and if you see one you know the wardrobe dept has made a boob

Loafing Oaf

How Starbucks got its name

The first Starbucks was opened in Seattle, Washington, on March 30, 1971,[9] by three partners who met while they were students at the University of San Francisco:[10] English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegl, and writer Gordon Bowker were inspired to sell high-quality coffee beans and equipment by coffee roasting entrepreneur Alfred Peet after he taught them his style of roasting beans.[11] Bowker recalls that Terry Heckler, with whom Bowker owned an advertising agency, thought words beginning with "st" were powerful. The founders brainstormed a list of words beginning with "st," and eventually landed on "Starbo," a mining town in the Cascade Range. From there, the group remembered "Starbuck," the name of the chief mate in the book Moby-Dick.[12] Bowker said, "Moby-Dick didn't have anything to do with Starbucks directly; it was only coincidental that the sound seemed to make sense."[12][13]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks#Founding

Bobblehats

Quantum Erasure

And the logo is a two-tailed mermaid

Loafing Oaf

Quantum Erasure wrote: »

And the logo is a two-tailed mermaid

the evolution of the logo

iamstop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/115718989#Comment_115718989

I remember reading about the Russians trying to train dogs with bombs on their backs to run under tanks so they could blow them up but in the end more Russian tanks got destroyed than enemy tanks.

cj maxx

That Christmas day only became a bank holiday in Scotland in 1958.

Strumms

That Reg Varney had an atm card