These are random musings of my life journey, the people, animals, places, and events which have woven, and continue to weave, a tapestry that is me. We all know there is no real destination, only the ongoing experiences which blend together, creating the trail. Each step gives a glimpse of what is to come, without allowing me to see the end result. It is exciting. I have a home base that is mine, that gives me a place to rest. This is it. This is where my heart is, no matter where I journey...................

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Tuesday (just barely) Trivia

OK, here is today's trivia. Do you know any of these?


First, some things about words and other parts of our language:

The word 'sabotage' is derived from a French word for shoe. In France, a sabot is a kind of heavy boot or shoe worn by workmen. During the Industrial Revolution, when machine- driven mills were first introduced in France, workers displaced from their jobs by these automata would throw their shoes into the gear mechanisms, wrecking the engines and thus sabotaging the business.
Beats putting it in your mouth, I suppose!

Punctuation did not come into use until the advent of printing in the fifteenth century. Before that, words written by scribes were runtogetherlikethis.
I think like that!!

The word 'fiasco,' meaning a failure, is derived from the ancient Italian art of glass blowing. If a Venetian glass blower made a mistake while creating a fine, delicate bottle, the ruined vessel was turned into an ordinary drinking flask, which is known in Italian as a fiasco.
I've had a few fiascoes recently ... some actually included glass!!

The "y" in signs reading "ye olde.." is properly pronounced with a "th" sound, not "y". The "th" sound does not exist in Latin, so ancient Roman occupied (present day) England used the rune "thorn" to represent "th" sounds. With the advent of the printing press the character from the Roman alphabet which closest resembled thorn was the lower case "y".
Well ...... Latin, huh? Figures!

The last thing to happen is the ultimate. The next-to-last is the penultimate, and the second-to-last is the antepenultimate.
It occurs to me as I enter the anetpenultimate that I will soon encounter the penultimate, and I always home to make it to the ultimate. How 'bout you?


Now for some miscellaneous, general trivia:

The Brownie box camera, introduced by Eastman Kodak, sold for $1.00 in 1900. The camera's 6-exposure film sold for 15 cents.
The Brownie camera I used in junior high school was not quite that old, but it was antique by today's standards!

The Prudential Life Insurance Company in USA stopped using their slogan "Own A Piece Of The Rock" after Rock Hudson died of AIDS and many jokes where made about him and the slogan.
Now this one is just a shame. But it was a different time and a different standard. Still sad.

When Scott Paper Co. first started manufacturing toilet paper they did not put their name on the product because of embarrassment.
OK, now this is just plain ol' funny!!!

The title role of Dirty Harry, 1971, was originally intended for Frank Sinatra. After he refused, it was offered to John Wayne, and then Paul Newman, finally being accepted by Clint Eastwood.
Talk about hand-me-downs!

One of the great but little-known treasures of New York City is a forty-acre hemlock forest, undisturbed, as far as is known, since the time of the Indians. The grove stands on the banks of the Bronx River in the New York Botanical Garden.
How cool!

In 'Gulliver's Travels' Jonathan Swift described a factual, natural occurrence which would not be discovered until more than a hundred years after the book's publication.
Awesome!

In his book Jonathan Swift described Phobos and Deimos, giving their exact size and speeds of rotation. 'Gulliver's Travels' was published in 1726 but Phobos and Deimos weren't discovered until 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall.
Don't you wonder where he got his information? (eerie music - doo, doo, doo, doo.)



Finally, this tidbit is for Bradley, who just "visited" the St. Louis Arch (if you call snapping a picture as he passed the arch in his car at 70 MPH a "visit"!!! Lol!!):


The official name of the St. Louis Gateway Arch is "The Jefferson National Expansion Monument." The Gateway Arch looks taller than it is wider, but it is exactly 630 feet by 630 feet.


Have a Wonderful Wednesday!!

11 comments:

  1. Well I can honestly say that I did not know any of this!! My parents had a brownie camera (from the 50s!).

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  2. I always learn something from your trivia Lynilu! That is sad abaout the Prudential Co. I honestly don't remember any piece of the rock/Rock Hudson jokes

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  3. Loved the trivia. I still have my Brownie camera I got in 6th grade.

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  4. Who needs school??? I can just learn from you and your trivia :-).

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  5. Sherry, That little Brownie box camera from the 50s was everywhere! Remember the big ol' flash bulbs that went in it??? :D

    Patti, actually I don't remember the jokes, either, but it wasn't something that "nice" people talked about in those days, either. I felt so bad about him taking such a hit of nastiness. Gawd, he was one of the most gorgeous men ever!

    Daisy, you still have it?? I'll bet that is worth a little bit for some collectors!

    Dawn, :D Don't suggest that to the kids in school!!

    Cheeky, I do too, but I tend to forget it rather than retain it. I don't *try* to retain it. I've noticed, however, that when I play Trivial Pursuit, I may not "know" the answer, but I guess better than most people, so I suppose that I keep it tucked away somewhere in the nether regions of the ol' brain!

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  6. I DO remember those flash bulbs Lynilu...and the "stars" in my eyes when it would go off!!! :)

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  7. I did not know any of these facts. I like to watch ppl play games while I sit in the corner with I nice cold beer.

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  8. Sherry, you are so right! You knew you shouldn't look right at ti, yet you couldn't look slightly to the side or something, right!?!? Funny memory!!

    Man, LOL!because That's as good an excuse as any for a cold beer! I'm in the corner with ya, buddy!

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  9. I think the whole Jonathan Swift thing can be explained by time travel.

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  10. Jen, I didn't think of that! Yeah!! That's it!! :D

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If you have something to say about it, just stick out your thumb, and I'll slow down so you can hop aboard! But hang on, 'cause I'm movin' on down the road!!! No time to waste!!!