that SHIFT + 6 = ^. I think I figured it out a month or so ago. I always wondered how people got that character.
― ILX MOD (musically), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 06:32 (fifteen years ago) link
DO you have a Mac?
The best things about macs is that making any character is stupid easy.
¢™øºÖØ°
― Abbott of the Trapezoid Monks (Abbott), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 06:34 (fifteen years ago) link
&¶¶¶¶¶¶
!
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 07:11 (fifteen years ago) link
That (most) BMWs are named according to engine size (I was a car freak as a child but never knew this until being informed by a German flatmate while I was a PhD student).
i.e. 318 = 3 series 1.8 litre engine etc.
― krakow, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 07:54 (fifteen years ago) link
Didn't know that black and green olives are identical, just different stage of maturity, until a few months ago.
Didn't realise that Adam Ant was a pun, until a year or so ago. Likewise Lipps Inc.
― Zelda Zonk, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 07:59 (fifteen years ago) link
I've got a mac and I still don't know how to do any of, um, ^ those ^
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 08:01 (fifteen years ago) link
I end up going to wikipedia and copy-and-pasting when I want unusual characters
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 08:02 (fifteen years ago) link
The cows-and-bulls thing, plus Adam Ant, are the only things on this thread that I do know
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 08:03 (fifteen years ago) link
how to cook an artichoke properly
― nelson algreen (get bent), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 08:09 (fifteen years ago) link
(a julia child recipe steered me right)
How to tie my shoes (velcro, you see..)
― Sugar hiccup, Makes a pig soar and swoon (Pillbox), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 08:12 (fifteen years ago) link
Didn't realise that Adam Ant was a pun, until a year or so ago.
^^^ this. Same with Sandy Shaw.
― NotEnough, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:34 (fifteen years ago) link
Fay Fife of the Rezillos.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:35 (fifteen years ago) link
(i.e. it's a pun on "I am from the town of Fife, my good fellow" in broad scots)
― Mark G, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:36 (fifteen years ago) link
What's the Adam Ant pun? Adam Ant = adamant? If so... pretty lame pun.
― Mordy, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:37 (fifteen years ago) link
That's it.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:43 (fifteen years ago) link
xpost Tell that to Lai Mpun, the lead singer of Bangkok's Phleng Chat.
― I CRIED (G00blar), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:45 (fifteen years ago) link
I am 33 and didn't know any of these things. Wait - how the hell DOES a candle work?!
― Savannah Smiles, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:53 (fifteen years ago) link
Same with Sandy Shaw.
― I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:54 (fifteen years ago) link
i don't know how to explain it but i used to think chickens had a really weird way of "mating", something to do with the rooster's legs. (!!?!?) :)
― Ludo, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:55 (fifteen years ago) link
I thought penguins were as tall as humans until that march of the penguins movie
― I CRIED (G00blar), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:56 (fifteen years ago) link
"that SHIFT + 6 = ^. I think I figured it out a month or so ago. I always wondered how people got that character."
^^^Dude, you beat me by a month. Thanks!
I once spent a half hour trying to eject a cd from a Mac before someone finally told me there's an eject button on the keyboard. I was going through all these crazy menus and preferences...
― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:10 (fifteen years ago) link
I think I was like 16 or 17 when I learned that cows and bulls were the male and female versions of the same animal and not two distinct animals.What sort of seemingly basic facts did it take you a surprisingly long time for you to learn?― filthy dylan, Wednesday, November 12, 2008 5:30 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
What sort of seemingly basic facts did it take you a surprisingly long time for you to learn?
― filthy dylan, Wednesday, November 12, 2008 5:30 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― With a little bit of gold and a Peja (bernard snowy), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:23 (fifteen years ago) link
loooool one of my friends thought this and it was since passed into running joke territory.
I think I've done that Mac eject button thing too :(
Pronounced lapels like 'labels' for years until corrected but happily don't dress well enough to use it often
― The Slash My Father Wrote (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:34 (fifteen years ago) link
My girlfriend was shocked to learn, at the age of 33, that a 'Flea Circus' is actually a rather charming mechanical toy, and is in no way operated by any parasitic insects.
― Huey in Bristol (Huey in Melbourne), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:56 (fifteen years ago) link
Ismael, at the age of 32, is shocked to learn the same thing. This thread is getting embarrassing
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:57 (fifteen years ago) link
WAT! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flea_circus
― Øystein, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:59 (fifteen years ago) link
I thought penguins were as tall as humans until that march of the penguins movieone of my friends thought this and it was since passed into running joke territory
one of my friends thought this and it was since passed into running joke territory
no but seriously, what is this about?
― negotiable, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:01 (fifteen years ago) link
i mean i can see that there's rarely anything to size them against in the big white antarctic, but why would anyone then automatically think okay here's a bird i could play tag with
― negotiable, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:03 (fifteen years ago) link
u could still play tag w/it tho
― SNAKES! (ice crӕm), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:04 (fifteen years ago) link
But you could make the same assumption with ostriches in the big yellow desert (or wherever they live), and in that case you'd be right!
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:07 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm still in touch with several grown adults who genuinely believe there's 'something' to supernatural claims about ouija boards, despite its fairly obvious origins in parlour games / illusions which utilised the (admittedly fucking spooky) ideomotor effect.
― Huey in Bristol (Huey in Melbourne), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:08 (fifteen years ago) link
aw no-one said 'where babies come from'
― Cittaslow Mazza (blueski), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:14 (fifteen years ago) link
I've had a lot of experiences in my adult life with mispronouncing words I understood as part of written text, but hadn't heard aurally in the context of conversation etc. For example, I was well into my twenties before I knew the word "vehement" wasn't pronounced veh-hee-ment. I wish others would politely correct you when you do that instead of letting you blindly sound like an idiot.
― Sugar hiccup, Makes a pig soar and swoon (Pillbox), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:16 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm a bit like that, but now I'm in the habit of saying works incorrectly, I can't get out of it. Canal is not pronounced can-el, but there's fuck all I can do about it now.
― NotEnough, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:39 (fifteen years ago) link
^ This happens to me all the time too - so much so that I actually now find it quite amusing when I realise, midway through a sentence, that a word I've never heard before is looming at the end. I suppose that people who talk a lot, rather than reading, must find the same with spelling. It only annoys me when some moron uses it as an opportunity to score cheap points (sadly fairly often)
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:40 (fifteen years ago) link
I was going to start a thread like this, but it was going to be more about 'life lessons' that took you forever to learn, rather than trivia.
Anyway it's taken me this long to fully realize how unreliable first impressions can be when it comes to people.
― invisible jet (wanko ergo sum), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:42 (fifteen years ago) link
but why would anyone then automatically think okay here's a bird i could play tag with
haha
― Ant Attack.. (Ste), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:57 (fifteen years ago) link
TAL have an episode on this in the "best of" section on their wesite. people who thought unicorns were real, etc., lots of awkward silences at cocktail parties: good stuff.
― rent, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:00 (fifteen years ago) link
i like to tag birds. (runs)
― Sugar hiccup, Makes a pig soar and swoon (Pillbox), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:01 (fifteen years ago) link
There's a penguin here and he wants to say "you didn't touch me ner ner ner"
― Mark G, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:12 (fifteen years ago) link
I thought penguins went "weh weh weh"
― ╓abies, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:14 (fifteen years ago) link
― Huey in Bristol (Huey in Melbourne), Wednesday, November 12, 2008 7:08 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
you couldnt get me in the same room as a ouija board
― a country packed with ponies (sunny successor), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:42 (fifteen years ago) link
I was about 35 when I figured out Open Sesame = Open Says Me.
― Rotgutt, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:44 (fifteen years ago) link
i used to think HAZCHEM was a foreign word for danger like Achtung
― Cittaslow Mazza (blueski), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:45 (fifteen years ago) link
I just figured out, like 2 days ago, that the lyrics are "highway to the danger zone"
(until then, thought they were "I went to to the danger zone")
― homosexual II, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 15:03 (fifteen years ago) link
ooh i like that
― Ant Attack.. (Ste), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 15:07 (fifteen years ago) link
lol mandee those are even better
― Uncle Shavedlongcock (max), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 15:22 (fifteen years ago) link
Nothing, as I'm not shockingly old.
― Eric H., Wednesday, 12 November 2008 15:23 (fifteen years ago) link
huh, I also assumed "New York, New York" was much older, I've never seen the movie, but have heard of it and assumed the movie was possibly named after the song (I guess it's just boringly named after the city and state)
― silverfish, Monday, 10 June 2024 19:09 (one week ago) link
i also did not know that abt "kidding mr hitler"! furthermore i had no idea till just now that it was sung by bud flanagan of flanagan and allen (his last recording, made the year of his death)
(it was written for the series as an affectionate pastiche of the kinds of war songs F&A did sing, so its likeness was worked for and achieved)
― mark s, Monday, 10 June 2024 19:12 (one week ago) link
Liikewise the film New York, New York is set in the 1940s thus the theme song is supposed to sound of that period.
― Josefa, Monday, 10 June 2024 19:37 (one week ago) link
I'm absolutely astounded by that 'New York, New York' fact. I assumed it was from the 40s or 50s, but it was a (surprisingly minor) hit in the summer of 1980. This reminds me of something else I was shockingly old to learn. When I was a little kid, there was a song that went 'New York, New York: so good they named it twice, New York, New York: all the scandal and the vice, New York, New York, oh isn't it a pity....what they say about New York City". Those words might not be 100% correct, it's not as if I've heard this song a lot since the 70s. Anyway, for some reason I got it into my head that it was sung by Elton John and I believed this for about 40 years. Hold on, I need to do some googling....
― Nasty, Brutish & Short, Monday, 10 June 2024 19:54 (one week ago) link
So at some point during lockdown fever for some reason I was looking to see what had been Elton John's biggest hit and couldn't understand why that song wasn't listed. And then when I googled the lyrics I discovered that it was actually by some bloke called Gerard Kenny who I've never heard of. And apparently it wasn't even a hit in Britain. And yet as a 4 or 5 year old I convinced myself itself it was a chart topper by Elton John and nothing shook this belief for many decades. It doesn't even sound anything like Elton John now that I hear it:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsi5lXxzByU
― Nasty, Brutish & Short, Monday, 10 June 2024 20:00 (one week ago) link
wtf
Although it only reached number 43 on the UK Singles Chart, it remained on the chart for two months.
― Poets Win Prizes (Tom D.), Monday, 10 June 2024 20:09 (one week ago) link
... also wrote "I Could Be So Good for You!
― Poets Win Prizes (Tom D.), Monday, 10 June 2024 20:11 (one week ago) link
I remember that song! surprised it wasn't a bigger hit in the UK, the radio must have played it a lot. these days sounds more like a sitcom opening song, like Cheers.Gerard Kenny also wrote the Minder theme song "I Could Be So Good For You"!
― ( X '____' )/ (zappi), Monday, 10 June 2024 20:14 (one week ago) link
xpost dammit Tom!wouldn't be surprised if there was a clip of him singing New York New York on 3-2-1
― ( X '____' )/ (zappi), Monday, 10 June 2024 20:15 (one week ago) link
now that we have AI we can finally hear what a Jo Stafford / Tommy Dorsey rendition of "NY, NY" would sound like circa '43
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 11 June 2024 14:34 (one week ago) link
have you actually drunk a fizzing alka-seltzer?― mookieproof, Monday, June 10, 2024 7:21 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
I bought some aspirin the other day. I wanted to pop one in a public toilet when I realized they had sold me effervescent tablets. I was in a hurry. I took some water in my mouth and let it dissolve in my mouth. I didn't learn anything, but it was the first time at a shockingly old age.
― Nabozo, Tuesday, 11 June 2024 15:06 (one week ago) link
at first I thought you meant you were planning to put the alka-seltzer in the toilet and then drink out of the toilet
― Iacocca Cola (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 11 June 2024 15:08 (one week ago) link
You mean, an Anal Alka-Setzer ?
― Nabozo, Tuesday, 11 June 2024 15:10 (one week ago) link
(xp) Waiting till it had stopped fizzing of course.
― ILX: a violent left-wing mob who hate our country (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 June 2024 15:20 (one week ago) link
It’s literally Psalm 137 from the King James version of the Bible:― assert (matttkkkk)
― assert (matttkkkk)
hardly anybody adapts the ending of that psalm where the psalmist sings "blessed are they who smash your babies' heads against the rocks"
the early mega man games picked the robot masters from designs submitted from fans. the kid who designed dust man and crystal man for the "mega man" series of games went on to create the manga "one punch man".
i don't know if that's really what the thread is intended for but i feel like i should have known that already, it seems like the kind of random trivia i know
― Kate (rushomancy), Tuesday, 11 June 2024 16:08 (one week ago) link
woah! that also feels like the kind of thing I should know. but i guess the last time I was really learning new Mega Man trivia it was 2001. i also know nothing about the manga, except that it's very popular.
― not the one who's tryin' to dub your anime (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 11 June 2024 16:11 (one week ago) link
today:
the opening "flute" sound of the theme for the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is meant to be a coyote howling
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 11 June 2024 21:30 (one week ago) link
oh wow
― Deflatormouse, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 01:25 (six days ago) link
TIL that "pooterish" means self-important in the manner of Charles Pooter, nothing to do with farts
― Deflatormouse, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 01:29 (six days ago) link
I beg you to set out the context or, ideally, contexts in which you have read "pooterish" as "farty" and it made sense
― conrad, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 08:57 (six days ago) link
Most Farty Adrian Chiles Column
― mike t-diva, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 11:19 (six days ago) link
I think it was only a few months ago that I learned that when pole dancers swing around in circles, the POLE itself is actually rotating. Apparently?!? I thought the dancers were swinging themselves around and I couldn't figure out how they could stick enough to stay up but still be mobile, which in retrospect makes NO sense at all. Now I know the laws of nature and surface traction are intact and the world makes sense again.
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 13:21 (six days ago) link
OMG
― Iacocca Cola (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 13:27 (six days ago) link
I learned that sometime in the past year as well.
― peace, man, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 13:29 (six days ago) link
Oh man, that’s a good one. I had no clue.
― Cow_Art, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 13:39 (six days ago) link
Wonder how many firemen have chaffed themselves trying to recreate special moments.
― pplains, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 13:58 (six days ago) link
I mean, if you look at the pole it's clearlyrotating.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 13:58 (six days ago) link
well, that may explain my failed efforts
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 14:20 (six days ago) link
Pour Some WD-40 On Me
― prog's nearly man (Matt #2), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 14:25 (six days ago) link
the pole rotates in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere
― kinder, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 15:08 (six days ago) link
I think it was only a few months ago that I learned that when pole dancers swing around in circles, the POLE itself is actually rotating. Apparently?!? I thought the dancers were swinging themselves around and I couldn't figure out how they could stick enough to stay up but still be mobile, which in retrospect makes NO sense at all. Now I know the laws of nature and surface traction are intact and the world makes sense again.― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 14:21 (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 14:21 (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
what
― your mom goes to limgrave (dog latin), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 15:26 (six days ago) link
here's to the ppl who look at the pole when they watch poledancing 🍷
― mark s, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 15:28 (six days ago) link
i mean it isn't a sin to appreciate both pole and dancer
― he/him hoo-hah (map), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 15:33 (six days ago) link
today:the opening "flute" sound of the theme for the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is meant to be a coyote howling― budo jeru
― budo jeru
it's an ocarina
it's the one thing people used to play on the ocarina before ocarina players were all link cosplayers who play zelda music
to be clear i love link cosplayers who play zelda music
― Kate (rushomancy), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 15:34 (six days ago) link
i mean it isn't a sin to appreciate both pole and dancer― he/him hoo-hah (map)
― he/him hoo-hah (map)
are we pole or are we dancer
Barre exercise is just pole dancing, sideways.
Change my mind.
― Millennium Falco (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 15:52 (six days ago) link
I suspect you can't do a full 360 around the barre without looking like the Suspiria remake.
― Hideous Lump, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 16:23 (six days ago) link
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, June 12, 2024 8:21 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
ok this isn't true?
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 16:25 (six days ago) link
WHAT
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 16:30 (six days ago) link
per Wiki:
Dance poles may have two different modes, spinning and static. In the spinning mode, the pole uses ball bearings to spin. This mode can be used to complete more experienced pole moves, make moves easier to complete, and add a more dramatic effect to the move. Most spinning poles can also be fixed to the static mode where the pole cannot rotate. The static mode is regularly used when pole dancing is first taught to beginners.
― not the one who's tryin' to dub your anime (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 16:31 (six days ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUmLLROwADk
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 17:16 (six days ago) link
how they could stick enough to stay up but still be mobile
missed this part, i was just trying to say that dancers can spin like crazy on a stationary pole as the vid demonstrates, but obviously they slowly move down
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 17:18 (six days ago) link
i.e. i thought the claim was "all poles are rotating" which is why i said not true
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 12 June 2024 17:20 (six days ago) link
Had the sudden realization while reading that the expression "drop a dime" very obviously traces to calling in police tips from a payphone
― ን (nabisco), Wednesday, 12 June 2024 20:47 (six days ago) link
Eric André is not the "Eric" who co-created _Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!_. I don't know. You'd think I would be like more aware of this stuff maybe? But I kind of thought, you know, David Lynch-inspired takes on Public Access shows broadcast on Adult Swim, I mean. I thought they were kind of the same show. Look I'm gonna be honest I'm looking at this list of Adult Swim shows debuting from 2010 onwards and I've never heard of any of these except for the "Joe Pera" one people seem to like and the show by those Nazis. To be honest I kinda go out of my way to avoid both Tim and Eric's stuff and Eric André's stuff. Anxiety of influence.
― Kate (rushomancy), Friday, 14 June 2024 04:59 (four days ago) link
I did know that the cheez-a-riffic guitar line in the Top Gun theme was Steve Stevens.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 16 June 2024 11:56 (two days ago) link
Did NOT know, I mean