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EmmyOk posted:Korean had something similar where someone in the 18th Century was tasked with developing their writing system so it's actually really sensible and logical and much more similar to Western writing systems than Japanese and Chinese. The hangeul all stand for sounds and there's only around 30 of them. You make syllable blocks out of two or three (occasionally four) and put blocks together to make words. Some hangeul change sound depending on their location in a block but not many and there're only like 4 block templates! My favorite weird bit of irish is "duine gorm", which is the proper phrase to use to describe a black person, except it literally translates as 'blue person'. One theory I read was that it happened because the first irish people to meet a black african didn't want to be rude and call them 'duine dubh' (black person) because that was uncomfortably close to a common term for the devil. edit:bad grammar as gaeilge Pookah has a new favorite as of 17:50 on Sep 11, 2016 |
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Sep 11, 2016 15:35
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stubblyhead posted:Do they not have a word for brown or something? Yeah, lots of different ones based around the word 'donn'. No-one seems to know where the blue thing came from, one theory was that the first african traders that came to Ireland were from Morocco and tended to wear blue robes, but that sounds pretty unlikely to me - if I met group of people with a physical characteristic I'd never seen before that was very different to anything I'd ever seen, I don't think I'd fixate on their clothing as a descriptor.
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Sep 12, 2016 11:19
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FreudianSlippers posted:This is a thing in Icelandic as well. "Blámađur" or "Blueman" is an antiquated word for someone from Africa which itself was sometimes referred to as "Bláland". Both of these words are seen as at least a bit racist these days. However somewhat confusingly in some old Sagas "blámađur" is just as often used as a word for troll* or ogre which let to it feeling a bit awkward to read about Saga heroes wrestling trolls that were being called a racial slur. It is possible the Norse picked up the habit of applying this word to Africans from the Irish since Ireland had quite a bit of a Norse presence in the Viking Age and Gaelic slaves were common. As much as 20% of the original settlers of Iceland were Celts of some sort, mostly from Ireland, and almost all of them slaves and/or concubines. Very interesting, thanks (also I love hearing stuff about Iceland  )
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Sep 15, 2016 17:55
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Snowglobe of Doom posted:This is starting to sound like it could start a derail for several pages, but you'd expect the wrong of the nibling to be pretty epic. Gotterdamm
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Jun 13, 2017 11:46
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Whiz Palace posted:And, in a strange casting choice, Ares in Wonder Woman. What a totally pointless use of the spoiler tags 
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Jul 15, 2017 17:15
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Whiz Palace posted:Yeah, that is dumb. Fixed. Just paying it forward; I did pretty much the same thing here a good while ago and was roundly condemned for it 
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Jul 17, 2017 18:31
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Jerry Cotton posted:Yeah but they creepy man. You have no idea how happy this post made me! I saw this fruit on a nature program years and years ago and I never knew the name, so I could never find them afterwards to show people the hilarious fruit that look like old-timey cartoon eyes.  It's a Christmas Miracle!
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Nov 12, 2017 11:14
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Also port is mostly red and so is the portside light on a boat. The starboard one is green, like the stars in the sky.
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Mar 16, 2018 19:06
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I can't believe I just noticed how easy it is to do a rough conversion from F to C and vice versa (for temperate climates, anyway). In the 50's = 10 to 15 C In the 60's = 16 to 21ish In the 70's = 21 to 25 ish In the 80's = 26 to 31ish In the 90's = 31to 36 ish Obviously not exact, but close enough.
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May 8, 2018 09:01
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iajanus posted:Or just never measure in Fahrenheit because it's stupid This is also true.
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May 8, 2018 10:36
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cyberia posted:The word 'boatswain' is pronounced 'bosun'. I always thought they were two different things. KHLAV KALASHNIKOV posted:Similarly, coxswain is pronounced “cocks’n”. It’s meaningless to me because I’ve not heard the word once outside of the 1996 Summer Olympics, but there you have it. Do they live together in the forecastle?
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Jun 29, 2018 06:39
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That David Walliams played Brian's terrifying ex, Vulva in 'Spaced'. In my defence I haven't watched it in years; I just started remembering bits of the episode a few days ago when something reminded me of it - probably a bag of twiglets.
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Jul 4, 2018 18:01
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Pastry of the Year posted:I still read it in my head as "drott" despite having known better for twenty years. I just like it better that way. It'll probably be 'angsitty' in my head forever. anxiety
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Sep 28, 2018 16:39
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That the Macadamia nut is named after someone called MacAdam.
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Nov 18, 2018 13:15
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TheMaskedUgly posted:Perogative is spelled Prerogative? I had the same experience with barbituates - I still find it weird and awkward to pronounce the second r that is actually right there in 'barbiturates'
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May 14, 2019 08:29
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 +  +  !
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Jul 9, 2019 13:18
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That the word 'smart', as in the phrase 'that smarts!' is closely related to the german word 'schmerz', which means 'pain'. I was thinking about the loan words Weldschmerz and Mittelschmerz, (as of course you do) and it just came to me in a flash. thank you for reading.
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Jul 25, 2019 09:04
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Samovar posted:Check this out: It's also a very common slang term for a sandwich in Ireland - I know I brought my sambos with me to school every day!
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Aug 16, 2019 14:47
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Beachcomber posted:It's not even easier to say. I know, it makes no real sense but it's the same pattern as how most name-based nicknames in Dublin are basically first syllable plus o, like Anthony = Anto, Damien = Damo, Phil = Philo, Ray = Rayo
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Aug 16, 2019 15:13
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Beachcomber posted:So the opposite of Irish last names.  ...Yeah, pretty much. On a sort of related note, I used to know a girl from a former soviet country (Lithuania, I think) who had two entirely different first names - one was her 'official' name which was Russian, and the other was her actual name, which was Lithuanian, and which was illegal at the time of her birth because of cultural repression. Pookah has a new favorite as of 15:33 on Aug 16, 2019 |
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Aug 16, 2019 15:29
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Tsaedje posted:Borrowed from Siobhan or Meadhbh - god knows, she'll never notice.
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Aug 16, 2019 15:37
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A carbgrenade of beef or A cannonade of beef? Pookah has a new favorite as of 08:49 on Sep 21, 2019 |
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Sep 21, 2019 08:46
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Cowslips Warren posted:As someone who barely brushes her own hair, it amazes me to see so many intricate hairstyles, only to realize later it's a wig. Cher comes to mind. I figured since I didn't do much with my hair, clearly they did and look at the results! Reminds me of that thing Dolly Parton said: "People always ask me how long it takes to do my hair. I don’t know, I’m never there."
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Dec 1, 2019 10:03
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I just realised what the practical point of footless tights is - you can wear them with a skirt and boot/shoes without getting that horrible pain in your toes that walking a long way in normal tights usually causes. I like wearing skirts; I like going for long walks, even when it is cold and I need to wear something on my legs - this is a truly wonderful discovery for me
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Jan 4, 2020 10:16
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I have the same thing with chocolate chip cookies because about 25 years ago I ate them when I happened to be quite seasick. Seems like the brain decides that whatever we were eating/smelling at the exact moment we vomited is 100% to blame and refuses to reconsider the matter, ever.
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Jan 18, 2020 15:01
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Len posted:Are you located in the US? Because I've looked at every Sensodyne on the shelf since hearing about Novamin and not one has it I think I remember reading somewhere that the manufacturers got it made prescription-only in the US because they could make SO MUCH MORE MONEY that way edit: LAB I'm so happy for you, figuring something like that out about yourself is such a huge relief 
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Jan 26, 2020 19:49
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The same crowd tend to believe women get super aroused every time they use a tampon.
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Feb 14, 2020 19:26
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DrBouvenstein posted:Which is dumb because didn't keeping it in vertical orientation eventually break it? Something about one of the gears that spins the disc gets warped or knocked off its pin or something? Nah, PS2s are basically indestructible. I worked in a place with a couple of hundred of them running all day every day and they hardly ever broke down. For months I had one on my desk that would only detect the disc when the machine was horizontal but would only load it up when it was vertical, but once it was up and running, it was fine. One time there was a power problem in the building and no-one noticed until a game in test started showing really weird graphic distortions, he went to touch the machine and it was running so hot the memory card was almost too hot to handle. It was like the poor ol ps2 was having hallucinations due to a high fever. We'd similar numbers of xboxes and there was just a neverending stream of them being set back to ms for repairs.
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Mar 6, 2020 18:08
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Not so much "just figured out" as "just learned"... I had this exact experience at a sleepover with my friends when we were... 15? Went in expecting a fun singalong disco romp, and yeah, it is not fun singalong disco romp
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Aug 11, 2020 12:30
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...OK, I just watched 
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Probably reealy dorky, but I saw that nice 'frolicking' tweet and only then made the v. obvious connection between 'frolic' and 'fröhlich'.
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Aug 27, 2020 18:52
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Phlegmish posted:I hadn't made the connection until just now. Apparently it made its way into English via Dutch. When you say it out loud, it's 95% the same drat word but obviously you don't really ever say it in the same context.
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Aug 27, 2020 18:59
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I don't know, this might be very the absolute standard mixer for the drink, but just in case it's not internationally known - spiced rum and fizzy orange taste very delicious together
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Aug 28, 2020 17:49
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Helith posted:It took us a while (and reading the credits) to work out that This guy is not a fat Matt Damon. You just reminded me of the old guy who played Walker, Texas Ranger's sidekick, Noble Willingham: AKA Can't Afford Brimley
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Sep 26, 2020 20:52
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verbal enema posted:I can watch the 1957 series of the Sherlock Holmes tv show on youtube and that whips rear end The Ronald Howard/H. Marion Crawford one? I love that show! Totally different vibe to any other adaptation I've seen - Howard and Crawford are hilarious and wonderful.
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Oct 6, 2020 09:29
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verbal enema posted:Yes! I especially love how the same actor could be playing the villain in one episode and then the victim in the next - very old-school. Also the Lestrade is a joy - did you see the one where he (not the character, the Lestrade actor) got to play a Scottish Laird just for funsies? Big ol terrible fake beard and everything
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Oct 7, 2020 15:03
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verbal enema posted:Lastrade's actor is great. You can tell how much fun they had in the Paris episode. That's a great one, and the actress playing the nightclub singer is so pretty and smart  The Watson gets so much value out of infuriated moustache waggling, it's marvellous. Anyone vaguely interested in this: look at the opening of their version of The Red-Headed League.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX8I4Tx8_CI Top-notch Watson moustache rage right there. edit: around the time I discovered this show, I also found this: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL62KRv2BaHaiz0usI4G8Iic1zMoMIPsZE Rick Diamond, PI - it's got a sort of similar feel; gently humorous and very very likeable. Pookah has a new favorite as of 17:59 on Oct 9, 2020 |
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Oct 9, 2020 17:55
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verbal enema posted:Ill check that out too Oh yeah, love Sledgehammer!
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Oct 10, 2020 13:20
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This is probably ridiculously niche, but I was always vaguely puzzled by actor Fiona Shaw - like her face didn't match her voice in some weird way. Recently, I heard her speaking in her childhood Cork accent and it all fell into place - she's super Cork-looking but because she works mostly in the UK she uses an english accent and it totally threw me off. (I'm not claiming that people from Cork are visually distinct, but people from the western and southern parts of Ireland tend to look different from English people, and she sounded so very english)
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Oct 11, 2020 19:01
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I wouldn't claim to be even 75% likely to be to able to spot whether someone was English or Irish* but there are loads of little tiny details that can add up - like irish people do not typically have natural blonde hair in adulthood. Red yes, not blonde, whereas it's relatively common in England. Plus irish tend to be pretty fair skinned and burn easily, English people are more likely to have the kind of fair skin that tans. And as Failed Imagineer says, there are about 6 typical sorts of faces that you'll see all over the place in Ireland. *and I'm obviously only talking about people who've been here for generations - there are loads of Irish people here now whose families emigrated here in the last 30 or so years, so the old homogeneity is somewhat reduced As an illustration, here's an ad that came out in 1995 to promote the Northern Ireland Peace process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsXhYIWl12E&t=123s Two kids, one protestant, one catholic playing together - and it's pretty obvious to me anyway, which is which. The seated kid with dark hair is very typically southern Irish looking, whereas the blonde kid is more 'english' looking. Obviously they are both really northern irish, but since the communities were so segregated, those old regional physical differences survived for generations.
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Oct 12, 2020 14:44
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I was looking through an art book lately and came across this Caravaggio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacchus_(Caravaggio) I noticed that you can see a little of the mattress that's hidden under the sheet.When I was a kid, old mattresses still used that same fabric covering, I remember when we threw out a bunch of them after a big household clearout by my grandparents. I know modern mattresses don't use this blue/white striped covering anymore, but it just blows my mind that this material was in use and basically unchanged, for at least 500 years. edit: on the 'go to bed'/'go to my bed' thing - is is a north of England thing maybe? I've heard people from that part of the world refer to their parent as 'me Dad' even when they are talking to one of their own siblings, which always sounds a little weird to me. Pookah has a new favorite as of 16:07 on Oct 28, 2020 |
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Oct 28, 2020 16:05
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