What have you learned today?

twistedmic

twistedmic

Elite Member
Legacy
Sep 8, 2009
2,542
210
68
Chimpzy said:
Found a thing. Enter a year and get a list of words that were used in print for the first time.
www.merriam-webster.com

Time Traveler by Merriam-Webster

When was a word first used in print? You may be surprised! Choose a year, and we'll show you the words that come from that date.
www.merriam-webster.com www.merriam-webster.com

Entered my year of birth. Got, among other stuff: anime, latte, sexual predator, beatboxing & microbrew.

Interesting collection. All things people commonly enjoy to this day, except for anime /s
Click to expand...
It wasn’t all bad. We also got bunker buster, buckyball and Vietnamese potbellied pig.

We did get alternative country and boy band, though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dalisclock
EvilRoy

EvilRoy

The face I make when I see unguarded pie.
Legacy
Jan 9, 2011
1,847
546
118
twistedmic said:
It wasn’t all bad. We also got bunker buster, buckyball and Vietnamese potbellied pig.

We did get alternative country and boy band, though.
Click to expand...

I got Cybersecurity and Cybernaut, which was pretty cool because 1989 was more or less the year the idea of the world wide web as we know it was born. So like, you can tell that these words are showing up in print because the news of this new cool thing is being introduced to the world and people - reporters and researchers probably - are excitedly bringing it up.

They also coined the term, Cyberporn.

The reason the term Cyberporn is hilarious to me here, is not the mental image of the old newscasters I remember from the 90's talking about cyberporn (they would definitely pronouce it SIGH-ber porn with that inquisitive look to camera), awesome as it is. The reason this is hilarious, is that the internet, as something the average person would be allowed to interact with, did not exist until 1991 when the very first website to exist was put online.

So we were already talking about how porn was totally gonna be all over the net two years before the general public even had a chance to upload the first shitty forum post of a brand new world. Humanity is fantastic, and I'm so happy to be here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dalisclock
Dalisclock

Dalisclock

Making lemons combustible again
Legacy
Escapist +
Feb 9, 2008
11,286
7,083
118
A Barrel In the Marketplace
Country
Eagleland
Gender
Male
Apparently, when the US military reached Europe late in WW1, they brought pump action shotguns to help clear trenches.

The Germans were apparently very mad about this and called it a war crime for being "inhumane". For context, WW1 had been going on for about 3-4 years at this point, had started with Germany invading neutral nations, unrestricted poison gas warfare on both sides, flamethrowers that burned people to death and thousands would die in an hour in suicidal charges across no mans land on the western front. Millions were dead and millions more were traumatized and/or crippled by the war. The German, Russian and Ottoman Empires were either collapsing or on the brink of doing so.

But shotguns? Dirty pool, Yank.

US President Woodrow Wilson's response was apparently along the following lines:

Dear Kaiser Willy,

The United States has considered your complaint and reminds the Empire of Germany that official US policy in this regard is as follows:

Shotgun go Click Click boom.

Yours Sincerely,

Woody
Click to expand...
This has been your Great War fun fact of the day.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Gordon_4, thestor and Mister Mumbler
Gordon_4

Gordon_4

The Big Engine
Legacy
Apr 3, 2020
6,531
5,790
118
Australia
Dalisclock said:
Apparently, when the US military reached Europe late in WW1, they brought pump action shotguns to help clear trenches.

The Germans were apparently very mad about this and called it a war crime for being "inhuman". For context, WW1 had been going on for about 3-4 years at this point, had started with Germany invading neutral nations, unrestricted poison gas warfare on both sides, flamethrowers that burned people to death and thousands would die in an hour in suicidal charges across no mans land on the western front. Millions were dead and millions more were traumatized and/or crippled by the war. The German, Russian and Ottoman Empires were either collapsing or on the brink of doing so.

But shotguns? Dirty pool, Yank.

US President Woodrow Wilson's response was apparently along the lines of apparently went as follows:



This has been your Great War fun fact of the day.
Click to expand...
Huh, so that’s why Steve Trevor had a shotgun in Wonder Woman. Neat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dalisclock
Thaluikhain

Thaluikhain

Elite Member
Legacy
Jan 16, 2010
19,224
3,945
118
Dalisclock said:
Apparently, when the US military reached Europe late in WW1, they brought pump action shotguns to help clear trenches.

The Germans were apparently very mad about this and called it a war crime for being "inhumane". For context, WW1 had been going on for about 3-4 years at this point, had started with Germany invading neutral nations, unrestricted poison gas warfare on both sides, flamethrowers that burned people to death and thousands would die in an hour in suicidal charges across no mans land on the western front. Millions were dead and millions more were traumatized and/or crippled by the war. The German, Russian and Ottoman Empires were either collapsing or on the brink of doing so.

But shotguns? Dirty pool, Yank.
Click to expand...

Possibly the issue had something to do with being powerful at short ranges, but less so at a distance, hits were more likely to injure than to kill than for a rifle wound.

Or possibly because only the US used them so you could claim they were evil because your side didn't use them. Not for no reason, the US made a big fuss about how great they were, but there were loads of issues (they used cardboard cartridges that didn't like mud and wet, for one).

IIRC, the US did (at least nominally) take the objection seriously, going through all the legal process and then deciding it wasn't valid and threatening that if Germans executed US prisoners with shotguns the US would execute German prisoners.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thestor and Dalisclock
Dalisclock

Dalisclock

Making lemons combustible again
Legacy
Escapist +
Feb 9, 2008
11,286
7,083
118
A Barrel In the Marketplace
Country
Eagleland
Gender
Male
Apparently the Original placeholder name for the MS XBOX was "DIrectX Box" until they came up with something cooler. Eventually someone just dropped the "Direct" part and called it a day.

I bet the MS Marketing Department felt real proud of themselves for that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hanselthecaretaker
XsjadoBlaydette

XsjadoBlaydette

~s•o√r∆rπy°`
May 26, 2022
1,094
1,377
118
Clear 'n Present Danger
Country
Must
Gender
Disappear
Tulsi Gabbard is intrinsically connected to a cult called Science of Identity where she was born and raised, with her parents that are basically second in command to the main cult leader, who has the most offensive attempt at a neckbeard ever observed (and the competition is already fierce there)...


 
Last edited:
Thaluikhain

Thaluikhain

Elite Member
Legacy
Jan 16, 2010
19,224
3,945
118
Up until the material shortage of WW2, they used to use lead to make toothpaste tubes. Eek!
 
hanselthecaretaker

hanselthecaretaker

My flask is half full
Legacy
Nov 18, 2010
8,738
5,910
118
m.nutritioninsight.com

Highly nutritious meat substitutes on the market cannot be absorbed by the human body, study flags

09 Dec 2022 --- A new study from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, has shown that plant-based meat alternatives commonly found in supermarkets hold high phytate levels. These antinutrients inhibit the absorption of minerals in the human body, making it impossible to absorb...
m.nutritioninsight.com m.nutritioninsight.com

So yeah, guess “impossible” meat truly lives up to its name now. Crazy thought - wouldn’t it be cool if they like, did these studies before cashing in on the unproven concept?

Well, a big fat NO, idiot! Who the hell would be laughing all the way to the bank then?!
 
Thaluikhain

Thaluikhain

Elite Member
Legacy
Jan 16, 2010
19,224
3,945
118
Cannot be absorbed by the human body. A lot of these weird foods and supplements seem to be intended for non-humans.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom