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| Thread ID: 58600 | 2005-06-06 00:23:00 | Monday Laughs: More trivia than funny, but worth sharing...... | Billy T (70) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 361536 | 2005-06-06 06:47:00 | Really? I was told it was because in the heyday of sailors, by the time they'd landed in a port, the sailors were incredibly horney. They'd take the young girls, and rape them. They were found out, and charged "For Unlawful Carnel Knowlegde", or F**K Too many fanciful explanations around! "F*ck" is an Old English word, derived from Low Dutch (now mostly Frisian, spoken in the north of Holland) - pronounced something like "fog". German has "figt", and French has "foudre". Similar origins exist for the words "c**t", "arse", sh*t, etc etc. I point you to Melvin Bragg's "The Story of the English Language". Very interesting how the very obscure dialect of a few wandering bands of Saxons overcame the Celts, Picts, Britons, Vikings, Normans, Romans, etc to become what it is today. The Saxons that stayed on the continent became the northern Dutch and Germans, and later some migrated to the east to what is now the German state of Saxony. Apparently, the Frisian, Saxon and Old English dialects are quite similar in the manner of the Polynesian languages. |
vinref (6194) | ||
| 361537 | 2005-06-06 07:37:00 | I point you to Melvin Bragg's "The Story of the English Language". Very interesting how the very obscure dialect of a few wandering bands of Saxons overcame the Celts, Picts, Britons, Vikings,... <snip> Terry, where are ya? :D |
FoxyMX (5) | ||
| 361538 | 2005-06-06 11:04:00 | FoxyMX.....I take it that this is not personally remembered info you have provided? PJ ;) :lol: | Poppa John (284) | ||
| 361539 | 2005-06-06 12:32:00 | Read the origins of the word "f*ck" here (www.snopes.com). The acronym explanation is an internet urban myth. Ditto for posh. | vinref (6194) | ||
| 361540 | 2005-06-06 12:48:00 | Read the origins of the word "f*ck" here (www.snopes.com). The acronym explanation is an internet urban myth. Ditto for posh. I was going to mention snopes (http://www.snopes.com/) too, a good reliable resource for checking out trivia. |
sal (67) | ||
| 361541 | 2005-06-06 21:52:00 | I just used AskJeeves for the origin of the word "posh" and got this: "The story goes that the more well-to-do passengers travelling to and from India used to have POSH written against their bookings, standing for 'Port Out, Starboard Home' (indicating the more desirable cabins, on the shady side of the ship). Unfortunately, this story did not make its appearance until the 1930s, when the term had been in use for some twenty years, and the word does not appear to have been recorded in the form 'P.O.S.H.', which would be expected if it had originated as an abbreviation. Despite exhaustive enquiries by the late Mr George Chowdharay-Best, researcher for the OED, including interviews with former travellers and inspection of shipping company documents, no supporting evidence has been found." I also noticed that the same source had a reference to "brass monkey": "The story goes that cannonballs used to be stored aboard ship in piles, on a brass frame or tray called a 'monkey'. In very cold weather the brass would contract, spilling the cannonballs: hence very cold weather is 'cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey'. There are several problems with this story. The first is that the term 'monkey' is not otherwise recorded as the name for such an object. The second is that the rate of contraction of brass in cold temperatures is unlikely to be sufficient to cause the reputed effect. The third is that the phrase is actually first recorded as 'freeze the tail off a brass monkey', which removes any essential connection with balls. It therefore seems most likely that the phrase is simply a ribald allusion to the fact that metal figures will become very cold to the touch in cold weather (and some materials will become brittle)." These definitions came from AskOxford.com via AskJeeves. Personally I prefer the urban myths... |
John H (8) | ||
| 361542 | 2005-06-06 21:58:00 | Read the origins of the word "f*ck" here (www.snopes.com). The acronym explanation is an internet urban myth. Ditto for posh. LOL, I knew I would stir someone up enough to jump on that one. It took longer than I expected, though. :D It is interesting that the origin of the word is not actually known but what is even more interesting is that it is still an "offensive" word and considered bad language to use it. It is understandable that it would have been offensive a century or so ago amongst the prude societies where people didn't talk about such things but times have changed. It's not like sex is an offensive activity between two consenting adults now, so why is the word still offensive? I still like the urban myth explanations as well. :D |
FoxyMX (5) | ||
| 361543 | 2005-06-06 22:14:00 | I just found a new website: http://www.wordorigins.org/ Not bad for finding the origin of some of those "odd" words. |
John H (8) | ||
| 361544 | 2005-06-06 22:31:00 | A couple was having some trouble, so they did the right thing and went to a marriage counselor. After a few visits, and a lot of questioning and listening, the counselor said that he had discovered the main problem. He stood up, went over to the woman, asked her to stand, and gave her a hug. He looked at the man and said, "This is what your wife needs, at least once a day!" The man frowned, thought for a moment, then said, "OK, what time do you want me to bring her back tomorrow?" |
Strommer (42) | ||
| 361545 | 2005-06-06 22:35:00 | HOW TO KEEP A HEALTHY LEVEL OF INSANITY AND DRIVE OTHER PEOPLE INSANE! 1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car and point your hair dryer at passing cars to see if they slow down. 2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice. 3. Insist that your e-mail address be: zena-goddess-of-fire@companyname.com 4. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that. 5. Encourage you colleagues to join you in a little synchronized chair dancing. 6. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "IN." 7. Develop an unnatural fear of staplers 8. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso. 9. In the memo field of all your checks, write "for sexual favors." 10. Reply to everything someone says with, "That's what you think." 11. Adjust the tint on your monitor so that the brightness level lights up the entire work area. Insist to others that you like it that way. 12. Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy." 13. dontuseanypunctuationorspaces 14. As often as possible, skip rather than walk. 15. Ask people what sex they are. 16. Specify that your drive-through order is "to go." 17. Sing along at the opera. 18. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme. 19. Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly the same outfits. Wear them one day after your boss does. (This is especially effective if your boss is the opposite gender.) 20. Send e-mail to the rest of the company to tell them where you're going. For example: If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bathroom. 21. Put mosquito netting around your cubicle. 22. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood. 23. Hum when you ride an elevator. ....AND THE FINAL WAY TO ANNOY PEOPLE: 24. Send this to everyone in your address book, even if they sent it to you. |
Strommer (42) | ||
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