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Old August 2nd, 2012 #1
Alex Linder
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Default I DID Not Know That

This thread is for things you did not know.

Was filing away paper scutwork, and came across some guide to China and the Yangtze River. It says:

In the West, offering a cup of tea impiles an invitation to linger and socialize. In China, tea drinking traditionally signifies the end of a social or business encounter. When a guest arrives, the host serves tea. The business is conducted and only then does the host drink his tea, indicating the closure of the meeting.

And also this:

In Confucian thought, the cold steel of a knife and fork represents weapons and violence. Chopsticks are considered benevolent and non-threatening. Since a meal is meant to be almost a ceremony of peace and hostility, the Chinese choose chopsticks.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #2
Bardamu
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Then they are drinking room temperature tea, which isn't very good.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #3
varg
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Not sure if it's Pets-mart or Pet-smart. Still looking for answers.

Edit: Oh it's Pet-Smart. Apparently their website says. Well, that was embarrassing.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #4
Bardamu
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I was working around frogs today and trying to help one to safety it squeaked loudly. I didn't know they did that.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #5
Donald E. Pauly
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Smile Frogs Squeaking

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bardamu View Post
I was working around frogs today and trying to help one to safety it squeaked loudly. I didn't know they did that.
Are these two legged ones? If so I have corresponded with several of them on this Forum. Mine have not squeaked yet but they are Nazis.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #6
Lord Arthas
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I found out that Russia has a population of 143 million. I thought it was much higher, like close to 300 million
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #7
Bardamu
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Donald E. Pauly View Post
Are these two legged ones? If so I have corresponded with several of them on this Forum. Mine have not squeaked yet but they are Nazis.
No, the amphibians.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #8
Leonard Rouse
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord Arthas View Post
I found out that Russia has a population of 143 million. I thought it was much higher, like close to 300 million
Yes, tiny population density, even in the western region, where almost everyone lives.

That's why France, under Napoleon, invading Russia isn't as crazy as it might seem today. France had an exponentially larger population than Russia, and there were no 'weapons of mass destruction'.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #9
Dean
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leonard Rouse View Post
Yes, tiny population density, even in the western region, where almost everyone lives.
Yeah, and because of the Communists you have lots of random huge cities in the middle of nowhere in Siberia. I was shocked to find that Novosibirsk is Russia's third largest city, and it's right in the middle of Siberia near the Kazakhstan and Mongolia borders.

I'm Lord Arthas by the way
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #10
Angel Ramsey
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean View Post
Yeah, and because of the Communists you have lots of random huge cities in the middle of nowhere in Siberia. I was shocked to find that Novosibirsk is Russia's third largest city, and it's right in the middle of Siberia near the Kazakhstan and Mongolia borders.

I'm Lord Arthas by the way
What the fuck is "Lord Arthas"?
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #11
Dean
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What the fuck is "Lord Arthas"?
Arthas is the name of a character in World of Warcraft. Yes I am a huge nerd.
 
Old August 2nd, 2012 #12
Angel Ramsey
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean View Post
Arthas is the name of a character in World of Warcraft. Yes I am a huge nerd.
I thought you were a member of Clan Domitiru. Batteling it out with Clan Angeleski. A lot of shit has went down. Gypsy wars.
 
Old August 3rd, 2012 #13
Alex Linder
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Three things I came across in some description of an upper-end domicile.

Coffered ceilings - decorative depressed squares or octagons



tile backsplash - counter goes up onto wall. I had heard of this but had forgotten until looked it up.



laundry pedestal - still not sure what this is, i guess a space to store dirty clothes under washer/dryer


Last edited by Alex Linder; August 3rd, 2012 at 07:38 AM.
 
Old August 3rd, 2012 #14
Donnie in Ohio
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Apparently, the word "retarded" is now bad.
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"When US gets nuked and NEMO is uninhabitable, I will make my way on foot to the gulf and live off red snapper and grapefruit"- Alex Linder
 
Old August 3rd, 2012 #15
M.N. Dalvez
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Quote:
In Confucian thought, the cold steel of a knife and fork represents weapons and violence. Chopsticks are considered benevolent and non-threatening. Since a meal is meant to be almost a ceremony of peace and hostility, the Chinese choose chopsticks.
That's not true. In (actual) Chinese food, the meat is almost always pre-minced or chopped, and served in a communal dish. They just don't serve things like big fat steaks. So the simple (and thus most likely) explanation is that they don't use individual knives because they just don't need to.
 
Old August 3rd, 2012 #16
Alex Linder
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Donnie in Ohio View Post
Apparently, the word "retarded" is now bad.
Yeah, it's bad. Bad to the bone.
 
Old August 3rd, 2012 #17
Alex Linder
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The inspiration for this thread comes from Benjamin Franklin's idea that you should look up every new word as you come across it and thereby expand your vocabulary. That extends to anything new you come across, especially in an era when search engines make it easy. Back in the 1950s a lot of households, like my father's, had one giant book of knowledge, covering all human experience, a sort of one-book encyclopedia. We aren't limited like that today, although those old books held a whopping amount of knowledge between two covers.
 
Old August 3rd, 2012 #18
M.N. Dalvez
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The more you know, the more you can know. Old knowledge is a scaffold you can build new knowledge onto.
 
Old August 3rd, 2012 #19
varg
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Learned the word usageaster the other day. I had never seen it before.
 
Old August 3rd, 2012 #20
Alex Linder
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Quote:
Originally Posted by varg View Post
Learned the word usageaster the other day. I had never seen it before.
Well you're supposed to explain what it means so we all can benefit. I have not heard of that myself, but I can reason from poetaster, which is a shitty poet, a manufacturer of doggerel.
 
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