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Friday, October 28, 2005
Amazing trivia
By Rene Lizada
Papa's Table
IT'S going to be along weekend. So no "serious" writing or David's you know what. Instead, let me tell you about one of my passions. I like to collect trivia, all sorts. I find them fascinating. So for your reading enjoyment, let me share. As usual, the comments in parentheses are mine.
1) Ancient Egyptians slept on stone pillows. (Baka matigas ulo nila!)
2) In Elizabethan England, spoons were considered a novelty that most people carried their own folding spoons to banquets. (Hindi pala BYOB but BYOS)
3) In medieval Japan, when men wanted to seal an agreement or a deal they pisssed together, sometimes even crisscrossing the urine streams. (Wow ha!)
4) In medieval Spain, it was customary to clean teeth with stale urine. (No comment!)
5) When you snap your fingers, it is not called snapping. It is called "fillip."
6) The word naked and nude are not synonymous. Naked implies unprotected and nude means unclothed. So you can be naked but not nude.
7) A stone phallus was often seen above the city gates of many ancient Roman cities. The people believed the symbol protected them from bad luck. In fact, there was often an inscription that appeared under the thing. And it read, "Hic Habit Felicitas" which means Happiness Dwells Here. (Hmmmmm!)
8) It is impossible to sneeze and keep one's eyes open at the same time. (O nag-try ka na?)
9) Ducks will only lay eggs early in the morning.
10) The word tip (you know the one you give to food servers) is actually an acronym. It stands for To Insure Promptness.
11) What is the most fequently used letter in the alphabet? E. The least? Guess!
12) What is the fear of rain? Ombrophobia.
13) The brain of the Neanderthal man was found to be larger than that of modern man. (Attention politicians!)
14) In Ancient China, some people committed suicide by eating a pound of salt.
15) The fear of hair? (Yes, hair) Trichophobia.
16) The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. Why? Because it was considered fashionable to shave the eyebrows off in Renaissance Florence.
17) Here is how to make the aphrodisiac The Hunting Lion: bears simmered over a slow fire and flavored with the horn of a rhinoceros and distilled human urine. (Yumyum!)
18) There are 15, 000 varieties of rice.
19) Spiders have transparent blood.
20) The fear of beds? Clinophobia.
21) Beethoven was completely deaf when he composed what some people consider to be his greatest work, The Ninth Symphony.
22) Up to this day, no one knows where Mozart is exactly buried.
23) A horse can sleep standing.
24) Shakespeare has no known living descendants.
25) At one point, the Greek city of Sparta had 25,000 citizens and 500,000 slaves.
26) A kangaroo cannot jump if its tail is lifted from the ground. Apparently the kangaroo pushes itself by using its tail.
27) When Rome burned, Nero did not play the fiddle. It was not yet invented.
28) Black teeth in medieval Japan was considered to be fashionable.
29) In the Chinese written language, the word "trouble" represents two women under one roof. (Irony or reality?)
30) The original name for the butterfly was flutterby. (I like this)
31) Who invented the scissors? Leonardo da Vinci.
32) The original meaning of the word minister meant "a lowly person." It was meant to make men to be humble while serving in the church. (Ahem!)
33) The fear of bullets? Ballistophobia.
34) The first 34 popes after Saint Peter were all saints.
35) What do you call the hole in a pencil sharpener? Chuck. (So use na in a sentence!)
36) The yoyo is a Filipino invention. It was originally a weapon.
37) A person who smokes one pack a day inhales a half cup of tar every year.
38) The fear of clothing? Vestiphobia.
39) Christopher Columbus was blond. (But who cares!)
40) The real name of Jules Verne? L.M. Olehewitz
41) And finally, a cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off. (Well I know of some people who have lived longer without their heads!)
Have a great weekend!
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (October 28, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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