Share Your Interesting But Not Very Useful Facts

[Roofless Toothless]

bongtom said:

Roofless Toothless said:

bongtom said:

Roofless Toothless said:

William the Conqueror’s wife Mathilda was only four feet two inches tall. She had nine children.

I knew that would be false, just like Napoleon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_of_Flanders#...

"In 1959 Matilda's incomplete skeleton was examined and her femur and tibia were measured to determine her height. Her height was 5 feet (152 cm), a normal female height for the time.[34] However, as a result of this examination she was misreported as being 4 feet 2 inches (127 cm)[35] leading to the myth that she was extremely small."

Well, she must have been four feet two at some point ...

Good point. I’ll edit the Wiki page.

Yes, I think you should. It seems that estimating height by the length of the leg bones is fraught with danger. Just think, at some future date some archaeologist might be trying to work out how tall Lionel Messi was by the same technique and should be warned.

[john2443]

Roofless Toothless said:

Yes, I think you should. It seems that estimating height by the length of the leg bones is fraught with danger. Just think, at some future date some archaeologist might be trying to work out how tall Lionel Messi was by the same technique and should be warned.

I'm 6ft but have relatively short legs and long back, my friend who's the same height has huge legs so extrapolating from femurs would make him 6'9" and me 5'0"

[RizzoTheRat]

Roofless Toothless said:

Yes, I think you should. It seems that estimating height by the length of the leg bones is fraught with danger. Just think, at some future date some archaeologist might be trying to work out how tall Lionel Messi was by the same technique and should be warned.

I'm seem to remember some controversy over paralympic sprinters and that one too, there's a limit on the length of prosthetic they can wear based some other measurements, but obviously you want them as long as you can get away with. There were several pictures of one sprinter who was several inches taller in his running blades than in the legs he normally wore.

[SpeckledJim]

RizzoTheRat said:

Roofless Toothless said:

Yes, I think you should. It seems that estimating height by the length of the leg bones is fraught with danger. Just think, at some future date some archaeologist might be trying to work out how tall Lionel Messi was by the same technique and should be warned.

I'm seem to remember some controversy over paralympic sprinters and that one too, there's a limit on the length of prosthetic they can wear based some other measurements, but obviously you want them as long as you can get away with. There were several pictures of one sprinter who was several inches taller in his running blades than in the legs he normally wore.

IIRC paralympic sprinters could potentially be faster than the fastest able-bodied sprinters, due to the blades being more efficient than the achilles tendon, or something like that.

[P-Jay]

Norway produces more barrels of oil a day per capita than Saudi Arabia.

They may have great trust in their goverment which allows them to have a high taxation and excellent warefare state with good quality of life / happiness scores, but it's the oil that makes them rich, not the warefare state.

[AstonZagato]

There is a rule for both written and spoken English is that multiple adjectives MUST go in a certain order. They are always ranked according to:

1. opinion,
2. size,
3. age,
4. shape,
5. colour,
6. origin,
7. material,
8. purpose.

You simply can’t say My Greek Fat Big Wedding, or leather walking brown boots.
You do it without ever being taught it or even knowing it exists.

There is also a logic to why, in English, you are "in" a taxi but "on" a ferry.

If you can walk around in the mode of transport, you use "on". If you need to crouch, you use "in".

• I'm on the plane but in the helicopter.
• I'm in the dingy but on the yacht.
• I'm in the car but on the train.

Again, you instinctively know this.

[Silver Smudger]

AstonZagato said:

There is also a logic to why, in English, you are "in" a taxi but "on" a ferry.

If you can walk around in the mode of transport, you use "on". If you need to crouch, you use "in".

• I'm on the plane but in the helicopter.
• I'm in the dingy but on the yacht.
• I'm in the car but on the train.

Again, you instinctively know this.

... Sledge?

[SpeckledJim]

AstonZagato said:

There is a rule for both written and spoken English is that multiple adjectives MUST go in a certain order. They are always ranked according to:

1. opinion,
2. size,
3. age,
4. shape,
5. colour,
6. origin,
7. material,
8. purpose.

You simply can’t say My Greek Fat Big Wedding, or leather walking brown boots.
You do it without ever being taught it or even knowing it exists.

There is also a logic to why, in English, you are "in" a taxi but "on" a ferry.

If you can walk around in the mode of transport, you use "on". If you need to crouch, you use "in".

• I'm on the plane but in the helicopter.
• I'm in the dingy but on the yacht.
• I'm in the car but on the train.

Again, you instinctively know this.

Love it!

[Doofus]

Silver Smudger said:

AstonZagato said:

There is also a logic to why, in English, you are "in" a taxi but "on" a ferry.

If you can walk around in the mode of transport, you use "on". If you need to crouch, you use "in".

• I'm on the plane but in the helicopter.
• I'm in the dingy but on the yacht.
• I'm in the car but on the train.

Again, you instinctively know this.

... Sledge?

Bicycle.

[WrekinCrew]

Doofus said:

Silver Smudger said:

AstonZagato said:

There is also a logic to why, in English, you are "in" a taxi but "on" a ferry.

If you can walk around in the mode of transport, you use "on". If you need to crouch, you use "in".

• I'm on the plane but in the helicopter.
• I'm in the dingy but on the yacht.
• I'm in the car but on the train.

Again, you instinctively know this.

... Sledge?

Bicycle.

Lift?

[Jonquil]

AstonZagato said:

There is a rule for both written and spoken English is that multiple adjectives MUST go in a certain order. They are always ranked according to:

1. opinion,
2. size,
3. age,
4. shape,
5. colour,
6. origin,
7. material,
8. purpose.

You simply can’t say My Greek Fat Big Wedding, or leather walking brown boots.
You do it without ever being taught it or even knowing it exists.

There is also a logic to why, in English, you are "in" a taxi but "on" a ferry.

If you can walk around in the mode of transport, you use "on". If you need to crouch, you use "in".

• I'm on the plane but in the helicopter.
• I'm in the dingy but on the yacht.
• I'm in the car but on the train.

Again, you instinctively know this.

I beg to differ. You are 'in' a ship, dinghy or ferry because all are vessels.
I know you have to crouch in H.M.S. Victory because I got a sore head from
nutting the deck beams. However, there was no need to crouch aboard the Pride
of Rotterdam or the Queen Mary 2 but I was in them all the same.

[Wacky Racer]

Stockport railway viaduct used to be the largest brick built structure in Europe.


You have more chance being murdered than winning the UK lotto jackpot.


The first Wembley FA cup final where players wore numbers on the back of their shirts was in 1933 Everton 3 Manchester City 0


Numbers 1-22 (Dixie Dean played for Everton.)

[eldar]

In 1903 Warwickshire coal mines produced 3,449,068 tons of coal.

[AstonZagato]

Jonquil said:

I beg to differ. You are 'in' a ship, dinghy or ferry because all are vessels.
I know you have to crouch in H.M.S. Victory because I got a sore head from
nutting the deck beams. However, there was no need to crouch aboard the Pride
of Rotterdam or the Queen Mary 2 but I was in them all the same.

"Hi, where are you"
"Oh, I'm in the ferry on the way to France"

That doesn't sound right to me.

[Doofus]

AstonZagato said:

Jonquil said:

I beg to differ. You are 'in' a ship, dinghy or ferry because all are vessels.
I know you have to crouch in H.M.S. Victory because I got a sore head from
nutting the deck beams. However, there was no need to crouch aboard the Pride
of Rotterdam or the Queen Mary 2 but I was in them all the same.

"Hi, where are you"
"Oh, I'm in the ferry on the way to France"

That doesn't sound right to me.

See also: I am on the bog.

[Huff]

The Surinam Toad has a pointed head.
&
Sibelius was totally bald when he died.

[eldar]

The Honda Cub motorcycle has been in continuous production since 1958 with various updates. The 100,000,000 production mark was passed in 2017.

[98elise]

AstonZagato said:

Jonquil said:

I beg to differ. You are 'in' a ship, dinghy or ferry because all are vessels.
I know you have to crouch in H.M.S. Victory because I got a sore head from
nutting the deck beams. However, there was no need to crouch aboard the Pride
of Rotterdam or the Queen Mary 2 but I was in them all the same.

"Hi, where are you"
"Oh, I'm in the ferry on the way to France"

That doesn't sound right to me.

Agreed. You are "On board"

I served in the RN and nobody would say "in" a ship, it was "on" a ship.

"I'm on Ark Royal, my mate is on Invincible"

'In" just doesn't work!

[popeyewhite]

Men cannot take drinks designed to alleviate the symptoms of cystitis in women.

[Penny Whistle]

98elise said:

Agreed. You are "On board"

I served in the RN and nobody would say "in" a ship, it was "on" a ship.

"I'm on Ark Royal, my mate is on Invincible"

'In" just doesn't work!

What if the ship is a boat ? You wouldn't say "I'm on a submarine" - or would you ?