Daily random tidbit.

[Tao]

The Swearing thread got me thinking on euphemism treadmills and its counter-part, which then lead me to Gresham's Law, which then led to Seigniorage. Yay Seigniorage!

[Emiliana]

The other day I learned that a half an avocado has nearly twice as much potassium as a medium banana.

[Craig Jessop]

The other day I learned that a half an avocado has nearly twice as much potassium as a medium banana.

Maybe I'm allergic to potassium. Bananas and avocados BOTH make my ears itch.

[Whistler]

do you also have hay fever? It could be part of an oral allergy syndrome with a birch allergy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_allergy_syndrome.

[Craig Jessop]

Serena and Venus Williams are devout Jehovahs Witnesses. So was Michael Jackons, but he quit the church because they disapproved of Thriller.

[Dead Cat]

The word "fart" is one of the oldest in English.

[Wisteria]

I'm not being skeptical necessarily, but where did you learn this fact and who came to this conclusion?

[Dead Cat]

My mom (who spent the past few days in town--yay!), sister, and I were discussing family history and apparently we have a distant ancestor who had "Fart" as part of their name (I think Mom said it was along the lines of "Bob the Fart"). Curious that it could be a word back in the 1200s, I consulted Wikipedia.

[Katya]

My mom (who spent the past few days in town--yay!), sister, and I were discussing family history and apparently we have a distant ancestor who had "Fart" as part of their name (I think Mom said it was along the lines of "Bob the Fart"). Curious that it could be a word back in the 1200s, I consulted Wikipedia.

The OED also dates it to the 1200s (although there are English words that are several centuries older).

[Dead Cat]

Just ran the numbers: if we ever get around to colonizing the moon and we decided to make it all into one colony, it'd be over twice the size of Russia, surface area-wise.

[wired]

Just ran the numbers: if we ever get around to colonizing the moon and we decided to make it all into one colony, it'd be over twice the size of Russia, surface area-wise.

And almost as cold.

[Katya]

Calgary is the third largest city in Canada. I had no idea it was that big.

[Marduk]

Behind Toronto and Edmonton?

[Laser Jock]

Toronto and Montreal, actually. Then Calgary, Ottawa, and Edmonton.

Edit: Note, however, that the ranking is different if you're counting the whole metropolitan area, and not just the city proper. In that case it goes Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton. Interesting that Vancouver suddenly jumps in there...

[Katya]

Toronto and Montreal, actually. Then Calgary, Ottawa, and Edmonton.

Edit: Note, however, that the ranking is different if you're counting the whole metropolitan area, and not just the city proper. In that case it goes Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton. Interesting that Vancouver suddenly jumps in there...

Oh, I was surprised that Vancouver wasn't in there earlier. That makes sense if it's city vs. metropolitan area.

[mic0]

I'm reading an article about swearing for a paper. It says that in English there are three basic categories of swears, one of which includes words that are related to religion (like "damn" or "hell"). I never realized it, but "bloody" is in that category, which makes sense.

[Katya]

I'm reading an article about swearing for a paper. It says that in English there are three basic categories of swears, one of which includes words that are related to religion (like "damn" or "hell"). I never realized it, but "bloody" is in that category, which makes sense.

What are the other two categories? (Scatology and sex?)

[mic0]

Yes.

[Katya]

Yes.

Of all the things to retain from undergrad . . .

[mic0]

It's an important subject!

Or, at least, an interesting one.