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Bebi
The Management
Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 824
Location: West Yorkshire, UK
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 Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:06 pm Post subject: Questions we'd like to know the answer to... |
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Why do you never see baby pigeons? 
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Rhyknow
25 - 49
Joined: 08 Jan 2007
Posts: 43
Location: Los Sientas. If only
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| Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Why is tramp racing illegal?  |
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Bebi
The Management
Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 824
Location: West Yorkshire, UK
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| Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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Just got this in an email from my mate Debs:
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Can you get cornered in a round room?
What happens if your snot freezes in your nose?
Can bald men get lice??
Who gets to keep the pennies in a wishing well?
Do the air bubbles that are created when you fart in water, smell when they pop?
If CD’s were spun in the opposite direction, would it say everything backwards?
Can you blow a balloon up under water?
If London Bridge is standing why is there a song about it falling down?
Why do birds bob their heads when they walk?
If two identical twin brothers married identical twin sisters, would there kids be identical?
Seeing as cupid is so good at matchmaking, does he have a girlfriend?
Do ducks sneeze?
Why can't we sneeze with our eyes open?
If ignorance is bliss, why aren’t more people happy?
If I think, and therefore I am, am I just a thought?
Why does breaking a mirror mean seven years of bad luck when seven is a lucky number??
Why are there dents in a golf ball?
How can sweet and sour sauce be sweet and sour at the same time?
If your born at exactly midnight is your birthday on both those days?
If you mated a bull dog and a shitsu, would it be called a bullshit?
If Practice makes perfect, and nobody's perfect, then why practice?
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Bebi
The Management
Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 824
Location: West Yorkshire, UK
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| Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 3:42 pm Post subject: |
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I can answer one of them:
If London Bridge is standing why is there a song about it falling down?
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The buildings on London Bridge created a major fire hazard and served to increase the load on its arches, so it is not surprising that there were several disasters on the bridge. In 1212, perhaps the greatest of the early fires of London broke out on both ends of the bridge simultaneously, trapping many in the middle and reportedly resulting in 3,000 people being killed. Another major fire broke out in 1633 with the northern third of the bridge being destroyed, although this prevented the bridge from being damaged by the Great Fire of London in 1666. By 1722, congestion was becoming so serious that the Lord Mayor decreed that "All carts, coaches and other carriages coming out of Southwark into this City do keep all along the west side of the said bridge: and all carts and coaches going out of the City do keep along the east side of the said bridge". This is possibly the origin of traffic in Britain driving on the left. Finally, in 1758–62, the houses were removed along with the two centre arches, replaced with a single wider span to improve navigation on the river.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge
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Wikipedia also explains the nursery rhyme
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History
The earliest reference to the rhyme appears to be in a play of 1659, and it is recorded as being associated with children by 1720. The earliest known text dates from a little later, appearing in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (circa 1744). It is likely, however, that it was already well-established by this time.
The rhyme may have had considerably more ancient antecedents. In 1013, London Bridge was burned down by King Ethelred and his Norwegian ally Olaf Haraldsson in a bid to divide the invading forces of the Danish king Svein Haraldsson. The event was recorded in the Saga of Olaf Haraldson, part of the Heimskringla composed around 1225 by Snorri Sturluson. Snorri quotes extracts of a lay by a Norse poet, Ottar Svarte, including the following passage which is strikingly similar to parts of the rhyme:
London Bridge is broken down. --
Gold is won, and bright renown.
Shields resounding,
War-horns sounding,
Hild is shouting in the din!
Arrows singing,
Mail-coats ringing --
Odin makes our Olaf win!
However, the popular version probably originates from 1269, when Henry III granted the tolling right to Queen Eleanor. She is the "fair lady" who notably failed to spend the resulting funds on actually maintaining the structure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_is_Falling_Down
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FrankBlunt
Mini Management
Joined: 07 Jul 2006
Posts: 125
Location: California, USA
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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These are some random questions that entered my mind in the past few days:
Has a civil engineer ever been terminated for combativeness?
Is the Tooth Fairy duped by denture wearers on a nightly basis during soaking?
Are pet fish flushed down the toilet upon expiration merely on the basis of size? If so, how about a teacup poodle? In the latter example, must I await expiration?
When I attend my first high school reunion (Pending future confirmation that I am the sole surviving member of my graduating class), should I circulate flyers within the community to avoid being labeled unsociable?
Failure to achieve status quo carries a social consequence of shunning, so why do we celebrate it in so many cases? High school graduation, wedding anniversaries given the "'Til Death..." arrangement, propagation of our species, etc. |
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FrankBlunt
Mini Management
Joined: 07 Jul 2006
Posts: 125
Location: California, USA
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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Why do you never see baby pigeons?
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I once bore witness to pigeons committing featherism in downtown San Jose. The proprietor of a store selling bottled water and sundries fed them daily in the adjacent parking lot. With the exception of one brown feathered pigeon, the others were gray. A small loft of the gray pigeons aggressively prevented the brown one from eating any grain whatsoever.
One of the private contractors teaching W2K training courses when my office migrated from W95 wrote his master's thesis on pigeon behavior. I inquired as to whether or not he'd ever experienced racism first-hand among pigeons. He curtly responded, "No.", and changed the subject abruptly.
It's not at all possible in my mind that he saw lunacy in my query. I'd have to guess he was jealous. |
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Bebi
The Management
Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 824
Location: West Yorkshire, UK
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:05 pm Post subject: |
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| FrankBlunt wrote: | Are pet fish flushed down the toilet upon expiration merely on the basis of size? If so, how about a teacup poodle? In the latter example, must I await expiration?
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 they are annoying aren't they...
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There is method behind my madness |
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FrankBlunt
Mini Management
Joined: 07 Jul 2006
Posts: 125
Location: California, USA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 3:50 pm Post subject: |
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Has a bride ever selected a butler of honor for her wedding, accompanied by bride’s butlers? A best woman for the sort of groom who neither watches football nor fixes automobiles?
Why can’t the bride assign shushers to the pews for maintaining silence as vows are exchanged? They might also shoulder the responsibilities of:
1. Requesting that bird seed be thrown at the betrothed strictly outdoors, and only at the conclusion of the ceremony.
2. Warning adolescents in attendance of the dangers in obstructing one's nasal cavities with Jordan almonds.
3. Distributing facial tissues and scolding the weepy for not discarding their refuse in the designated biohazardous waste receptacles. |
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FrankBlunt
Mini Management
Joined: 07 Jul 2006
Posts: 125
Location: California, USA
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 7:30 pm Post subject: |
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Why were Wimbledon officials offended by Andre Agassi's multi-colored attire years ago, but short skirts exposing undies with each strike of the ball are dignified?
Since boxing has weight classes, why can't basketball divide leagues by height? Chess tournaments by I.Q.? Cricket by employment status and/or tea preferences? |
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FrankBlunt
Mini Management
Joined: 07 Jul 2006
Posts: 125
Location: California, USA
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| Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:24 am Post subject: |
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The Andy Rooney aspect has possessed me for the moment, but I'm practicing B.S.P. psychic shielding to keep his politics at bay. As you can imagine, I irritate a lot of people, so while others claim to be born witches, I'm going to begin telling friends and acquaintances that I was born an itch.
Back to the questions:
Where did Starbucks arrive at its measuring system of Tall, Grande (Big), and Venti ("Twenty" according to Webster's NW Italian Dictionary)? Is it one of those deals where I'm stupid for not comprehending the alleged logic behind the stupidity?
"Tall" isn't consistent with the language used in the other available quantities, and in Italian tall is alto... How hard is it to say alto?
Short is corto. That's not a difficult pronunciation, either. But I know that businesses want customers to feel that they're getting more than they are, even though we can all clearly see that tall is short.
Would they agree to contralto? Or would a pair of baristas turn to stare at one another from behind the counter upon my suggestion, shaming me out of the establishment? But I'm impervious to the effects of both verbal and non-verbal consultations nowadays, so I'd continue standing there until I was addressed properly.
I'm not the first to raise this issue, and Dave Barry devoted a column to it, not surprisingly.
Academic exploration of the Tall, Grande, Venti convention
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001677.html
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