Totally useless information/trivia

[TreeVillan]

1 hour ago, Designer1 said:

 

 

Babycham was the first alcoholic beverage to advertised on British Tele

[T-Dog]

8 hours ago, Chindie said:

Tango's famous 90s slogan, 'You know when you've been Tango'd', was performed by legendary jazz poet and singer Gil Scott-Heron.

No waaaaaay, that's incredible

[Seat68]

On 12/02/2022 at 10:42, Seat68 said:

The voice in the Tango ad, "You know when you've been tango'd" is Gil Scott Heron. 

Ahem. 

[TreeVillan]

52 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

Ahem. 

That must feel like a bit of a slap to the face

[chrisp65]

Although the two events are not connected, France did not stop executing people by guillotine until 3 years after ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest.

[one_ian_taylor]

1 hour ago, chrisp65 said:

Although the two events are not connected, France did not stop executing people by guillotine until 3 years after ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest.

Are you sure? 

And I don't  think the death penalty was removed from the statute books until even later (1980/1). 

[Mark Albrighton]

The ampersand (&) used to be taught as part of the English alphabet. Its name in part comes from the Latin per se (“by itself”). Apparently “A” and “I”, because they were also words, would include per se to distinguish them from their word counterparts (I, per se, I ).

So, in order to distinguish the “and” from the “&” when reciting the alphabet, it would go -

“…x, y, z and per se &.”

This was eventually corrupted to “ampersand”.

[Nor-Cal Villan]

6 hours ago, chrisp65 said:

Although the two events are not connected, France did not stop executing people by guillotine until 3 years after ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest.

For a split second there I got all happy thinking you said that ABBA had been guillotined

[Rds1983]

In 1066 the honorary position of King's Champion was issued, with the intention being for this person to challenge to mortal combat anyone who dismissed the King's claim to the throne during their coronation. The champion would also act as the King's standard bearer.

The title is hereditary and linked to the Lord of Scriveslby (a small village in Lincolnshire).

This position has been in place and filled for every coronation since then, including Charles 3rd in 2023 when it was held by 68 year old Francis Dymoke (a farmer and former accountant).

[Chindie]

This dumb looking creature is a crested gecko. Crested geckos are perhaps one of the more bizarre examples of a commercialised animals. But why is that? 

Crested geckos are a type of small lizard from New Caledonia, a small group of islands about a thousand miles east of Australia, which are a French territory. The islands are famous for their lizards and they have numerous endemic gecko species. The crested gecko is an average sized gecko that was discovered on the islands in the 1860s, but was then believed to be extinct until a population was found in 1994 after a storm.

They get their name from the eye lash like crests that run over the top of their eye and down their sides. Like most geckos they can't close their eyes, instead they have a hard clear lens over their eye and they close their pupils to sleep. And also like many lizards they can purposefully drop their tails, but unlike most lizards they can't grow them back, which is particularly odd because they actually use their tails for climbing, jumping and communication. Which is even more bizarre as they actually lose their tails very easily, just being startled by a noise can cause them to drop it. They are so likely to do it that in the wild almost none have tails.

But why are they commercialised? Well, basically, the pet trade. Despite only being known of as a living species for literally 30 years, after one fell onto an expedition to the islands during a storm, they've become one of the biggest reptile pets around. A few of them were exported to Europe and the US for research, which in turn established lines to breed. It quickly turned out they are remarkably easy to keep for reptiles, as they aren't very big, don't need loads of space, don't need high temperatures, and they are very docile. It then turned out they breed exceptionally easily, potentially even able to do so parthenogenically (i.e. females can occasionally lay viable eggs without mating at all), and they also seem to have exceptionally wide genetics affecting appearance which means they can be selectively bred for crazy morphs. That in turn created a breeder economy meaning particularly rare or unusual genetic makeups can be worth exponentially higher amounts - as a result crested geckos vary in price from £60 to tens of thousands. This breeding culture has also meant that the species is now essentially domesticated - the wild ones don't really look like the pet ones outside of basic shape.

This has meant there's a whole industry around catering to crested geckos. They even have multiple brands of food designed for them specifically, as another thing that makes them easy to keep is their liking for overripe fruit which in turn leads to then liking a smoothie like food that can be made up from a powder.

In turn they've also caused some off their related species to boost in the pet trade, as various related species that essentially have the same diet and requirements have also been picked up. Cresties too boring? Get a gargoyle. Too small? Get a leachie. Want something that melds all of them? Get a chahoua.

It's very strange that a whole pet subculture, and a resulting industry, can develop out if a silly little lizard that, literally 30 years ago, we thought had been wiped out.

[BOF]

10 hours ago, Chindie said:

This dumb looking creature is a crested gecko. Crested geckos are perhaps one of the more bizarre examples of a commercialised animals. But why is that? 

Crested geckos are a type of small lizard from New Caledonia, a small group of islands about a thousand miles east of Australia, which are a French territory. The islands are famous for their lizards and they have numerous endemic gecko species. The crested gecko is an average sized gecko that was discovered on the islands in the 1860s, but was then believed to be extinct until a population was found in 1994 after a storm.

They get their name from the eye lash like crests that run over the top of their eye and down their sides. Like most geckos they can't close their eyes, instead they have a hard clear lens over their eye and they close their pupils to sleep. And also like many lizards they can purposefully drop their tails, but unlike most lizards they can't grow them back, which is particularly odd because they actually use their tails for climbing, jumping and communication. Which is even more bizarre as they actually lose their tails very easily, just being startled by a noise can cause them to drop it. They are so likely to do it that in the wild almost none have tails.

But why are they commercialised? Well, basically, the pet trade. Despite only being known of as a living species for literally 30 years, after one fell onto an expedition to the islands during a storm, they've become one of the biggest reptile pets around. A few of them were exported to Europe and the US for research, which in turn established lines to breed. It quickly turned out they are remarkably easy to keep for reptiles, as they aren't very big, don't need loads of space, don't need high temperatures, and they are very docile. It then turned out they breed exceptionally easily, potentially even able to do so parthenogenically (i.e. females can occasionally lay viable eggs without mating at all), and they also seem to have exceptionally wide genetics affecting appearance which means they can be selectively bred for crazy morphs. That in turn created a breeder economy meaning particularly rare or unusual genetic makeups can be worth exponentially higher amounts - as a result crested geckos vary in price from £60 to tens of thousands. This breeding culture has also meant that the species is now essentially domesticated - the wild ones don't really look like the pet ones outside of basic shape.

This has meant there's a whole industry around catering to crested geckos. They even have multiple brands of food designed for them specifically, as another thing that makes them easy to keep is their liking for overripe fruit which in turn leads to then liking a smoothie like food that can be made up from a powder.

In turn they've also caused some off their related species to boost in the pet trade, as various related species that essentially have the same diet and requirements have also been picked up. Cresties too boring? Get a gargoyle. Too small? Get a leachie. Want something that melds all of them? Get a chahoua.

It's very strange that a whole pet subculture, and a resulting industry, can develop out if a silly little lizard that, literally 30 years ago, we thought had been wiped out.

And a very rare instance of the pet trade being arguably a good thing for a particular species. Effectively ensuring the species' survival long into the future by giving it a much more solid footing. Pun definitely intended.

[VILLAMARV]

The name Walsall apparently comes from "Walh halh", which means "valley of the Welsh"

[Marka Ragnos]

I met an older middle age British woman online today on Zoom who repeatedly used a phrase in a way I haven't heard before, and I was trying to place her. Very working class person. She kept repeating "you know" in her sharing, pronouncing it basically as "uno" or "ooh-no." It was interesting. Example: "I was down the pub, ooh-no, and my friend comes in, ooh-no, and ..." Anyone recognise that at all? Is that even a regionalism?

Edited August 23 by Marka Ragnos

[chrisp65]

3 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

I met an older middle age British woman online today on Zoom who repeatedly used a phrase in a way I haven't heard before, and I was trying to place her. Very working class person. She kept repeating "you know" in her sharing, pronouncing it basically as "uno" or "ooh-no." It was interesting. Example: "I was down the pub, ooh-no, and my friend comes in, ooh-no, and ..." Anyone recognise that at all? Is that even a regionalism?

I’d say that was a fairly universal version of ermm.

[lapal_fan]

2 hours ago, VILLAMARV said:

The name Walsall apparently comes from "Walh halh", which means "valley of the Welsh"

Stop trying to appropriate our history!!!!

Someone ban the strange accented man!

[mjmooney]

10 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

I met an older middle age British woman online today on Zoom who repeatedly used a phrase in a way I haven't heard before, and I was trying to place her. Very working class person. She kept repeating "you know" in her sharing, pronouncing it basically as "uno" or "ooh-no." It was interesting. Example: "I was down the pub, ooh-no, and my friend comes in, ooh-no, and ..." Anyone recognise that at all? Is that even a regionalism?

"OO-no" and "oo-NO" sound quite different, you sure she used both? And there was no "y" sound? Because, as @chrisp65 says, "y'know" is the standard 'noise word' of the less articulate (regardless of which local accent is being used). 

Why didn't you just ask her where she was from? I would have done. 

[fruitvilla]

10 hours ago, BOF said:

And a very rare instance of the pet trade being arguably a good thing for a particular species. Effectively ensuring the species' survival long into the future by giving it a much more solid footing. Pun definitely intended.

Two things ... I have had an opportunity to visit New Caledonia ... nice place ... a mixture mild poverty and expensive French economy. It was sort of a company junket for a conference.

Secondly, if we believe in evolution, then the gecko species will last awhile into the future, but the species will eventually diverge if left long enough ... different evolutionary selection pressures and all that.

 

[Marka Ragnos]

42 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

"OO-no" and "oo-NO" sound quite different, you sure she used both? And there was no "y" sound? Because, as @chrisp65 says, "y'know" is the standard 'noise word' of the less articulate (regardless of which local accent is being used). 

Why didn't you just ask her where she was from? I would have done. 

I wanted to, but no opportunity on this occasion. Just one version. It DOES have a bit of eeh-NO (sort of a long E sound followed by KNOW, but with the stress on KNOW) sound to it. I lived in London for four years and never heard this. Sorry -- not a linguist, so not good at explaining. I thought she almost sounded Welsh but not quite? Do people near the Marches sound slightly Welsh?

Edited August 23 by Marka Ragnos

[mjmooney]

3 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

I wanted to, but no opportunity on this occasion. Just one version. It DOES have a bit of eeh-NO (sort of a long E sound followed by KNOW, but with the stress on KNOW) sound to it. Sorry -- not a linguist. I thought she almost sounded Welsh but not quite? Do people near the Marches sound slightly Welsh?

Did it have a rising intonation, like "y'know??? "? That would sound Australian, if anything. 

Although, thinking about it, I'm coming round to the Welsh borders theory. 

Edited August 23 by mjmooney

[Marka Ragnos]

9 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Did it have a rising intonation, like "y'know??? "? That would sound Australian, if anything. 

Haha. It did rise a bit but definitely not Australian. I think it may have been Herefordshire-ish, the more I think about it? This interruptor phrase was there,  but there were other parts of her speech, that make me think this. I will try to find out if I see her again. She was interesting, had been to prison, etc. Had quite a life story. She was definitely not London or the North, nor Lancashire and East Anglia, nor Black Country. It was a very loosely West Midlands sort of group of people.

Edited August 23 by Marka Ragnos