Amos Stevens
New Member
Yeah when my cousin was at Niagara Falls she told us how they had a sign marking where the falls originally had been
you might not have known this
- Thread starter yudansha
- Start date
yudansha
TheGreatOne
Where did whistling at women come from?
(As per our traveler, in Italy they pinch, not whistle
)
It's known as a "wolf whistle." (If you're whistling derisively, as in "Get off the stage, you loser!" it's called a "catcall." But the lustful whistle, as in "Hey, baby!" is a wolf whistle.)
According to the Roman playwright Plautus includes this passage in his Mercator, circa 200 B.C. (thanks to Whistling in Antiquity):
[Charinus pretends to bring home a beautiful slave girl to serve his mother; in reality he and his father Demipho are in love with the girl.]
DEMIPHO: I can't permit it. She is hardly the proper sort of person to attend your mother.
CHARINUS: Why not?
DEMIPHO: Because it would cause scandal if such a beauty were the attendant of a wife and mother; when she passes through the streets all the men would look at her, leer, nod and wink and whistle.
It's possible that "whistle" in this case has a different meaning: "hiss," "chatter," or "whisper." But whistling has been around a long time.
Cave paintings arguably show evidence of people whistling, and there's written documentation from as long ago as 3000 B.C. of "bird songs of men" and human whistlers.
The wolf whistle has probably been around as long as beautiful women and construction workers.
(As per our traveler, in Italy they pinch, not whistle
)It's known as a "wolf whistle." (If you're whistling derisively, as in "Get off the stage, you loser!" it's called a "catcall." But the lustful whistle, as in "Hey, baby!" is a wolf whistle.)
According to the Roman playwright Plautus includes this passage in his Mercator, circa 200 B.C. (thanks to Whistling in Antiquity):
[Charinus pretends to bring home a beautiful slave girl to serve his mother; in reality he and his father Demipho are in love with the girl.]
DEMIPHO: I can't permit it. She is hardly the proper sort of person to attend your mother.
CHARINUS: Why not?
DEMIPHO: Because it would cause scandal if such a beauty were the attendant of a wife and mother; when she passes through the streets all the men would look at her, leer, nod and wink and whistle.
It's possible that "whistle" in this case has a different meaning: "hiss," "chatter," or "whisper." But whistling has been around a long time.
Cave paintings arguably show evidence of people whistling, and there's written documentation from as long ago as 3000 B.C. of "bird songs of men" and human whistlers.
The wolf whistle has probably been around as long as beautiful women and construction workers.
Littledragon
Above The Law
yudansha said:
Ouch... The very shocking facts of science..
I carry my cellphone hooked to my belt or pants, guess I should change that from now on.
yudansha said:(As per our traveler, in Italy they pinch, not whistle
It's known as a "wolf whistle." (If you're whistling derisively, as in "Get off the stage, you loser!" it's called a "catcall." But the lustful whistle, as in "Hey, baby!" is a wolf whistle.)
According to the Roman playwright Plautus includes this passage in his Mercator, circa 200 B.C. (thanks to Whistling in Antiquity):
[Charinus pretends to bring home a beautiful slave girl to serve his mother; in reality he and his father Demipho are in love with the girl.]
DEMIPHO: I can't permit it. She is hardly the proper sort of person to attend your mother.
CHARINUS: Why not?
DEMIPHO: Because it would cause scandal if such a beauty were the attendant of a wife and mother; when she passes through the streets all the men would look at her, leer, nod and wink and whistle.
It's possible that "whistle" in this case has a different meaning: "hiss," "chatter," or "whisper." But whistling has been around a long time.
Cave paintings arguably show evidence of people whistling, and there's written documentation from as long ago as 3000 B.C. of "bird songs of men" and human whistlers.
The wolf whistle has probably been around as long as beautiful women and construction workers.
Hahaha! No, no! I said they DIDN'T pinch! THAT'S why I was :smad:.
This was an amusing tidbit, yudansha--thanks
But, come on. You don't REALLY think Demipho was concerned about a beauty being an attendant and getting whistled at, did you?
She knew her son and husband were in love with the girl! When will you guys ever learn you can't pull a fast one on your mom or your wife?
Littledragon
Above The Law
yudansha said:(As per our traveler, in Italy they pinch, not whistle
It's known as a "wolf whistle." (If you're whistling derisively, as in "Get off the stage, you loser!" it's called a "catcall." But the lustful whistle, as in "Hey, baby!" is a wolf whistle.)
According to the Roman playwright Plautus includes this passage in his Mercator, circa 200 B.C. (thanks to Whistling in Antiquity):
[Charinus pretends to bring home a beautiful slave girl to serve his mother; in reality he and his father Demipho are in love with the girl.]
DEMIPHO: I can't permit it. She is hardly the proper sort of person to attend your mother.
CHARINUS: Why not?
DEMIPHO: Because it would cause scandal if such a beauty were the attendant of a wife and mother; when she passes through the streets all the men would look at her, leer, nod and wink and whistle.
It's possible that "whistle" in this case has a different meaning: "hiss," "chatter," or "whisper." But whistling has been around a long time.
Cave paintings arguably show evidence of people whistling, and there's written documentation from as long ago as 3000 B.C. of "bird songs of men" and human whistlers.
The wolf whistle has probably been around as long as beautiful women and construction workers.
Wow very interesting. You learn alot from this thread.
yudansha
TheGreatOne
This thread should be second-titled: "Broaden Your Horizons" :=))
You're welcome, Serena. LOL I found that funny!
I just find this interesting, LittleD, so I post it, and hope you find it interesting as well. It's good you can learn something from this. I should now pick a better place for my cell-phone ... I always carry it in my pocket or on the belt ... are there head straps? (would that make me dumber? )
You're welcome, Serena. LOL I found that funny!
I just find this interesting, LittleD, so I post it, and hope you find it interesting as well. It's good you can learn something from this. I should now pick a better place for my cell-phone ... I always carry it in my pocket or on the belt ... are there head straps?
(would that make me dumber? )
yudansha
TheGreatOne
The world's biggest brewers by volume of beer...
In 2003 were:
1. Anheuser-Busch, 154 mill. hectolitres
2. SABMiller, 128 mill. hl
3. Interbrew, 120 mill. hl
4. Heineken, 109 mill. hl <--> the best!
5. Carlsberg, 82 mill. hl
There has been quite a bit of consolidation in this industry in recent years. South African Breweries and Miller merged in 2002, Interbrew (Labatt, Beck's, Stella Artois) and Brazil's AmBev announced their merger earlier this year, and Coors and Molson recently announced a planned merger that would make them the No. 5 brewer in the world.
By the end of 2004, the rankings might look like this, barring more acquisition activity:
1. InterbrewAmBev
2. Anheuser-Busch
3. SABMiller
4. Heineken <--> !!!
5. Molson Coors
In 2003 were:
1. Anheuser-Busch, 154 mill. hectolitres
2. SABMiller, 128 mill. hl
3. Interbrew, 120 mill. hl
4. Heineken, 109 mill. hl <--> the best!
5. Carlsberg, 82 mill. hl
There has been quite a bit of consolidation in this industry in recent years. South African Breweries and Miller merged in 2002, Interbrew (Labatt, Beck's, Stella Artois) and Brazil's AmBev announced their merger earlier this year, and Coors and Molson recently announced a planned merger that would make them the No. 5 brewer in the world.
By the end of 2004, the rankings might look like this, barring more acquisition activity:
1. InterbrewAmBev
2. Anheuser-Busch
3. SABMiller
4. Heineken <--> !!!
5. Molson Coors
yudansha
TheGreatOne
Czar vs. King...
The terms king and emperor are not necessarily distinct, but a king rules over a kingdom and an emperor rules over an empire.
Generally speaking, an empire is larger than a kingdom, and an emperor is more powerful than a king. (However, there have been small empires and large kingdoms.) Empires typically encompass multiple regions — perhaps even multiple kingdoms — and diverse ethnicities, and these regions are usually brought together and held together by force. (A "voluntary" empire is called a federation.)
The word emperor comes from the Latin imperator ("one who prepares against"), which was originally a military title meaning something like "commander-in-chief." King is an Old English word possibly derived from "head of kin."
The Russian word tsar (czar) and the German word kaiser come from the Latin caesar. This word has come to mean "emperor," but it wasn't always so.
Caesar was originally the cognomen (inherited family "nickname") of Roman dictator Gaius Julius Caesar. Its meaning was something like "hairy," so the great Roman's name translates to "Jules the Hairy" — not quite up there with "Ivan the Terrible."
When Julius Caesar posthumously adopted his nephew Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his nephew became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. This Octavian fellow, as you probably know, was quite an achiever. As he was consolidating a number of titles including Imperator, Princeps ("first citizen"), and Augustus ("venerable"), he always stressed his ties with his famous uncle by using the name "Caesar" regularly.
So fond was Octavian of the name that when he became the first emperor of Rome (the mighty Caesar Augustus) he established a hereditary line of rule, with each successive handpicked heir — usually adopted — receiving the appellation "Caesar." (Imagine if this happened in England: King George the Hairy, Queen Victoria the Hairy...) The name gradually became synonymous with "emperor."
So tsar and kaiser basically equate to "emperor" in their respective languages. You won't find a true tsar (drug czars don't count) in a place that doesn't speak Russian, and you won't find a kaiser in a place that doesn't speak German.
Emperor (tsar, kaiser, caesar) has a slightly different connotation than king, but the use of it is mostly arbitrary. All of these terms mean "supreme ruler," and it depends on the language, the political organization (is the region called a kingdom or an empire?) and cultural preferences of the nation or ruler.
So Japan still has an honorary "Emperor," even though it's a fairly concentrated, mono-ethnic country. And British monarchs of the 1800s were still referred to as "King" or "Queen" at home, though the British Empire stretched around the world.
heraldica.org/topics/royalty/emperor.htm
The terms king and emperor are not necessarily distinct, but a king rules over a kingdom and an emperor rules over an empire.
Generally speaking, an empire is larger than a kingdom, and an emperor is more powerful than a king. (However, there have been small empires and large kingdoms.) Empires typically encompass multiple regions — perhaps even multiple kingdoms — and diverse ethnicities, and these regions are usually brought together and held together by force. (A "voluntary" empire is called a federation.)
The word emperor comes from the Latin imperator ("one who prepares against"), which was originally a military title meaning something like "commander-in-chief." King is an Old English word possibly derived from "head of kin."
The Russian word tsar (czar) and the German word kaiser come from the Latin caesar. This word has come to mean "emperor," but it wasn't always so.
Caesar was originally the cognomen (inherited family "nickname") of Roman dictator Gaius Julius Caesar. Its meaning was something like "hairy," so the great Roman's name translates to "Jules the Hairy" — not quite up there with "Ivan the Terrible."
When Julius Caesar posthumously adopted his nephew Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his nephew became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. This Octavian fellow, as you probably know, was quite an achiever. As he was consolidating a number of titles including Imperator, Princeps ("first citizen"), and Augustus ("venerable"), he always stressed his ties with his famous uncle by using the name "Caesar" regularly.
So fond was Octavian of the name that when he became the first emperor of Rome (the mighty Caesar Augustus) he established a hereditary line of rule, with each successive handpicked heir — usually adopted — receiving the appellation "Caesar." (Imagine if this happened in England: King George the Hairy, Queen Victoria the Hairy...) The name gradually became synonymous with "emperor."
So tsar and kaiser basically equate to "emperor" in their respective languages. You won't find a true tsar (drug czars don't count) in a place that doesn't speak Russian, and you won't find a kaiser in a place that doesn't speak German.
Emperor (tsar, kaiser, caesar) has a slightly different connotation than king, but the use of it is mostly arbitrary. All of these terms mean "supreme ruler," and it depends on the language, the political organization (is the region called a kingdom or an empire?) and cultural preferences of the nation or ruler.
So Japan still has an honorary "Emperor," even though it's a fairly concentrated, mono-ethnic country. And British monarchs of the 1800s were still referred to as "King" or "Queen" at home, though the British Empire stretched around the world.
heraldica.org/topics/royalty/emperor.htm
yudansha
TheGreatOne
O.K. the Czars didn't interest you, but maybe this might :=)
The Kool-Aid man was first spotted in 1975 as a pitcher with no arms and legs called "Pitcher Man." (Yeah, the Kool-Aid ad-men weren't too creative about names.)
When he sprouted limbs, he gained the ability to wear Hawaiian shirts and crash through walls. And a cultural icon was born. He even had his own video game and a comic book.
Some interesting facts about Kool-Aid (the drink):
Kool-Aid was invented in 1927 by Ed Perkins of Hastings, Nebraska. Perkins had invented a concentrated drink mix called Fruit Smack, which was sold in glass bottles. It was popular, but the fragile bottles made it difficult to market and transport. So Perkins reformulated Fruit Smack by removing the liquid, and came up with a powdered drink mix he called Kool-Ade. The spelling was later changed. (Hindsight is 20-20, but "Fruit Smack Man" sounds even cooler than "Kool-Aid Man"!)
Kool-Aid is the official soft drink of Nebraska.
The original seven Kool-Aid flavours were grape, cherry, raspberry, orange, strawberry, root beer(!?), and lemon-lime.
Kool-Aid can be used to dye your hair. (LOL Tora)
The Kool-Aid man was first spotted in 1975 as a pitcher with no arms and legs called "Pitcher Man." (Yeah, the Kool-Aid ad-men weren't too creative about names.)
When he sprouted limbs, he gained the ability to wear Hawaiian shirts and crash through walls. And a cultural icon was born. He even had his own video game and a comic book.
Some interesting facts about Kool-Aid (the drink):
Kool-Aid was invented in 1927 by Ed Perkins of Hastings, Nebraska. Perkins had invented a concentrated drink mix called Fruit Smack, which was sold in glass bottles. It was popular, but the fragile bottles made it difficult to market and transport. So Perkins reformulated Fruit Smack by removing the liquid, and came up with a powdered drink mix he called Kool-Ade. The spelling was later changed. (Hindsight is 20-20, but "Fruit Smack Man" sounds even cooler than "Kool-Aid Man"!)
Kool-Aid is the official soft drink of Nebraska.
The original seven Kool-Aid flavours were grape, cherry, raspberry, orange, strawberry, root beer(!?), and lemon-lime.
Kool-Aid can be used to dye your hair. (LOL Tora
)The czar one was interesting, yudansha.........
.....but Kool-Aid man was cooler!
We grew up on Kool-Aid as kids--the kind you added your own sugar to, not the presweetened yucky stuff. With five children, it was cheaper than pop. My faves were raspberry and cherry. Haven't had it in years. Water and Diet Pepsi, please.
Nice one, yudansha--thanks.
.....but Kool-Aid man was cooler!
We grew up on Kool-Aid as kids--the kind you added your own sugar to, not the presweetened yucky stuff. With five children, it was cheaper than pop.
My faves were raspberry and cherry. Haven't had it in years. Water and Diet Pepsi, please. Nice one, yudansha--thanks.
yudansha
TheGreatOne
Do you ever go and order the super sized meal at McD's and then ask for a DIET Pepsi?
You're welcome, Serena.
The origin of the idiom/expression "spitting image."
There's still some debate on this one. Here are some possibilities:
• It's derived from a casual pronunciation of "spirit and image," as in "You're the spirit and image of your father" (you share the same nature and appearance).
• It's a corruption of "spit and image" (which first appeared around 1859) — with "spit" representing the simple stuff that humans are made of.
But probably the most likely:
• It comes from "spitten image," with "spitten" the rarely used past participle of "to spit." That is, you look as if your father spit you right out of his mouth.
wordorigins.org
word-detective.com
worldwidewords.org
You're welcome, Serena.
The origin of the idiom/expression "spitting image."
There's still some debate on this one. Here are some possibilities:
• It's derived from a casual pronunciation of "spirit and image," as in "You're the spirit and image of your father" (you share the same nature and appearance).
• It's a corruption of "spit and image" (which first appeared around 1859) — with "spit" representing the simple stuff that humans are made of.
But probably the most likely:
• It comes from "spitten image," with "spitten" the rarely used past participle of "to spit." That is, you look as if your father spit you right out of his mouth.
wordorigins.org
word-detective.com
worldwidewords.org
yudansha said:Do you ever go and order the super sized meal at McD's and then ask for a DIET Pepsi? You're welcome, Serena.
The origin of the idiom/expression "spitting image."
There's still some debate on this one. Here are some possibilities:
• It's derived from a casual pronunciation of "spirit and image," as in "You're the spirit and image of your father" (you share the same nature and appearance).
• It's a corruption of "spit and image" (which first appeared around 1859) — with "spit" representing the simple stuff that humans are made of.
But probably the most likely:
• It comes from "spitten image," with "spitten" the rarely used past participle of "to spit." That is, you look as if your father spit you right out of his mouth.
wordorigins.org
word-detective.com
worldwidewords.org
No, mostly because I don't eat at McDonald's (except breakfast sometimes). But when I do take my nephews to McDonald's Playland, once in a while I'll get an order of fries with my Diet Pepsi.
Interesting about all the spit, yudansha.
I recall something I read a few years ago where another possible origin was "splitting image", which I can kind of see, that eventually just got changed or slurred to "spitting" image. You know how some people mumble and can barely be bothered to open their mouth when they speak. 
Cue in the voice double.
yudansha
TheGreatOne
We call them stunt-dubbers! LOL
"another possible origin was "splitting image", which I can kind of see, that eventually just got changed or slurred to "spitting" image. You know how some people mumble and can barely be bothered to open their mouth when they speak"
Sure, that could be it also, Serena (especially the last bit that explains 'why'). Good stuff!
Very interesting! Now that I think of it, I think people still say "splitting image" ... kind of strange, but I don't think I've heard anyone say "spitting image" ... Now I'm confused.
"another possible origin was "splitting image", which I can kind of see, that eventually just got changed or slurred to "spitting" image. You know how some people mumble and can barely be bothered to open their mouth when they speak"
Sure, that could be it also, Serena (especially the last bit that explains 'why'
). Good stuff!Very interesting! Now that I think of it, I think people still say "splitting image" ... kind of strange, but I don't think I've heard anyone say "spitting image" ... Now I'm confused.
Littledragon
Above The Law
Did you know that:
Prince was the first artist to distribute an album through the internet?
Prince is the reason why we have FCC on radio and the Parental Advisory Sticker.
Prince is the only one in R&R Hall Of Fame history to be inducted in the first year of eligability.
Prince is the one who discovered Carmen Electra.
Prince was the first one to use explicit lyrics in an album.
Prince was the first one to write slang in an album ex: 2 instead of to b instead of be 4 instead of four eye instead of I.
Prince had the largest music contract ever with a 100$ million dollar contract with Warner Brothers.
Prince is Warner Brother's yougnest producer ever at 16 which he produced arranged composed wrote directed engineered and played every single instrument.
Prince was the first artist to distribute an album through the internet?
Prince is the reason why we have FCC on radio and the Parental Advisory Sticker.
Prince is the only one in R&R Hall Of Fame history to be inducted in the first year of eligability.
Prince is the one who discovered Carmen Electra.
Prince was the first one to use explicit lyrics in an album.
Prince was the first one to write slang in an album ex: 2 instead of to b instead of be 4 instead of four eye instead of I.
Prince had the largest music contract ever with a 100$ million dollar contract with Warner Brothers.
Prince is Warner Brother's yougnest producer ever at 16 which he produced arranged composed wrote directed engineered and played every single instrument.
Littledragon
Above The Law
Serena said:"You might not have known this."
But I've now merged the two threads.
Ok thanks, I couldn't find this thread but I knew there was a thread like this.
yudansha
TheGreatOne
Ever wonder why?
Why do men have nipples?
There's a lot of room for bad jokes here, but I'll try to give you a (more or less) straight answer and save the bad jokes for places where they're not as obvious.
Men have nipples:
1. Because women need them.
2. Because there's no reason not to.
Starting with the first point, men and women are obviously the same species, despite the fact that one of them comes from Mars, the other from Venus. Since both sexes inherit genetic traits from a female mother and a male father, it's impossible for them to ever diverge too radically. (Of our 23 pairs of chromosomes, only one pair is sex-differentiated.)
The genetic "blueprint" for males and females is largely identical. Both men and women are (usually) equipped at birth with two eyes, ten toes, a voice box, buttocks, a small and a large intestine, etc. Some of these parts develop differently, but the parts themselves are still present in both genders. Women typically are shorter and less hairy than men, with smaller waists, bigger hips, larger breasts, higher voices, and so on. But these are just modifications to the same blueprint — they're not different parts. (Interestingly, even the male and female reproductive organs are biologically similar, despite their markedly different appearances and functions.)
In fact, it is almost impossible to detect the difference between a male and female fetus for the first couple of months of development. We're all female (or unisex, perhaps) until the sex hormones kick in at about 14 weeks. That's when male and female "differences" begin to appear. But by that time, the fetus has already developed many of its parts, including nipples. The male sex hormones won't turn these nipples "on" — they won't ever supply milk — but it also won't bother to take them away. And why is that? Let's move on to point two...
According to our understanding of natural selection and evolution, genetic traits acquired via gene mutation which are beneficial to the survival of a species are passed along to successive generations. Traits which are detrimental will eventually disappear, because the animals or humans carrying them will die off.
Opposable thumbs are one of the great things about being a primate. They enable us to hold tools, knit sweaters and play Nintendo games. It's easy to see why we've kept them. On the other side of the coin, a deer born with a flashing bullseye on its side probably won't be passing his genes on to too many generations.
But sometimes the process of natural selection greets traits with resounding indifference. What good are human toenails, really? How about earlobes? Sometimes things are just "there." Perhaps they had some use millions of years ago, but they don't help now. Of course, they don't hurt either, so there's no reason to select against them. Natural selection blithely goes on its way and leaves them alone.
And that's it in a nutshell. Men don't really need their nonfunctional nipples, but women do, so they're a default part of the human body — men have nipples because humans have nipples. And since there's no apparent survival benefit from getting rid of male nipples, they haven't disappeared... yet. (Check back in another million years.)
Why do men have nipples?
There's a lot of room for bad jokes here, but I'll try to give you a (more or less) straight answer and save the bad jokes for places where they're not as obvious.
Men have nipples:
1. Because women need them.
2. Because there's no reason not to.
Starting with the first point, men and women are obviously the same species, despite the fact that one of them comes from Mars, the other from Venus. Since both sexes inherit genetic traits from a female mother and a male father, it's impossible for them to ever diverge too radically. (Of our 23 pairs of chromosomes, only one pair is sex-differentiated.)
The genetic "blueprint" for males and females is largely identical. Both men and women are (usually) equipped at birth with two eyes, ten toes, a voice box, buttocks, a small and a large intestine, etc. Some of these parts develop differently, but the parts themselves are still present in both genders. Women typically are shorter and less hairy than men, with smaller waists, bigger hips, larger breasts, higher voices, and so on. But these are just modifications to the same blueprint — they're not different parts. (Interestingly, even the male and female reproductive organs are biologically similar, despite their markedly different appearances and functions.)
In fact, it is almost impossible to detect the difference between a male and female fetus for the first couple of months of development. We're all female (or unisex, perhaps) until the sex hormones kick in at about 14 weeks. That's when male and female "differences" begin to appear. But by that time, the fetus has already developed many of its parts, including nipples. The male sex hormones won't turn these nipples "on" — they won't ever supply milk — but it also won't bother to take them away. And why is that? Let's move on to point two...
According to our understanding of natural selection and evolution, genetic traits acquired via gene mutation which are beneficial to the survival of a species are passed along to successive generations. Traits which are detrimental will eventually disappear, because the animals or humans carrying them will die off.
Opposable thumbs are one of the great things about being a primate. They enable us to hold tools, knit sweaters and play Nintendo games. It's easy to see why we've kept them. On the other side of the coin, a deer born with a flashing bullseye on its side probably won't be passing his genes on to too many generations.
But sometimes the process of natural selection greets traits with resounding indifference. What good are human toenails, really? How about earlobes? Sometimes things are just "there." Perhaps they had some use millions of years ago, but they don't help now. Of course, they don't hurt either, so there's no reason to select against them. Natural selection blithely goes on its way and leaves them alone.
And that's it in a nutshell. Men don't really need their nonfunctional nipples, but women do, so they're a default part of the human body — men have nipples because humans have nipples. And since there's no apparent survival benefit from getting rid of male nipples, they haven't disappeared... yet. (Check back in another million years.)