what I have learned today.

[Cudzoziemiec]

That the nam in Vietnam means "southern" and is related to the words used today by North and South Korea to refer to each other and themselves (but in Vietnam it does not in any way refer to the former South Vietnam).

[Mr Larrington]

That four-finger swipes on a fondleslab don’t work if you have a plaster on the tip of your little finger.

[fimm]

Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47 in A major, usually known as the Kreutzer Sonata, was actually composed for and premiered by a violin virtuoso called George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bridgetower). Bridgetower was the son of a black man and a white woman.

I mentioned this to a friend and she said "Oh yes, someone who taught Darwin was black." (She mentioned the name but I do not remember it.)

[Kim]

That four-finger swipes on a fondleslab don’t work if you have a plaster on the tip of your little finger.

Are the Mega-Global Fruit Corporation of Cupertino, USAnia discriminating against those of a baraktoid persuasion?

[barakta]

I see to recall that most Apple swipes are configurable and I can't get even 3 finger ones to work reliably so don't use them.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

That the formula for WD40 is like Worcestershire sauce, i.e. top secret.  It is held in a bank vault somewhere.  There is no patent.

[De Sisti]

How to understand the circle of 5ths.

[Diver300]

What ".fr" sounds like when spoken on a French radio station.

Actually, it's sort of the other way round. I kept hearing it and not understanding what it meant.

It wasn't in common use when I learned French.

[andytheflyer]

How to understand the circle of 5ths.

I have one, laminated, next to my music stand.  Covered in chinagraph pencil annotations.

[Cudzoziemiec]

That Somerset has an official fingerpost restoration project.

[Cudzoziemiec]

The Japanese term gemba, which seems a useful word.

[Mr Larrington]

That there was not one, but (at least) three Defenestrations of Prague.

[T42]

Heavy whipping cream won't suffer from being deep-frozen.  One site suggests freezing it in ice-cube trays so that small portions can be used without thawing the lot.

Just as well, since the only size of cream MrsT could find today was one litre and it's at its sell-by date.

[spesh]

Heavy whipping cream won't suffer from being deep-frozen.  One site suggests freezing it in ice-cube trays so that small portions can be used without thawing the lot.

Just as well, since the only size of cream MrsT could find today was one litre and it's at its sell-by date.

I'm pretty sure one used to be able to get frozen whipping cream years ago - if memory serves, it came in the form of small cylindrical blocks in a bag.

[T42]

Heavy whipping cream won't suffer from being deep-frozen.  One site suggests freezing it in ice-cube trays so that small portions can be used without thawing the lot.

Just as well, since the only size of cream MrsT could find today was one litre and it's at its sell-by date.

I'm pretty sure one used to be able to get frozen whipping cream years ago - if memory serves, it came in the form of small cylindrical blocks in a bag.

Never noticed it in the shops, but then I've never looked for it.

Anyone wanting a G&T in our house now will get bloody phunny ice-cubes.  Of course, since they'll have to bring their own tonic & their own Mother's Ruin they probably won't be surprised.

[Cudzoziemiec]

That the ventilation pillars you see in the pavement are not to do with sewers or gas pipes but vent hot air from subterranean electricity substations.

https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/features/once-you-see-these-across-bristol-you-will-start-seeing-them-everywhere/

It would be good to know a bit more about them. Why are they underground? What measures are taken to prevent them flooding?

[Kim]

 

Best thing since vacuum sewers.  Even the World Bollard Association would approve.

[ppg]

That Somerset has an official fingerpost restoration project.

Volunteers brandishing paint and brushes were a frequent sight around these parts a while ago.

Apparently the reason we retained the finger posts rather than upgrade to the new (well ~40 years ago new) was less for aesthetics, but rather due to a lack of funds.

[SteveC]

The post in the middle of our Somerset village got flattened a few months ago, then mysteriously disappeared.
We are in the process of fund raising for a replacement, via that project.

[Nuncio]

That not all fingerposts look like this.

[Cudzoziemiec]

That's a truly splendid one.

[Salvatore]

That not all fingerposts look like this.

But it isn't bilingual. I think you should report it to the nearest Plaid Cymru member.

[Nuncio]

That the Welsh for furlong is Ystad (which also means 'estate').

[JennyB]

That the Welsh for furlong is Ystad (which also means 'estate').

Maybe from the Roman stadium (pl stadia or stade)  which was roughly the  length. The fence that they ran chariot races round was one stadium long.
A furlong was traditionally a furrow long - the length of a ploughed field, which maybe suggests where chariot racing started.

[Tomsk]

..  and she said "Oh yes, someone who taught Darwin was black." (She mentioned the name but I do not remember it.)

John Edmonstone - a taxidermist who worked for, amongst other, the University of Edinburgh Medical School. A freed slave from British Guiana, taught by naturalist and explorer Charles Waterton (and plantation owner, it has to be said). Darwin describes Edmonstone in his autobiography as "a very pleasant and intelligent man" - the former witnessed many of the horrors of colonialism on his travels, though maybe Edmonstone also influenced Darwin's abolitionist beliefs.