what I have learned today.

[Legs]

that the pter in helicopter is the same derivative as the pter in pterodactyl so should have a silent p. helico-ter is a more faithful pronounciation, but only a few classicists will appreciate it. Lit. spiral wings

Strangely, I was thinking precisely the same thing yesterday morning.  See also: lepidoptera, hymenoptera, coleoptera, diptera...

[Cudzoziemiec]

What an r.f.d. box is (stands for "rural free distribution") and that people used to smoke nightshade cigarettes as an asthma treatment.

[T42]

that the pter in helicopter is the same derivative as the pter in pterodactyl so should have a silent p. helico-ter is a more faithful pronounciation, but only a few classicists will appreciate it. Lit. spiral wings

Isn't the π in πτεροδάκτυλος pronounced as a φ, so that helicofter would be more faithful?

[citoyen]

That clowns copyright their unique face design by painting it on an egg, which is stored by the Clown Egg Register in Wookey Hole.

(I think I knew this already but I was reminded of it when it was mentioned in a podcast I was listening to yesterday.)

[T42]

George Leigh Mallory, who died on Everest, was the elder brother of Trafford Leigh Mallory, who commanded N° 11 Fighter Group during WW2; he of the "Big Wing".

[liam_whippet]

that the pter in helicopter is the same derivative as the pter in pterodactyl so should have a silent p. helico-ter is a more faithful pronounciation, but only a few classicists will appreciate it. Lit. spiral wings

The -copt- bit of helicopters is to do with cutting - that's why they're called 'choppers', as any fule kno   

<classicist>
Is there any recent evidence that the ancient Greeks themselves didn't pronounce an initial pi? Isn't this just an English-speaking affectation??

I recall a theory back in the late 70s that Zeta had been pronounced the other way round - so Zeos had actually been pronounced Sdeos - and also that k, p and t got had been aspirated rather than fricatived into kh, ph and th, to match the always-aspirated rh - so the lamentation we always pronounced 'Few' - 'Pheu' - should more accurately have been pronounced 'Hpe-oo'..

But I don't think think anyone suggested they swallowed their pi's ...
</classicist>

[T42]

that the pter in helicopter is the same derivative as the pter in pterodactyl so should have a silent p. helico-ter is a more faithful pronounciation, but only a few classicists will appreciate it. Lit. spiral wings

Did a bit of research. The word was coined in France, and the French pronounce the initial P in PT pairs.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I've learned about the relationship between specific heat capacity and melting snow. I almost certainly learned this when I was the age my son is now, but, well... (My mistake this time was to assume the ground temperature overnight would be subzero.)

[ElyDave]

and the enthalpy change associated with phase change, solid-liquid in this case.

[David Martin]

The old 'when it warms up it cools down' phenomenon.

[De Sisti]

Next time being shown carpet samples, make sure you take your time to see that it matches the
rest of the house. It can be quite a surprise once it's been laid and the colour/pattern doesn't appear
to be what you were looking at in those small samples.

[T42]

Learnt a while back but just remembered: that rather spiffy metallic red finish on divers Renaults is fragile, and underneath they're white.  As our neighbour found out to her cost.

[rogerzilla]

I've finally learned which one is Ant and which one is Dec.

[Basil]

That even the Welsh speakers in the town pronounce Lloyds Bank in the same way as anglophones.
Good job I'm with Nat West and haven't made a fool of myself.

[T42]

I've finally learned which one is Ant and which one is Dec.

Shirley it's RA and Dec.

[David Martin]

A gold star to that man! I see what you did there. Timing was impeccable.

[rafletcher]

That my DAB bedside radio alarm doesn’t dynamically change to BST. So when I saw it was 08:47 it wasn’t, it was 09:47  . It requires a power cycle to update of course. 

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I've finally learned which one is Ant and which one is Dec.

When they're presenting on telly, they stand so that for the viewer they're in alphabetical order, left to right.

[orienteer]

A-D used to be the first volume of the London telephone directory.....

[Cudzoziemiec]

...which made me wonder how much paper has been saved by the demise of phone books. I tried searching for the answer but the best I found was from the bbc way back in 2011 "The new Yellow Pages - which is a mixture of paper either recycled or sourced from sustainably managed forests - will conserve about 5,000 tonnes of paper a year."

[T42]

Don't put on the finger picks before picking up the banjo and putting the strap over your head. That way it doesn't slip out of your fingers and land on your foot.

[ian]

...which made me wonder how much paper has been saved by the demise of phone books. I tried searching for the answer but the best I found was from the bbc way back in 2011 "The new Yellow Pages - which is a mixture of paper either recycled or sourced from sustainably managed forests - will conserve about 5,000 tonnes of paper a year."

I'm sure we received a chain-smoking-supermodel-thin phone book a while ago. I'm not sure why, I thought they'd demised upon the internet. Phonebooks, not skinny supermarkets, I'm sure they're alive – if not well – on the internet. Honestly, it would take months to beat a confession out of someone with a phone book that thin. Any thinner and it would have passed for a tissue.

Still, it's the sort of thing my parents would use, they have the internet, but other than my dad's occasional forays in the land of mature ladies in sartorial distress, they mostly seem a bit vague as to the more comprehensive set of use cases. Mind you, my mum doesn't even call me ever because she's scared of the phone bill (this is partly my fault for running up a huge set of bills as a student with an American girlfriend). I've lost track of the number of times I've told them the calls are free. Of course, she may simply not want to talk to me. If you've read this far, I suppose you might agree.

[Cudzoziemiec]

...which made me wonder how much paper has been saved by the demise of phone books. I tried searching for the answer but the best I found was from the bbc way back in 2011 "The new Yellow Pages - which is a mixture of paper either recycled or sourced from sustainably managed forests - will conserve about 5,000 tonnes of paper a year."

I'm sure we received a chain-smoking-supermodel-thin phone book a while ago. I'm not sure why, I thought they'd demised upon the internet. Phonebooks, not skinny supermarkets, I'm sure they're alive – if not well – on the internet. Honestly, it would take months to beat a confession out of someone with a phone book that thin. Any thinner and it would have passed for a tissue.

Skinny supermarkets catering to Hoxton Hipsters sipping skinny almond lattemochaccinos?

[ian]

I confess to being a skinny latte orderer. And I always pronounce latte in a way intended to offended the sort of knobheads who not only insist on pronouncing foreign words in a way they think the locals do, but insist on correcting other people. I think you mean latte. No, I really don't, fuckchucks.

Except in the US of course, where it's a low-fat lattemacchofrappamappagattacino or somesuch. You have no idea how many times I have spell out my name in American coffee shops. I was impressed once to see it rendered Yuan on the side of a cup. I really don't look very Chinese.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Yuan McGregor doesn't really look like a Jedi either.