what I have learned today.

[T42]

... being pedantic - huntsmen don't wear RED coats - they are PINK  (being named after the tailor Thomas Pink in Savile Row rather than the colour)

Is that actually being pedantic though? If* the coats are named after a tailor, that doesn't mean their being described as red is incorrect, merely that the name of the tailor is - coincidentally - also the name of a colour. That doesn't stop them being red, any more than being Hunter wellies stops them being green.

When pink is involved in their description, they're not coats which "are PINK": they're "pinks".

Now that's pedantry...




*'tis a tale oft told, though one lacking in reliable documentary evidence.

Wear 'em long enough and they'll be pink anyway.

[Mr Larrington]

Today I are learning that they have “Monster Munch” in France.  But zey look like zis:



because the “Munch” in question is Edvard Of That Ilk.

[Mr Larrington]

Today I are learning that the official birb of Madison WI is:

(click to show/hide)

the plastic flamingo.

[Mr Larrington]

Today I are learning that when Sir Henry Rawlinson called Old Scrotum (the wrinkled retainer) “you vile jelly” he was quoting the Duke of Cornwall off of TV's “King Lear”.  Possibly.

[T42]

Cornwall, was it?  And Gloucester's eye. "Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot" is one of the best lines in English literature, second only to "I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight".

[L CC]

Canola oil is a North American name for Rapeseed Oil.

A massive win for the Canadian rape marketing team. Yes really.

[ian]

Indeed, the CAN is from CANada (OLA: Oil, Low Acid). There's used to be a town in Saskatchewan that had a big 'Land of Rape and Honey' sign outside though I think they got rid of it. At least the residents of Dildo haven't folded and are still proud Dildoniums.

The Canadians pioneered both low erucic acid varieties and extraction processes (hence the OLA) which made rapeseed oil palatable and assuaged health concerns. Plus it obviously helped with the marketing. Pressing for oil leaves plenty of residue for animal feed etc. so it's a profitable crop.

Rape comes from the latin for turnip (Brassica rapa) though canola and most edible oilseed rape is the related species Brassica napus these days.

[Mr Larrington]

Today I are learning that Charles Faroux, co-founder and race director of the Le Mans 24 Hours, was also a three-time billiards world champion.

[The Family Cyclist]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carillon

I just learnt what a carillon is having googled Carillonist as mentioned in a book I'm reading

[bhoot]

Having once been a student at Loughborough I did know that. Quite an impressive installation and with bells cast in the town too.

[Basil]

That dogs shouldn't be given apple cores.  Seems the pips contain a small amount of cyanide.
Well ours has been consuming at least two a week for her eleven years on this planet, so it can't be that bad.
Best we stop giving them to her now that we know.

<first world grumble >  now we have to get up and go to the compost bin instead of just chucking it at the dog.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Same applies to cider.

[ElyDave]

I'll drink the cider myself if I have to before I pour it on the compost heap!

[Ham]

That dogs shouldn't be given apple cores.  Seems the pips contain a small amount of cyanide.
Well ours has been consuming at least two a week for her eleven years on this planet, so it can't be that bad.
Best we stop giving them to her now that we know.

<first world grumble >  now we have to get up and go to the compost bin instead of just chucking it at the dog.

I eat 100% of apples (excludes stalk). Is that why I iz ded?

[Mr Larrington]

I'll drink the cider myself if I have to before I pour it on the compost heap!

Watering the apple trees
With cider seems rather wrong
We’ll drink the cider then
We’ll water the trees before too long!

 – The Kipper Family

[ian]

There's not very much cyanide in apple cores, so I wouldn't worry. The chemical in question is amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside (basically a sugar with a -CN molecule appended). It's also contained in almonds (and anything flavoured by almonds). There are similar chemicals in cassava etc.

You'd need to eat about 15 kg of marzipan before worrying, which is a lot even by my standards.

If you routinely consume high levels of cyanide, you will start to express more enzymes that detoxify it, turning it into an amino acid that you excrete in your urine. So it's possible to train yourself to withstand cyanide poisoning, however unless you're planning to become a secret agent, it's probably not worth the effort.

(Contrary to popular belief, cyanide isn't that toxic, it's nowhere near as dangerous as hydrogen sulfide, for instance, and you get a bit guff of that from a boiled egg.)

[ElyDave]

I'll drink the cider myself if I have to before I pour it on the compost heap!

Watering the apple trees
With cider seems rather wrong
We’ll drink the cider then
We’ll water the trees before too long!

 – The Kipper Family

Well done the Kippers

[citoyen]

Same applies to cider.

That's my dog's Saturday nights ruined.

[benborp]

I regularly inject myself with a cyanide compound. I reckon I would choose death over the available natural remedies - copious amounts of raw liver juice.

[Mr Larrington]

Today I are learning that one of my great-grandfathers was Under-Butler to the 3rd Baron Crewe.

[“The 'Tenuous Claims To Fame' thread is downstairs” – Ed.]

[T42]

That dogs shouldn't be given apple cores.  Seems the pips contain a small amount of cyanide.
Well ours has been consuming at least two a week for her eleven years on this planet, so it can't be that bad.
Best we stop giving them to her now that we know.

<first world grumble >  now we have to get up and go to the compost bin instead of just chucking it at the dog.

I wouldn't worry. The same goes for plums, peaches, apricots etc. Our parrot likes to crack open the stones and chew the bits inside: he's been doing it for over 30 years and the cantankerous bugger is still with us.

Slivovitz is made from damsons with the stones still in.

[Kim]

The utterly bonkers origin of degaussing.

[ian]

I've been misreading it as desperming. The internet continues to have a lot to answer for.

[JennyB]

The utterly bonkers origin of degaussing.

The origin of the Philadelphia Experiment conspiracy theory?

[Mr Larrington]

Today I are learning about the so-called “Advanced Gun System” fitted to the USAnian Navy's Zumwalt-class destroyers.  It can only fire the so-called “Long Range Land Attack Projectile”.  The USAnian Navy cancelled procurement of the said ammo in 2016 because each shell would have cost the thick end of a million dollars, or about the same amount as a Tomahawk cruise missile.  Next year they will, reportedly, get round to removing the guns from the ships