In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb" ------------------------------------------- Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language. ('This is a fallacy. Golf was always referred to as 'gowf' in Scotland. gouff, goiff, goffe, goff, gowff, and golph Source: http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.asp) ------------------------------------------- The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone. ------------------------------------------- Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than for the British Royal Mint. ------------------------------------------ Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better. (However see http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003419.html) ------------------------------------------- Coca-Cola was originally green. ------------------------------------------- It is impossible to lick your elbow. ------------------------------------------- The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...) The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: is £8.000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour: 61,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer. (Someone added: 'Wrong. It was Life On The Mississippi.') ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David Hearts - Charlemagne Clubs -Alexander, the Great Diamonds - Julius Caesar ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. Half of all Britains live within 50 miles of what? A. Their birthplace (The same has been claimed for US, Australian, Indian and Chinese citizens.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested? A. Obsession -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"? A. One thousand (PS. "A hundred" or "One hundred and one" or "one quarter" etc ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? A. All were invented by women. (One was invesnted by a woman. Fire escape ladder: Joseph Winters (portable fire escape ladder: Daniel McCree); windscreeen wiper: Mary Anderson; laser printer: Gary Starkweather.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. What is the only food that doesn't go off? A. Honey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. Which day are there more 'Reverse the Charges' calls than any other day of the year? A. Father's Day ------------------------------------------------------------ In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon. ('Wrong. The phrase was first used in the 16th century.') ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- In our English pubs, ale was ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartman would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's" ('This actually came from the printing trade where, because the letters are reversed, it's only too easy to mix up the letters 'p' and 'q'!') ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many years ago in England , pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic mugs. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice. ('No it wasn't. There is no pub mug, glass or tankard in recorded history with a whistle built into it for this purpose. "Whistle" in this context refers to the throat.') ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow! ***** Another responded: Someone told my daughter that and she proved them wrong: <http://www.redpedals.co.uk/temp/z0704301839cjenny.jpg> Of course it's far more difficult for an adult, with their proportionally longer limbs, to lick their elbow. And another: http://www.uvm.edu/~dfisher1/random/elbow.jpg
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