Ask Lemmy

If presented with an old 1970-2000 era landline phone, I can call someone by rapidly hanging up in the pattern of their phone number.

The "brat" in "bratwurst" doesn't come from "braten", which means to fry. It actually comes from the old German word "brät", which means finely chopped meat.

"Loanword" is a calque, and "calque" is a loanword.

Like 15% of people can rumble their ears and make a sound only they can hear

Grostesques are mythical or fantastical creatures carved into the sides of building. If they have been designed to drain water away from the building, they are called gargoyles .

The English horn is neither English nor a horn.

rats can't vomit

flamingos are pink due to diet. otherwise they'd be grey

An electric eel is not an eel.
A mountain goat is not a goat.
A maned wolf is not a wolf.
A mountain chicken is not a chicken.

Also, there is an animal called the Headless Chicken Fish.

None, because knowledge and the search for it is an end unto itself, so all facts are useful to learn and know.

The sun will explode. Eventually. Interesting and fascinating, yes. Useful? Nope.

One of the people that worked in Turkish translation of the "alice in wonderland" for Zambak magazine has the cool birthday "January 1st, 1969."

Alaska is the eastern most state of the USA.

Fun fact 1: Polish people are honoraribly black after they fought alongside the Haitians against the French (they switched sides as the only reason they were there was because France sent them there)

Fun fact 2: Alaska was almost purchased by Lichtenstein

Fun fact 3: Singapore was given independence against their own wishes

Fun fact 4: Abraham Lincoln read some of the works of Karl Marx as he wrote for his favorite newspaper

The synths that were used in the first doom reboot's music were made from samples of an actual chainsaw running.

The dog that played specks girlfriend in Pee Wees big adventure is also the same dog that played precious in silence of the lambs.

If you put enough energy in one place it will cause a black hole. This type of black hole is called a Kugelblitz.

Current graphics cards do not yet use enough energy to worry about a kugelblitz occurring in the 12-pin connector.

The definition of a second is the time it takes for a caesium-133 atom to fluctuate between its two hyperfine ground state 9,192,631,770 times (I did not look the number up).

But wouldn't it be useful if I can use it here?

Television is one of the few words combined by one greek part and one latin part.

There are several rivers in England called the Derwent.

One of them flows into the Ouse in Yorkshire, another flows into the Trent in Derbyshire, both of which later combine to form the Humber estuary, so the Humber has two Derwents in it

when the great pyramids were being built, there were still mammoths and sabertooth tigers walking the earth.

Nipples can't operate heavy machinery.

The most efficient base is the number e

Wombats shit is cubic.

Cheese is unhealthy for mice.

I am currently naked.

This is true.