Things that have bothered you for a long time.

[Paulus]

Who decided the size of a sheet of toilet paper, and why some paper dispensers just rip the paper in a random way?

 

[classic33]

Who decided the size of a sheet of toilet paper, and why some paper dispensers just rip the paper in a random way?

Seth Wheeler.

It's also getting smaller as time goes on.

 

[roadrash]

if an orange is called an orange then why is a lemon not called a yellow

 

[Mugshot]

if an orange is called an orange then why is a lemon not called a yellow

Because people might confuse them with bananas?

 

[youngoldbloke]

if an orange is called an orange then why is a lemon not called a yellow

- because the colour is named after the fruit. Just as we refer to some shades of yellow colour as 'lemon-yellow', or just 'lemon'.

 

[Tim Hall]

- because the colour is named after the fruit. Just as we refer to some shades of yellow colour as 'lemon-yellow'

Moorish influence, isn't it? The Spanish for orange is naranja which becsme a norange then an orange.

 

[Lullabelle]

If diamond is the hardest substance known to man, then what are they cut with?

Chuck Norris

Jens Voight actually

 

[Paulus]

Seth Wheeler.

It's also getting smaller as time goes on.

I have noticed the difference lately.

 

[Yellow Fang]

This one's quite interesting. The work yellow goes back yonks in Indo-European languages, and it's got cognates in words like gold in English, gelb in German and żółty in Polish.

Orange didn't arrive until much later. I suppose they didn't ever see it until oranges started arriving, so they didn't really need it

I think I heard on the radio that red used to mean russet, which was a sort of orangey-red. Like robin redbreasts have orangey-red breasts.

Along the same lines, the mneumonic way for remembering the colours of the rainbow: Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain stands for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Are indigo and violet really colours? They both look like shades of purple to me.

Also: if the primary colours on TV screens, computer monitors and human retinas are red, blue and green, which are they red blue and yellow in paint? That is, if you mix red and green paint, why don't you get yellow?

 

[Yellow Fang]

Why does February only have 28 days?

 

[raleighnut]

Why does February only have 28 days?

January and March both stole one.

 

[Asa Post]

Why does February only have 28 days?

Julius Caesar changed the calendar to give alternating months of 30 and 31 days. His month (July) had 31. To get a total of 365 days over the 12 months, there had to be a short month of 29 days - this was February.

When the Romans renamed a month after Augustus Caesar, they chose a 30 day month. Augustus wasn't having that, Julius had 31 days, and he wanted 31 as well.

So they moved a day from February and added it to August, leaving February with 28 in a normal year.

 

[swansonj]

...
Along the same lines, the mneumonic way for remembering the colours of the rainbow: Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain stands for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Are indigo and violet really colours? They both look like shades of purple to me...:

Damn, I should have thought of that one as another example when I was arguing about the fundamental arbitrariness of human categorisation of natural phenomena in the bird v dinosaurs thread

 

[colly]

Things that have bothered me for a long time:
Why men think their penises are so important and interesting.
Why it's necessary to get all defensive and mangle English grammar, simply in order to justify an obsession with said body part and talking about it in public, possibly as some kind of substitute for waving it about.

That has really bothered you for a long time ? You need to get out more.

If you had one you might understand, and it's probably the same reason women are obssessed with their parts.

Defensive ? Don't understand that in the context of what was said. It appears to me to be a statement not any kind of justification. (before you say it I do realise the irony that this could be construed as a defensive post)

So the tense was mixed.......well lets get out the stocks and the thumbscrews.

This that have bothered me for a long time: Posters who suck the life out of everything.

 

[Salty seadog]

Julius Caesar changed the calendar to give alternating months of 30 and 31 days. His month (July) had 31. To get a total of 365 days over the 12 months, there had to be a short month of 29 days - this was February.

When the Romans renamed a month after Augustus Caesar, they chose a 30 day month. Augustus wasn't having that, Julius had 31 days, and he wanted 31 as well.

So they moved a day from February and added it to August, leaving February with 28 in a normal year.

Is that true?