Five things that people worry you might not know.

Posted byWaldo Jaquith 17 Comments on Five things that people worry you might not know.
  1. “Big Ben” is not the name of the clock tower, but the bell within the tower.
  2. It’s not champagne unless it comes from the Champagne region of France. Otherwise it’s sparkling wine.
  3. They’re called the “dog days of summer” because Sirius, the dog star, is in conjunction with the sun at that time.
  4. You will appreciate Hamlet differently at different ages.
  5. Whales are not fish, but actually mammals.

(In the spirit of 5ives.)

Published by Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Char­lottes­­ville, VA, USA. more »

17 replies on “Five things that people worry you might not know.”

  2. Isn’t the second one a line from “Wayne’s World” that Rob Lowe’s yuppie character says?

  3. 6. Dick Cheney has been dead for 3 years. Michael Eisener helped replace him with an animatronic robot that is operated by Karl Rove’s id.

    7. Shiraz and Syrah are the same type of wine grape. Shriaz is from AUST; Syrah from anywhere else.

    8. Pennies are the least used coinage in America. They come in contact with very few things: people, coin counters, and toll booths in Ill.

    9. The best place in the world to get Cabernet Franc is Virginia. It is one of the best wines you will ever taste.

    10. Hydrogen peroxide comes in a brown bottle because exposure to sunlight will turn it into water. Industrial strengh hydrogen peroxide is one of the most dangerous chemicals out there. The kind you put on cuts is only about 2 % hydrogen peroxide (~5% max).

  4. Isn’t the second one a line from “Wayne’s World” that Rob Lowe’s yuppie character says?

    It’s from everywhere. But, hey, two points for the Wayne’s world reference. :)

    And, John — I had no idea about #10. That’s really interesting. Good thing you worried we might not know that. :)

  5. It’s the chemist in me coming out. I used to tell people things like that when they bought hydrogen peroxide when I worked the register at Walmart. It helped me pass the time.

  7. Whales are not fish, but actually mammals.

    How can that be? They live in the ocean, under the water. Surely, whales are fish. And who, I ask you, is a greater authority on whales than Herman Melville? Speaking of the great white whale, Melville said:

    “As if struck by some enchanter’s wand, the sleepy ship and every sleeper in it all at once started into wakefulness; and more than a score of voices from all parts of the vessel, simultaneously with the three notes from aloft, shouted forth the accustomed cry, as the great fish slowly and regularly spouted the sparkling brine into the air.”

    So, there you have it – “the great fish”. I rest my case.

  8. Haha, I knew that I knew #2 from somwhere and I now realize that Wayne’s World is in fact where I learned it! That makes three out of five but I’m still not convinced #1 is actually right…

  9. From Seinfeld, The Marine Biologist episode:

    George: I got about fifty-feet out and then suddenly the great beast appeared before me. I tell ya he was ten stories high if he was a foot. As if sensing my presence he gave out a big bellow. I said, “Easy big fella!” And then as I watched him struggling I realized something was obstructing his breathing. From where I was standing I could see directly into the eye of the great fish!

    Jerry: Mammal.

    George: Whatever.

  13. 12. The tomato is in fact a fruit, not a vegetable.

    13. You can not get warts from handling a toad. However, you will probably get peed on.

  14. John:

    This isn’t quite accurate:

    7. Shiraz and Syrah are the same type of wine grape. Shriaz is from AUST; Syrah from anywhere else.

    Of course they are the same grape, but California has some lovely Shiraz.

    also…

    14. George Bush has made precisely the same promises in EVERY State of the Union address, and has delivered on precisely NONE of them: [click here]

  15. 7. Shiraz and Syrah are the same type of wine grape. Shriaz is from AUST; Syrah from anywhere else.

    I think it’s more that Syrah is from France and Shiraz is (typically) from everywhere else. The name Shiraz traces back to the Iranian city of Shiraz, whence the grape is said to have originated. The French decided to rename the grape (and wine) Syrah, while the Australians refer to it by the traditional name of Shiraz. Whether a particular country (or vineyard) wants to call its wine a Shiraz or Syrah depends on which country they want to be associated with–I’ve seen (and had) both Californian Syrah and Shiraz. Incidently, pre-1979 Iran bottled a Shiraz from the same grapes, though their wine (and pretty much everything else) has grown just a tad out favor.

  16. That’s what I get for trying to be smarter than I am :)

    Maybe I should have just said they’re the same eh?

  17. despite already knowing #’s 1 and 2, i’m going to keep referring to the tower as “Big Ben” and to sparkling wines as “champagne,” in the same spirit in which i refer to all paper nose-blowing tissues as “Kleenex,” to all small adhesive bandages as “Band-Aids,” and to all photocopying machines and the things they produce as “Xeroxes.” and despite the insistance of the Polaroid company, i still say “Polaroids” to refer to the photos themselves as well as the camera (although i do listen to them when they tell me not to shake the photos like in that OutKast song, because that does seriously fuck up the film.)

    BUT– anyone who calls a whale a fish is an idiot.
    also, i think you made up the dog thing.

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