Did you know that...?

[Visalakshi Ramani]

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[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 48. FARCE.

Originally farcing was the padding in clothing or stuffing in a chicken.In Middle Ages, early dramas based on religious stories were performed.

The actors would liven up their lines by farcing, by padding their lines with contemporary issues and topical jokes.

Later this form of ad-libbing became so popular that it expanded to a new dramatic form in its own right from the 17Th Century comic padding called farce.[/FONT]

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 49. FEES.

We pay fees with money. Yet if we really wish to pay with the fees in its original meaning, the transaction would be tedious, cumbersome and heavy.

In old English Feoh meant cattle. Before the invention of money, cattle were bartered for other goods. People would pay in cattle and buy whatever they wanted.

Feoh later got modified to fees.
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[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 50. FIASCO.

Fiasco means an ignominious result or an utter failure.

Fiasco literally means a small flask. In the 15 Th Century, Venetian glass was world famous.

The glass blowers would use only the perfect and flawless material for their prized products.

If they felt that the glass was substandard, they would set it aside for making fiascoes or the small flasks. [/FONT]

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 51. Fireman.

The first fireman was a fire-lighter and not a fire-fighter!

It was the fireman's dangerous job to go first into the coal mines pits. He would be wrapped in wet rags and carry a lighted candle on a long stick to ignite the fire damp.

Fire damp was the dangerous explosive mixture of methane and air that had seeped into the pit during the previous night.

The fire started this way rendered the mines safe for the other to enter. Eventually the word fireman came to denote any person who saves the lives of other people from the blazing fire.
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[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]
# 52. Fool's cap.

After the Civil War in the 17th Century and before the formation of Commonwealth, the King licensed paper making. Every sheet of paper made bore the royal cypher as the watermark.

The republican leader Oliver Cromwell abolished this and substituted a water mark of his own showing a fool's cap.
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[Brahin]

Dear Visalakshi Ji,

Nice info and all your threads are nice to read..Raji Ram Ji also writes with you.
Both of you make this forum nice.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

Dear Mr. Brahin,

Thank you for your feedback. I am sure you will be even happier to learn that

Raji Ram is my OWN sister ( 5 years younger to me).

You yourself seem to be a busy member participating in many threads!

Keep up the good work! :thumb:

with best wishes,
V.R.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 53. Gazette.

Many news papers bear this title. Italian word gazetta denotes a small coin. It was the price of a Government news paper in Venice around 1536.

Another possible explanation is that Gazza in Italian means tittle -tattle and gossip.These were the items abounding in a news paper![/FONT]

 

[Raji Ram]

Dear Visalakshi Ji,

Nice info and all your threads are nice to read..Raji Ram Ji also writes with you.
Both of you make this forum nice.

Thank you Sir! Wonder whether you can read Tamil write ups too!! I mean my other threads...

Cheers!

 

[Brahin]

Dear Mr. Brahin,

Thank you for your feedback. I am sure you will be even happier to learn that

Raji Ram is my OWN sister ( 5 years younger to me).

You yourself seem to be a busy member participating in many threads!

Keep up the good work! :thumb:

with best wishes,
V.R.

Nice to know that.

 

[Brahin]

Thank you Sir! Wonder whether you can read Tamil write ups too!! I mean my other threads...

Cheers!

Dear Raji Ram Ji,

No problems I read many languages

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 54. G.I.
During the World War II, every kit use by the American soldiers was stamped with the initials G.I. denoting that it was "Government Issued"
In due course the initials G.I. came to mean the soldiers themselves.
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[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 55. Handicap.

Whenever two men wanted to barter possessions of unequal values, they played a game known as "hand-in-cap", in Medieval England.They would find an umpire for their game.

All the three men put a small token amount in the cap.
The umpire would decided which of the two exchanged articles was of less value and how much money must be added to it to make the offer fair.

The two persons would put their hands in their pockets. If both of them drew out money from their pockets, they agree for the barter and the exchange takes place.

If only one person drew put money, only he agrees for the exchange. So he gets the forfeit money and no exchange takes place.

If none of the two took out money, the deal was abandoned. The umpire took the forfeited money.

By the 17th century, 'hand in cap' was used in racing to decide which horse should carry extra weight to make the race fair.
Later the word came to denote anything which acts to one's disadvantage.
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[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 56. Hitch-hike

The term originated in America in the 19th century, to describe how two people could travel with only one horse.

One person rode ahead to an allotted distance.He hitched the horse to a tree and continued on foot.

When the second person reached the horse he rode on it till he overtook his companion.This sequence was repeated till they reached their destination.[/FONT]

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 57. Hoodlum.

This word denotes a dangerous criminal. It was coined in 1870 by a San Francisco news paper reporter.

He wanted to coin a new word to denote the young ruffians. He selected the name of a local gang leader Muldoon and reversed it to form Noodlum. The type setter thought it was Hoodlum.

The catchy word caught on!
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[renuka]

People who ride on roller coasters have a higher chance of having a blood clot in the brain.

People with blue eyes see better in dark.

Money isn’t made out of paper, it is made out of cotton.

A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it go mad instantly and sting itself to death.

Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

A huge underground river runs underneath the Nile, with six times more water than the river above.

The USA uses 29% of the world's petrol and 33% of the world's electricity.

Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear By 700 times.

The animal responsible for the most human deaths world-wide is the mosquito.

Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people.

We exercise at least 30 muscles when we smile.

Our nose is our personal air-conditioning system: it warms cold air, cools hot air and filters impurities.

Our brain is more complex than the most powerful computer and has over 100 billion nerve cells.

When a person dies, hearing is usually the first sense to go.

There is a great mushroom in Oregon that is 2,400 years old. It Covers 3.4 square miles of land and is still growing.

German Shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dog.

The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing

Men's shirts have the buttons on the right, but women's shirts have the buttons on the left.

The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it's already been digested by a bee.

It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it.

The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting.

The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

People who ride on roller coasters have a higher chance of having a blood clot in the brain.

Actually such people are warned NOT to go on the ride.

People with blue eyes see better in dark.

No plausible explanation for this!

Money isn’t made out of paper, it is made out of cotton.

In spite of this, we manage to tear the currency notes!

A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it go mad instantly and sting itself to death.

Drunken driving of scorpions?

Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

Do we close our eyes while chewing the gum?

A huge underground river runs underneath the Nile, with six times more water than the river above.

WOW! If only we could bring it to the surface of earth, no more water

scarcity!!

The USA uses 29% of the world's petrol and 33% of the world's electricity.

And they never seem to feel guilty for stealing more than their share of

resources!

Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear By 700 times.

And deaf 20 times faster than the non users!

The animal responsible for the most human deaths world-wide is the mosquito.

It is a SHE DEVIL since only females drink blood while ales drink grass

juice!

Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people.

No wonder we give them such a hard time their lives seem longer

already!

We exercise at least 30 muscles when we smile.

That is why people find it so hard to smile...they have to move too many

muscles!

Our nose is our personal air-conditioning system: it warms cold air, cools hot air and filters impurities.

Compact portable A.C, working free of power and given free of cost by

God!

Our brain is more complex than the most powerful computer and has over 100 billion nerve cells.

If only we decide to use them properly...!

When a person dies, hearing is usually the first sense to go.

I always thought all the faculties took off together hand in hand!

There is a great mushroom in Oregon that is 2,400 years old. It Covers 3.4 square miles of land and is still growing.

Wonder why no one thought of making a giant meal out of it!

German Shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dog.

The Nazi effect???

The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing

May be men bring surprise gifts so that they may see a pretty woman now and

then! Dilated pupil makes a person pretty, the concept behing candle light

dinners!!

Men's shirts have the buttons on the right, but women's shirts have the buttons on the left.

Women are leftists even otherwise!

The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it's already been digested by a bee.

We are eating the food eaten by an insect already???

It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it.

While filming they had to pay for the stars and others ~ 30 times the money!!!

The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting.

How on earth do they get collected there?

The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air.

Poor cornea or lucky cornea?

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 58. Hooligans.

The Houlihans were a family of rowdies they lived in South London in 1890s. They were notorious for their noisy behavior.

As the stories about them spread far and wide, they became a part of English language with a modified spelling as Hooligans.[/FONT]

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 59. Jargon.

The old French word gargon meant the twittering noise made by the birds.

Scientists and specialists often baffle laymen with the highly specialized words from their subjects- which the common people can neither understand nor appreciate.

Such confusing word are called jargon.
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[Visalakshi Ramani]

# 60. Jeep.
American cartoonist E.C. Segar, introduced a cartoon creature called Eugene the Jeep, in his popular cartoon strip.
Jeep was a tough little animal which lived on orchids and could become invisible.
A few years later U.S.Army Transport contract was given to the Willy's company in Ohio, for producing powerful open topped four seater vehicles.
The vehicle was just 11 feet long but could practically go anywhere.
Soldier loved this rugged and fantastic vehicle and were happy to give it the name of the fantasy creature jeep.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 61. Juggernaut.
Once in a year, the 45' tall statue of Lord Jagannath will be taken in a procession through the streets of Puri. The rath/ chariot was pulled by thousands of devotees. Anything that came under the wheels would get crushed.
The word Juggernaut is the Anglicized version of Jagannath. It has come to denote a relentless and unstoppable force that would crush anything in its path.
Recently the word has been applied to the giant trucks on the modern roads. [/FONT]

 

[Raji Ram]

WOW! What a size!!

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 62. Jumbo.
Jumbo was an African elephant which was the star attraction in the Paris and London zoo in the 19th century. Jumbo stood an impressive 10' 9" tall at its shoulders.
The word Jumbo has come to denote anything very huge or extra ordinarily large.
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[Haridasa Siva]

Does our blood group reveal our personality?

According to a Japanese institute that does research on blood types, there are certain personality traits that seem to match up with certain blood types. TYPE O You want to be a leader, and when you see something you want, you keep striving until you achieve your goal. You are a trend-setter, loyal, passionate, and self-confident. Your weaknesses include vanity and jealously and a tendency to be too competitive. TYPE A You like harmony, peace and organization. You work well with others, and are sensitive, patient and affectionate. Among your weaknesses are stubbornness and an inability to relax. TYPE B You're a rugged individualist, who's str aightforwa rd and likes to do things your own way. Creative and flexible, you adapt easily to any situation. But your insistence on being independent can sometimes go too far and become a weakness. TYPE AB Cool and controlled, you're generally well liked and always put people at ease. You're a natural entertainer who's tactful and fair. But you're standoffish, blunt, and have difficulty making decisions.

 

[renuka]

Does our blood group reveal our personality?

According to a Japanese institute that does research on blood types, there are certain personality traits that seem to match up with certain blood types.TYPE O You want to be a leader, and when you see something you want, you keep striving until you achieve your goal. You are a trend-setter, loyal, passionate, and self-confident. Your weaknesses include vanity and jealously and a tendency to be too competitive. TYPE A You like harmony, peace and organization. You work well with others, and are sensitive, patient and affectionate. Among your weaknesses are stubbornness and an inability to relax. TYPE B You're a rugged individualist, who's str aightforwa rd and likes to do things your own way. Creative and flexible, you adapt easily to any situation. But your insistence on being independent can sometimes go too far and become a weakness. TYPE AB Cool and controlled, you're generally well liked and always put people at ease. You're a natural entertainer who's tactful and fair. But you're standoffish, blunt, and have difficulty making decisions.

I am blood group A so I guess this study must be true !!!!!