Things you were shockingly old when you learned

the Chinese needle snakes will take care of the cane toads

I did always wonder where our mynas and sparrows came from, that said.

I only recently learned that the female singer (Merry Clayton, btw) in "Gimme Shelter" was singing: "Rape! Murder!" Her voice may have been electrifying, but her enunciation was a bit unclear.

what did you think she was singing?

AAAY! UUUUR-UH!

Crape Myrtle

https://www.fast-growing-trees.com/images/D/Sioux-Crape-Myrtle-2-450w.jpg

i just realized that we use a base-10 counting system most likely because we have 10 fingers to count on

It wasn't until I read a book about surveying that I realized why imperial measurements so didn't follow any rules of ten.

Yeah, if only we had eight fingers and toes everyone would be happy.

It's funny how hard it is to shake off the idea that ten is an intrinsically special number.

With that introducing species to countries being colonised the book Ecological Imperialism by Alfred crosby covers the idea in pretty great depth. Seems that anybody arriving anywhere by a traditional sea faring vessel would unintentionally take some unexpected flora and fauna with them. & that would subsequently fight for dominance of the area.
Also if the travellers were expecting to settle anywhere they would probably try to bring some of the food stuff they were used to at home with them and try to get it to flourish in the new area and things would subsequently spread.

Also did I hear that myxomatosis the rabbit euye disease that was going rampant across the UK in the mid 70s was actually released in Australia in ana ttempt to control the growing rabbit population. Think somebody said that to me at the time.

I only recently learned that some socks are fitted for L and R feet.

I'm currently reading 1493 by Charles C Mann which is all about how humans introduced species to different to different continents (both intentionally and inadvertently). I think the one fact that surprised my the most is actually that there were no earthworms in North America before the arrival of Europeans. So I just learned that a couple of days ago.

i just realized that we use a base-10 counting system most likely because we have 10 fingers to count on

check out diamonddave85 over here, str8 boasting about his full complement of fingers

xpost Might have been that book (or maybe another?) where I learned that the honeybee itself is an invasive species the Europeans brought with them that in turn killed the native bees and took over their duties. Off (but on) topic, I have no idea why but I could not for the life of me finish 1491. In fact, I only finally abandoned it last week and moved on to something else. Just the sheer onslaught of history and dates and whatnot was too relentless. It just kept going. Feel bad, because I was looking forward to moving on to 1493, but I don't think I can do it.

I don't think you need to have read 1491 to read 1493, they deal with different things. 1493 is all about ecology, agriculture and trade how intertwined this all is. I'm currently reading the chapter on the effects of introducing potatoes to Europe and this just keep getting surprised by how far reaching the consequences are.

Also, the last section in 1491 about how the pre-columbian amazonian rain forest is in large part man-made is probably the most interesting part of that book.

'Roiled' is American for 'riled'.

not to be mistaken with 'birled' as popularised by RT star presenter Alex Salmond.

Birl means to spin round. Don't know how Wee Eck's been using it on RT though.

'Roiled' is American for 'riled'.

I think I just learned this now. I'm not sure I've ever heard "roiled".

Americans use both roil and rile. I'd say roil if I were talking about water and rile if I were talking about making someone upset.

Oh, I have read "roil" in reference to water but mostly in older literature.

Noodles says what I was going to say. Water is roiled and people are riled.

That the Iron Age refers specifically to the period when humans began smelting iron mined from the earth, as iron had actually been in use for a long time prior but it was all meteoric iron so people basically thought it was just some magic metal gifted to them from space aliens or gods or whatever rationale they had to apply to some crazy shit that was just falling from the sky.

I warn my kids every night around nine to not rile the dog up.

I don't know if I've ever said the word "roil" out loud.

Americans use both roil and rile. I'd say roil if I were talking about water and rile if I were talking about making someone upset.

Right, though the context I saw it in was about upsetting or annoying someone... having said that what's all this stuff about roiling (or riling) water?

"Roil" is how Americans say "rile" when they're doing a British accent.

I did almost mention Dick Van Dyke earlier.

"The sea raged and roiled" is the only usage of the word "roil" that seems familiar to me.

agree, I only think of “roil”as tumultuous waters

"Roil" is how Americans say "rile" when they're doing a British accent.

― nickn, Saturday, November 11, 2017 1:00 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Or like how we refer to their Roil Family.

I'm sure I've heard roiling in cooking terms when you boil water in a pan and the water's bubbling away ferociously, what I'd call a fast boil. Is that the same thing again?

rolling boil maybe

broil?

OIM RILLY ROILED UP ROIGHT NOW

flea circuses are actually a real thing that people used to do, with real fleas, not just a metaphor or a thing in cartoons

Yeah, but I'm sure I've heard it called roiling. Is broiling not grilling?

oh you’re right. i’ve only ever had broiled meats in chinese/taiwanese soups, and just assumed broiling was that.

that lots of guys apparently like to wank in front of unwilling women

NOT ONLY THAT, but his weird anti-semitic racist plot to foist squaredancing upon the country is the whole reason for square dancing in gym class. https://t.co/LBUThVJpbi pic.twitter.com/ONEMWpAEHj

— Robyn Pennacchia (@RobynElyse) December 7, 2017

that is wild

I only learned last week that in the chipmunks christmas song they're howling about a HULA HOOP instead of just indiscriminate wailing. I like my ~40 year internalized version better but I can live with reality too

i still sing it as HOONA HOO because thats how it sounded to me, it’s funnier that way

That Janice Long is Keith Chegwin's sister

Can see a facial resemblance if that's true.

Was, dudes.

That Janice Long is Keith Chegwin's sister

― Colonel Poo, Monday, December 11, 2017 2:33 PM (thirty-two minutes ago) Bookmark

haha, found this out about 32 minutes ago too

er, Janice Long is still alive afaik

That teenager is teenager because thirTEEN, fourTEEN, ... eighTEEN, nineTEEN. I still cringe at my statement of "but teenager is such a vague word..when does one become a teenager? 12? 13?" in a debate.

Also fell victim to the idea that pickles were vegetables in their own right (not pickled cucumbers). Then my immediate thought was that pickling cucumbers was terrible inefficient considering how much they shrunk in the vinegar (from supermarket cucumber size to gherkins).

That Liv Tyler is Steve Tyler's daughter.

fyi 'Beats' from People Just Do Nothing is(was) Keith Chegwin's nephew

I only worked out yesterday that 'ymmv' stands for 'your mileage may vary' rather than 'your meat, my veg'