Things you were shockingly old when you learned

we’re a very literal conglomeration of people from the diaspora

lol

this is an egg timer btw

https://groceries.morrisons.com/productImages/380/380070011_0_640x640.jpg

"Vintage" means the process of making wine (and, by association the year in which that process takes place); from the French, obv. It does not mean "old". When it's used to mean old (vintage cars, vintage clothing) it's being used metaphorically; vintage wine is not simply old wine.

that's good, makes perfect sense but never considered it

Yeah that's a great example

"Unequivocally" does not have the letter "b" in it. Feeling pretty stupid atm

Trying to figure out where a 'b' would even go. 'Unequivocallyb?'

(Not goosing you, btw. I both said and wrote 'unwieldly' well into adulthood.)

thread delivers

guessing "Unequivocably"

Unbequivocally

Suddenly hearing the word as uttered by Mushmouth.

Last night I learned that Thandie Newton, of whom I've ~been aware~ as an actress since Mission: Impossible 2, pronounces her name "Tandy." Boy, would I have had egg on MY face if I ever met her.

woah

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Damn that took me 34 years

I found out pretty late in life that "mores" (as in "social mores") is the word that rhymes with "morays," not a word that rhymes with "s'mores."

yeah i think it is often spelt with an acute accent over the e

I'm certain that I only know the correct pronunciation because of an ethics class I took.

Character is the most important thing of all

That's a moray

"when an eel bites your heel and the pain makes you squeal..."

stevolende, I guess that is so, but it isn't strictly speaking correct, is it? The word is an import from latin, not French.

social moires

social moires

blurred lines...

and relevant xkcd is https://xkcd.com/1814/

Perhaps relatedly? A few years ago, there was a news story on the radio about the plight of the cops in Egypt. Sounded like things were pretty bad for Egyptian cops.

I'm like huh? until I realized they were saying Copts.

Earlier today I was on a work conference call with some people in India, and we were discussing a business proposal where everything was expressed in dollars and needed to be changed to rubies.

Rubies? Are we seriously talking about being paid with chests full of gemstones? WTF? Is this like a fairy tale or something?

Then I realized everybody had been saying "rupees."

don’t go to vietnam

That "arms akimbo" means hands on hips with elbows out (the George Reeves Superman stance), not arms flailing about.

That the name pronounced "al-o-WISH-us" is the same word as the name spelled "Aloysius."

How did your head spell it before?

My name is Alloy Zeus, look upon my works, ye mighty...

Until the moment of revelation (which may have come while reading the back of an Elvis Costello album), I'd never really thought about how al-o-WISH-us was spelled.

Marsala and masala are not at all the same thing.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dd-XieyVQAAcWu6.jpg:small

comes up on jeopardy every so often

What do you call a dude with the misfortune to still be named “Elbridge” in 2018

Probably “Gary”

wait the *pronunciation* of 'gerrymander' comes up on jeopardy?

it's a hard game

pronounced jame

Only recently occurred to me that the name of the Bumper-to-Bumper auto parts chain refers to what's between the front bumper and back bumper, not in the human centipedal use that traffic reporters employ during a jam.

on a similar tip, I used to think collision centers were places where they conducted crash tests, not auto body shops where they repair the damage caused by motor vehicle collisions

fwiw I didn't know the correct pronunciation of Gerry until now, despite the fact that I live a little behind the gerrymander's neck and used to live on his butt/thigh. in a better world, it would be considered a point of local pride to live within the original gerryymander, and there'd be pizza places named after him, highway signs tracing the path from head to tail, commemorative statues in every town common, tshirts and bumnper stickers sold in every local gift shop, etc.

He's not remembered for any of that

puts me in mind of

https://www.theonion.com/it-is-my-hope-that-i-will-be-remembered-as-a-great-man-1819583650

Though it may be immodest of me to say, it is my dearest hope that I, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, shall be remembered as a great man by all. I long to know what will be foremost in the everyman's thoughts when he hears the name Sandwich. Will it be my Lordship of the Admiralty? Or my able and devoted service as Secretary of State? Either is a fair guess, I believe.

Yet, part of me suspects that it will be an object that is destined to bear my name for eternity, just as people now have begun to refer to a metal stove as a Franklin, after its inventor. Other men, as well, have been so honoured, and I must note that none of these other so-called great men represented England at the Breda Conference negotiations.

There, now I am thinking! Perhaps it will be treaties that will come to be known for eternity as Sandwiches. Great leaders of countries will say, "Let us enact a Sandwich, that our two nations shall cease to be enemies. By the terms of this most sacred and honorable Sandwich, let us have peace in our great lands." That would be a most fitting tribute to me, considering my tireless contributions to the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.

OK so I had no idea that those SoBe drinks from the 90s were called that after South Beach. I never really thought about it and didn't know that was an abbrev for South Beach. Was there last month and saw some lizards and then thought of the bottle and had a light bulb moment.

SoBe began as the South Beach Beverage Company, a drink manufacturer based in Norwalk, Connecticut from 1996-2001.

what in tarnation

SEE??

In breaking news for Elbridge T. Gerry, if everyone pronounces gerrymander as 'jerrymander', then they are pronouncing it correctly. It's a word, not a person, and you are being the worst kind of pedant.

For me the word where that comes into play is "forte" as in "basketweaving is my forte."

Its origin is from French, and refers to the strong point of a sword. There is no accent on it and it is supposed to be said "fort" (according to the worst kind of pedant).

If you say "for-tay," like the musical term for "loud" (which comes from Italian), you're technically wrong but everyone will know what you mean. But if you say it "fort" people will look at you funny (except for a few chance pedants).

As a consequence I avoid it in speech, preferring "strength" or "strong suit" or "specialty."

I prefer thang

I don't really think that's correct. The etymology is correct. The fact that the French word is one syllable is correct. But now literally no one would know what you mean if you said something was "your fort", so while it would be true to the etymology it's not really correct.