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Nobody hates tourists more than a fellow tourist. Running into a compatriot abroad is an acutely painful experience. It’s a bit like hearing your own voice. TOM JENKINS (CEO OF THE EUROPEAN TOURISM ASSOCIATION)
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The French word ‘ça’ (‘it’ or ‘that’) as in ‘Ça va?’ is a shortening of the word ‘cela’, which itself is a shortening of the Vulgar Latin phrase ‘ecce hoc illac’, meaning ‘look this over there’.
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"It is not true that the English invented cricket as a way of making all other human endeavours look interesting and lively... I don't wish to denigrate a sport that is enjoyed by millions, some of them awake and facing the right way, but it is an odd game." BILL BRYSON
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‘Spocking’ is a Canadian practice whereby the features of the prime minister Wilfred Laurier on the Canadian five-dollar bill are altered so that he begins to look like the Star Trek character Spock. [📷: Kelapstick. CCA SA 4.0]
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Climate change is making it harder to sleep - on average, you are losing 44 hours of sleep a year due to higher temperatures.
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One of the US’s largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons is guarded by trained military dolphins.
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During their concerts in 2004, Muse’s Matthew Bellamy destroyed 140 guitars and set a Guinness World Record for the most guitars smashed on tour.
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"The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head." TERRY PRATCHETT
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Marvel has argued in court that the X-Men are definitively not human (for the purpose of selling action figures as toys, not dolls, and thus paying lower tax).
(Image: Manuel García Melgar; CC BY-NC.)
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About one quarter of the world's hazelnut production is used just to make Nutella.
(Image: Janine; CC BY.)
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"I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day." DOUGLAS ADAMS
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According to a 2012 Radio 4 analysis, Cabot Cove, Maine - home to Jessica Fletcher of Murder She Wrote - has the highest murder rate of any fictional town.
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It takes more than 4 times as much water to produce a kilo of chocolate than it does a kilo of chicken.
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The elephant shrew is the world’s fastest small mammal: they can reach speeds of 28.8 km/h. [📷: Joey Makalintal CCA 2.0]
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When restaurants play classical music in the background, diners spend 10% more per person. When they play pop music, diners spend 10% less.
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In 2021 an arrest warrant was issued for a woman in Oklahoma after it was discovered she hadn’t returned a copy of Sabrina the Teenage Witch on VHS to a video rental store in 1999 when it was due.
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97% of people are currently keeping a secret.
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Unborn sea turtles sing to each other in their eggs.
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Cowboys in the Old West were more likely to wear bowler hats than cowboy hats.
(Image: Oxfordian Kissuth; CC BY-SA.)
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In his dictionary of 1755, Samuel Johnson defined ‘rant’ as ‘a high sounding language unsupported by dignity of thought’.
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Climate change is making albatrosses more likely to divorce.
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In 1961, Dr. Leonid Rogozov was working in Antarctica when he developed appendicitis. As he was the only medical professional on site, he had to perform his own appendectomy.
Most doctors who winter over on Antarctica are now required to have their appendix removed beforehand.
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The USA is home to two towns named Accident, three towns named Embarrass, and four of the world’s five towns called Hazard.
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According to a Stanford University study, kids' brains start tuning out their mum's voice at age 13.
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Word of the Day: NOODLEDOM — a collective term for a group of fools.
@qikipedia
A Quite Interesting Twitter feed from the team behind the BBC TV show QI.
linktr.ee/TheQIElves