1176
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The word ‘paraphernalia’ comes from Greek ‘para’ (besides) and ‘pherne’ (dowry) and originally meant a woman’s own property (apart from dowry) which she retained at least some control of in her marriage.
1177
@qikipedia
According to a leading 2021 study, it's coming home.
1178
@qikipedia
I am more and more convinced that our happiness or our unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life than on the nature of those events themselves.
WILHELM VON HUMBOLDT
1179
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A SARCAST is a person who is adept at sarcasm.
1180
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Recent analysis of medieval skeletons indicated that the fashion for ever more pointy shoes caused serious damage to wealthy people’s feet.
(Image: Metropolitan Museum of Art)
1181
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As well as centaurs, medieval literature also featured half-human, half-donkey onocentaurs, or ass centaurs.
1182
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A collection of some of the Elves' favourite bits from the late, fantastic Sean Lock on QI over the years:
youtu.be/YcGoVXDh0Ts
1183
@qikipedia
In the French Republican calendar, every day was named after something important to rural French life.
28 December was the day of manure.
1184
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The microwave was invented by accident.
An engineer at Raytheon was testing a magnetron when he noticed his snack had melted in his pocket.
He repeated the procedure, and exploded an egg. He then decided to try building an oven.
(Image: Daniel Christensen; CC BY.)
1185
@qikipedia
Word of the day: HINGUM-TRINGUM (Scots) - low spirits, just barely getting through it all
1186
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The heat in pepper comes from piperine, a compound that breaks down in contact with light (which is why you should store pepper in the cupboard.
Image: smial (FAL or GFDL 1.2)
1187
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Word of the Day: FIMBLE-FAMBLE — a weak excuse.
1188
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In 1979, New England Journal of Medicine described a case of finger infection caused by snapping one’s fingers too much while disco dancing, known either as ‘disco felon’ or ‘disco digit'.
1189
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"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is." JAN VAN DE SNEPSCHEUT
1190
@qikipedia
Word of the Day: CERVANTHROPY — a delusional belief that you are a deer.
1191
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There is a cheese-themed theme park in South Korea.
(Image: Republic of Korea; CC BY-SA.)
1192
@qikipedia
The most famous French pangram, a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet, is ‘portez ce vieux whisky au juge blond qui fume’ (‘Take this old whisky to the blond judge who is smoking’).
1193
@qikipedia
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk: That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." ERNEST HEMINGWAY
1194
@qikipedia
Pierre de Courbertin's original plan was to add a new Olympic ring for each completed Olympiad. If he’d had his way, the Olympic symbol would now feature 28 rings.
1195
@qikipedia
Word of the day: TEMPORICIDE - the act of killing time
1196
@qikipedia
Pimpmaker, slubber doffer and saggar maker’s bottom knocker were all once occupations. (Respectively; collecting firewood, replacing loom bobbins, and pottery.)
1197
@qikipedia
One of the early typewriters, patented by Samuel W. Francis in 1857, was known as ‘the literary piano’. [📷: Division of Work and Industry, NMAH, Smithsonian.]
1198
@qikipedia
Earl Tupper, Tupperware inventor, also tried to make drip-free ice cream and a fish propelled boat. (Image: Archive Center, NMAH)
1199
@qikipedia
Sharing an article makes you think you know more, even if you didn't actually read the article.
1200
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The figurative meanings of the word ‘backlog’ — ‘reserves’ and ‘unfulfilled orders’ — were preceded by a literal one: originally, the word referred to a heavy log put at the back of a fireplace as a protection of the brickwork.
@qikipedia
A Quite Interesting Twitter feed from the team behind the BBC TV show QI.
linktr.ee/TheQIElves