1151
@qikipedia
When Prince officially changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1992, Warner Brothers had to send floppy disks containing a new font to the press so that they could type the artist’s name. (Image: @anildash)
1152
@qikipedia
Word of the Day: CERVANTHROPY — a delusional belief that you are a deer.
1153
@qikipedia
Research shows that heterosexual men who learn to play extreme metal guitar are mostly motivated to do so in order to impress other heterosexual men.
1154
@qikipedia
The gravestone of Merv Griffin, a talk show host and the creator of TV shows ‘Jeopardy!’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’, says ‘I will not be right back after this message’. [📷: Ben Churchill.]
1155
@qikipedia
A FIT OF THE CLEVERS is 19th-century Scots for a sudden burst of activity when you realise how much work you have to do.
1156
@qikipedia
"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is." JAN VAN DE SNEPSCHEUT
1157
@qikipedia
In 1871, lawyer Clement Vallandigham was defending a client accused of murder.
In demonstrating how the victim might have accidentally shot himself, he accidentally shot himself.
He died. His client was acquitted.
1158
@qikipedia
Word of the day: BARAGOUINER (French) - to speak a language extremely badly
1159
@qikipedia
On average, tall people are smarter than short people.
1160
@qikipedia
In the 16th century, Danish king Christian IV required captains of ships passing by Denmark to pay taxes.
They were allowed to declare their cargo at whatever value they chose, without further audit, but the king reserved the right to buy the cargo at that price.
1161
@qikipedia
Word of the day: ROGITATE - to ask the same question over and over again; particularly beloved of toddlers
1162
@qikipedia
In 1850, a cult gave 600 acres in Pennsylvania to God.
It was later repossessed by the state because God did not pay his taxes.
1163
@qikipedia
In 2011, the Romanian government started requiring witches pay taxes on their earnings.
Witches promptly cursed the government.
1164
@qikipedia
"That seems to point up a significant difference between Europeans and Americans. A European says: 'I can't understand this, what's wrong with me?' An American says: 'I can't understand this, what's wrong with him?'" TERRY PRATCHETT
1165
@qikipedia
Pond Square, North London is said to be haunted by a chicken that Francis Bacon tried to preserve in ice in 1626.
1166
@qikipedia
For every degree of global heating, there is a 12% increase in lightning strikes.
1167
@qikipedia
Word of the Day: VILLAINSPLAINING (neologism) — endless monologuing by a movie baddie about the specifics of their evil scheme.
1168
@qikipedia
Ethiopian languages have a punctuation mark for sarcasm. It is called ‘temherte slaq’ and looks like an inverted exclamation mark.
1169
@qikipedia
The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary included the word ‘cock’, but excluded ‘condom’. The male genitals were not considered taboo, but contraception was a subject ‘too utterly obscene for the Dictionary’.
1170
@qikipedia
During the French Revolution, being guillotined was referred to as ‘being given the patriotic haircut’, ‘sticking your head through the cat-flap’, ‘poking through the window’, and ‘sneezing into the basket’.
1171
@qikipedia
In Microsoft’s internal documentation, the digital Office assistant Clippy was referred to as ‘tfc’. To anyone who asked, it was ‘the friendly character’, but it actually stood for ‘the fucking clown’.
1172
@qikipedia
Books about achieving success are usually written by people whose main success in life is selling a book about achieving success. VIKTOR PELEVIN
1173
@qikipedia
Floppy disks are still used in aviation, medicine, but most of all in embroidery machines.
1174
@qikipedia
There's a reason you always have room for dessert - your stomach expands in contact with sugar.
1175
@qikipedia
There is a cafe for writers in Tokyo that won't let you leave until you've met your writing goals.
@qikipedia
A Quite Interesting Twitter feed from the team behind the BBC TV show QI.
linktr.ee/TheQIElves