TIL: Today I Learned

Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
I'm trying to imagine you collecting a vial of spit. I mean, how big of a vial do they need? Does it have to contain cheek cells? Do you have to practically fill an entire swimming pool?

--Patrick
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approx 2ml



No need to scrape or swab..evidently this much spit will usually provide enough cheek cells and other dna carrying cells for replication and typing.

(Incidentally, my co-worker shows me xkcd all the time--i must be one of the few geeks who finds it profoundly unfunny)
 
Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

TIL "Captain Fear" is the name of an obscure DC supervillain, AND a football mascot. The latter character, is most likely why the former character's latest appearance was one of the Lego Justice League movies.
 
strawman

strawman

The hypoglossal nerve controls tongue function.

If it's pinched, like say due to a fast head first transit through the vaginal canal, then it can lead to weeks of weight loss, feeding problems, and frustration for both mother and baby. *

It was interesting that about an hour after adjustment by the second specialist the baby was moving his tongue around as though it were brand new to him, in ways he hadn't moved it prior to adjustment.

*ambiguity intentional for amusement. The baby was the one with the nerve issue, the hypoglossal nerve doesn't make it past the neck so the mothers nerve wouldn't have been affected. Well, not that nerve anyway...
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

fade said:
Last night I learned that the word "pussy" is acceptable on late night network TV.
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For a long time, you've been able to curse, show titties, etc, on broadcast TV after 10pm, under the assumption that kids should be in bed by then.
https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/guides/obscenity-indecency-profanity-faq

It's why Benny Hill (for those of you old enough to remember it) and Bizarre were able to get away with showing so much boobage on their shows.

These days, it seems like even though the FCC can impose rules, they no longer have any teeth: http://venturebeat.com/2012/06/21/shit-yeah-fcc-cant-fine-tv-networks-for-cursing-nudity-anymore/
 
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mikerc

mikerc

TIL about the "sport" of Ferret-legging. Tie your trousers securely at the ankles, shove a couple of ferrets down them, and securely belt your trousers. Trousers must be baggy enough to allow the ferrets to pass from one leg to the other, no underwear is allowed to be worn under trousers. Ferrets must not be sedated & must have all their teeth which are not allowed to be filed down or otherwise blunted. The "winner" is the person who lasts the longest. Record is five and a half hours! :Leyla:

@Emrys any thoughts? Other than "Oh hell no!"
 
Cheesy1

Cheesy1

mroosc1979 said:
TIL about the "sport" of Ferret-legging. Tie your trousers securely at the ankles, shove a couple of ferrets down them, and securely belt your trousers. Trousers must be baggy enough to allow the ferrets to pass from one leg to the other, no underwear is allowed to be worn under trousers. Ferrets must not be sedated & must have all their teeth which are not allowed to be filed down or otherwise blunted. The "winner" is the person who lasts the longest. Record is five and a half hours! :Leyla:

@Emrys any thoughts? Other than "Oh hell no!"
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Who do you think invented this punishm. . . er . . . sport?
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

TIL of the phrase "Chàbuduō" (Chinese: 差不多)
It essentially means "This'll do" or "Good enough" but with a built-in overtone of "The guy who comes after me may have to clean this up, but that'll be his problem, not mine."

--Patrick
 
Gruebeard

Gruebeard

PatrThom said:
TIL of the phrase "Chàbuduō" (Chinese: 差不多)
It essentially means "This'll do" or "Good enough" but with a built-in overtone of "The guy who comes after me may have to clean this up, but that'll be his problem, not mine."

--Patrick
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If you had said Japanese, I'd have said something about your porn preferences.
 
evilmike

evilmike

PatrThom said:
TIL of the phrase "Chàbuduō" (Chinese: 差不多)
It essentially means "This'll do" or "Good enough" but with a built-in overtone of "The guy who comes after me may have to clean this up, but that'll be his problem, not mine."

--Patrick
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So, the most accurate translation is "Gas Bandit's problem"?
 
Null

Null

PatrThom said:
TIL of the phrase "Chàbuduō" (Chinese: 差不多)
It essentially means "This'll do" or "Good enough" but with a built-in overtone of "The guy who comes after me may have to clean this up, but that'll be his problem, not mine."

--Patrick
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That is the perfect description of Governor Christie's policies.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
PatrThom said:
TIL of the phrase "Chàbuduō" (Chinese: 差不多)
It essentially means "This'll do" or "Good enough" but with a built-in overtone of "The guy who comes after me may have to clean this up, but that'll be his problem, not mine."

--Patrick
Click to expand...
"Good enough for government work"
 
Emrys

Emrys

mroosc1979 said:
TIL about the "sport" of Ferret-legging. Tie your trousers securely at the ankles, shove a couple of ferrets down them, and securely belt your trousers. Trousers must be baggy enough to allow the ferrets to pass from one leg to the other, no underwear is allowed to be worn under trousers. Ferrets must not be sedated & must have all their teeth which are not allowed to be filed down or otherwise blunted. The "winner" is the person who lasts the longest. Record is five and a half hours! :Leyla:

@Emrys any thoughts? Other than "Oh hell no!"
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They should also be un-neutered males for that aggressive, stinky testosterone factor.

How do you think I train the doomweasels?
 
mikerc

mikerc

Emrys said:
They should also be un-neutered males for that aggressive, stinky testosterone factor.

How do you think I train the doomweasels?
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I think I prefer not to know. Seriously, I don't need a demonstration. Nope, nope, nope.

Where did I put those jeans with the nice wide flared bottoms?
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

When I was a kid, we used to have a fun, playful ferret we named "Chuckles".

When Chuckles got old and crotchety, he liked nothing better than shimmying up the leg of your jeans and biting the shit out of your shins.
 
Emrys

Emrys

mroosc1979 said:
I think I prefer not to know. Seriously, I don't need a demonstration. Nope, nope, nope.

Where did I put those jeans with the nice wide flared bottoms?
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Awww... I was hoping you would volunteer for my YouTube how-to video.[DOUBLEPOST=1476303106,1476303072][/DOUBLEPOST]
Tinwhistler said:
When I was a kid, we used to have a fun, playful ferret we named "Chuckles".

When Chuckles got old and crotchety, he liked nothing better than shimmying up the leg of your jeans and biting the shit out of your shins.
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Chuckles was truly a doomweasel.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

PatrThom said:
TIL of the phrase "Chàbuduō" (Chinese: 差不多)
It essentially means "This'll do" or "Good enough" but with a built-in overtone of "The guy who comes after me may have to clean this up, but that'll be his problem, not mine."

--Patrick
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This reminds me of a satirical short story written by Hu Shi, a Chinese philosopher and scholar, in 1919. It's called 差不多先生傳, or The Tale of Mr. Close Enough.

Here's a translation of it. The translation's not perfect (or maybe my standards are just too high, but probably not) but it'll give you an idea of why this phrase is looked upon negatively.
http://chinesetoenglishtraslation.blogspot.tw/2009/08/blog-post.html
 
Gruebeard

Gruebeard

bhamv3 said:
This reminds me of a satirical short story written by Hu Shi, a Chinese philosopher and scholar, in 1919. It's called 差不多先生傳, or The Tale of Mr. Close Enough.

Here's a translation of it. The translation's not perfect (or maybe my standards are just too high, but probably not) but it'll give you an idea of why this phrase is looked upon negatively.
http://chinesetoenglishtraslation.blogspot.tw/2009/08/blog-post.html
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I get it, but I too would rather have a vet treat me when the alternative is no one treating me.


The translation is boring, but not terrible. There's a couple noun/verb mispairings (oh god I've forgotten how to speak grammar! ) in there that leapt out to me -

"He has a pair of eyes, which unfortunately does not see clearly. He has a pair of ears, which hears rather poorly"

- and it should probably have taken some liberty and changed "he would mistakenly write the Chinese character of 1000 for that of 10" to "he would mistakenly write 100 instead of 10" to suit the language. Or 1000 instead of 100 to be more faithful, even though it sounds a really stupid mistake in English. Or is this not good practice when translating literature?
 
Chad Sexington

Chad Sexington

Gruebeard said:
"He has a pair of eyes, which unfortunately does not see clearly. He has a pair of ears, which hears rather poorly"
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I would argue it is written correctly. If you read it as pair - "pair of eyes" being one phrase - as doing the action, then it is correct. If you read it as the eyes doing the action, separately from the pair - i.e. "he has a pair of eyes, and the eyes do not..." then it should be "do" and "hear". But I would argue it is correct as-is.

A pair of shoes does not fit.

These shoes do not fit.

No?
 
Gruebeard

Gruebeard

Chad Sexington said:
I would argue it is written correctly. If you read it as pair - "pair of eyes" being one phrase - as doing the action, then it is correct. If you read it as the eyes doing the action, separately from the pair - i.e. "he has a pair of eyes, and the eyes do not..." then it should be "do" and "hear". But I would argue it is correct as-is.

A pair of shoes does not fit.

These shoes do not fit.

No?
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Those do sound fine to my ear. But I think something happens when you drop the "which:" A pair of shoes, which does not fit. That just sounds off to me



. . . I wonder if I should choose this as my hill to die on.
 
Chad Sexington

Chad Sexington

Gruebeard said:
Those do sound fine to my ear. But I think something happens when you drop the "which:" A pair of shoes, which does not fit. That just sounds off to me



. . . I wonder if I should choose this as my hill to die on.
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Well, it's less that I think you're wrong, but rather I think that the text is not wrong. I think the verb agreement disregards the which, but it is true that it sounds clumsy to native English speakers.
 
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