What interesting things have you only recently learned about?
To be clear, this is about things which have been true for some time and you only recently learned about, not things that only happened recently. In particular, recent deaths of celebrities and other high-profile individuals should go in the General RIP Thread
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So, what interesting things have you guys...and gals...only recently learned about?
Edited by Twiddler on Apr 8th 2023 at 1:07:55 AM
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
Nick in Old Nick refers to Niccolo Machiavelli, apparently.
I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.
Apparently that circling thing dogs do before they sleep is a leftover instinct they had before being domesticated, in order to flatten the ground and sleep more comfortably.
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
Cats often do that, too. It has also been suggested that cats will often knead a soft fabric like that of a sofa or a blanket before they lie down on it, for the same reason.
edited 30th Sep '12 1:40:42 PM by BestOf
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
The tail of a peacock is more correctly called a 'train', and is not actually the tail primaries. It arises from the middle of the peacock's back and is made of the tail covert feathers. They have a normal short tail in the usual place.
Be not afraid...
Das kann doch nicht sein!
But thanks to Loni Jay, I know now that it's pretty much the same thing.
People aren't as awful as the internet makes them out to be.
Bloody Fossil
Non-circular CDs are a thing.
One can herd geese in urban areas in Britain.
Happy New Year!
Buckshot is design to take down deer, hence the name.
I just never made the connection.
hashtagsarestupid
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
Neither have I.
I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.
Two-bit blockhead
I found out that my stepfather is a big fan of the Hellraiser series. He's seen all of them. I was pretty surprised.
I also discovered that Totino's Party Pizzas taste much better after covering them in pepperoni I got from somewhere else.
Weird in a Can (updated M-F)
I will be 1000 weeks old on Thursday, 11 September, 2014 at 16.40.
There's an action figure of Obama in Japan. It's pretty awesome.
◊
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
My God, it really is.
I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
Arsenal FC has over 100 million supporters, including some rather suprising ones such as the Queen, Harry Redknapp (who was until recently the manager of Arsenal's main rival Tottenham Hotspur,) Michael Moore, and Osama bin Laden.
edited 6th Oct '12 6:59:21 PM by BestOf
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Am I a weirdo?
Why would a dead guy follow sports?
Bigotry will NEVER be welcome on TV Tropes.
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
I suppose I could've worded that better.
It'd be a shame if the estimates I saw of the number of Arsenal fans around the world also included all the dead fans.
For a club that's been around for easily over a hundred years, made the top-4 of the toughest league in the world 15 seasons running and won the first division 13 times (throughout its history, not in the last 15 years,) as well as recently earning a reputation for taking in young players with potential and crafting superstars out of them, all the while pursuing beautiful football for the fans rather than playing dirty or boring games for money and trophies (which unfortunately goes some way towards explaining why their last title was in 2004,) 100 million fans over all that history would be a miserable result.
(If you're guessing that I'm a fan of Arsenal FC, why, you're right; but my favourite team is the Spanish national team, thought Barcelona comes close second just before Arsenal. Still, even after drooling over Spain and Barca, I've got plenty of love left for Arsenal.)
edited 6th Oct '12 8:46:25 PM by BestOf
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Am I a weirdo?
I'm just being deliberately irritating and giving you a hard time right now. Don't mind me.
Bigotry will NEVER be welcome on TV Tropes.
Pirate AND writer!
Tim Burton is my archenemy. Screw you and that undead mutt of yours, cat hater.
Looking for some stories?
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Hey, any opportunity to rant about Arsenal is a win in my book.
Physics grads in Britain go work in The City (ie financial services).
Physics grads in Australia go work in the energy industries.
Physics grads on the continent work for Defence and Aerospace companies.
Very few Physics grad - wait for it - work in Physics.
'80s TV Action Hero
Physics and biology graduates in the UK mostly work in admin...
Chemistry is where it's at.
Social science graduates work in fast food.
edited 7th Oct '12 6:06:18 AM by InverurieJones
'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'
Bloody Fossil
Eddie Izzard was in Valkyrie.
A different shape every step I take A different mind every step of the line
Happy New Year!
Well the more fortunate one do yes.
hashtagsarestupid
Oddly enough, Latin doesn't have a future subjunctive.
There is a third Gamecube startup-jingle, activated by pressing Z on four GC-controllers at startup!
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!