I've collected 12 odd and fun facts for today's post. Read. Wonder. Be amazed. Have a great weekend!
1. Virginia Woolf wrote all her books standing.
2. The symbol on the "pound" key (#) is called an octothorpe.
3. Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously. (Look, mystery writers! A new method!)
4. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
5. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
6. Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy.
7. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
8. Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
9. The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "Its A Wonderful Life".
10. The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
11. The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz."
12. A group of unicorns is called a blessing.
I think I knew 3 of these. Not saying which ones.
ReplyDeleteI love these!
ReplyDeleteTerry; I knew some of them already too. I'm not saying which either.
ReplyDeleteKristi; Glad to hear it! I'm always happy to pass on potentially useless knowledge.
I've also heard that nutmeg can be used as a hallucinogen. I've only ever used it in sauces, though...
ReplyDeleteAnd I didn't know goldfish could be pregnant (little less twits). Do they really call it that before they lay eggs, or did I miss the science class where they told us that goldfish were mammals?
Great and mind-boggling list! :)
Great bits of trivia - what a fun friday post!
ReplyDeleteI knew none of these and so feel very much edified and rewarded for coming here today! Now, come on over to my site Living the Complicated Simple Life for a reward for you!
ReplyDeleteIf I ever see a herd of unicorns, now I know what to call them :)
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying those kids in junior high school thought I was a pregnant goldfish?
ReplyDeleteElspeth - Thanks for these! I love 'em! I didn't know that about nutmeg. Now that I do, everybody'd better be v-e-e-ry nice to me ; ). I actually read a short story once where nutmeg (but not injected) featured in a murder... Alan, what you really are is a group of unicorns : ).
ReplyDeleteLove the origin of Oz - that's fantastic! :)
ReplyDeleteWhere you keep digging up these nuggets from, I will never know.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
What? Is that true about Virginia Woolf? Wow!
ReplyDeleteLove these facts, Elspeth.
Loved these facts. Who knew- nutmeg!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for your next list of interesting facts.
"A pregnant goldfish is called a twit." Well that's stg any of my characters won't want to be called!
ReplyDelete"An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain." Another thing my character won't want to hear as a compliment: "You've got such big, lovely eyes. By the way, did you know that an ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain?"