Friday, January 20, 2012

Fun Friday

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.

14 comments:

  1. Elspeth - A post from Elspeth is also called a blessing - at least by me :-).
    Thanks for sharing these cool facts. You know, I think I'll research nutmeg a little more ;-).

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    1. Margot; *blushing* Thanks, Margot for such a kind comment! Let me know what you find out about nutmeg...

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  2. Don't tell Fenny about #7.
    And I actually knew #9, although when I was little I thought it was the other way around...

    (I've missed visiting your blog!)

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    1. Elisa; I've never seen "It's a Wonderful Life". I'm strangely proud of this. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by - I know you're busy doing important things.

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  3. These are some interesting facts! I have to wonder what the thought process behind Donald's middle name was...

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    1. I'm guessing it's the reason why he's in the sailor suit.

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  4. Elspeth, I thought I was the only one who hadn't seen Wonderful Life. Then again, I haven't seen Titanic, either.
    I did know 2, 5, & 11

    Terry

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    1. You haven't seen Titanic? I'm not surprised you knew some of these already.

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  5. Be thankful you're not a #7.
    Happy Weekend!

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  6. In Oz the # key is called a "hash key"

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  7. We call it a pound key here in Canada. But now, with Twitter, it's a hashmark.

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  8. I'm so glad he didn't go with The Wizard of AN.

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  9. I love all of these and knew none of them. My favourite by a country kilometre is a pregnant gold fish being called a 'twit'. Why would you call it anything? "Oh you stupid twit! Gravid again and the bowl full to overflowing with castles and plastic plants!"

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