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Very debatable, that one. San Marino's could be said to be older.Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
Isle of Man has the longest one that's been in continuous existance, althought it didn't have legislative powers for a time, so that mightn't count.
My DKY: A crocodile's tongue is attached to the top of its mouth.
Shannon is the only town in Ireland that you can't drive straight through.
Eh?
Try driving through New Ross - you have to go through it, come out and go back into it again before you finally get free.
According to a British law passed in 1845, attempting to commit suicide was a capital offense. Offenders could be hanged for trying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paddyfield
well not really , its spells the name Aaron with two a,s as , birthcert spells it with one . which leads to the question is he really dead !!!
ive never been to new ross, but its tru about shannon, its kind of a cul de sac.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple
How can one word be expected to rhyme with all of them?Quote:
Originally Posted by Battery Rover
yours,
P. Dant
Also, it's not true. Hirple rhymes with purple, and I maintain lozenge rhymes with orange. En-plus-oneth is apparently a word (from maths) and rhymes with month, while silver rhymes with chilver. See more here.
In the meantime, I'll chip in with the news that America was named after Amerigo Vespucci. To get "America", Amerigo's name was Latinised (to Americus) and made feminine (to America) because all the other continents were girls.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Battery Rover
Arrange rhymes with orangeQuote:
Originally Posted by osarusan
sliver rhymes with silver
and Nurple sounds like purple, as in a purple nurple
It depends on what you classify as 'rhyme.'
regarding Stu's point about lozenge and orange, only the last unstressed syllable could be considered a rhyme, which isn't really what rhyming is supposed to be, in my opinion.
Lozenge is a half-rhyme apparently. But you don't know how I say "lozenge" :p
Sliver doesn't rhyme with silver, and arrange doesn't come close to orange. Completely different "a" before the "nge". I think it constitutes an eye-rhyme though (the last letters are the same, but they sound completely different).
There's some good orange rhymes on wikipedia. I like this one particularly -
Quote:
Eating an orange
While making love
Makes for bizarre enj-
oyment thereof
Whiskey is spelt with an 'e' in Ireland and America, while in Canada and Scotland it's spelt with no 'e'-Whisky.
Also, sligoman is not my real name.
There is a groundswell of opinion that that is now unlikely to be the truth, if only because newly discovered or settled lands were NEVER named after first names, always surnames (Van Diemen's Land, Rhodesia, Pennsylvania etc..), unless it was of members of royalty (Louisiana, Queen Maud Land, Prince Edward Island and so on).Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
There is a very compelling argument, however, that it was named after a Welsh merchant called Americke, or maybe Ap Merrick as he's of Welsh stock, who sponsored voyages of discovery from Bristol to Newfoundland in the late 1400s.
Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a Friday the 13th or
There is a city called Rome on every continent
and a final one
Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian, and had only ONE testicle
As of January 1, 2004, the population of the United States increases by one person every 12 seconds. There is a birth every eight seconds, an immigrant is added every 25 seconds, but a death every 13 seconds
Hm.Quote:
Originally Posted by stann
Reminds me of an interesting story in one of Bill Bryson's books, which is that Colombus didn't discover America (not that anyone thinks he did anyway; St Brendan was obviously first there :) ). Anyways, the Brits had discovered it decades before but kept quiet because the fishing was hugely profitable. The idea of finding a whole, massive new landmass and just not telling anyone is superb.
I think wen the Pilgrim Fathers reached America - and very quickly started dying through incompetence - they were saved by kind Indians who happened to speak English.
In fact, for this whole thread, just go and read Bill Bryson's books.
That's good advice for anyone, though it's QI I mainly get my info from these days. :D
I do also recall reading in a book about cod, called Cod if I'm not mistaken, that the Portugese were well aware of the existence of North America too, but kept it a closely guarded secret.
On that Pilgrim fathers thing, you're right, apparently one of the Indians they met had already crossed the Atlantic at least 6 times, and the first thing he said was to ask, in English, for some beer!
Dunno about the Rome one, though it seems likely. Neither of these are a given though, by any stretch of the imagination.Quote:
Originally Posted by BigfeetBigsocks
Going by Bryson again, when you say "cross the Atlantic", you should say "been seized, kidnapped and brought to England as a slave only to escape, return home and get re-kidnapped and re-escape".Quote:
Originally Posted by stann
Which strikes me as a bit careless on both sides.