Things learned in June
The last week of the month was pretty much a total loss, but otherwise, there were a few things learned:
01
02
03 English: "topiary" means cutting plants into (fun) shapes. The plants that have been cut are also called "topiary". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topiary
04 Chinese idiom: 泪如雨下 (lèi rú yu xià) lit. "tears like rain falling" = "crying a river", "crying profusely" - I especially love the character for tear, because you can tell (well, if you know the radicals a little, you can), that the left side is "water" and the right side is "eye" - https://vividchinese.com/emotion-related-chinese-idioms/
05 English: "blues and twos" is a British colloquialism for police cars with their "blue" lights and "two"-tone siren - https://www.definitions.net/definition/blues%20and%20twos
06 Astronomy: "Hilda asteroids" - a group of asteroids that move in elliptical orbits near Jupiter. Each on their own, they successively change position between three of Jupiter's Lagrange points, but all together, they always form a triangle shape - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilda_asteroid
06 Biology: the "medlar" fruit (German: "Mispel") can only be eaten after it has been "bletted" by frost. The fact that it "is rotten before it is ripe"has led to many uses in literature where it is used as a symbol of prostitution or destitution. It also has funny nicknames like "open-arse" or "monkey's bottom". The wikipedia article contains a quote from Romeo an Juliet, for example. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mespilus_germanica
07 History: "trenchers" used to be made from stale bread and fed to dogs or given as alms to beggars after use O_O - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trencher_(tableware)
08 - 12 nothing
13 English: a "demarche" is a course of action, or a political maneuver - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demarche
14 Medicine: a hilarious thread on why having vampires drinking blood from the wrist is a bad idea (the comments are worth reading, too) - https://twitter.com/krfabian/status/1403484414051590148
15 - 18 nothing
19 Chinese: a "liuliang" celebrity is one who had a fast rise through online fandom and has a large fanbase (Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong both fall in that category) - https://dramapotatoe.com/chinese-drama-entertainment-faq/
literally, 流量 (liuliang) means "Internet traffic"
20 English: a "snood" is a hairnet, just usually looser-fitting and made from thicker yarn - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snood_(headgear)
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22
23 Gaming, maybe? : "mercury loaded dice" are used to cheat at dice games. They have a hollow inside which is filled with mercury, which takes a long time (about 30 seconds) to flow from one side to the other. You prime them by putting them down the way you want them to land, and then when you throw them, the same side will come up about 80% of the time. I couldn't find any wikipedia pages on this, but here's a site which sells them - https://www.markedcardsshop.com/products/mercury-loaded-dice (no guarantee about popups etc.)
24 - 26 nothing
27 Biology: moray eels have two sets of jaws and can hunt prey on land - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/science/moray-eels-eat-land.html
28 - 30 still nothing.
x-posted from dw (comments:
)
01
02
03 English: "topiary" means cutting plants into (fun) shapes. The plants that have been cut are also called "topiary". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topiary
04 Chinese idiom: 泪如雨下 (lèi rú yu xià) lit. "tears like rain falling" = "crying a river", "crying profusely" - I especially love the character for tear, because you can tell (well, if you know the radicals a little, you can), that the left side is "water" and the right side is "eye" - https://vividchinese.com/emotion-related-chinese-idioms/
05 English: "blues and twos" is a British colloquialism for police cars with their "blue" lights and "two"-tone siren - https://www.definitions.net/definition/blues%20and%20twos
06 Astronomy: "Hilda asteroids" - a group of asteroids that move in elliptical orbits near Jupiter. Each on their own, they successively change position between three of Jupiter's Lagrange points, but all together, they always form a triangle shape - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilda_asteroid
06 Biology: the "medlar" fruit (German: "Mispel") can only be eaten after it has been "bletted" by frost. The fact that it "is rotten before it is ripe"has led to many uses in literature where it is used as a symbol of prostitution or destitution. It also has funny nicknames like "open-arse" or "monkey's bottom". The wikipedia article contains a quote from Romeo an Juliet, for example. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mespilus_germanica
07 History: "trenchers" used to be made from stale bread and fed to dogs or given as alms to beggars after use O_O - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trencher_(tableware)
08 - 12 nothing
13 English: a "demarche" is a course of action, or a political maneuver - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demarche
14 Medicine: a hilarious thread on why having vampires drinking blood from the wrist is a bad idea (the comments are worth reading, too) - https://twitter.com/krfabian/status/1403484414051590148
15 - 18 nothing
19 Chinese: a "liuliang" celebrity is one who had a fast rise through online fandom and has a large fanbase (Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong both fall in that category) - https://dramapotatoe.com/chinese-drama-entertainment-faq/
literally, 流量 (liuliang) means "Internet traffic"
20 English: a "snood" is a hairnet, just usually looser-fitting and made from thicker yarn - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snood_(headgear)
21
22
23 Gaming, maybe? : "mercury loaded dice" are used to cheat at dice games. They have a hollow inside which is filled with mercury, which takes a long time (about 30 seconds) to flow from one side to the other. You prime them by putting them down the way you want them to land, and then when you throw them, the same side will come up about 80% of the time. I couldn't find any wikipedia pages on this, but here's a site which sells them - https://www.markedcardsshop.com/products/mercury-loaded-dice (no guarantee about popups etc.)
24 - 26 nothing
27 Biology: moray eels have two sets of jaws and can hunt prey on land - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/science/moray-eels-eat-land.html
28 - 30 still nothing.
x-posted from dw (comments:
)