People have been sharing their boring facts but they’re actually rather interesting
We’re grateful to a Twitter user called @gwenckatz who asked people to share their boring facts.
Quote-tweet with a boring fact.
— Gwen C. Katz (@gwenckatz) September 9, 2019
And it prompted people – lots of people – to share their boring facts and it turns out they’re actually rather interesting.
Although there’s always the possibility it’s just us, of course. Here are our favourites.
1.
Stonehenge is not a henge, and the Bayeux Tapestry is not a tapestry https://t.co/jR2dgf7be2
— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) September 17, 2019
2.
"facetiously" features every vowel, including y, in alphabetical order https://t.co/PPL8tN9tk6
— Rhystic Studies (@RhysticStudies) September 16, 2019
3.
https://twitter.com/DaMullet/status/1173663929228304384
4.
Things like FBI which you pronounce as letters rather than reading out as a word (like NASA or HUD) are initialisms, not acronyms. https://t.co/rOs7ZAMQuj
— John Barrie (@vlazuvius) September 17, 2019
5.
Uncopyrightable is the longest word in the english language without repeating a letter https://t.co/9mT0wsiWuL
— CVM (@Chris_VanMeter) September 16, 2019
6.
The continents names end with the same letter they start with. ♂️ https://t.co/X3SHJdaitR
— Jens Notroff (@jens2go) 16 September 2019
7.
When the contestants on Bullseye lose the star prize the end credits are played in a minor key. https://t.co/khjvGMTMlx
— Hannah O'Hanrahahanrahan (@buntyhoven) September 16, 2019
8.
"Super" used to just mean "up," but society has come to associate it with Superman's strength rather than his flying. This process is called a metaphorical semantic change. https://t.co/mPXB9fCDrl
— aka JDunlap (@joseph_dunlap) September 16, 2019
9.
<went> was originally the past tense of <wend> as in "wend your weary way" https://t.co/B0eGjB0exz
— The Layman's Linguist (@LaymansLinguist) September 17, 2019
10.
https://twitter.com/dysphoricnick/status/1171827943380672512
11.
There is a Buddhist temple in southern Korea dedicated to a man who had a big-time crush on a queen regnant. Actually, the crush was so big that he ignited in flames of lust and desire and became a monster of living fire. The temple was commissioned to quench his flames. https://t.co/5LuB5cTsLV
— Sangjun without a pickling jar BBC! (@heofonkoppe) 16 September 2019
12.
Our word 'cane' is one of the few words in English that ultimately has its roots in Sumerian, a language that died out around 2000 BCE.
English 'cane' > Latin 'canna' > Greek 'κάννα' > Akkadian 'qanû' > Sumerian '' (gi-na) https://t.co/czgMsbWpxx
— Andrew Deloucas (@AANDeloucas) 17 September 2019
And just in case you’re still wondering about Greg Jenner’s tweet about Stonehenge and the Bayeaux Tapestry …
Wait…what? I thought Stonehenge was the very definition of a henge! And what is the tapestry if not a tapestry?
— Michael Moran (@TheMichaelMoran) September 17, 2019
The tapestry is an embroidery. Not sure about what Stonehenge is if it’s not a henge. Is it a legume?
— David Llewellyn (@TheDaiLlew) September 17, 2019
You’ll hear all about Stonehenge on my episode of You’re Dead To Me when it comes out! But no, a henge is an earthwork ditch which Stonehenge technically lacks
— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) September 17, 2019
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19 Quite Interesting tweets from the official QI Twitter account