Fact or Fiction?
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The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. The youngest pope was 11 years old. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David Hearts - Charlemagne Clubs - Alexander the Great Diamonds - Julius Caesar 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month? A. Conception. Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you could find the letter "A"? A. One thousand. Q. What do bullet-proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? A. All invented by women. Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight". It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month or what we know today as the honeymoon. In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.U.C.K (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that word came from. In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
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The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. The youngest pope was 11 years old. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David Hearts - Charlemagne Clubs - Alexander the Great Diamonds - Julius Caesar 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month? A. Conception. Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you could find the letter "A"? A. One thousand. Q. What do bullet-proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? A. All invented by women. Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight". It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month or what we know today as the honeymoon. In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.U.C.K (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that word came from. In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. Fiction Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: The youngest pope was 11 years old Fiction, he was 12 :P Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David Hearts - Charlemagne Clubs - Alexander the Great Diamonds - Julius Caesar Fiction - they derive in a sense from Tarot cards, and weren't designed to represent any specific individuals Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 Fact - and pretty damned neat :) Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. I seem to remember a military history professor saying this, so I'll go with fact Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. I'll go with that one...Fact. Although, I suppose "Yes." and "No." could count... Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey This one's a fact - honey discovered in Egyptian tombs was still edible Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.U.C.K (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that word came from. Total BS :) Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language. Another fabrication, if memory serves...I seem to recall seeing some sort of derivation of the word from a linguistical standpoint...I could be wrong. DOH, Forgot one: All the ones about the women inventors: Fiction Laser Printer - Gary Starkweather Kevlar Vest - Lester
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The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. The youngest pope was 11 years old. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David Hearts - Charlemagne Clubs - Alexander the Great Diamonds - Julius Caesar 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month? A. Conception. Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you could find the letter "A"? A. One thousand. Q. What do bullet-proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? A. All invented by women. Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight". It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month or what we know today as the honeymoon. In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.U.C.K (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that word came from. In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
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Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you could find the letter "A"? A. One thousand. What about "one hundred and one"?
Wjousts wrote: What about "one hundred and one"? I was taught that "and" is never written or spoken when describing a number. The proper way would be "One hundred one." Please allow me to introduce myself - I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for a long, long year - Stole many a man’s soul and faith
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Wjousts wrote: What about "one hundred and one"? I was taught that "and" is never written or spoken when describing a number. The proper way would be "One hundred one." Please allow me to introduce myself - I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for a long, long year - Stole many a man’s soul and faith
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It can certainly be spoken. Have you never watched darts? "One hundred and eighty!!!" I'll concede that I would probably not write the "and" (because I'm lazy) but I don't think it's actually wrong?
Wjousts wrote: I don't think it's actually wrong? I don't know for sure but... my 6th grade math teacher was emphatic about it. :sigh: Please allow me to introduce myself - I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for a long, long year - Stole many a man’s soul and faith
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Wjousts wrote: What about "one hundred and one"? I was taught that "and" is never written or spoken when describing a number. The proper way would be "One hundred one." Please allow me to introduce myself - I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for a long, long year - Stole many a man’s soul and faith
Mike Mullikin wrote: I was taught that "and" is never written or spoken when describing a number. Likewise. However, i do remember a discussion on check (cheque) writing a while back, where some limeys were claiming "One thousand and One hundred and One and Eleven Hundredths dollars" (or something similar) was proper form. :rolleyes:
But in the end, it's all just database access right? And that stuff is just plain boring.
- David Stone, not a programming question but...
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Mike Mullikin wrote: I was taught that "and" is never written or spoken when describing a number. Likewise. However, i do remember a discussion on check (cheque) writing a while back, where some limeys were claiming "One thousand and One hundred and One and Eleven Hundredths dollars" (or something similar) was proper form. :rolleyes:
But in the end, it's all just database access right? And that stuff is just plain boring.
- David Stone, not a programming question but...
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Wjousts wrote: What about "one hundred and one"? I was taught that "and" is never written or spoken when describing a number. The proper way would be "One hundred one." Please allow me to introduce myself - I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for a long, long year - Stole many a man’s soul and faith
Maybe it's one of the differences between british and american english. I have vague memories of reading xxx and yyy way back in school. We were taught british english (but I broke my teacher's snobby little heart by developing an american accent :rolleyes:) -- Seraphim Shock. Gold for your ears.
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The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. The youngest pope was 11 years old. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David Hearts - Charlemagne Clubs - Alexander the Great Diamonds - Julius Caesar 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month? A. Conception. Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you could find the letter "A"? A. One thousand. Q. What do bullet-proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? A. All invented by women. Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight". It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month or what we know today as the honeymoon. In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.U.C.K (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that word came from. In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
I'll go with Jeremy's answers except: "No." is a valid complete sentence. [Edit: An argument can be made that a complete sentence must have a subject and a verb. Following this rule, "I do." is just as short, thus "I am" can't be the "shortest" but "one of the shortest" and both "Go!" and "Be." are shorter, with the subject being implied.] The horse thing is almost certainly bogus. Many counter examples abound. (One: http://www.watermelon-kid.com/dallas-sights/landmarks-lee.htm[^]) [Edit: Another counter example: http://www.jatruck.com/stonewall/big_pans/long_photo.htm[^].) As for the inventions question: A woman invented Kevlar, but not the bullet-proof vest. The "fire escape" is tricky since it depends on what you mean by it. A woman did invent windshield wipers. A Xerox engineer named Gary Starkweather is widely credited with creating the first laser printer in 1978, though it's very possible one or more key patents is held by a woman. The explanation for "good night, sleep tight" is likely bogus. The "sleep tight" is referring to the condition of the blankets; if you sleep tight, you keep the cold air out. Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
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I'll go with Jeremy's answers except: "No." is a valid complete sentence. [Edit: An argument can be made that a complete sentence must have a subject and a verb. Following this rule, "I do." is just as short, thus "I am" can't be the "shortest" but "one of the shortest" and both "Go!" and "Be." are shorter, with the subject being implied.] The horse thing is almost certainly bogus. Many counter examples abound. (One: http://www.watermelon-kid.com/dallas-sights/landmarks-lee.htm[^]) [Edit: Another counter example: http://www.jatruck.com/stonewall/big_pans/long_photo.htm[^].) As for the inventions question: A woman invented Kevlar, but not the bullet-proof vest. The "fire escape" is tricky since it depends on what you mean by it. A woman did invent windshield wipers. A Xerox engineer named Gary Starkweather is widely credited with creating the first laser printer in 1978, though it's very possible one or more key patents is held by a woman. The explanation for "good night, sleep tight" is likely bogus. The "sleep tight" is referring to the condition of the blankets; if you sleep tight, you keep the cold air out. Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
Joe Woodbury wrote: "No." is a valid complete sentence A complete sentence needs a subject and a verb. Jeremy Falcon
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The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. The youngest pope was 11 years old. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David Hearts - Charlemagne Clubs - Alexander the Great Diamonds - Julius Caesar 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month? A. Conception. Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you could find the letter "A"? A. One thousand. Q. What do bullet-proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? A. All invented by women. Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight". It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month or what we know today as the honeymoon. In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.U.C.K (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that word came from. In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 True Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. True Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. True Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.U.C.K (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that word came from. Not quite the way I heard it. This one is closer... http://www.strangecosmos.com/read.adp?joke_id=1802[^] Jeremy Falcon
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Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. Fiction Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: The youngest pope was 11 years old Fiction, he was 12 :P Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David Hearts - Charlemagne Clubs - Alexander the Great Diamonds - Julius Caesar Fiction - they derive in a sense from Tarot cards, and weren't designed to represent any specific individuals Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 Fact - and pretty damned neat :) Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. I seem to remember a military history professor saying this, so I'll go with fact Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. I'll go with that one...Fact. Although, I suppose "Yes." and "No." could count... Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey This one's a fact - honey discovered in Egyptian tombs was still edible Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.U.C.K (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that word came from. Total BS :) Robert Edward Caldecott wrote: In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language. Another fabrication, if memory serves...I seem to recall seeing some sort of derivation of the word from a linguistical standpoint...I could be wrong. DOH, Forgot one: All the ones about the women inventors: Fiction Laser Printer - Gary Starkweather Kevlar Vest - Lester
Jeremy Kimball wrote: Although, I suppose "Yes." and "No." could count... A complete sentence requires a subject and verb. Yes and no would be considered fragments in that instance. Jeremy Falcon
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Wjousts wrote: What about "one hundred and one"? I was taught that "and" is never written or spoken when describing a number. The proper way would be "One hundred one." Please allow me to introduce myself - I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for a long, long year - Stole many a man’s soul and faith
The strict rule is that "and" is used only when there's a fraction. So, 101 = "one hundred one" 10.5 = "ten and one half" Of course, actual usage differs from the prescriptive rules quite often. --Mike-- Ericahist | CP SearchBar v2.0.2 | Homepage | 1ClickPicGrabber New v2.0! | RightClick-Encrypt Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering? I think so Brain, but if we shaved our heads, we'd look like weasels!
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Wjousts wrote: What about "one hundred and one"? I was taught that "and" is never written or spoken when describing a number. The proper way would be "One hundred one." Please allow me to introduce myself - I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for a long, long year - Stole many a man’s soul and faith
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Joe Woodbury wrote: "No." is a valid complete sentence A complete sentence needs a subject and a verb. Jeremy Falcon
Jeremy Falcon wrote: A complete sentence needs a subject and a verb. No. Okay, not funny. Since "No" can contain a complete thought, it could be considered a complete sentence, though the counter argument is that it is subordinate on the context. However, "Go!" is considered a complete sentence by many; the subject being implied, not explicitly stated. "Be." is also a complete sentence for the same reason. (BTW, "I do." is just as short as "I am.", shorter if you are using proportional spaced fonts. The joke goes, that "I do" is both the shortest and longest sentence in the English language.) Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
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The strict rule is that "and" is used only when there's a fraction. So, 101 = "one hundred one" 10.5 = "ten and one half" Of course, actual usage differs from the prescriptive rules quite often. --Mike-- Ericahist | CP SearchBar v2.0.2 | Homepage | 1ClickPicGrabber New v2.0! | RightClick-Encrypt Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering? I think so Brain, but if we shaved our heads, we'd look like weasels!
I think it's clear that there is no strict rule. Mostly it depend on where you grew up and were educated. It appears the English favour "one hundred and one" where as the Americans favor "one hundred one" Michael Dunn wrote: 10.5 = "ten and one half" Or "ten and a half" - Let start up a whole new debate about that one!
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Jeremy Falcon wrote: A complete sentence needs a subject and a verb. No. Okay, not funny. Since "No" can contain a complete thought, it could be considered a complete sentence, though the counter argument is that it is subordinate on the context. However, "Go!" is considered a complete sentence by many; the subject being implied, not explicitly stated. "Be." is also a complete sentence for the same reason. (BTW, "I do." is just as short as "I am.", shorter if you are using proportional spaced fonts. The joke goes, that "I do" is both the shortest and longest sentence in the English language.) Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
Joe Woodbury wrote: The joke goes, that "I do" is both the shortest and longest sentence in the English language. Thanks for my new signature. :-) Regards, Alvaro
"I do" is both the shortest and the longest sentence in the English language.
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I'll go with Jeremy's answers except: "No." is a valid complete sentence. [Edit: An argument can be made that a complete sentence must have a subject and a verb. Following this rule, "I do." is just as short, thus "I am" can't be the "shortest" but "one of the shortest" and both "Go!" and "Be." are shorter, with the subject being implied.] The horse thing is almost certainly bogus. Many counter examples abound. (One: http://www.watermelon-kid.com/dallas-sights/landmarks-lee.htm[^]) [Edit: Another counter example: http://www.jatruck.com/stonewall/big_pans/long_photo.htm[^].) As for the inventions question: A woman invented Kevlar, but not the bullet-proof vest. The "fire escape" is tricky since it depends on what you mean by it. A woman did invent windshield wipers. A Xerox engineer named Gary Starkweather is widely credited with creating the first laser printer in 1978, though it's very possible one or more key patents is held by a woman. The explanation for "good night, sleep tight" is likely bogus. The "sleep tight" is referring to the condition of the blankets; if you sleep tight, you keep the cold air out. Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
Joe Woodbury wrote: The horse thing is almost certainly bogus. Many counter examples abound. (One: http://www.watermelon-kid.com/dallas-sights/landmarks-lee.htm\[^\]) [Edit: Another counter example: http://www.jatruck.com/stonewall/big\_pans/long\_photo.htm\[^\].) More to the point, is that for it to be true it would mean EVERY single sculpter in the world (or at least those that do guys sitting on horses) would have to agree to this convention. Seems unlikely. I could well believe that a school of sculpter may have existed at sometime that tried to follow the convention, but clearly not everybody who ever did [errm...I mean sculpt] a guy on a horse was a member.
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Jeremy Kimball wrote: Although, I suppose "Yes." and "No." could count... A complete sentence requires a subject and verb. Yes and no would be considered fragments in that instance. Jeremy Falcon
Jeremy Falcon wrote: A complete sentence requires a subject and verb I remember (and this is about 15 years ago now) that my English teacher at school told us that "Go!" was the shortest. A verb in the imperative (command mode if you prefer) does not need a subject. --Colin Mackay--