What did you learn today TIL

[MintJulie]

I love the launches also.  I also get up to watch the ISS flyovers late at night and early in the morning.

We visited Huntsville Space Center on our trip home from Florida.  I could have spent a couple of more days there.

[Asmodel]

TIL
Spunk Has two meanings!

1. Courage! 

2. The thing which, sometimes, comes out from the rhyming word “junk” 

[Hilda]

==> To sport an oak

I had to reach for Partridge's Dictionary of Historical Slang to figure this one out.

It's from a novel written in 1898. Visitors to a lawyer's chambers in London climb the stairs and find that "The oak wasn't sported." From the context I guessed that "oak" had to mean "door", but the "sported" stumped me.

According to Partridge,  "sport one's oak" = to shut one's outer door as a sign that one is engaged.

It seems a pity to waste such a colorful expression on anything as prosaic as an outer door. It would add zest to an erotic story:

He stood naked at the top of the stairs, sporting a magnificent oak.

[ObiDongKenobi]

==> To sport an oak

I had to reach for Partridge's Dictionary of Historical Slang to figure this one out.

It's from a novel written in 1898. Visitors to a lawyer's chambers in London climb the stairs and find that "The oak wasn't sported." From the context I guessed that "oak" had to mean "door", but the "sported" stumped me.

According to Partridge,  "sport one's oak" = to shut one's outer door as a sign that one is engaged.

It seems a pity to waste such a colorful expression on anything as prosaic as an outer door. It would add zest to an erotic story:

He stood naked at the top of the stairs, sporting a magnificent oak.

And a pair of impressive acorns 

[Pornhubby]

Hilda, without referring to the original manuscript, I took the quote and context to indicate that the visitors climbed the stairs to the lawyer’s chamber with some sexual anticipation, only to discover the lawyer wasn’t going to engage in fornication, due to his engaged status. Obviously they’d only known lawyers like me.

 

[Hilda]

Hilda, without referring to the original manuscript, I took the quote and context to indicate that the visitors climbed the stairs to the lawyer’s chamber with some sexual anticipation, only to discover the lawyer wasn’t going to engage in fornication, due to his engaged status. Obviously they’d only known lawyers like me.

Judging by the meticulous descriptions of the Inns of Court in London, and the liberal splattering of legal terms, I'm sure that "George Dick" (I kid you not), the author of Fitch and His Fortunes was a lawyer. Who else would slip "usufructuary" or "puisne mortgagee" into a novel about stolen gems?

All the technical terms certainly add color to the story, but I'm sure I'll forget them the minute I finish the book. One that I probably won't forget is "heel tap". At a "call" dinner for new barristers, the wine flows freely and one participant yells, "No heel taps!" Chambers informs me that "heel tap" refers to the tiny amount of liquor left in the bottom of a glass after drinking. Useful to know.

[Pornhubby]

Thanks again for expanding my database of thoroughly useless knowledge. Which is the best kind. Woo.

[Shiela_M]

Today I learned what a ring shaped coral reef, or close coral islands that enclose or almost enclose a lagoon is called. Then I looked through a bunch of pictures and immediately had the urge to buy plane tickets to the Caribbean.

[Pornhubby]

Today I learned what a ring shaped coral reef, or close coral islands that enclose or almost enclose a lagoon is called. Then I looked through a bunch of pictures and immediately had the urge to buy plane tickets to the Caribbean.

Today’s Wordle. 

[Shiela_M]

Today I learned that unless you're in the midwest, mostly Wisconsin Illinois and Minnesota, you may not understand when someone says "a horse apiece". I was just chatting with a woman traveling from Montana and I said that and she gave me the strangest look. It threw me off that she had never heard that before. She found it to be a very odd expression.

If you dont know, a horse apiece means "more or less equal" or saying "It's pretty much the same"

[MissBarbara]

Today I learned that unless you're in the midwest, mostly Wisconsin Illinois and Minnesota, you may not understand when someone says "a horse apiece". I was just chatting with a woman traveling from Montana and I said that and she gave me the strangest look. It threw me off that she had never heard that before. She found it to be a very odd expression.

If you dont know, a horse apiece means "more or less equal" or saying "It's pretty much the same"

FWIW, I was born and raised in Illinois, and I’ve never heard that expression.

Must be an Upper Midwest thing…

[Shiela_M]

FWIW, I was born and raised in Illinois, and I’ve never heard that expression.

Must be an Upper Midwest thing…

That's so strange to me. I had always thought it was a rather common phrase used everywhere. My dad and uncle say it all the time.

[Pornhubby]

We never had that one down in Texas. My grandmother used to always say, “never look a gift horse in the mouth.“ Back from the days when looking at a horse’s teeth was part of “kicking the tires” before buying. But if someone gives you the horse, it is rude to do such things, i.e., don’t complain about something you got for free. I still say this, and my kids look at me like I’ve lost my mind. LOL.

[Pornhubby]

TIL that Iggy Pop wrote the song “China Girl” after his marriage to Suchi Asano. David Bowie, a friend, liked it, and performed a cover, that was a chart topping hit.  Pop says that the royalties from China Girl were a major factor in his musical success.

[Hilda]

TIL that Iggy Pop wrote the song “China Girl” after his marriage to Suchi Asano.

That's weird. "Asano" is a common Japanese family name, and what little info I could find about Suchi Asano describes her as a Japanese writer. Wikipedia Japan adds that she attended one of Iggy's concerts during his first Japan tour in 1983, and that's how they met.

I guess that "My Japanese Girl" had one too many syllables and wasn't as catchy as "My China Girl". 

[Pornhubby]

I guess that "My Japanese Girl" had one too many syllables and wasn't as catchy as "My China Girl". 

The Vapors already had “Turning Japanese” on the charts. The song actually refers to the squinty eyes face many people make when they masturbate. LOL.

[Pornhubby]

[Asmodel]

Hasn’t that topic already been discussed in some old thread, yesteryear?
Maybe it was Miss Barbara who explained it...

[Pornhubby]

Hasn’t that topic already been discussed in some old thread, yesteryear?
Maybe it was Miss Barbara who explained it...

I put it here for your benefit, in case you didn’t understand. LOL.

[Shiela_M]

This actually made me laugh pretty good