# Your SINGLE favorite piece of information **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907 "2005-06-04T18:04:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/61 "2005-06-06T01:05:55Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I think this “fact” may be a bit suspect. I’m not sure, but I’d guess that the kangaroo and emu were chosen for the coat of arms simply because they were uniquely Australian animals. I suspect that the “can’t walk backwards” interpretation was a subsequent development. The interpretation certainly doesn’t get a mention at the [Commonwealth government site](http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/coat_of_arms.html) discussing the coat of arms. So are you disputing their use on the coat of arms or that they can’t walk backwards? Alot of internet sources say that it’s true they can’t walk backwards. I am not against changing my favorite bit of info to just the part about the backwards walking and trimming the coat of arms bit off 🙂 Hmm although Googling “kangaroo emu backwards ‘coat of arms’” bring up about 276 hits for this “fact”… any help here? ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/62 "2005-06-06T01:25:30Z")
> [@Miss Purl McKnittington](#): > > I’m torn. I don’t know what my favorite piece of information is. One option is that the worst medieval swear words were forms of blashphemy, so that swearing by a saint’s or God’s body parts was wildly popular among the pissed off. This led to curses like, “God’s balls!” Now, that is goddamned interesting. You know how they say that Appalachian speech patterns preserve some archaic English forms? I don’t know whether that’s true or just a linguistic myth, but my father, who hails from darkest West Virginia, says, “Balls!” when he’s frustrated. I’ve never heard anyone else use “balls” as an oath. My brothers and I thought it was hilarious and we’d go around saying it to kind of make fun of Dad. Could it be that when my dad hits his thumb with a hammer, I am hearing a slightly expurgated version of a curse that Shakespeare himself may have uttered? ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/63 "2005-06-06T01:28:07Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > If the history of the planet Earth from its formation until the present day is represented as one year, then the extinction of the dinosaurs took place closest to which popular U.S. holiday? We had to do this project for my first semester of geology last year. If I remember correctly, humans emerged on December 31 at at 23:59 and fiftysomething seconds. It really puts everything into perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/64 "2005-06-06T01:30:49Z")
Ack! No! I take that back. That was actually the appearance of the Black Plague in Europe. The emergence of humans only happened slightly before that, though. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/65 "2005-06-06T01:33:40Z")
King and 2 bishops can force mate against a King and a knight. But a King and two knights cannot force mate against a lone King. ---
**Author:** ![Treviathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@Treviathan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treviathan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/66 "2005-06-06T01:55:44Z")
> [@glee](#): > > But a King and two knights cannot force mate against a lone King. Place one king in the top right hand corner. Place the opposing king two squares below, and the two knights on the squares beside the king. Voila - checkmate! However, _one_ knight and one king cannot force checkmate. My first year biology professor once told me that giraffes have to splay their front two legs out in front of them and place their neck almost parallel to the ground to take a drink of water - if they simply dipped their head downwards, they’d faint from a sudden increase in blood flow to the cranium. No idea if that’s actually true, but I christened our rec-league basketball team two years - which not surprisingly lost every game we played - the “Fainting Giraffes” in homage. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/67 "2005-06-06T02:15:57Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > So are you disputing their use on the coat of arms or that they can’t walk backwards? Alot of internet sources say that it’s true they can’t walk backwards. I’m not disputing the fact that kanagaroos and emus can’t walk backwards. I’m suggesting that the bit about “and that’s why they’re on the Australian coat of arms” sounds awfully like a later addition. I’d expect to see that logic mentioned on the official Australian government site if there were any contemporary evidence suggesting that a kangaroo and emu where chosen for the coat of arms for that reason, and not simply because they were uniquely Australian animals. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/68 "2005-06-06T02:17:52Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > Christopher “Kit” Marlowe, Elizabethan poet/playwright, was a spy for Her Majesty, and his mysterious death in a bar fight may have been an assassination. > > …it’s so COOL! He writes plays! He joins secret societies at the university! He FIGHTS CRIME! You’re familiar with [Gay Atheist Spy](http://www.livejournal.com/community/gayatheistspy/), aren’t you? 🙂 One of the bestsellers of Shakespeare’s day was _The Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven_, by one Arthur Dent. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/69 "2005-06-06T02:19:32Z")
1): 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 (The firing order of the cylinders in Chevy V-8s) 2): I read an autobiographical account by [James Herriot](http://www.jamesherriot.org/works.php) that covered quite a bit of the important accomplishments in his life. Schooling, how he met his wife, his Vet practice, etc. Only one small mention of the minor detail that he spent **three years as a fighter pilot in World War II**. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/70 "2005-06-06T02:40:05Z")
As for my facts, Chile, Peru, and Argentina have incredibly large Jewish populations. Those and other South American nations were the only ones that accepted Jews fleeing Hitlerian pre-Holocaust Germany. The one quote that sticks out in my mind from Yad Vashem, the Jerusalem Holocaust memorial, is from the Australian prime minister (I believe) of the time: “Australia does not have a racial problem, and it is not looking to import one.” Most other first-world countries had similar reactions. Virginia isn’t a state (it’s a commonwealth). The New York Nets of the ABA (the NBA these days) and the New York Sets of World Team Tennis were named to rhyme with New York’s other second teams, the Jets and the Mets. The San Diego Sails were left out of the ABA/NBA merger because Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke refused to share his Southern California fan base. Other San Diego pro basketball teams have met their demise because they sucked badly. The Los Angeles Clippers originated as the San Diego Clippers. We think of that as the best prank we’ve ever pulled on L.A. The Houston Rockets’ team name refers to space shuttle launches from Houston, right? Nope. That team started out as the San Diego Rockets. That the businessmen who bought the team and moved it was from Houston was coincidence. Humans have tails and, I believe, gills at some point in the uterus. Some UA stuff: The Arizona Wildcats earned their nickname when they lost their first ever football game to a college vaguely near L.A. (Occidental?). An L.A. sportswriter noted that although they lost, “the Arizona men had in them the fight of wild cats.” The Wildcats’ proud tradition of heroic football losses continues to this day. The call to “bear down” (take a look on the floor of the McKale center next time you’re watching a Cats home game) came from John “Button” Salmon, a Wildcats quarterback who was hospitalized after a car accident. His last words (to his coach, anyway) were: “Tell them…tell the team to bear down.” Subsequently, the UA built a recreational basketball gym for player practice and casual student play, called Bear Down Gym. The words “Bear Down” were (still are) painted on the top so as to be seen by overpassing planes. A Wildcat in a helicopter flew over Bear Down Gym and was inspired to write the Wildcat fight song, “Bear Down Arizona”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/71 "2005-06-06T02:42:32Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > Virginia isn’t a state (it’s a commonwealth). Ditto Massachusetts, Kentucky, and (I didn’t know this one) Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/72 "2005-06-06T02:52:28Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > Now, that is goddamned interesting. You know how they say that Appalachian speech patterns preserve some archaic English forms? I don’t know whether that’s true or just a linguistic myth, but my father, who hails from darkest West Virginia, says, “Balls!” when he’s frustrated. I’ve never heard anyone else use “balls” as an oath. My brothers and I thought it was hilarious and we’d go around saying it to kind of make fun of Dad. Could it be that when my dad hits his thumb with a hammer, I am hearing a slightly expurgated version of a curse that Shakespeare himself may have uttered? I dunno. I’ve said “balls” as a curse since I was twelve, though, much to the amusement of friends and family, since I’ve always carried a nice girl image. I use it in pretty much the same way as Brits use “bollocks,” which makes sense. Curses were definitely shortened in Shakespeare’s day, however. A common one you see is " 'zounds!" (pronounced “zoonds”), short for “God’s wounds!” I seem to remember “marry” being used to mean “indeed” or “yes” being a version of something involving the Holy Mother, too, but I’m not sure on that one. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/73 "2005-06-06T03:10:57Z")
> [@icarus](#): > > "It was long believed that Edison had coined the word “hello,” and in the 1980s, a scholar named Allen Koenigsberg found proof. The first thing I thought when I saw this…isn’t that Woody Allen’s real name? ---
**Author:** ![comrade33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@comrade33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/comrade33)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/74 "2005-06-06T03:42:13Z")
“the tao of physics” it was a total mindfuck. ---
**Author:** ![comrade33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@comrade33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/comrade33)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/75 "2005-06-06T03:43:26Z")
sometimes i think i’m too boorish… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/76 "2005-06-06T04:00:28Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Some of my favs: > > 1. There’s more hydrogen in gasoline than in liquid hydrogen… > . I’n gonna hafta demand a cite for this, or at least a clarification: ‘more’ measured in what way? Per unit volume of the liquid? Per unit weight? Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/77 "2005-06-06T04:10:27Z")
Summarizing my limited chess “end game” knowledge: You can _force_ checkmate against a lone king with _your_ king and 1. a queen 2. one rook 3. 2 bishops 4. 1 bishop and 1 knight - (but it’s a real pain in the ass) Okay, but that is in response to what _others_ have mentioned. * * * _My_ “fun fact” - the hummingbird is a triple avian record holder • smallest bird • fastest wingbeat • only bird that can fly backwards. [Jack Palance] _ **"Believe it or not"** _ [/Jack Palance] ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/78 "2005-06-06T04:19:11Z")
The primary export of Lesotho is mohair. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/79 "2005-06-06T09:21:15Z")
> [@LucyInDisguise](#): > > After a few years of trying to disprove this, I’ve given up… : > > There is no word in the English language that rhymes with Orange. 🆒 > > Never found any other words that have no rhyming companions either. > > That is all. Silver. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907/80 "2005-06-06T09:24:39Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > A Brazilian would. > São Paulo, a city much larger than NYC. It’s the financial center of Brazil – Rio is for partying, São Paulo is for business. > There are many Japanese in areas around that city; banking and business is their game. My wife says that the Brazilians joke that when they go back to Japan, the other Japanese say that Brazil made them lazy. No, that’s not it. The historical reason is that at the turn of the last century, Japan had an excessive population, full of poor farmers looking to improve their lot, and Brazil was starved for farmers to work their land – a perfect match, and both governements facilitated the immigration, which tapered off around WWII. The really interesting thing is that in the last 10-20 years, some of the descendants have been going back to Japan as foreign guest workers, doing jobs that the now-prosperous native Japanese won’t, and discovering that they are neither Japanese or Brazilian. Here’s an[article](http://www.gradewinner.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_3_113/ai_n5990766), and you can also read Karen Tei Yamashita’s (Japanese-American author) interesting Circle K Cycles, a novelized account of her year in Japan with this community. There may well also be an interesting analysis of the way the presence of visual signs and images as well as multiple languages in that book create for the reader a sense of displacement and confusion analogous to that of its subjects appearing in an academic journal soon … if I can get off my ass and finish the damn thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-single-favorite-piece-of-information/306907.md?page=5)