Category: fun facts
fun facts
Cucumbers used to be called “cowcumbers.”
Cucumbers used to be called “cowcumbers.” “By the end of the 18th century, ‘cowcumber’ had become a standard pronunciation, and even spread to the U.S.” It later became a class marker, and Dickens used it to signal lower class characters. […]
fun facts
An analysis of 200,000 similes from popular fiction.
An analysis of 200,000 similes from popular fiction. Dry as a….? “You’ll notice that the top 3 bone, desert, and dust make up 43% of all usage, and there is a pretty quick drop-off after that with a long tail […]
fun facts
Who is C F Frost?
Who is C F Frost? It’s the name on all American Express cards in their ads. “Charles Frost–or Chuck, as we like to call him–is a real person.” American Express used his name on sample cards in the “Do you […]
fun facts
Bruce Hornsby on Tupac.
Bruce Hornsby on Tupac. “The original “Changes” was a lot dirtier, had a lot of the n-word. They took that out for the single.” Bruce Hornsby says he got the track on a cassette from the Shakur Foundation, and he […]
fun facts
Continuous cloth roll towel machine.
Continuous cloth roll towel machine. “It spools a real cloth roll that is almost 100 feet long in a spool to dry your hands.” Robert Moseley tours a Darman continuous cloth roll towel machine, the oddly satisfying alternative to paper […]
fun facts
Why Japan has such good railways.
Why Japan has such good railways. “These cultural explanations are wrong.” Japan’s trains work because of policy choices: private operators, land use rules, and regulation that let rail companies build the corridor and the city around it. ~ learn more
fun facts
Queensbridge.
Queensbridge. I spent a night in Long Island City and walking from the train stop to my hotel, I passed the housing project where one of my favorite artists, Nas, grew up. “From a neighborhood perspective, the album was very […]
fun facts
Europe demands family dynasties.
Europe demands family dynasties. “Many European countries have ‘forced heirship’ laws that require people to leave 50-75% of their estates to their children.” It can even claw back lifetime gifts, making it harder to fund charities and foundations at scale. […]
fun facts
Why Japanese companies do so many different things.
Why Japanese companies do so many different things. Toilet maker Toto is rolling in profits recently. “But Toto’s remarkable year doesn’t have much to do with toilets or bidets.” The piece uses Toto’s pivot into semiconductor components to explain why […]