{"id":48732,"date":"2016-08-20T15:42:39","date_gmt":"2016-08-20T22:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=48732"},"modified":"2016-08-20T15:42:39","modified_gmt":"2016-08-20T22:42:39","slug":"weekly-wrap-volume-112","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2016\/08\/weekly-wrap-volume-112\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Wrap Volume 112"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here<\/a>.<\/div>\n

\"Now-You-Know\"<\/a>How Dick Came to Be Short for Richard<\/a><\/p>\n

The name Richard is thought by most etymologists to derive from the Proto-Germanic \u2018Rikharthu\u2019, meaning more or less \u201chard ruler\u201d (\u2018Rik-\u2018 meaning \u2018ruler\u2019 and \u2018-harthu\u2019 meaning \u2018hard\u2019).\u00a0 This was adopted into Old High German as \u2018Ricohard\u2019, and from there to Old French, then Old English as \u2018Richeard\u2019, and today as \u2018Richard\u2019. You might think from Richard meaning \u201chard ruler\u201d and being a man\u2019s name that Dick being a nickname for Richard probably came about for pejorative reasons, borrowing from one of the other meanings of \u201cdick\u201d, such as \u2018dick\u2019 as in \u2018jerk\u2019 or \u2018dick as in \u2018penis\u2019.\u00a0 However, the first record of \u2018dick\u2019 meaning \u2018jerk\u2019 didn\u2019t come about until… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"two-oranges\"<\/a>Why are Breasts Called Boobs?<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s an oft repeated and decidedly untrue claim that Eskimos have hundreds of words for \u201csnow\u201d. (Beyond the fact that there is no single \u201cEskimo language\u201d, when talking about the wider Eskimo-Aleut language family, these actually have roughly the same number of root-words for snow as English.) The false claim that they have drastically more is sometimes used to demonstrate how limited the English language is when it comes to coming up with words for things, which is a little unfair considering how many synonyms currently exist for \u201cbreasts\u201d. Of the numerous slang terms we have to describe lady-lumps, none is as non-controversial or ubiquitous as the word \u201cboobs\u201d. So where did the word \u201cboobs\u201d come from? There\u2019s an old joke that posits… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"everest\"<\/a>Can Anyone Climb Everest?<\/a><\/p>\n

Standing at a foreboding 8,848 metres (or 29,029 feet) high, Mount Everest is recognised as the Earth\u2019s highest mountain. While Everest isn\u2019t generally considered to be the most difficult peak to climb (that honor probably belongs to either Annapurna in Nepal or K2 on the China\/Pakistan border), it is the most famous and, as such, sees the most people attempting to scale it each year.\u00a0 But can anyone just show up and start trekking up the mountain? In a word- no. The first thing you\u2019ll need is to be over 16 on the Nepali side and over 18 on the Tibetan side. The second thing you\u2019ll need if you want to climb Everest is money- a lot of it. The exact cost… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"Churchill-sten\"<\/a>The Pivotal WWII Gun That No One Wanted to Put Down- The Plumber’s Nightmare<\/a><\/p>\n

Initially designed and produced during WW2 for British soldiers, the Sten was developed as a direct response to both dwindling supplies of American made Thompson machine guns and the evacuation of Dunkirk, during which the British abandoned many thousands of guns. In an effort to re-arm its troops as quickly as possible for the defense of the homeland, the British Government requested that the\u00a0Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield design an alternative to the increasingly hard to obtain Thompson. As the old maxim states, \u201cYou can have it fast, good, or cheap- pick two\u201d. Given the title of this article, you can guess which two were emphasized. The original design for… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"passport\"<\/a>Why Doesn’t the Queen of England Need a Passport?<\/a><\/p>\n

As the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, the commonwealth, and certain other countries that have since declared independence but decided they kind of like having the Queen on their money, Queen Elizabeth II enjoys a number of unique perks not bestowed on any of her subjects. These include being immune from prosecution from any crime she may happen to commit (justice is served in her name); she cannot be compelled to give evidence in court; she owns all of the dolphins, sturgeons and whales found in British waters (she also technically owns all mute swans found on open waters in Britain); she has the ability to declare war on any other nation if she so desires it; and, most pertinent to the present conversation, she doesn\u2019t… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Bonus<\/span> Quick Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n