Tell Me Something I Don't Know

[EricKei]

What most Americans call "yams" are almost always sweet potatoes. Actual yams are a tuber that grows in (generally) hotter climates. Actual sweet potatoes are part of the Morning Glory family. "New Zealand yams" are actually oca, yet another tuber. Actually.

New Orleanians often use the term "making groceries" to refer to grocery shopping. They also use the term "brake tag" to refer to (usually annual) vehicle inspection stickers.

In Australia, Burger King restaurants are known as hungry jacks. This is due to the fact that when they originally expanded to the Aussie market, the name was trademarked by a takeaway shop in Adelaide.

HJ might have had to change their name if they had originally been Aussie and moved to the US -- "Hungry Jack" is the name of a popular line of pancake/potato (etc) mixes here.

[AnaKhouri]

I live quite literally about two miles from a bar that is so haunted it is called "The Gate to Hell". I've been in it once, experienced nothing but lots of drunk women falling off the mechanical bull, unfortunately.

[EricKei]

The infamous Jolt Cola, which has 2X the caffeine of regular Coke, has HALF as much caffeine per unit volume as regular coffee.

Can you guess which one of these drinks is/was banned at one point in several states, at least in one case because a death was blamed on it?

[fireheart]

The infamous Jolt Cola, which has 2X the caffeine of regular Coke, has HALF as much caffeine per unit volume as regular coffee.

Can you guess which one of these drinks is/was banned at one point in several states, at least in one case because a death was blamed on it?

You can still get JOLT down here. Unfortunately because energy drinks tend to be associated with the "buzz" you'd get from jolt, it doesn't sell that well.

Random fact of the day: the infamous fifty shades trilogy was originally a twilight fan fiction. (yes I know you folks know it already shut up)

[firecat88]

I finished the last volume of the manga last night, so brace yourselves for some Sailor Moon trivia:

~ Not long before the first chapter of Sailor Moon was published, Naoko Takeuchi wrote another story called Codename: Sailor V. Originally intended to be a one-shot about Minako Aino, it became so popular that it turned into a 16-chapter story that ran alongside Sailor Moon's publication. Both series even ended at roughly the same time because, despite being shorter, Codename: Sailor V was published at a much slower pace.

~ The first thirteen episodes of the anime's second season have no tie-in to the manga. They were written exclusively by Toei in an attempt to give the manga (which, at the time, had only one storyline and nothing else) a chance to catch up to the anime. Which is why everything from that part of the season is never seen or heard from again in later seasons.

~ The reason Usagi has odangos is because Takeuchi often wore the hairstyle when she was in college.

~ Ever wonder why Chibiusa's hair is pink? Just look at the first draft design of some of the characters. Originally, Usagi was going to have pink hair, but the idea was scrapped by the editor. The pink hair was still snuck in, though, in the form of Chibiusa. This has sparked much controversy and debate amongst the fans. Mostly the anti-Mamoru section who use it to claim that he and Usagi never really did have a kid together.

~ There are actually five storylines in the manga and, thus, five seasons of the anime. The last season, Stars, has never aired in any English-speaking country. The possible reasons for why range from Toei wanting more money for licensing, Cloverway losing its license, and the season having too much mature content. It did, however, air in non-English-speaking countries (The German dub of the final episode is fantastic) without any trouble.

~ The 'make up!' at the end of their transformation phrases supposedly comes from Takeuchi's wanting them to have transformation phrases, but without using the word 'transform' as it sounded too mecha.

~ Before the series was dubbed into English, DiC and a company called ToonMakers toyed with the idea of just making an American version of the show that would be loosely based on the original but have its own animation. Moreover, it was going to be half-animated and half-live action. Concept art and animation cels for the project can be found on eBay, and the trailer/music video/theme song for it can be found on YouTube (watch at your own risk, though, because...yikes). This idea, known as Saban Moon to the fandom despite Saban having no involvement, never made it to fruition. It was decided that doing an English dub of the original would be easier and less costly.

[Seraph]

Speaking of Sailor Moon....

The reason why Sailor Stars was never aired in the USA was because Toei was TICKED at how the English dubbing companies handled it all. The overediting of scenes, and then the change of Uranus and Neptune to "cousins" made them so furious, that they refused to license it out.

That's why it's so amazingly hard to get a hold of the anime here in the USA, now. Toei was burnt.

[Tama]

Wow. I mean, I know they couldn't do that they were gay, but cousins only?

Same for Malachite and Zoicite.

[firecat88]

Speaking of Sailor Moon....

The reason why Sailor Stars was never aired in the USA was because Toei was TICKED at how the English dubbing companies handled it all. The overediting of scenes, and then the change of Uranus and Neptune to "cousins" made them so furious, that they refused to license it out.

That's why it's so amazingly hard to get a hold of the anime here in the USA, now. Toei was burnt.

So it really was because of that? o.o Oh wow. I'd heard that listed as one of the possible reasons, but I didn't know it was *the* one. Makes sense, though, given how heavily butchered the English dub was. If the new series gets an English dub, hopefully they'll learn from past mistakes (read: Not do anything that the first dub did).

[Ophbalance]

How about this. Did you know that Pennsylvania had an NFL team other than the Eagles and Steelers? Pottsville PA, which is home to Yuengling, was also the former home of the Maroons. They only played in the '20s, and through controversy lost the NFL champion title in '25. Their home field has since become a strip mall with a really kick ass italian restaurant. There's a pub dedicated to them just down the road from the office I used to work in before moving to NC.

[EricKei]

SM: I know they changed a number of the characters to different genders, too x.x

Anyhoo...back to the facts:

Nintendo, the huge game company/console maker, got its start as a maker of playing cards...in the 1800's.

Ever heard of a tiny little game development house called Squaresoft (now Square-Enix)? Back in the 80's, they were coming precariously close to going bankrupt. Given the choice between going out with a *pfft* and betting the farm on a huge risk, they opted for the latter. They made a Famicom (nee NES) game whose name was an overt reference to the distinct possibility of their impending doom. The game's name?

Final Fantasy.

[lupo pazzesco]

Random food factoids:

1. A banana tree is not a fruit tree, but more of a giant herb. The banana itself is more a berry.

2. The Arab culture invented caramel...to be used as a depilatory on harem women, not to be eaten.

3. The first soup dates back to about 6000 BC...and was made out of hippopotamus

4. During the Middle Ages, a lemon slice was served with fish, not for flavor, but because it was believed that it would dissolve any bones that were accidentally swallowed.

5. Atila the Hun's warriors preserved their meat by placing fresh portions under their saddles. Continuous riding caused bouncing, which pressed out the moisture, and the sweat from the horse preserved the meat, and removed more moisture. Whenever they stopped? They'd have dried, salted meat to eat.

6. You might know that bread is considered a prime symbol of nourishment, and sharing bread is a symbolic gesture of companionship in most cultures. But did you know companion is derived from two Latin words "com" for together and "panis" for bread? Really does bring people together!

7. A row of corn always has an even number.

8. Americans will eat, on average, 28 pigs in their lifetimes. That's a lot of bacon!

[Jester]

How about this. Did you know that Pennsylvania had an NFL team other than the Eagles and Steelers?

Related trivia: during World War II, back when professional athletes joining the military was the standard, not the exception, with a dearth of pro football players, the Eagles and Steelers merged into one team, often dubbed "the Steagles."

2. The Arab culture invented caramel...to be used as a depilatory on harem women, not to be eaten.

Bless those Arabs, even if they were misguided in their intent. (Caramel fiend here.)

3. The first soup dates back to about 6000 BC...and was made out of hippopotamus

Hippopotato soup. Makes sense.

8. Americans will eat, on average, 28 pigs in their lifetimes. That's a lot of bacon!

Some of us strive to be better than average. Jester Twin powers, BACONIZE!!!

[Seshat]

On Australia's bicentennial expedition to the summit of Mt Everest, one of the climbers didn't make it to the top - because he had a math test he wanted to get to, back in Australia.

When his mother and his wife unpacked his gear for him back home, the interior of his tent was COMPLETELY covered with math equations.

That climber was/is James Strofeldt, my cousin, who has more graduate degrees than I can be bothered to keep track of.

He no longer climbs (or not seriously). He shattered his right forearm on a climb, and had to get the "second-best" osteo surgeon in Victoria to fix it. Why second-best? His description. Before he broke the arm, he was also an osteo surgeon.

He's now practicing psychiatry.

His brother is also a climber; but prefers rock climbing to mountain climbing. And once rode a motorbike across the Nullarbor Desert without bothering to tell anyone where he was going or when he expected to make it back. (Fireheart: this was before most of the current safety features were in place.)

[bhskittykatt]

A wild baby bear is cute, up until you see mama bear. Then it becomes terrifying.

Your kid can make great bear bait as you flee to safety.

[CoffeeMonkey]

A wild baby bear is cute, up until you see mama bear. Then it becomes terrifying.

Your kid can make great bear bait as you flee to safety.

Remember, you don't have to outrun the dragon. You only have to run faster than the slowest member of the party.