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"Buffalo
Bob" |
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Trivia
for November 2009 In the 1400's a law was set forth in
England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no
thicker than his thumb. Hence
we have 'the rule of thumb' Many
years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled
'Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden'...thus the word GOLF entered the
English language. Coca-Cola
was originally green. The
State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska The
percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% The
cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $
16,400 The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in
any given hour: 61,000 The first novel ever written on a typewriter, Tom
Sawyer. The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monument. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great
king from history: Spades - King David 111,111,111
x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 If
a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in
the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg
in the air, the person died because of wounds received in battle. Only
two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, John
Hancock and Charles Thomson.. Most of the rest signed on August 2,
but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later. Half
of all Americans live within 50 miles of their birthplace. The
longest palandrome I know is:
A man a plan a canal panama (amanaplanacanalpanama). If
you were to spell out numbers, you have to go 1000 characters until
you find the letter 'A' Bulletproof
vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers were all
invented by women. Honey
is the only food that doesn't spoil? There
more collect calls on Father's Day than on any other day of the year. In
Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When
you pulled on the ropes, the mattress tightened, making the bed
firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase...'Goodnight , sleep tight' It
was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a
month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his
son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead
is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this
period was called the honey month, which we know today as the
honeymoon. In
English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old
England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at
them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.' It's
where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's' Many
years ago in England , pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the
rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. Thomas Drummond in 1816 devised a lighting source for theatres. It was a cylinder of lime heated by an incandescence flame and placed behind a lens or in front of a reflector. These "lime lights" were very bright. Thus the star performer was very visible as long as he stood in it. Soon, actors were competing to be in the easily seen limelight. And so any location where many can see you
today is called being in the "limelight." New England chicken farmers discovered that
chickens born in the Spring bought better prices, rather than old birds
that had gone through the winter etc. Sometimes farmers tried to sell
the old birds as a new spring born chicken. Smart buyers often
complained that a tough fowl was "no spring chicken" and so
the term now is used to represent birds (and even people) past their
plump and tender years. Anyone who avoids making decisions or
accepting responsibility is said to pass the buck. This all starts from
the old days of card playing. A piece of buckshot is placed before
someone who has the deal. The dealer has a lot of responsibility
on determining the game's format. If a cautious player doesn't want to
take on this responsibility, he's allowed to "pass the buck"
to the next player who will be the dealer. In old boxing days, many bruised fighters
couldn't get to their feet when the bell for the new round began. Their
managers knew they could do nothing but give up since they were too weak
to continue. As a signal, one of them would toss in an article used
to soak up blood -- a towel or sponge. Today's boxing regulations
are meant to limit the brutality of the past. But the saying today
meaning when you are forced to give up of "throwing in the
towel" still remains. In old days, a rifle (or musket) had 3 major
parts: A lock, a stock of wood and a metal barrel. Each part was totally
useless without the other one. They had to all work together or
well, you got nothing. But when they were all in sync, what a
BLAST! Thus, when a person chose to put everything 100% into a
decision, action or commitment and not just half-heartedly, he is said
to be doing it "lock, stock and barrel." This comes from boar hunting in which the
noblemen hired workers to walk through the woods beating the branches
and making noises to get the animals to run towards the hunters.
Boars were dangerous animals with razor-sharp teeth (you really did not
want to meet one-to-one, esp. with no weapon). So the unarmed
workers workers avoided the dense undergrowth where the boar might be
and beat around it, rather than going into it. Thus, this evasive
technique was termed "beating around the bush" and today
represents anyone who avoids approaching anything directly. Before the days of the electric or mechanical
doorbells, anyone coming to your house just had to pound a metal knocker
that was nailed to the front door. Sometimes it took a lot of
heavy smacks to get attention. This meant that the nails holding
this metal plate on the door got a lot of wear, eventually having the
life pounded out of it and it fell out. Today anything that is
totally withered or a failed project or situation that is hopeless is
considered to be as dead as a doornail. The term comes from the prize money a
contestant would win at many county fairs for catching the greased pig.
Since it was a pig that was the target, the winner then "brought
home the bacon" or the winnings. Today the term is used to mean
bringing home money that's earned by having done a difficult task or
after a lot of running around. They're
Back! Those wonderful Church Bulletins! These
sentences (with all the BLOOPERS) actually appeared in church bulletins
or were announced in church services: ·
The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals. ·
The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water.'
The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.' ·
Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to
get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your
husbands. ·
Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help. ·
Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way
again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation. ·
For those of you who have children and don't know it,
we have a nursery downstairs. ·
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They
need all the help they can get. ·
Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October
24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days. ·
A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the
church hall. Music will follow. ·
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will
be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice. ·
Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the
addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older
ones. ·
Please place your donation in the envelope along with
the deceased person you want remembered. ·
Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and
medication to follow. ·
The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of
every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon. ·
Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10
AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.
S. Is done. ·
The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the
Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake
breakfast next Sunday. ·
Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7
PM. Please use the back door. ·
The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's
Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is
invited to attend this tragedy. ·
Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First
Presbyterian Church.. Please use large double door at the side entrance. · The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday: 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.' Thanks
to Bob Wesley for submitting the above...
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