Recent comments in /f/todayilearned

ElGuano t1_j9u7lm4 wrote

Reply to TIL that the reason Yankee Doodle stuck a feather in his cap and called it 'macaroni' was because at one time macaroni was slang for something very fashionable or trendy by elephantsgraveyard

So I think a modern translation is "Yankee Doodle drove to town in his lowered Kia Elantra, put on some fake Ray Ban aviators, and said to himself "Man, I am babe magnet."

Since I think the song was originally sung by Brits making fun of local yokel colonists.

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greengo07 t1_j9u6jp5 wrote

Reply to TIL that there are more than 160 endangered languages in the United States alone. In addition to many Native American languages, Cajun French, Eastern Yiddish, and Martha's Vineyard, Hawaii, and Plains Sign Language are all endangered. by afeeney

This is a GOOD thing. One of the requirements for a unified planet and thus a utopia is a common language. Too bad the "winning" language is english, one of the hardest and bastardized languages ever to come into being.

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Trieditwonce t1_j9u2p6w wrote

Reply to TiL that in order to make their triple album, "Sandinista!", affordable for their fans, the Clash let go of any royalties made on the first 200,000 copies sold in the UK. by thewickerstan

AND, when Clash opened for the Who at Yankee Stadium, guitarist Joe Strummer collected fans on the NYC subway on his way to the gig from his Manhattan hotel. At the stadium, he told the gatekeeper that if his “friends” weren’t allowed in (for free), he wasn’t playing. Guess who won ???

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Andy_Liberty_1911 t1_j9ty30j wrote

Reply to comment by HighHcQc in TIL about the 1938 Gettysburg Reunion, where veterans of The American Civil War met, they were on average 94 years old. by VengefulMight

My grandfather was born in 1911 and I knew him a little when I was young. Not quite your statistic but close!

Also apparently my dad had an aunt who thought Porfirio Diaz was “very handsome in uniform”. Pretty insane someone in my family met the Mexican dictator like that.

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fulthrottlejazzhands t1_j9twiel wrote

Reply to comment by Category3Water in TIL about the 1938 Gettysburg Reunion, where veterans of The American Civil War met, they were on average 94 years old. by VengefulMight

My great great grandfather was a Chaplin in the Civil War (got him literally straight off the boat at Ellis Island). His son was a doughboy in WW1. His son, my grandad fought in Italy, Normany, and the Bulge. My dad was a chopper pilot in Vietnam, in the shit, as it were.

I fought bravely and with distinction in the War Against Al-Qatala on PS4.

Edit: on a serious note, I was lucky enough to know my great grandfather whose father, in turn, was in the Civil War - - and I'm not that old.

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Skipaspace t1_j9tw3ve wrote

Reply to comment by Gabagool1987 in TIL about the 1938 Gettysburg Reunion, where veterans of The American Civil War met, they were on average 94 years old. by VengefulMight

The device you typed that reply on would disagree.

Satellites improved, GPS improved, cell phones improved, we now walk around with, essentially mini computers in our pockets, not to mention the technology that improved surgeries (not so invasive), the technology that allows us the edit genes, we also have drones, and a lot of jobs can now be performed remotely...due to technology.

Technoloy has not stagnated since 2000.

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