Odd factoids

[roubaixtuesday]

The potato was originally imported from South America as a weapon of war, wild potatoes being as hard as iron and making excellent and cheap cannonball substitutes, hence the name "Pomme de Guerre", later mistranslated as "Pomme de Terre".

When used against the Germans, or "Fritz" in local slang, they were known as "Pommes Fritz". The Germans discovered they were delicious as well as lethal after some landed in a pot of boiling oil destined to be poured on the French invaders, "Pommes Fritz" became "Pommes Frites" and the rest is history.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The chip on the shoulder phrase, dates from the Napoleonic wars, when exploding potatoes were thrown at a soldiers right shoulder to disable them.

Hence the famous French phrase

exploser la pomme de terre sur l'épaule

Which was quite a mouthful so got shortened to

puce sur l'épaule

 

[Drago]

Napoleon was born Pierre Chienmerde, but quickly took the name of his facpurite drink, Napolean brandy.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

"Napolean brandy" is a French euphemism for urine.

Collected from the drains of fine wineries in the Cognac region, bottled and sold to the British, it's an unlikely export winner for the wily French.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

The French goat's cheese "Crottin de chèvre"* not only means "Goat's Turd"** it actually is a goat turd.

*In case you doubt me:

** Go on, google it

 

[Drago]

In days of old the French would marry their goats, and milk the breasts of human women to make their cheese. This only changed in 1982 when it was realised that french women were far to hairy to be mistaken for goats, and visiting foreigners twigged the wheeze.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

In days of old the French would marry their goats, and milk the breasts of human women to make their cheese. This only changed in 1982 when it was realised that french women were far to hairy to be mistaken for goats, and visiting foreigners twigged the wheeze.

Hence "Nanny goat", when literally the goat was your grandmother.

 

[PeteXXX]

The song "Hey nonny noo, goat ooh! Your granny, too" was a mis-translation from Olde French.
It was originally intended as an insult to be hurled at Agincourt and Poitiers.

 

[Drago]

Sidney Poitier is none other than Justin Trudeau's blackfaced alter ego.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

The phrase "alter ego" came from a very big headed priest's big headedness.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

The slogan "Vorsprung durch technik" came about as a result of a drunken bet at an Anglo German marketing convention.

A German claimed the British public were so ignorant they'd fall for anything in a foreign language, and his British colleague took umbrage.

So they settled on a bet of 100 deutschmarks that you could sell cars under the slogan "Well hung and great technique".

The rest is history; the German made 100DM but the Brit made a fortune. So who's ignorant exactly??

 

[Drago]

Wagen is the german word for w****r.

Volkswagen is German for people are w****rs, displaying the utter contemp for those that do not biy their products.

 

[Punkawallah]

Did you know? The real reason scuba divers roll backwards off the boat is that, should they roll forwards, they would still be on the boat . . .

 

[ClichéGuevara]

To the strict biological definition, a coconut is a mammal, as it grows hair and produces milk.

 

[Drago]

Kid Creole had a sexual fetish towards coconuts. This led to he eventual demise, when having a coconut stuck under his foreskin left him too embarassed to leave the house and he starged to death.