Aparently honey is a preservative, maybe goes off because of stuff producers add to it. trying to find out for sure but not having much luck, but maybe thats due to the absinth hangover.

2.    Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:

U/L; (http://www.snopes.com/history/world/cardking.htm).

3.    111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
etc.

11 x 11 x 11 = 1331

4.    ‘I am.’ is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

So?

5.    Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month?
      A. Conception.

A. Christmas!

6.    Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you could find the letter a ?
      A. One thousand.

Or sometimes “one hundred and one” (depends on how you say your numbers).
“One billion” is the first number that contains a ‘b’.
Any guesses for ‘c’? (Answer at the bottom of the post).

7.    Q. What do bullet-proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common.
      A. All invented by women.

The laser printer was invented by Gary Starkweather (http://research.microsoft.com/aboutmsr/jobs/garys.aspx).

8.    Q. What is the only food that doesn’t spoil?
      A.  Honey

Sometimes. When kept cool in a sealed container and away from direct sunlight. The same is true of jam and many tinned foods.

9.    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’.

U/L; “Tight” in this case means soundly, or well. The natural rhyme has preserved this archaicism long after it’s other uses have vanished (http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwordorigins/tight?view=uk).

10.  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 or what we know today as the honeymoon.

U/L; the term originated in the 16th. century, and cynically refers to that period where love that was “sweet as honey” wanes like the moon (according to the 16th. century diarist Richard Hulot).

Any guesses for

When I was in school we were taught that ‘and’ was used to denote decimal places, especially in currency.  1643.65 = one thousand six hundred fourty three and sixty five. 

Salt doesn’t spoil.

And I actually got into an argument with someone over 11.  He insisted that what some guy had told him had to be absolutely true, no matter how stupid it was.

Charybdis - 03 November 2005 03:59 PM

When I was in school we were taught that ‘and’ was used to denote decimal places, especially in currency.  1643.65 = one thousand six hundred fourty three and sixty five.

Mind you, CNN and NYT do say the “and” (http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/08/13/nyt.gordon/).

11.  In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent
of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King who gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had -

F.*.* K (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that word came from.

And I actually got into an argument with someone over 11.  He insisted that what some guy had told him had to be absolutely true, no matter how stupid it was.

Tell him that in Victorian England, people who repeated this hoary old myth were made to wear signs around their neck reading “Doesn’t Understand Proper Etymology” or “D.U.P.E.”. And that’s where we get that word from!

http://www.etymonline.com/

Something handy when you hear about an origin of a word.  10, 11 and 12 are all wrong.

Tell him that in Victorian England, people who repeated this hoary old myth were made to wear signs around their neck reading

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playing_card#Playing_cards_today

Kinda interesting.

David B. - 03 November 2005 02:53 PM

U/L; the term originated in the 16th. century, and cynically refers to that period where love that was “sweet as honey” wanes like the moon (according to the 16th. century diarist Richard Hulot).

I did, of course, mean Richard Huloet. Which would explain why I couldn’t find a link for him on Google earlier.