Things you often Wonder

[sidcow]

2 minutes ago, bickster said:

Lots of mobile phones have graphene in their touch screens, it's starting to be used more widely, you can even buy a car with graphene in the body panels (If you've got £120k and don't want any passenger seats)

Smacks of "it's got graphene in it so we can charge you more" rather than something which has transformed touchscreens or car body panels. 

I'm sure it's being used in lots of places but I'm yet to hear how it's completely revolutionised anything yet. 

[sidcow]

Why do American sports list the home team second? It's so and so AT so and so. 

And are they the only nation on the planet to do this or is it us who are the odd man out putting the home team first. 

[il_serpente]

15 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Why do American sports list the home team second? It's so and so AT so and so. 

And are they the only nation on the planet to do this or is it us who are the odd man out putting the home team first. 

It all stems from wanting to do things differently from the British after gaining independence back in the late 18th century.   They decided at the same time that we'd drive on the right side of the road and use 120V and 60Hz for our AC electrical system and say truck, trunk, hood and apartment in lieu of lorry, boot, bonnet and flat.   Oh and Math instead of Maths.

[sidcow]

5 minutes ago, il_serpente said:

It all stems from wanting to do things differently from the British after gaining independence back in the late 18th century.   They decided at the same time that we'd drive on the right side of the road and use 120V and 60Hz for our AC electrical system and say truck, trunk, hood and apartment in lieu of lorry, boot, bonnet and flat.   Oh and Math instead of Maths.

[tonyh29]

3 hours ago, sidcow said:

Why do American sports list the home team second? It's so and so AT so and so. 

And are they the only nation on the planet to do this or is it us who are the odd man out putting the home team first. 

It originated  from Baseball where the away team always batted first , seems to have carried on into other US sports 

[villa4europe]

9 hours ago, il_serpente said:

It all stems from wanting to do things differently from the British after gaining independence back in the late 18th century.   They decided at the same time that we'd drive on the right side of the road and use 120V and 60Hz for our AC electrical system and say truck, trunk, hood and apartment in lieu of lorry, boot, bonnet and flat.   Oh and Math instead of Maths.

You missed off how they do the date 

[bickster]

7 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

It originated  from Rounders where the away team always batted first , seems to have carried on into other US approximations of sports 

FTFY

[sidcow]

2 hours ago, villa4europe said:

You missed off how they do the date 

Alooooominum

[fightoffyour]

1 hour ago, sidcow said:

Alooooominum

Kehbob

[fightoffyour]

Oh I’ve got another that I actually wonder. Whether this is actually said in hospitals (maybe the UK too) or just in US dramas (I hardly watch any UK dramas let alone any in hospital, and even then there won’t be many people getting shot), but why the **** would you “abbreviate” Gun Shot Wound to GSW? You’ve gone from 3 syllables to 5 (or 4, for dub-ya), that takes longer to say you absolute morons!

Edited May 4, 2021 by fightoffyour

[Mark Albrighton]

A difference in UK and US life I often wonder.

From tv and films, I often hear “kids...let’s go for ice cream!” or something akin to that. I always picture a 50’s diner like the one in “Back to the future”.

How ubiquitous are such ice cream/desert cafes/restaurants in the US? Is it like McDonalds? 

I’m sure we have something similar here, but it doesn’t feel like “going for ice cream” is something that’s done here. Not like going for pizza might be. If someone asked me to go for ice cream, i wouldn’t have an idea what to suggest. I’d be thinking “well I think the co op has some magnums and feasts in their little fridge freezer”.

[Wainy316]

How about when Americans say they 'could care less' when they mean that they 'couldn't care less'.

[bickster]

Then there's the old actress Farah Tap-Majors who was in Charlie's Angels

[HanoiVillan]

9 minutes ago, Mark Albrighton said:

A difference in UK and US life I often wonder.

From tv and films, I often hear “kids...let’s go for ice cream!” or something akin to that. I always picture a 50’s diner like the one in “Back to the future”.

How ubiquitous are such ice cream/desert cafes/restaurants in the US? Is it like McDonalds? 

I’m sure we have something similar here, but it doesn’t feel like “going for ice cream” is something that’s done here. Not like going for pizza might be. If someone asked me to go for ice cream, i wouldn’t have an idea what to suggest. I’d be thinking “well I think the co op has some magnums and feasts in their little fridge freezer”.

Pretty much every settlement of any size at all has a Dairy Queen.

[It's Your Round]

I often wonder when people stated to describe operations as “a surgery”. I’m hearing it more and more now, I’d always assumed it was an Americanism but it’s happening in the UK. 

[villa4europe]

15 minutes ago, Mark Albrighton said:

A difference in UK and US life I often wonder.

From tv and films, I often hear “kids...let’s go for ice cream!” or something akin to that. I always picture a 50’s diner like the one in “Back to the future”.

How ubiquitous are such ice cream/desert cafes/restaurants in the US? Is it like McDonalds? 

I’m sure we have something similar here, but it doesn’t feel like “going for ice cream” is something that’s done here. Not like going for pizza might be. If someone asked me to go for ice cream, i wouldn’t have an idea what to suggest. I’d be thinking “well I think the co op has some magnums and feasts in their little fridge freezer”.

Its done here in Germany, bonn is 300k people and a quick look of Google maps says there's 9 but there'll be a couple of little ones too, even a couple of chains 

The wife loves them, she'd rather get ice cream than McDonald's or a kebab

The only ones I've seen in England now are in general cake / dessert shops 

[Mark Albrighton]

11 minutes ago, Wainy316 said:

How about when Americans say they 'could care less' when they mean that they 'couldn't care less'.

I read a theory about this not that long ago.

It suggested that the original phrase was something like “I’m sure I could care less...but I’m not sure how.” So basically a bit sarcastic. Over time it’s been shortened.

I’m not sure how true that is, I can’t remember whether that theory had something to back it up with, but it makes sense to me.

A bit like how people say “head over heels” to express how uniquely overjoyed they are. Typically our heads tend to be over our heels, so that doesn’t make sense. It used to be “heels over head”, like they’re doing cartwheels or something. That makes sense, but over time it’s changed, I guess because “head over heels” sounds better.

[mjmooney]

Just now, Mark Albrighton said:

I read a theory about this not that long ago.

It suggested that the original phrase was something like “I’m sure I could care less...but I’m not sure how.” So basically a bit sarcastic. Over time it’s been shortened.

I’m not sure how true that is, I can’t remember whether that theory had something to back it up with, but it makes sense to me.

A bit like how people say “head over heels” to express how uniquely overjoyed they are. Typically our heads tend to be over our heels, so that doesn’t make sense. It used to be “heels over head”, like they’re doing cartwheels or something. That makes sense, but over time it’s changed, I guess because “head over heels” sounds better.

Arse over tit. 

[Mark Albrighton]

14 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

Pretty much every settlement of any size at all has a Dairy Queen.

 

3 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Its done here in Germany, bonn is 300k people and a quick look of Google maps says there's 9 but there'll be a couple of little ones too, even a couple of chains 

The wife loves them, she'd rather get ice cream than McDonald's or a kebab

The only ones I've seen in England now are in general cake / dessert shops 

I suppose this is it, why don’t we have a Dairy Queen? Why is it, as stated above, normally a general cake/desert shop?

Edited May 4, 2021 by Mark Albrighton

[HanoiVillan]

Just now, Mark Albrighton said:

 

I suppose this is it, why don’t we have a Dairy Queen? Why is it, as stated above a general cake/desert shop?

The answer to this from 'Point Franchise' (a website for people interested in owning franchises) is:

Does Dairy Queen franchise in the UK?

'No, there are no Dairy Queen franchise opportunities in the UK. While the food business has used the franchise model to expand the brand internationally, it has not yet reached British soil.

Dairy Queen is something of an institution in the US, but it does not benefit from the same brand recognition in the UK. This may be why it has been reluctant to make the jump across the Atlantic. The dessert franchise may also be conscious of other US brands, such as Steak and Shake, that have been forced to close their UK branches after unsuccessful transitions. Although the US and UK are similar in many ways, there is still a considerable gap between culinary cultures.'

(from: https://www.pointfranchise.co.uk/articles/dairy-queen-franchise-uk-5963/)

In fact, while Dairy Queens were initially famous as dessert shops - and specifically for ice creams - they have now branched out and do burgers, hot dogs, grilled stuff etc, much the same as many other fast food outlets. I have had their ice creams on a couple of occasions in Canada; they're fine, I guess, but if you've had a McFlurry before you've pretty much covered the experience.

Ben & Jerry's is obviously more expensive, but it's much nicer.