mjmooney Posted July 22, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 22, 2013 miguk is korean for america, americans started calling them gook as a racial slur because they thought they were saying "me gook" just seems perfectly an american thing to do That sounds like the "'Gringo' comes from the song 'Green Grow the Rushes-o'" story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 i thought gringo was a really old word? think it means something along of the lines of someone who is foreign and struggles to learn the language due to their own accent an old bloke in the office used to ask us to use the internet to find out where racist slurs come from... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 We yawn when we exercise, we yawn when we're tired, we yawn in the morning, we even yawn in the womb, but why do we yawn. The correct answer is... nobody knows! There are a number of theories, such as it being a mechanism to keep us alert, or a way of controlling brain temperature but nobody has yet satisfactorily explained why we yawn. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted July 22, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 22, 2013 We yawn when we exercise, we yawn when we're tired, we yawn in the morning, we even yawn in the womb, but why do we yawn. The correct answer is... nobody knows! There are a number of theories, such as it being a mechanism to keep us alert, or a way of controlling brain temperature but nobody has yet satisfactorily explained why we yawn. And why are yawns contagious? Even more intriguing, they are contagious between humans and both dogs and cats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8pints Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I always thought yawning was a sort of 'calming mechanism' the brain sends out when it thinks the situation needs it so that's very interesting to find out no one knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 We yawn when we exercise, we yawn when we're tired, we yawn in the morning, we even yawn in the womb, but why do we yawn. The correct answer is... nobody knows! There are a number of theories, such as it being a mechanism to keep us alert, or a way of controlling brain temperature but nobody has yet satisfactorily explained why we yawn. And why are yawns contagious? Even more intriguing, they are contagious between humans and both dogs and cats. I've noticed my border collie yawn shortly after I have, so she can recognise my human yawn as being a yawn, and it subconsciously makes her yawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted July 22, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 22, 2013 IIRC one of the most popular thoughts are that yawns are a subtle social reinforcement, effectively a 'tick', we yawn after one another to reaffirm social connections ('You and me are the same').Dogs and cats do it when humans have because they have learnt to home in human behaviours and copy it to enamour themselves to us.Incidentally this is basically the Trivia thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I thought it was to get more oxygen into the brain quickly. When you're very relaxed, your breathing is much slower than normal, so you yawn to gather oxygen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 23, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 23, 2013 I've had similar ponderings about laughter. I know we laugh when things are funny, but why? Is there a biological reason why humans need to laugh when they find something amusing, or is it, again, just a social thing? And yeah, I'm with CHindie, this thread isn't really needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I thought it was to get more oxygen into the brain quickly. When you're very relaxed, your breathing is much slower than normal, so you yawn to gather oxygen. Thats what I thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted July 23, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 23, 2013 The sun’s core is so hot that a piece of it the size of a pinhead would give off enough heat to kill a person 160 kilometres away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted July 23, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 23, 2013 I've had similar ponderings about laughter. I know we laugh when things are funny, but why? Is there a biological reason why humans need to laugh when they find something amusing, or is it, again, just a social thing? And yeah, I'm with CHindie, this thread isn't really needed. And why does being tickled by someone make you laugh, yet tickling yourself doesn't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8pints Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 And why does being tickled by someone make you laugh, yet tickling yourself doesn't? Because it's a bit sad to laugh at yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Koalas aren't bears. Killer Whales aren't whales. Stephen Fry is actually a pretentious tosser. Koala Bears aren't Koala Bears either. They're just Koalas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted July 23, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 23, 2013 While you're here, Ponky... We had a pub quiz question last week: "What kind of animal is a quokka?" Our answer: a marsupial. The quiz master wouldn't give it. He said: "No, you must be more specific - it's a type of wallaby". Who's right? I say that kangaroos, wallabies and quokkas are different animals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 23, 2013 Moderator Share Posted July 23, 2013 Well Wiki says you're right Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I think it was that pretentious tit Stephen Fry on QI who said that the "Union Jack" should only be called that when it's on a ship. Since then every div in the world and his dog have fallen overthemselves to call it the Union Flag, when there is no real evidence for it to be called that at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 23, 2013 Moderator Share Posted July 23, 2013 I remember 'learning' that on that episode but then it made me read up on it and realise that, while that was true at a point in the distant past, a law was eventually signed that made it OK to say Union Jack regardless of where it was flying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted July 23, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 23, 2013 We had the flag debate on the "other" trivia thread, iirc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 23, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 23, 2013 A good word in scrabble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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