› added 11 years ago

308

TIL that the word ‘fortnight’ is just a contraction of 'fourteen nights’

Read more etymonline.com

via reddit.com

eplpJ TIL your arm doesn't fall asleep at night because of blood flow or circulation getting cut off. The feeling is actually caused by pinched nerves.
7AaZ TIL that HSBC Bank has been laundering money for major drug cartels and international terrorists for almost a decade.
nejRP TIL Johnny Cash has a younger brother that was also a country singer-songwriter named Tommy Cash, who released a single called "I Didn't Walk the Line".
KOXOR TIL that schizophrenia was so commonplace among the post-famine Irish immigrant population, that it was often called 'Irish Madness'.
PY49L TIL that in the UK there used to be tax exemption for lunch vouchers given out by employers. It was worth 15p and wasn't adjusted for inflation, ever. If it had kept with inflation since 1948 when the scheme started, it would be worth £5.58, which would be a pretty good lunch.