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TIL that the word "sophomore" means "wise fool" in Greek, describing the tendency of adolescents to behave so irrationally despite thinking rationally sometimes.

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5VKpn TIL India's total casualties in WWII are larger than the UK's and USA's combined.
QNML6 TIL that in 1992, on a background of high inflation and poor productivity, the British Pound collapsed, costing the UK Government 3.4B Pounds and forcing withdrawal from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
1ak47 TIL the term "foil" (antagonist) comes from the old practice of backing gems with foil to reflect their features and make them shine more brightly
EQlP TIL the only reason Russians are Greek Orthodoxy not Muslim is because Vladimir couldn’t get behind a religion that bans hard liquor.
GY07J TIL that there's actually a phenomenon for pronouncing a word repeatedly until it loses its meaning: semantic satiation