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TIL about Avoidance Speech, a group of sociolinguistic phenomena in which a special restricted speech style must be used in the presence of or in reference to certain relatives

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Eg66d TIL that not only do $500 and $1000 bills exist, but they are still legal tender
nMOo TIL that there is no scientific basis for the Kübler-Ross “DABDA” model, aka the 5 stages of grief. The author herself insisted the stages didn’t all happen and not in any order. The model was embraced in pop culture because humans are naturally predisposed to explanations that tell a simple story.
X0gpD TIL the act of bending the knee during a marriage proposal isn't a historical tradition but was popularized by Hollywood
b9rYZ TIL Disney animated movies won the Academy Award for Best Original Song 5 times from 1989 - 1995. (Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, Pocahontas)
QJN69 TIL of "soft despotism": a state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. It gives people the illusion that they are in control, when in fact they have very little influence over their government.