› added 11 years ago

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TIL that the opposite of a euphemism (a more pleasant term for an unpleasant thing) is called a dysphemism. For example, “took a dirt nap” instead of “died.”

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D18ge TIL 40% of the deaths during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 were from drowning, mostly from fast rising waters after levee breeches overcame neighborhoods. Most of the deaths were the elderly, with 49% of the fatalities over age 75.
loLZG TIL From 1913 until it was outlawed in 1920, some parents would send their babies to travel destinations through the US Post Office because it was less expensive then traveling together.
oBvgA TIL One of the stated purposes of the US Interstate highway system was to provide access in order to defend the United States during an attack.
JVgm TIL Lance Armstrong, at the height of his doping behaviour in the 2000s, made a $100k donation to the international cycling federation to ‘fund the fight against doping’
6Eegl TIL that part of the reason Neil Armstrong was given the honor of first man on the Moon was that he was more humble than the egotistical Buzz Aldrin