WTF Fun Fact 12893 – Scottish Words for Snow

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The Scottish are really giving the Inuit a run for their money when it comes to piling up snow-related words. A few years ago, academics reported that they had found over 400 Scottish words for snow – 421, to be exact.

Why are there so many words for snow?

If you live in a snowy place, you know that there are different kinds of snow – wet snow, powdery snow, heavy snow, snow that makes good snowmen, lake effect snow, etc.

After spending years working through historical documents written in the Scots language, it turns out the people of Scotland really got descriptive! Academics at the University of Glasgow organized the Historical Thesaurus of Scots into some interesting categories, including (but not limited to):

  • types of snow
  • actions that involve throwing snow
  • pre-snow weather conditions
  • snowstorms
  • snow accessories
  • snow words related to sheep

What are some Scottish words for snow?

According to the BBC (cited below), the words that will go into the thesaurus include:

  • snaw – snow (viewed either as falling flakes, or as the layer of these formed on the ground)
  • feefle – to swirl
  • flindrikin – a slight snow shower
  • sneesl – to begin to rain or snow
  • snaw-pouther – fine driving snow
  • spitters – small drops or flakes of wind-driven rain or snow
  • unbrak – the beginning of a thaw
  • skelf – a large snowflake

But our favorites are “Katty-clean-doors,” which is a child’s name for snow, and “smirr,” which refers to a fine rain, drizzle, or of sleet or snow.”

The Scots thesaurus

Of course, we all have lots of words that mean roughly the same thing – there are thesauruses for nearly every language. But we’re still impressed by just how diverse the Scots language is.

The Scots thesaurus also includes a category on sport and believe it or not, the game of marbles has the most words associated with it at 369. –WTF fun facts

Source: “Scots ‘have 421 words‘ for snow” — BBC

WTF Fun Fact 12892 – McDonald’s Bubblegum-Flavored Broccoli

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People long looked for ways to make broccoli easier to eat, but we’re stumped by McDonald’s attempt to make bubblegum flavored broccoli.

I suppose it’s better than broccoli-flavored bubblegum though.

When and why did McDonald’s make bubblegum broccoli?

In light of ever-more-disturbing news about the effects of the American obesity crisis, McDonald’s has long been asked how they’re trying to help. In 2014, McDonald’s CEO Donald Thompson revealed the fast-food chain had tried out some interesting options to help children eat healthier.

The attempt to sneak veggies into children’s diets came to light in 2014 when, according to Mental Floss (cited below), “Thompson was asked what the fast food giant was doing to provide healthier food options for children.”

As it turns out, “Three years earlier, the chain had already revamped its Happy Meal by cutting the amount of French fries in half and offering fruit as a side option. But Thompson said they had also experimented with some unconventional methods of enticing children to eat healthier.”

One of those possibilities was bubble gum-flavored broccoli. They made it, but they never sold it.

What happened to this culinary curiosity?

It probably comes as no surprise that it never quite made it past the company’s focus groups. Kids were confused and not delighted enough to make up for any skepticism.

Mental Floss notes that “the vegetable creation didn’t exactly surprise or delight its intended audience…And even the powers-that-be were unimpressed.”

“It wasn’t all that,” Thompson said.

It appears that the item may have been planned as a Happy Meal option (one that was eventually replaced by fruit slices and yogurt).

Franky, we’re surprised no one revived the idea during the era when “Millennial pink” was the color of the moment. Sure, it would have gotten some bad press, but it certainly would have been a big seller for those Instagram food photos! – WTF fun facts

Source: “When McDonald’s Invented Bubble Gum-Flavored Broccoli” — Mental Floss

WTF Fun Fact 12891 – The First Animated Film

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Most of us have been told that the first animated film was Disney’s version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. But Disney had nothing to do with the first – or the second!

Argentina is home to the first animated film

The first animated feature film ever made was an Argentinian creation titled El Apóstol. The 1917movie is now lost to time after being destroyed in a fire in 1926. However, it was around over 20 years before Disney’s Snow White.

The film was directed and produced by two Italian-Argentine immigrants– Quirino Cristianiand Federico Valle.

El Apóstolis no children’s film. In fact, it was a satire of Hipólito Yrigoyen, Argentina’s president in which he dreams of going to Mount Olympus to talk politics with the Greek god Zeus. He ends up using Zeus’ thunderbolt to rid Buenos Aires of corrupt politicians.

Lost to time

The only reason we know about the film is from records about its release in Buenos Aires. It didn’t appear in theaters outside the city.

The creators got very little money or credit for their creation, and now most people assume that Disney’s film 20 years later was the first piece of animated film history.

Unlike Snow White, El Apóstolwas a silent black and white film. It ran 70 minutes long.

Cristiani also created a second animated film called Peludópolis before Disney made his first one – and it had audio. That makes Cristiani the creator of the first animated feature film with sound as well.

There is a documentary about Cristiani that finally credits him with his contribution to animated cinema called Quirino Cristiani: The mystery of the first animated movies. Prior to this, he had largely been forgotten in his home country of Argentina as well.

–WTF fun facts

Source: “Quirino Cristiani, The Untold Story of Argentina’s Pioneer Animator” — Animation World Network

WTF Fun Fact 12890 – When You Divorce and Remarry the Same Person

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They say the second time’s a charm. And some folks take that seriously since they divorce and remarry the same person.

In fact, while 80% of divorced people remarry, 6% remarry their former spouse.

Trying again with the same person

According to stats reported by Psychology Today (cited below): “Research suggests that 10-15% of couples reconcile after they separate, and about 6% of couples marry each other again after they divorce.”

Interestingly, research also suggests that the more times a person marries, the more likely they are to get divorced. The divorce rate for second marriages is 67%, and for third marriages, it’s 73%!

But among those who marry the same person a second time, the divorce rate is just 30%.

Psychology Today posts that “the lower rate suggests that the renewed marriage is stronger than it was before the divorce.”

Why get back together?

Around 10% to 15% of couples reconcile after divorce even though only 6% get remarried.

In some cases, this is a result of getting some distance from and perspective on the problems that harmed a marriage in the first place and a desire to work on them. (Of course, some people just continue to chase toxic relationships.)

Psychology Today also notes that: “If a problem has been resolved, such as lack of intimacy or financial stress, couples may reconnect. Problems such as substance abuse, neglecting the marriage and over-focusing on career, and loneliness due to lack of attention from a partner—these are problems that can be resolved with a commitment to couples and/or family therapy and making changes at home.”

Just like a successful first (and only) marriage, a second marriage requires compromise and recognition of the role each spouse plays in a couple’s overall happiness. – WTF fun facts

Source: “Why Many Divorced Partners Remarry Each Other” — Psychology Today

WTF Fun Fact 12889 – Dasia Taylor’s Life-Saving Sutures

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Anywhere from 2% to 5% of surgical incisions and other stitched-up lacerations get infected, and it can be life-threatening. That’s partly because patients may not know their wounds are infected until they see signs like redness or experience pain. Teenager Dasia Taylor has an answer – she invented sutures that turn a different color when a wound is infected.

Dasia Taylor’s suture solution

When she began the project in October 2019, Dasia Taylor was just 17 years old. The Iowa City West High School student was participating in science fairs and was eventually named one of 40 finalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, a highly prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.

Her invention was a suture threat used for medical stitches that changes color from bright red to dark purple when an infection is present. She uses beet juice to make the dye. But it’s far more chemically complicated than that.

Color-changing sutures save lives

Dasia Taylor’s invention is designed in part to help people who don’t have access to convenient medical care and is based on a process already known to scientists.

According to Smithsonian Magazine (cited below): “Taylor had read about sutures coated with a conductive material that can sense the status of a wound by changes in electrical resistance, and relay that information to the smartphones or computers of patients and doctors. While these ‘smart’ sutures could help in the United States, the expensive tool might be less applicable to people in developing countries, where internet access and mobile technology is sometimes lacking.“

While less than 5% of people in the US whose wounds are treated with sutures develop an infection, that number jumps to 11% in developing countries.

Taylor is also concerned about the high rate of C-section infections in parts of Africa and the US (the US has just as high of a rate of infection – sometimes higher – than some African nations with fewer medical resources).

How do color-changing sutures work?

So, how do the sutures help notify patients of an infection? Well, according to Smithsonian: “Healthy human skin is naturally acidic, with a pH around five. But when a wound becomes infected, its pH goes up to about nine. Changes in pH can be detected without electronics; many fruits and vegetables are natural indicators that change color at different pH levels.”

“I found that beets changed color at the perfect pH point,” said Taylor. Bright red beet juice turns dark purple at a pH of nine. “That’s perfect for an infected wound. And so, I was like, ‘Oh, okay. So beets is where it’s at.’”

But that wasn’t the full solution. Taylor also had to find a material that would hold onto the dye while not being too thick to be used as a suture. She tackled the problem during the COVID lockdown and ran experiments until she found the best of the 10 materials she was trying – a cotton-polyester blend that could change color in just minutes of picking up a change in pH.

There are still some kinks to work out before it goes from the laboratory to the bedside, but it’s safe to say this teen is on her way to an illustrious research career. – WTF fun facts

Source: “This High Schooler Invented Color-Changing Sutures to Detect Infection” — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 12888 – No Witches Were Burned At The Stake At Salem

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We tend to get historical events conflated. But it’s always a good idea to correct ourselves when we can. For example, if you asked people how women were executed at the Salem Witch Trials, some would be convinced they were burned at the stake. But, in fact, no women were burned at the stake.

So what happened at Salem if not witch burning?

Accusations of witchcraft started when a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts experienced seizures and fits of screaming and a local doctor diagnosed them as having been the victims of “black magic.”

It was a Puritan settlement, and over the following weeks and months, the accusations spread and consumed people until they found someone to blame.

By the end of the trials, twenty people were executed as witches – most, but not all, were women. (It’s also common to believe the trials executed many more people than 20, but that’s simply not true. However, more were found guilty.)

The executions

Nineteen of the “witches” were executed according to English law (America was still a colony at the time). That meant being taken to the gallows in order to die by hanging.

The 20th convicted “sorcerer,” an elderly man named Giles Corey did meet a more gruesome end after refusing to enter an innocent or guilty plea. However, he was not burned at the stake either. Instead, he was pressed to death beneath heavy stones.

Other so-called sorcerers died in jail while awaiting trial.

Where does the burning-at-the-stake legend come from?

Burning witches at the stake was not an American phenomenon, but it did happen in Europe. People likely get it mixed up by assuming all witchcraft trials happened at roughly the same time and in the same way.

Medieval European witch trials often ended in execution and the Holy Roman Empire’s “Constitutio Criminalis Carolina” did state that the punishment for witchcraft was punishment by fire.

The real witch hunt hysteria happened across areas of modern-day Germany, Italy, Scotland, France, and Scandanavia and was at its height between the 15th and 18th centuries. Historians believe over 50,000 (!!!) people were executed as witches during this time alone in Europe.

However, burning at the stake still didn’t appear to be the typical method of execution. Most witches and sorcerers were beheaded. However, in order to keep their bodies from emanating some sort of black magic sorcery, the bodies were often burned.

But some witches were alive when they were burned. So it’s not a complete myth that witches were burned at the stake – it just happened in Europe. –WTF fun facts

Source: “Were witches burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials?” — History.com

WTF Fun Fact 12887 – The Reagan Astrology Connection

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Ronald and Nancy Reagan believed in astrology. And they never tried to hide that – in fact, the Reagan astrology connection was confirmed by the White House in 1988.

The Reagans’ astrology beliefs

A report in Newsweek after Reagan was president hinted that the first family were believers in astrology. This make some people skeptical since the belief in the alignment of planets and stars having influence on human affairs raises some questions about presidential decision making. And since the Reagans seemed so mainstream, people had a hard time believing that they might live their lives in a way that was decidedly outside of the mainstream.

But the Reagans never hid it. Presumably, it didn’t come up a lot outside of the White House. But inside, Nancy Reagan, in particular, was a follower of astrology (which doesn’t mean she wasn’t also Christian, of course). But it would be a likely be a mistake to assume her husband just went along for the ride to make her happy.

In fact, former (but current at the time) White House spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, told the New York Times in 1988 that Mrs. Reagan’s beliefs influenced some decision-making, especially when it came to scheduling important events.

It’s hardly any reason for concern. For his part, Ronald Reagan had assured anyone who asked that astrology never influenced his policy-making decisions. (Scheduling things on a Tuesday instead of a Friday or at 3pm instead of 4pm doesn’t typically change the course of human affairs.)

In other words, it’s interesting and surprising, but it’s not that big of a deal to most people.

Was there controversy about the Reagans’ astrological beliefs?

No one watched the White House with the kind of scrutiny we do today. There were no 24-hour news stations or websites, after all.

You’ll find the majority of the information about the role astrology played in the White House in the memoirs of Donald T. Regan (no relation, especially considering the spelling of the name) in a memoir called Inauguration After Midnight.

The book’s title references Reagan’s inauguration as Governor of California in January 1967 which took place after midnight – at 12:10 A.M. “News reports at the time said the decision was made to take advantage of favorable astrological portents,” said the Times, referencing information from officials.

According to the NYT (cited below), Fitzwater said “Mr. Fitzwater said Mrs. Reagan is particularly worried about the impact astrological portents can have on her husband’s safety. But he declined to say exactly how Mrs. Reagan had used astrological information.”

Nancy Reagan’s concerns

We can’t say for sure what the president believed, but we do know it was Nancy Reagan who consulted astrologers for the most part. In the White House response to the controversy in 1988, he said: ”It’s true that Mrs. Reagan has an interest in astrology. She has for some time, particularly following the assassination attempt in March of 1981. She was very concerned for her husband’s welfare, and astrology has been part of her concern in terms of his activities.”

Of course, the California inauguration would indicate that her concerns went back further.

In any case, the couple was seemingly bothered that people made a big deal out of it. ”They both feel it’s unfortunate and a distraction and hardly relevant to the business of government,” Fitzwater said.

A former White House aid also downplayed the role of astrology, saying that Mrs. Reagan simply believed her husband needed more downtime in his schedule. Of course, both things might be true. Nancy Reagon was well-known to be interested in astrology and didn’t hide her own interest.

The Evening News

It’s no surprise that the former First Lady may have become more interested in astrology after the assassination attempt on her husband in 1981. The NYT notes that Ted Koppel reported on the ABC News show “Nightline” that “he had learned that before the President was shot on March 30, 1981, an astrologer warned Mrs. Reagan that something bad would happen that day. Mr. Koppel declined to identify the source of his information.

Tracking presidential astrology

Reagan was still president when this came out, but it never did any damage to his reputation. It was simply titillating to people because we have an innate desire to peek into people’s private lives and react to whatever seems most salacious.

Even before the reports there were people tracking the Reagans’ interest in astrology since it was so out-of-the-oridinary, especially for the Reagan “brand.” Most people doubted the president would have come to astrology on his own and was never an avid believer but that the knowledge did have some impact on him.

The White House made light of the story in 1988, with Mr. Fitzwater opened his briefing by saying, ”I’ll take your first question at exactly 12:33 and a half.”

In any case, the Reagans’ interest in astrology was right in line with their life as celebrities in 1930s and 40s California. And Ronald Reagan would not have been the first president interested in astrology – both Roosevelts were as well. – WTF fun facts

Source: “White House Confirms Reagans Follow Astrology, Up to a Point” — The New York Times

WTF Fun Fact 12886 – Forks Used To Be Seen As Sacrilegious

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Who knew a fork could be seen as offensive (unless you’re using it to poke someone)? But it turns out that while forks are ancient tools, using forks used to be seen as sacrilegious by the Church.

Ancient forks

Forks have been around for millennia, but they weren’t used as dining utensils until the Middle Ages. Then, only wealthy families owned such tools.

For much of human history, people have eaten with their fingers. Depending on the time period and part of the world you were in, it was appropriate to eat with all five fingers (spoons existed and were totally acceptable for soup lovers). Later on, it was seen as polite to eat with three fingers.

Touching your food was touching God’s creation (they didn’t have Twinkies back then, which are most decidedly not God’s creation). By using a technically unnecessary utensil, it was seen as blasphemous not to touch the food you were about to ingest.

Smithsonian Magazine (cited below) found old references to the inappropriateness of forks in the Middle Ages. For example:

“In 1004, the Greek niece of the Byzantine emperor used a golden fork at her wedding feast in Venice, where she married the doge’s son. At the time most Europeans still ate with their fingers and knives, so the Greek bride’s newfangled implement was seen as sinfully decadent by local clergy. ‘God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks—his fingers,” one of the disdainful Venetians said. “Therefore it is an insult to him to substitute artificial metal forks for them when eating.’ When the bride died of the plague a few years later, Saint Peter Damian opined that it was God’s punishment for her hateful vanity.”

Harsh.

From blasphemous to ridiculous

Eventually, forks became less of a religious matter and simply socially unacceptable. Royalty and nobility – particularly in Italy – often had forks. but their use of the utensils was often used to mock them.

At this time, people were still using two-pronged forks. It would take at least a hundred more years for the third and fourth prongs to be added.

It wasn’t until the early 18th century that forks became acceptable and available in England (and a few decades after that in America).

As one 1887 book of manners noted, “The fork has now become the favorite and fashionable utensil for conveying food to the mouth. First it crowded out the knife, and now in its pride it has invaded the domain of the once powerful spoon. The spoon is now pretty well subdued also, and the fork, insolent and triumphant, has become a sumptuary tyrant. The true devotee of fashion does not dare to use a spoon except to stir his tea or to eat his soup with, and meekly eats his ice-cream with a fork and pretends to like it.”

Who knew forks had such a long and sordid history?! – WTF fun facts

Source: “A History of Western Eating Utensils, From the Scandalous Fork to the Incredible Spork” — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 12385 – Ladybugs are Cannibals

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Do you remember being told as a kid that having a ladybug land of you is good luck? Well, that might be the case for humans, but in the ladybug world, these creatures have to watch their backs. Ladybugs have some interesting behaviors – like cannibalism.

Are ladybugs cannibals?

Yes, ladybugs (also called ladybirds – another thing we didn’t know) will eat their own kind. But not just for fun – they have to be in the right situation. Still, if you check out ladybug habitats, you can find pieces of half-eaten bugs all over the place.

According to The Laidback Gardener (cited below): “Some species lay a mixture of fertile and infertile eggs. When the larva, which does not resemble the adult ladybug at all, but looks vaguely like a small alligator, is born and if it finds no other prey nearby (aphids, scale insects, mites, whiteflies, etc.), it will first eat an infertile egg to gain strength. Then, if the other larvae don’t disperse rapidly, it will eat them too. Even adults will readily eat larvae or even other adults when they have the opportunity.”

Small alligators? Rampant cannibalism? We’ll never look at ladybugs the same way again!

Other interesting facts about ladybugs

You may have also noticed that ladybugs smell pretty bad. It’s definitely the case when you squish them (which isn’t advisable, though they can infest houses – especially windowsills – in the summer). They also emit an odor when they’re just “disturbed.”

To top it off, humans are especially sensitive to the chemical compounds emitted by ladybugs, so they’re especially stinky to us – even when they emit low levels of their odors.

If you happen to have a ladybug invasion, yellow ladybugs are safer to pester than orange ones. Orange ladybugs are the stinkiest of all.  – WTF fun facts

Source: “Gentle Ladybugs are Actually Cannibals” — Laidback Gardener