Useless Trivia: Places to Drive on Left

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Discussion Overview

The thread explores various snippets of trivia that may be of limited practical use but are of potential interest to participants. Topics range from geographical facts about driving regulations to peculiar statistics and historical anecdotes.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • One participant lists numerous places where driving is on the left side of the road.
  • Another mentions the height comparison between Norway's Galdhøpiggen and Glittertind, suggesting Glittertind may be higher when accounting for snow.
  • Several participants discuss the nature of trivia, with some asserting that "useless trivia" is redundant.
  • A participant provides a detailed list of food additives categorized by E-numbers.
  • There are claims about the dangers of animals, noting that one is more likely to be killed by a pig than a shark.
  • Another participant shares trivia about the longest fingernails and tectonic plate movement.
  • Mr. Potato Head is noted as the first toy advertised on television, with a humorous anecdote about his political candidacy.
  • Participants engage in light-hearted banter regarding the term "Norweeds" and the historical context of Norsemen.
  • One participant humorously questions the accuracy of trivia presented, suggesting discrepancies in the information shared.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of viewpoints, with some agreeing on the nature of trivia while others contest specific claims or interpretations. The discussion remains largely unresolved with multiple competing views on the significance and accuracy of the trivia shared.

Contextual Notes

Some claims made in the discussion lack sufficient context or supporting evidence, leading to potential misunderstandings or misinterpretations of the trivia presented. Additionally, the accuracy of certain statistics and historical references is not verified.

brewnog
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'Useless' Trivia

After being prompted by the bathroom reading thread, I decided that I'd better start one of these.

Post your snippets of information which are of use to few people, but of (possible) interest to many.


I'll kick off, with a list of places where you must drive on the left:

Anguilla, Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Channel Island, Cooke Islands, Cocos Island, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Macao, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Naunu, Nepal, New Zealand, Norfolk Islands, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairin Island, St Helena, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Surinam, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turke and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Kingdom, Virgin Islands, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
 
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All right:
The mountain Galdhøpiggen ("The peak by the trail across the mountain plateau")
is Norway's highest mountain, but if you add the 10 meters on snow lying on top of Glittertind ("The Glittering Mountain") to its actual (rock) height, then Glittertind is the highest.
 
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brewnog said:
Post your snippets of information which are of use to few people, but of (possible) interest to many.
I was about to offer Sylvia's phone number, but thought better of it. That would violate the decency laws of at least half the countries represented here. :biggrin:
 
"Useless trivia" is redundant. Trivia is, by definition, useless.

(Or it was, until the invention of 'Trivial Pursuit'. Now, Trivia is useful.)
 
DaveC426913 said:
"Useless trivia" is redundant. Trivia is, by definition, useless.

(Or it was, until the invention of 'Trivial Pursuit'. Now, Trivia is useful.)

I was under the impression that trivia was insignificant, rather than useless, but hey ho.

Anyway, I'll continue...


A list of E-numbers:

100-199 Colourings
200-299 Preservatives
300-399 Antioxidants, phosphates and complexing agents
400-499 Thickeners, emulsifiers, and gelling agents
500-599 Salts and related compounds
600-699 Flavour enhancers
700-899 Things which aren't used in food for human consumption
900-999 Gases, sweeteners, surface coating agents
1000-1399 Miscellaneous
1400-1499 Starch derivatives
 
Smoking is bad for you. Crack is supposedly bad too but i woulndt know. Its the only one i haven't done.
 
Norway never gave up sovereignty over the Hebridean islands (around 1250 or so); we just pawned them off to the Scots, that's all. It's still Norwegian land.
 
People from Norway are not called Norweeds and they do not speak Norweedish. (my sister in law is from Norway)
 
NORWEEDS?
 
  • #10
arildno said:
NORWEEDS?
I was driving my daughter and some of her friends one day and someone asked what people from Norway were called. One kid piped up "I think they're called Norweeds" and another kid said "oh, that's right, they speak Norweedish". :smile:
 
  • #11
It's not funny at all; it sounds horrendously wimpish.

We pillaged, burned and raped as much of the globe we were able to,
And what did we get out of it in the end?
We are called norweeds by a bunch of kids..
 
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  • #12
arildno said:
It's not funny at all; it sounds horrendously wimpish.

We pillaged, burned and raped as much of the globe we were able to,
And what did we get out of it in the end?
We are called norweeds by a bunch of kids..


It's alright, we call them Norsemen. :smile: Obviously we know it's inaccurate, but it sounds a lot better, you've got to agree.



The only palindromic hit song by a palindromic artist is S.O.S by ABBA.
 
  • #13
brewnog said:
The only palindromic hit song by a palindromic artist is S.O.S by ABBA.

And this only goes to stregnthen the general consensus that palindromes are evil by nature.
 
  • #14
You are more likely to be killed by a pig than by a shark

At over 22 inches long, the longest fingernails took 27 years to grow.

Techtonic plates move about as fast as your fingernails grow ~ 1 cm per year.

In Trivial Pursuit[if anyone still plays this], if the answer is a city but you don't know which one, guess Paris.

There are between 330 and 500 dimples on a golfball

The longest boxing match lasted seven and a half hours and went 110 rounds
 
  • #15
Mr. Potato Head revolutionized the toy industry in 1952 - he was the first toy to be advertised on televesion.

In spite of being the first toy to realize the power of television, Mr. Potato Head only received four votes (all write-in) in Boise's 1985 Mayoral election.
 
  • #16
isnt it illegal to chew gum in spain?
 
  • #17
The only death directly by an animal in Yosemite was by a deer.

At least 3 people drown in Yosemite Valley and you never hear about them.
 
  • #18
Ivan Seeking said:
You are more likely to be killed by a pig than by a shark
On land or in the water?
 
  • #19
Ivan Seeking said:
At over 22 inches long, the longest fingernails took 27 years to grow.

Techtonic plates move about as fast as your fingernails grow ~ 1 cm per year.

Something here doesn't quite add up... :P

On the subject of tectonics- The world's longest mountain range is the spreading ridge that stretches from Mexico, round the South Pacific, southern Indian Ocean, and up the legnth of the Atlantic. It breaks the sea's surface very infrequently, most notably at Iceland.
 
  • #20
My first name is not Warren.

- Warren
 
  • #21
Then it is christopher, as in chroot.
 
  • #22
My first name is also not Christopher.

- Warren
 
  • #23
chroot's mailbox is at the moment full, so it is impossible to send him "Thank you!" PM's
(Believe me, I've tried 3 times already..)
 
  • #24
chroot's mailbox is no longer full.

- Warren
 
  • #25
Indeed it is not.
 
  • #26
arildno said:
And what did we get out of it in the end?
We are called norweeds by a bunch of kids..
Not just kids any more. I know I'll never stop using it. :-p

brewnog said:
The only palindromic hit song by a palindromic artist is S.O.S by ABBA.
Hey, SOS! Did you see this?

Ivan Seeking said:
You are more likely to be killed by a pig than by a shark
Hey, SOS! Did you see this?
 
  • #27
matthyaouw said:
Something here doesn't quite add up... :P

I guess that's what happens when you cross a Geologist with a Guinness? Maybe the world record fingernails grew unusually fast. I just checked and this is what my Guiness book says.

It also says that the only known instance of a go-kart being driven around the world was a circumnavigation by Stan Mott, of New York, who drove a Lambretta-engined 175 cc Italakart with a ground clearance of two inches, 23,300 land miles through 28 countries from Feb 15, 1961, to June 5th, 1964, starting and finishing in New York.
 
  • #28
  • #29
matthyaouw said:
Something here doesn't quite add up... :P
Yes, but a centimeter and an inch are only a factor of 2.5 different. A physicist would call such an excellent agreement (within an order of magnitude) a good day's work! :smile:

- Warren
 
  • #30
chroot said:
Yes, but a centimeter and an inch are only a factor of 2.5 different. A physicist would call such an excellent agreement (within an order of magnitude) a good day's work! :smile:

- Warren

...and a horse is approximately a sphere.
 

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