100 Things Learned This Year

December 30, 2005 6:58 AM

100 things we didn't know this time last year. We seem to have an overload of year-end lists, but this one from the BBC was rather entertaining (if UK-centric). Feel free to add anything that you didn't know a year ago in your corner of the world.
posted by spock (61 comments total)

Here a couple that immediately came to mind: We did not know that members of a sitting U.S. executive branch (Scooter Libby and Karl Rove) would be involved in outing a U.S. intelligence agent - in a "time of war" yet. We did not know that the American public was capable of learning that, and then going back to picking their collective noses.

We also learned that Sun-Belt officials should not be used to referee bowl games involving teams from real football conferences.
posted by spock at 7:03 AM on December 30, 2005

You can't win a war on Terror™ (ok, I knew that already but a lot of my friends have come around)
posted by j.p. Hung at 7:15 AM on December 30, 2005

Great list.

Ernie Wise phoning Vodafone above a curry shop. I didn't need to know that but now I am glad that I do now. And if someone doesn't use 'chokeugambo' as a username for somethin soon then we will be bereft as a world.


I could do without irrelevant comments on the War on Terror being crowbarred into the thread though...
posted by ClanvidHorse at 7:29 AM on December 30, 2005

I think that list is misnamed. It includes a bunch of things that are just anniversaries, for one.

And then there's this:

12. Until the 1940s rhubarb was considered a vegetable. It became a fruit when US customs officials, baffled by the foreign food, decided it should be classified according to the way it was eaten.

Wouldn't that be something we knew back in the 1940s? Maybe it just passed from knowledge for a year.

Anyway, enough complaining about the list. The biggest thing I learned this year: the truth of "the grass is always greener on the other side."
posted by Godbert at 7:29 AM on December 30, 2005

We didn't know Brownie was doing a helluva job.

We didn't know Bill O'Reilly was fascinated with falafels and a certain female work associate.

We didn't know that Faux News would still be using the phrase "homicide bombers."

We didn't know that Dubya would be so extremely unpopular (wait, we still don't hear about that, just when his ratings go up that we hear anything.)

We didn't know that surgeons can make diagnoses from the Senate floor via television news clips.

We didn't know that purple thumbs can solve any political problems.

We didn't know that Chalabi was so wildly unpopular with everyone except the PNAC crowd. (didn't Rummy just last week visit with this loser who exists only to spend US taxpayer money for neocon propaganda?)

This could be a very long list!
posted by nofundy at 7:30 AM on December 30, 2005

The title of the article isn't accurate. Many of those things have been known for years. Maybe the author is using the royal "we"?

78. One in 18 people has a third nipple.

Ok, MeFites, show us your third nipple.
posted by terrapin at 7:37 AM on December 30, 2005

I got yer third nipple right here.
posted by spock at 7:39 AM on December 30, 2005

Sorry, but we'll need photographic evidence if we are going to check the maths.
posted by terrapin at 7:41 AM on December 30, 2005

Ok, MeFites, show us your third nipple
ok
posted by JohnR at 7:50 AM on December 30, 2005

I'm pretty sure the guy who played Scotty on Star Trek did not invent the Klingon language.
posted by Justin Case at 7:51 AM on December 30, 2005

Justin: Quite right. It was Marc Okrand who invented the Klingon language.
posted by cerebus19 at 7:53 AM on December 30, 2005

78. One in 18 people has a third nipple.

You mean like Christopher Lee in "Man With the Golden Gun"?
posted by unreason at 7:54 AM on December 30, 2005

"...his cow-skull birthmark, his superfluous third nipple, and his small feet."
posted by rxrfrx at 8:00 AM on December 30, 2005

It is very interesting (to me) that, out of 100 things, it is the third nippple that has captured the imaginations. (third p intentional)
posted by spock at 8:00 AM on December 30, 2005

Depends on how you define invented. Wikipedia:

Using his considerable vocal skills, Doohan devised the Vulcan and Klingon language dialogue heard in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Later, professional linguists, particularly Marc Okrand, expanded Klingon into a fully constructed language with a working grammar.
posted by skallas at 8:01 AM on December 30, 2005

Funny, I'm not at all interested in the third nipple stuff, but I really want to know how I can subpeona a dog in court. Is some kind of doggy oath taken? What does the stenographer type?
posted by skallas at 8:09 AM on December 30, 2005

I didn't know what a chav was. It's my new favorite word
posted by Cool Alex at 8:17 AM on December 30, 2005

100. Musical instrument shops must pay an annual royalty to cover shoppers who perform a recognisable riff before they buy, thereby making a "public performance".

I can't believe this could possibly be true.
posted by Adam_S at 8:24 AM on December 30, 2005

Adam_S: check this out.
posted by Turd Ferguson at 8:37 AM on December 30, 2005

25. Nelson probably had a broad Norfolk accent.

I still don't know who this Nelson fellow is.
posted by haqspan at 8:38 AM on December 30, 2005

We in Chicago didn't know Marshall Fields wasn't going to be here forever.
posted by SisterHavana at 8:41 AM on December 30, 2005

I could do without the irrelevant 3rd nipple being crowbarred into this thread.
posted by nervousfritz at 8:43 AM on December 30, 2005

*visualizes crowbarring 3rd nipples - adds to list of 100 things I wish I hadn't thought about this year*
posted by wendell at 8:48 AM on December 30, 2005

Err, there are quite a few there I knew well before last year, the patronising gits. For example, every true spice fiend knows that spice heat is measured in "Scovies".
posted by Decani at 8:54 AM on December 30, 2005

And that its based on the number of grains of sugar needed to wrestle the burning feeling under control. And that the "Academy Award" for hot pepper products is called The Scovies. And that there is something called "The Source," a 7.1 million Scoville pepper extract.
posted by maxsparber at 9:03 AM on December 30, 2005

Ozzie Nelson, Ricky's dad. He only pretended to be American.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:05 AM on December 30, 2005

I am one of those special folks with a third nip (gasp!). It really does look like a mole at first glance. I will think of it as I ring in the new year, knowing I'm not alone.
posted by moonbird at 9:10 AM on December 30, 2005

nofundy, for pete's sake, get your facts straight: Brownie did a heckuva job, and it's fingers, not thumbs. Damnit.
posted by lodurr at 9:14 AM on December 30, 2005

I believe the correct title is Lord Ozzie Nelson.
posted by drinkcoffee at 9:22 AM on December 30, 2005

Wow, this thread is gold, if only for the fact that by following the chav link I learned that the Tartan of Burberry is what the plaid that all the yobs in France were wearing is called when I was there. Thank you MetaFilter!
posted by blue_beetle at 9:38 AM on December 30, 2005

Nelson
posted by blue_beetle at 9:39 AM on December 30, 2005

[whimpers]
I'm so sorry lodurr. I promise to make amends. Please don't torture me.
posted by nofundy at 9:47 AM on December 30, 2005

Apparently, the most common accidentally self-inflicted injury among males in some emergency rooms is .... cutting oneself severely whilst trying to slice a frozen bagel.

So I'm told.
posted by weston at 10:02 AM on December 30, 2005

Burberry is actually the tartan for Clan McShit. It's true.
posted by longbaugh at 10:13 AM on December 30, 2005

Mister Scaramanga! Mister Scaramanga!
posted by evilcolonel at 10:21 AM on December 30, 2005

Now look what you've made me found.
posted by of strange foe at 10:27 AM on December 30, 2005

found = find
posted by of strange foe at 10:28 AM on December 30, 2005

8. Devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to jaywalk as other people

I find this image highly amusing; I'm not sure why.

11. One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed.

I assume they mean the ones that people buy and take home; as opposed to the ones on the showroom floor

78. One in 18 people has a third nipple.

I find this hard to believe.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:44 AM on December 30, 2005

Zen, you misunderstood. conceived in an Ikea bed Not ones, but one bed.

I hope that clears up the confusion.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:48 AM on December 30, 2005

Ha ha!
/Norfolk accent
posted by dash_slot- at 10:53 AM on December 30, 2005

Oh. Where is that particluar bed located?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:53 AM on December 30, 2005

Wouldn't you like to know.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:36 AM on December 30, 2005

The Ten Most 'What the Fuck?' Moments of 2005
posted by y2karl at 11:39 AM on December 30, 2005

While the concept has merit, those are not universal choices. The Bravery versus the Killers ? Huh ?
posted by y2karl at 11:44 AM on December 30, 2005

y2karl: Excellent self-control in making that a comment rather than its own FPP.
: )
posted by spock at 11:45 AM on December 30, 2005

8. Devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to jaywalk as other people

This phenomenon has been observed in my neighborhood. I always assumed it was something to do with crossing signs being included under the practice of not using electrical appliances on the Sabbath.
posted by MrBadExample at 12:13 PM on December 30, 2005

Leg Nipple
posted by rxreed at 12:45 PM on December 30, 2005

1) Yes, Neo, there really is a spoon after all.
posted by nofundy at 12:57 PM on December 30, 2005

Feel free to add anything that you didn't know a year ago

i didn't know that on january 16th i'd wake up and begin a journey toward sobriety and not pick up a drink or a drug the rest of the year. personally, i find this astonishing.
posted by quonsar at 1:08 PM on December 30, 2005

*claps*
posted by longbaugh at 1:56 PM on December 30, 2005

Congratulations, quonsar.
posted by MrBadExample at 2:47 PM on December 30, 2005

Does anyone have any idea why there's a picture of opium poppys at the top of the page?
posted by nTeleKy at 3:10 PM on December 30, 2005

Yes - there are ten poppy heads. It is unrelated to the '100 things' aspect, but is part of the 'pictures of 10 things' feature which is also summarised on the same page.


"Every week, users send pictures 10 things they have seen. These are some of the best - submit yours by clicking here"
posted by apocalypse miaow at 4:04 PM on December 30, 2005

That explanation might be right, but I counted 11 photos if you count the poppy pic.
posted by spock at 4:23 PM on December 30, 2005

No Mr Spock - not ten photos.

Any number of photos, each showing ten 'things'. For example, ten snowdrops, ten penguins...

Readers send in photographic examples of ten things to this part of the BBC site each week.
posted by apocalypse miaow at 4:35 PM on December 30, 2005

See here.
posted by apocalypse miaow at 4:36 PM on December 30, 2005

Thanks to skallas, I learned that James Doohan took six bullets from a German machine gun (and lost a finger) while storming Normandy. That tops the list for me right now.
posted by bjrubble at 9:50 PM on December 30, 2005

94. Bill Gates does not have an iPod.

You know I could have probably figured that out...
posted by SirOmega at 10:49 PM on December 30, 2005

I have a hard time believing this one:

29. When faced with danger, the octopus can wrap six of its legs around its head to disguise itself as a fallen coconut shell and escape by walking backwards on the other two legs, scientists discovered.
posted by sour cream at 2:25 AM on December 31, 2005

Those scientsts missed the part with the roller skates.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:49 AM on December 31, 2005

hm, "UK-centric"? how shocking that the world does not revolve around Unites States...
posted by TrinityB5 at 9:33 PM on December 31, 2005