Today I learned...

Today I learned about the fascinating history of Anime Mate, a Japanese anime merch website that was popular and then fell in popularity because people didn't read one announcement about shipping being stopped.

...And then I learned, they were within the area where the 2011 earthquake in Japan occurred.
 
Til I learned that Loki the trickster spirit from folklore and mythology is the ancestor of trolls. I mean that quite literally. I came across this text in a translation of the poem "Voluspa en Skamma" in The Poetic Edda–Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes.

Loki ate a woman's heart
He found it
Half-burned
On a burning Linden tree.
Loki became pregnant from that dead witch
And from their child
Come all the troll women.
 
That 'hiccup' is spelt 'hiccough' in British English because some person looked at the word a few centuries ago and thought "oh, this is something you do with your throat kind of like a cough, it has nothing to do with a cup, let's fix the spelling" and created that monstrosity.
 
TODAY I LEARNED MILOTIC IS 20 FEET TALL AND I AM BOTH SCARED AND HORRIFIED BY THIS INFORMATION.

//panic post

what do you mean this pretty fish pokemon is TWENTY FEET TALL?
 
TIL that everyone's favourite overrated song, Megalovania, is actually "inspired by" Megalomania, the boss theme from Live A Live that I have been listening to for the last several days in-game thinking it sounded *vaguely* familiar thematically and had no idea it was actually called that until I went looking for another track on Youtube.

Iiiinteresting.
 
Palamon said:
TODAY I LEARNED MILOTIC IS 20 FEET TALL AND I AM BOTH SCARED AND HORRIFIED BY THIS INFORMATION.

//panic post

what do you mean this pretty fish pokemon is TWENTY FEET TALL?
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Might be more accurate to say twenty feet long. Cites Furret as another such case. Measures up at five feet, eleven inches. Sells a plush of that in the official store. Measurements: 70.9 x 15 x 11.8 inches.
 
Devalue said:
Might be more accurate to say twenty feet long. Cites Furret as another such case. Measures up at five feet, eleven inches. Sells a plush of that in the official store. Measurements: 70.9 x 15 x 11.8 inches.
Click to expand...

Well, probably. Maybe Bulbapedia needs a cleanup.

Also, today I learned about the 2005 theme park Pokepark.
 
Dawn said:
TIL that everyone's favourite overrated song, Megalovania, is actually "inspired by" Megalomania, the boss theme from Live A Live that I have been listening to for the last several days in-game thinking it sounded *vaguely* familiar thematically and had no idea it was actually called that until I went looking for another track on Youtube.

Iiiinteresting.
Click to expand...

With that in mind, here's another 'TIL' (I had forgotten and was reminded of it today):

The song used for Ice Cap Zone in Sonic 3 is actually a rip from Hard Times by The Jetzons, as Brad Buxer (the keyboardist from the band) was involved in the game's soundtrack along with MJ (who went on to use stuff from the soundtrack for his song Stranger in Moscow, iirc).
 
Not so much 'learned' but reminded why I've hated walking barefoot since childhood.

Went outside the door and almost stepped straight onto a screeching alien looking bug.

Back to shoes for me.
 
Fact Checking Gardevoir said:
Wait... Screeching ?
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I didn't identify it. Simply took a few steps away.

A long time ago I was outside with my sister when she stepped on a velvet ant. (also called Cow Killer Ant). Her screaming was blood curdling. I almost never go outside anymore without protecting my feet.

Became careless because it was extremely early and my dog wanted outside.
 
TIL Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizardry was called Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times in the US, and it had a vastly superior classical soundtrack.

...and both go for over £100 on eBay now. Thank god my mother has a copy of it...
 
Not as much learnt as much as realized: in Germany we don't have an equivalent to a gender neutral they/them. However, we do have something that comes kinda close. When talking with strangers/coworkers/... and doing stuff like writing job applications we make use of a "polite (in a professional sense) form". This form is in third person plural, as well. And, of course, part of the reason why it's useful is because not always is the receiver (and therefor their gender) of a letter known.

However, one of the main reasons why it fails as a good replacement to the English they/them is the distance it creates between the two people who are interacting with each other in that manner. The purpose of politeness weighs very heavily. Germany is kinda obsessed with it in that regard. ^^"
 
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Megan said:
Not as much learnt as much as realized: in Germany we don't have an equivalent to a gender neutral they/them. However, we do have something that comes kinda close. When talking with strangers/coworkers/... and doing stuff like writing job applications we make use of a "polite (in a professional sense) form". This form is in third person plural, as well. And, of course, part of the reason why it's useful is because not always is the receiver (and therefor their gender) of a letter known.

However, one of the main reasons why it fails as a good replacement to the English they/them is the distance it creates between the two people who are interacting with each other in that manner. The purpose of politeness weighs very heavily. Germany is kinda obsessed with it in that regard. ^^"
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These forms are such a bizarre thing to get your head round as an English-speaker when you start learning European languages (until I was a teen at 11+ in UK state schools which is far too late). Whereas we use honorifics (or often confusingly just try to intonate respect into a first name)
 
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I didn't learn this exactly today, but I thought it was kind of neat learning Copperajah has a special G-Max move which sets up Steel Stealth Rocks. It's the only way possible to use those.
 
Today I learned Lady Gaga is playing Harley Quinn in the Joker sequel.

I mean, I see the brilliance in this casting, but it took me by surprise.
 
The number of the 1 inch attachment on clippers so I can just buy my own and cut my own hair!
 
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