Obvious things that you've only just realised (Vol. 2)

[Foo Manchew]

I have grown tired of the "No posts exist for this topic" errors of the last thread and have ordered it's execution. Please continue your discussion in this, the new thread. It has the Manchew seal of approval.

It's not really obvious (not to me anyway) but I've just learnt from the B3TA newsletter that when Nokia phones receive a text and go "de de de deee deee de de de", that's morse code for "SMS".

Well I thought it was interesting.

I don't know what the crazy frog means in morse code though.

I realised whilst in the chemist yesterday that they use Henry Cooper to advertise flu jabs, not because he is a well respected old bloke but because of jab as in the punch.

I'm as thick as pig shit, if not thicker!

[Penfold]

i only got this now because i put south park on to watch my girlfriend, and when Token was mentioned she laughed, i asked why, and then told me because of him being the only black kid in the school


i still don't know how i missed it for so long

[Ambient Sheep]

I have grown tired of the "No posts exist for this topic" errors of the last thread and have ordered it's execution.

<cries like a baby for the loss of the most successful thread he ever started...>

Please continue your discussion in this, the new thread. It has the Manchew seal of approval.

<...but then breaks into a smile, and happily embraces this new one.>

Thanks F.M.

It's not really obvious (not to me anyway) but I've just learnt from the B3TA newsletter that when Nokia phones receive a text and go "de de de deee deee de de de", that's morse code for "SMS".

Well I thought it was interesting.

Yes, I was well-chuffed when I first sussed that out.  I read somewhere that the alternative one available on most Nokias is the morse code for "Connecting People".   On my old 3210 that can be found under "Ascending" - where the SMS one is under "Special".  I couldn't be arsed to check it all the way through, but it certainly sounds plausible.

I don't know what the crazy frog means in morse code though.

It means "Us bunch of unimaginative bastards ripped off the soundtrack from this page of F1 humour that's been around for at least three or four years."

I realised whilst in the chemist yesterday that they use Henry Cooper to advertise flu jabs, not because he is a well respected old bloke but because of jab as in the punch.

I hadn't sussed that either.

[Munday's Chylde]

The wombles of Wimbledon weren't 'common' - they were the wombles of Wimbledon Common.

[Xander]

I thought that. Presumably of the dodgy timing in the song "Wombles of Wimbledon...common are we..." as opposed to "Wombles of Wimbledon Common are we!" Blame the makers of the show. Thats how I cover my ineptness.

[The Duck Man]

I only just realised that the "Nathan Barely" spelling in alan strang's Barley trailer was deliberate.

[Jonathan Ingram]

Watching Monty Python's Holy Grail for about the 6th time I realised that when the French knight says "kuniggits" he is saying "knights" the way it is spelled.

I'm a twat.

[Suttonpubcrawl]

I have grown tired of the "No posts exist for this topic" errors of the last thread and have ordered it's execution. Please continue your discussion in this, the new thread. It has the Manchew seal of approval.

Does it have Pienaar's seal of approval too?

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

Watching Monty Python's Holy Grail for about the 6th time I realised that when the French knight says "kuniggits" he is saying "knights" the way it is spelled.

I don't think I'd worked that out either.

Is 'Your father smelled of elderberries' pure whimsy, or is that a reference to something? I've always wondered.

[Ambient Sheep]

I've always thought it to be pure whimsy, but maybe I'm wrong...

[Dark Sky]

You know how they packaged the first two Red Dwarf novels into one and published it as an "Omnibus"?

I didn't realise that on the cover the ring in the Red Dwarf logo was the "O" of "Omnibus" for years, and thought the collection of the two books was called the "Red Dwarf Mnibus", which I didn't really understand...

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Watching Monty Python's Holy Grail for about the 6th time I realised that when the French knight says "kuniggits" he is saying "knights" the way it is spelled.

I'm a twat.

Wow! I'm also a twat for not realising that, and also, my opinion of the Python's has grown even further. Genius.

[The Plaque Goblin]

If you're buying a pair of Adidas trainers you should get a half or even a whole size bigger than you usually get.

[Morrisfan82]

You know how they packaged the first two Red Dwarf novels into one and published it as an "Omnibus"?

I didn't realise that on the cover the ring in the Red Dwarf logo was the "O" of "Omnibus" for years, and thought the collection of the two books was called the "Red Dwarf Mnibus", which I didn't really understand...

My mate thought exactly the same thing, until I pointed out where the 'O' was.

[Mediocre Rich]

nokia SMS morse code

Doh!

kniggits

Doh!

Mnibus

Doh!
I love this thread!
(The wombles one I knew)

[Captain Crunch]

It was only a couple of years back I realised that traffic lights aren't coloured at all, it's a normal bulb shone through coloured glass.  Do I get the Stupidest Whore award?

[Ambient Sheep]

It was only a couple of years back I realised that traffic lights aren't coloured at all, it's a normal bulb shone through coloured glass.  Do I get the Stupidest Whore award?

Of course, most newly-installed traffic lights now have ultra-bright LEDs instead of bulbs, so they really are coloured after all...  :-)

I remember, when I was a kid, that the red lenses used to have "STOP" etched into them in black (I wonder why they stopped doing that, would have been useful for the colour-blind).  I always wondered why the green ones never had "GO" on them, however I swear that I did actually see one once...but I was half-asleep in the back seat so probably imagined it.

[mothman]

I've just realised that my GMail password - which I've been trying to remember for months - was one of my oldest and most-used passwords of all time.

[SetToStun]

Of course, most newly-installed traffic lights now have ultra-bright LEDs instead of bulbs, so they really are coloured after all...  :-)

I remember, when I was a kid, that the red lenses used to have "STOP" etched into them in black (I wonder why they stopped doing that, would have been useful for the colour-blind).  I always wondered why the green ones never had "GO" on them, however I swear that I did actually see one once...but I was half-asleep in the back seat so probably imagined it.

I think it's because only green on its own means "GO" - green and amber (contrary to popular belief) do not give you carte blanche to set off. In all circumstances a red light means you must stop - a green light doesn't always mean you can go.

That's how I remember it but my driving test was nearly 21 years ago, so, you know...

[Ambient Sheep]

I think it's because only green on its own means "GO" - green and amber (contrary to popular belief) do not give you carte blanche to set off. In all circumstances a red light means you must stop - a green light doesn't always mean you can go.

I think you'll find it does.  I'd like to know where one can see a traffic light that ever has green and amber on at the same time...  :-)

[Captain Crunch]

Yes it's flashing green / solid green / flashing amber / solid amber / solid red.

[Morrisfan82]

I remember, when I was a kid, that the red lenses used to have "STOP" etched into them in black (I wonder why they stopped doing that, would have been useful for the colour-blind).

I'd imagine the colour-blind get along fine with 'top, middle and bottom'. :)

I only remember seeing the ones with 'STOP' written on them whenever passing through somewhere rural (or somewhere urban and neglected), so this must have been during their phasing-out. They always seemed to be rusty, and the pole to which they were attached usually seemed to be black-&-white-striped too.

EDIT: green doesn't flash either. Amber is the only one that ever flashes (and then only on pelican crossings), and red & amber are the only colours that ever go on at the same time.

[Captain Crunch]

Dan stop screwing with my fragile little mind!  You know I'm going to have to rush out and stare at the junction now.  Ow, my brain!

[Ambient Sheep]

I'd imagine the colour-blind get along fine with 'top, middle and bottom'. :)

What about at night, especially in the rain or other conditions of poor visibility, and/or if there's no street-lighting?

...and the pole to which they were attached usually seemed to be black-&-white-striped too.

Yup.  :-)

...green doesn't flash either. Amber is the only one that ever flashes (and then only on pelican crossings), and red & amber are the only colours that ever go on at the same time.

I assumed CC was joking!!!  Oh heavens...

[Morrisfan82]

I'd imagine the colour-blind get along fine with 'top, middle and bottom'. :)

What about at night, especially in the rain or other conditions of poor visibility, and/or if there's no street-lighting?

Hmm, good point...

Thinking about it, It'd technically be quite possible to reinstate the 'STOP' message on the new LED lights wouldn't it? It could even animate...

It's amazing how many people don't seem to know (or rather, fuck up) the traffic light sequence when reciting it. I've corrected people who can drive on this in real life conversations before! And I'm a non-driver.

The thing is, everyone *knows* it, it just seems to create a mental blind-spot when trying to verbalise it. One of those things I guess...

[Captain Crunch]

Unconsciously incompetent
                 |
Consciously incompetent
                 |
Consciously competent
                 |
Unconsciously competent


That's my excuse and I'm damn well sticking to it.

[mothman]

Thanks to all the traffic light-related verbiage, I now can't stop thinking about the title sequence to Go With Noakes.

[untitled_london]

nope to green = always go.

i failed my first driving test for passing thru a green light.

if you pass thru a green light at a four-way junction, when the traffic in the lane you intend to join is blocked up, it is quite concievable that you will be in the yellow box when the lights turn red allowing the alternative lanes to proceed. therefore, you have positioned you ve-hick-le dangerously.

big x in a box = i failed on that.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

Why is the middle light always called 'amber' rather than 'yellow'?

After all, middle traffic lights are (I think) the only yellow things which are called amber. Apart fom amber itself, of course.

[fanny splendid]

The glass was originally made from amber.