Obvious Things You 0nly Just Realised - 2020

[Cold Meat Platter]

An Awl has a sharp point, like an icepick.

That's awl, folks.

[Ferris]

What's a Chad owl like?

Bullies all the nerd owls.

[JesusAndYourBush]

My favourite owl is the Teat.

[famethrowa]

Here's a really, really obvious one that I only just realised a moment ago: there's still a Luftwaffe. And it's bigger than ever.

[NoSleep]

Orgy/orgasm.

[touchingcloth]

Orgy/orgasm.

Wiktionary has this for orgy:

Originally in plural from French orgies, from Latin orgia, from Ancient Greek ὄργια (órgia, "secret rites, mysteries").

An orgasm is certainly a kind of secret mystery!!!!!! But, alas:

From French orgasme or New Latin orgasmus, from Ancient Greek ὀργασμός (orgasmós, "excitement, swelling"), from ὀργάω (orgáō, "to swell with moisture").

Hot.

[NoSleep]

Merely coincidence, then. Or maybe the first secret rituals were organised by swingers. Just realised organ and organised are also in the "starting with org" family.

[Dr Rock]

Orgasm. Spasm. Phantasm. Any more?

[NoSleep]

Ectoplasm.

[NoSleep]

Sarcasm.

[kittens]

chasm. jism

[NoSleep]

Just realised that:

Sarcasm/sarcastic ≍ spasm/s*****c (spasmodic notwithstanding).

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

The sample on It' Tricky by Run-DMC is My Sharona. RIP Oscillations

[Menu]

Merely coincidence, then. Or maybe the first secret rituals were organised by swingers. Just realised organ and organised are also in the "starting with org" family.

That's similar to the fact that the words 'pen' and 'pencil' do not have the same etymological root. See also, 'male' and 'female'.  Still can't get my head round those.

[touchingcloth]

That's similar to the fact that the words 'pen' and 'pencil' do not have the same etymological root. See also, 'male' and 'female'.  Still can't get my head round those.

Fuck. My. Hat.

Also:

From Anglo-Norman and Old French pincil (see the variant pincel, which gave rise to Modern French pinceau ("paintbrush")), from Latin pēnicillum, diminutive of pēniculus ("brush"), itself a diminutive of pēnis.

Tee hee.

[olliebean]

So you're saying "pencil dick" is actually tautologous?

[touchingcloth]

Johnny Vegas' wiki page has got an interesting disambiguation clause at the top:

For the golfer, see Jhonattan Vegas. For the footballer, see Johnny Vegas Fernández. For the saxophonist, see Tim Burton (musician).

[Ominous Dave]

Kaitlin Olson from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is not one of the Olsen Twins (yes it's not even spelled the same, I know that now).

[touchingcloth]

Kaitlin Olson from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is not one of the Olsen Twins (yes it's not even spelled the same, I know that now).

It actually is spelled the same - Olsen is the plural form of Olson.

[DrGreggles]

Johnny Vegas Fernández

New favourite player.
Move over, Bongo Christ!

[Andy147]

That's similar to the fact that the words 'pen' and 'pencil' do not have the same etymological root. See also, 'male' and 'female'.  Still can't get my head round those.

Though the "-ale" ending in female is from the association with "male"; otherwise it'd be something like "femelle".

[touchingcloth]

Though the "-ale" ending in female is from the association with "male"; otherwise it'd be something like "femelle".

*touchingcloth heads for Wiktionary again*

Aye. Apparently the word which became female was modified so that it matched the word male, which is different to woman which was created with man as its root rather than being an existing word with its spelling shifted.

These word things are my favourite posts in this thread.

[gib]

lin is an old word for flax, so a flaxen cloth is a linen cloth and flaxseed is linseed

[Andy147]

*touchingcloth heads for Wiktionary again*

Aye. Apparently the word which became female was modified so that it matched the word male, which is different to woman which was created with man as its root rather than being an existing word with its spelling shifted.

These word things are my favourite posts in this thread.

Similarly, "gauntlet" as in "run the gauntlet" is from an entirely different root from "gauntlet" as in "throw down the gauntlet" (the former being altered from "gantlope" by confusion with the latter).

Insurance policy and government policy are also apparently from different roots.

[Hand Solo]

Similarly, "gauntlet" as in "run the gauntlet" is from an entirely different root from "gauntlet" as in "throw down the gauntlet" (the former being altered from "gantlope" by confusion with the latter).

What about "run the gamut"?

[touchingcloth]

lin is an old word for flax, so a flaxen cloth is a linen cloth and flaxseed is linseed

Graham Flax à Han.

[gib]

Graham Flax à Han.

Ah nearly, but apparently the Irish version is something to do with snow. https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Lineham

[sirhenry]

Steam cleaning things leaves them all bright and shiny for weeks afterwards - even hands and faces.

[olliebean]

"Silly English kerniggets" = silly English knights.

[Icehaven]

Twitter has been around for 14 years. If I'd had to guess I'd have said about 6 or 7, so maybe since 2013 at the earliest, but I'm watching a film from 2011 and someone mentioned it. 14 years of hurt.