Just some interesting tidbits!

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

A group of unicorns is called a blessing.

Twelve or more cows are known as a "flink."

A group of frogs is called an army.

A group of rhinos is called a crash.

A group of kangaroos is called a mob.

A group of whales is called a pod.

A group of geese is called a gaggle.

A group of ravens is called a murder.

A group of officers is called a mess.

A group of larks is called an exaltation.

A group of owls is called a parliament.

The saying, "It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey," came from the days when warships were armed with cannons like ones used in the Civil War. The cast iron cannonballs were stacked in a pyramid formation, on a special brass tray called a monkey with spherical depressions in it. Normally the tray kept the pyramid of balls stacked neatly, even when the ship was pitching in heavy seas. But the coefficient of thermal expansion of brass is about twice that of cast iron, so when it got extremely cold outside, usually during the night, the tray would shrink faster than the cannonballs, until the spacing of its spherical sockets was too small to fit the cannonball spacing. Then the entire pyramid of balls would suddenly fly apart, and fall to the deck and roll around, awakening everyone on board. Thus the saying.

The term "posh", meaning elegant or swank (as in posh accommodations) is derived from days when the British ruled India, and travel between England and India by ship was common. The preferred shipping route was through the newly-opened Suez Canal, which shortened the trip considerably by eliminating the lengthy sail around Africa. But in those days before air conditioning, the Sinai Desert sun was merciless, especially in the afternoon, and passengers soon came to realize that the side of the ship which was in the shade in the afternoon was preferable to the other side. During the trip "out", from England to India, the shady side of the ship in the afternoon was the port side, as the ship headed south thru Suez and the Red Sea. On the return "home" trip, the opposite was true, and the starboard side was cooler.

Passengers able to pay extra got their tickets stamped "POSH", for "port out, starboard home", to ensure that they were given the coolest staterooms possible.

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