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| 1. Author: GG Riva Date: Wed 12th Nov 2025. 10:56 During the Civil War, when troops returned to their barracks without any casualties, they would write "0 Killed" on a large blackboard; this is where the expression "OK" comes from to say that everything is alright. In convents, during the reading of the Holy Scriptures, when referring to Saint Joseph they always said "Pater Putatibus", that is, putative father, which means father who raises but whose paternity is not proven and to simplify this word, it was shortened to "PP". Thus was born the calling of Josephs "Pepe". In the New Testament, in the book of Saint Matthew, it says, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." The problem is that Saint Jerome, the translator of the text, interpreted the word "camelos" as camel, when in reality, in Greek, "kamelos" is that thick rope with which ships are tied to docks. Ultimately, the meaning of the phrase is the same, but... which seems more logical to you? When the English conquerors arrived in Australia, they were astonished to see strange animals that made incredible leaps. They immediately called over a native (the Indigenous Australians were extremely peaceful) and tried to ask him using sign language. Noticing that the native always said "Khan Ghu Ru," they adopted the English word "kangaroo." Linguists later determined the meaning, which was quite clear. The Aboriginal people meant "I don`t understand." The region of Mexico known as Yucatán got its name during the conquest when a Spaniard asked an indigenous person what they called the place. The indigenous person replied: Yucatán. What the Spaniard didn`t realize was that the person was actually saying: "I`m not from here." In old England, people couldn`t have sex without the King`s consent (unless they were a member of the royal family). When people wanted to have a child, they had to request permission from the monarch, who would give them a sign to hang outside their door while they were having sex. The sign read: "Fornication Under Consent of the King" (****). That is the origin of such a popular little word. Please add any amusing trivia you know to this thread.  Not your average Sunday League player. Reply |
| 2. Author: The One Who Knocks Date: Wed 12th Nov 2025. 12:24 GG, I`m afraid I reckon some of your trivia is legit. Certainly not the last one anyway. And although my eyes were open They just might as well be closed Reply |
| 3. Author: GG Riva Date: Wed 12th Nov 2025. 12:49 The One Who Knocks, Wed 12 Nov 12:24 Did you mean none of it, TOWK? I read on a forum. Not claiming it`s all true. They all made me laugh or smile. That has to be good for us, I`m sure you`ll agree. Not your average Sunday League player. Reply |
| 4. Author: AdamAntsParsStripe Date: Wed 12th Nov 2025. 15:13 The Kangaroo one is definitely wrong. Heard this years ago that it’s a myth. Can’t mind the correct spelling but something like Gangeru was translated from indigenous tribes by James Cook. Zwei Pints Bier und ein Päckchen Chips bitte  Reply |
| 5. Author: veteraneastender Date: Wed 12th Nov 2025. 15:53 You have to be careful about words and phrases that have worked their way into the English language and are far from their original roots One classic term is decimation - that was a deterrent in the Roman Army for general cowardice within the ranks engaged in fighting the enemy. One in ten soldiers were selected at random for punishment, sometimes capital. In modern times it has come to mean a very high casualty rate in a military unit, whereas literally it means 10%. Reply |
| 6. Author: parsfan Date: Wed 12th Nov 2025. 16:15 Assuming you mean the American Civil War, or even if not, I call BS on the first one as it pre-dates it. I know for certain the last one`s made-up so I`d question all of them. I`d heard the kangaroo one before, wanted to believe it but always thought it was too good to be true. A bit like the queen and her farting horse story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The universe is ruled by chance and indifference  Post Edited (Wed 12 Nov 16:15) Reply |
| 7. Author: The One Who Knocks Date: Wed 12th Nov 2025. 16:16 When you shuffle a deck of cards it is an almost mathematical certainty that the sequence the cards are now in has never happened before in the history of cards being shuffled. To be clear I mean that in all of human history nobody has ever randomised a pack of cards in the same sequence as someone else had previously. And although my eyes were open They just might as well be closed Reply |
| 8. Author: red-star-par Date: Wed 12th Nov 2025. 16:41 The One Who Knocks, Wed 12 Nov 16:16 That`s quite interesting, especially when you think about the mind-boggling maths behind it. We will never know, but I would say that surely, at least once someone has done it exactly the same as someone else. Reply |
| 9. Author: ipswichpar Date: Wed 12th Nov 2025. 16:47 The odds would be 1 in 52! wouldn`t it? Which is around 8 x 10^67. I`d never thought about it that way. Mind you, I`m sure most of us have struggled with trying to break in a new deck of cards more than once. I`m sure that would reduce the odds somewhat! ETA: to give another context.... that would be the equivalent of picking (randomly) all the numbers in exactly the same order in a 52 number lottery game. Post Edited (Wed 12 Nov 16:50) Reply |
| 10. Author: The One Who Knocks Date: Wed 12th Nov 2025. 18:42 Just to put it into more context there are more possible combinations of card orders than there are atoms that make up the earth. Far more. To put that into context there are more atoms in a glass of water than there are glasses of water in all the worlds oceans and seas. Again far more. Fifty two factorial is an eight followed by sixty eight zeroes. So yeah if you genuinely randomise a deck of cards by shuffling it`s never been in that order before. And although my eyes were open They just might as well be closed Reply |
| 11. Author: Dave_1885 Date: Thu 13th Nov 2025. 16:10 The One Who Knocks, Wed 12 Nov 18:42 I guess thats a good one. Although, it would also be interesting to know the math on how many decks of cards are shuffled every minute on earth? Bearing in mind, the number of decks casinos use, and change over, every minute with the number of casinos worldwide operating 24/7. Think of the World Series of Poker as a stand alone - the dealers for that one festival must shuffle in the tens of thousands of decks surely? Now do the math over the years, it would be interesting if nobody has ever shuffled them the same way. But I guess we will never know either way Reply |
| 12. Author: The One Who Knocks Date: Thu 13th Nov 2025. 18:39 These are numbers I just can`t comprehend Dave. Let`s just say that everyday there are 10 billion card shuffles. It won`t be anywhere near that number but let`s just go with that sky-high number and that amount was being shuffled everyday for one hundred years. At the end of that time period there would have been 292 TRILLION shuffles. However that`s only a 2 followed by 14 other digits. Remember though we need to a number that is 69 digits long cover all possible combinations. And although my eyes were open They just might as well be closed Reply |
| 13. Author: parsmad68 Date: Thu 13th Nov 2025. 19:00 What a great fact. I wanted to know how long it would take a computer to match. This is what was returned. It would take a computer far longer than the age of the universe to brute-force all possible shuffles of a deck of 52 cards and find a match. Reply |
| 14. Author: Raymie the Legend Date: Thu 13th Nov 2025. 20:24 What’s the odds of playing the lottery since it began and never evening winning a bloody tenner ?  It`s bloody tough being a legend Ron Atkinson - 1983 Post Edited (Thu 13 Nov 20:24) Reply |
| 15. Author: red-star-par Date: Thu 13th Nov 2025. 20:32 parsmad68, Thu 13 Nov 19:00 It is a really interesting fact right enough, one that has preyed on my mind for too long this week! Surely in Casino`s they train the dealers to open a new deck and have some kind of technique to shuffle and split the deck. You would think that dealers with a similar shuffle technique would have come up with the exact same result at least once. It`s impossible to prove, but I`d say there has to have been at least one time there`s been a perfect match Reply |
| 16. Author: Paralex Date: Thu 13th Nov 2025. 21:28 The best explanation of the "eye of a needle" comment by Jesus, is that there was a narrow gate in the wall of Jerusalem that permitted camels to pass through. But if they were too much laden with goods and chatels, they would need to unload some before they were able to squeeze through. The wall around Jerusalem was broken down and rebuilt since the time of Jesus and it`s not now evident where that opening might have been. My favourite gate in Jerusalem is the Golden Gate, also known as the East Gate, but nobody can get through that right now because it`s bricked up. If you want to know why, read Ezekiel chapter 43 to 44 verse 2. Post Edited (Thu 13 Nov 21:36) Reply |
| 17. Author: Wotsit Date: Fri 14th Nov 2025. 10:43 Set a timer to count down 52! seconds (that`s 8.0658x10^67 seconds) Stand on the equator, and take a step forward every billion years. When you`ve circled the earth once, take a drop of water from the Pacific Ocean, and keep going. When the Pacific Ocean is empty, lay a sheet of paper down, refill the ocean and carry on. When your stack of paper reaches the sun, take a look at the timer. The 3 left-most digits won`t have changed. 8.063x10^67 seconds left to go. You have to repeat the whole process 1000 times to get 1/3 of the way through the time. 5.385x10^67 seconds left to go. So to kill that time you try something else. Shuffle a deck of cards, deal yourself 5 cards every billion years. Each time you get a royal flush, buy a lottery ticket. Each time that ticket wins the jackpot, throw a grain of sand in the grand canyon. When the grand canyon`s full, take 25g of rock off Mount Everest, empty the canyon and carry on. When Everest has been levelled, check the timer. There`s barely any change, 5.364x10^67 seconds left. The enemy travels by private jet, not by dinghy. Reply |
| 18. Author: The One Who Knocks Date: Fri 14th Nov 2025. 12:27 Tremendous Wotsit. It puts the number of combinations into some sort of context yet at the same time I still can`t get wrap my mind around it. And although my eyes were open They just might as well be closed Reply |
| 19. Author: Dave_1885 Date: Fri 14th Nov 2025. 14:09 As an avid poker player these numbers are absolutely insane. When you start playing poker you hear that a Royal Flush is a very rare hand to see - I think in the 20 years Ive played live and online Ive only ever had one twice. But hearing these numbers it feels like its not that rare a hand to see when you compare to the shuffles. Reply |
| 20. Author: veteraneastender Date: Sat 15th Nov 2025. 13:07 parsfan, Wed 12 Nov 16:15 The US Civil War is a very questionable source - more Americans were killed in that conflict than any other in which the USA has taken part. Even the most minor engagements would result in KIA. Reply |
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