what does ARB stand for

just a guess but...

Australian Roo Bars:confused:

Austrailian Rubbish Bin? :flipoff2:

nah i got it now....











































Ass Rapin Blackguy :flipoff2:

I Donno, Aussie something I think...but heres a few more...

How about... GTO (pontiac) or 442 (olds) or SM (SM420)

or how about the phrase OK ...

what does the SU as in brittish SU carburetor stand for ?

Originally posted by GearMan
what does ARB stand for ALL READY BROKE:flipoff2:

Anthony Ronald Brown. Its the company founders initials.:D

Originally posted by Blucruz
Anthony Ronald Brown. Its the company founders initials.:D funny how many dont no that . i thought it was All Ready Broke for a long time myself heheh

442 means

4 barrel carb

4 speed trans

and dual exhaust

:D i know that one

Originally posted by dirtrod
I Donno, Aussie something I think...but heres a few more...

How about... GTO (pontiac) or 442 (olds) or SM (SM420)

or how about the phrase OK ...

what does the SU as in brittish SU carburetor stand for ?

GTO = Gas Tires and Oil ;) j/k its Gran Turismo Omologato

and SU means Skinner Union, right? :D

What about "SR5" What's that supposed to mean?

Originally posted by MeenGreen63
442 means

4 barrel carb

4 speed trans

and dual exhaust

:D i know that one

I thought it was

400

4 barrel

dual exhaust

but that is what I was told.

Originally posted by Blucruz
What about "SR5" What's that supposed to mean?

who the fawk knows. its the same as LSE and SE and LS or whatever else the fawk them car companies think up.

oh and its def. 4 barrel, 4 speed, duals :D

best part about what 442 stands for is you could get it with a 3 speed auto :rolleyes: kinda goofy

Originally posted by MeenGreen63
who the fawk knows. its the same as LSE and SE and LS or whatever else the fawk them car companies think up.
Limted Special Edition
Special Edition
Luxury Sedan
:flipoff2:

A
Rich
Bastard Can afford these!:D :skull:

i know something alot of you might not know...



when you say, its five PM, or 5 AM, what does the AM and PM stand for?

Ante Meridian and Post Meridian? christ I dont remember ;)

post and aft meridian maybe:smokin:

S R 5

Super Rad 5speed!
:flipoff2:

sr5 meant upgrade from 4 speed to 5 speed, it stuck even after the 4speeds were gone, who knows why:D

i thought it was 400 4 speed positraction for the 2 wheels hookin up:smokin: lots

Originally posted by mike
Ante Meridian and Post Meridian? christ I dont remember ;)

man you got that one right! so many of my friends dont know that.

AM and PM

A.M or AM -- Before noon; ante meridiem or ante meridian.
The portion of the day between midnight and the following noon.
(Latin for "before midday.") Also, a.m. or am.

P.M. or PM -- Afternoon.
(From Latin post meridiem or post meridian.) Also,p.m., pm.

:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: , no what does copo stand for? as in 69 camaro copo:flipoff2:

how long is a second? as inm I'll be there in a sec!The Second

The Second is the basic unit of time measurement in the International System of Units. For many years, until 1956, the second was defined as 1/86,400 of the mean solar day. Advances in physical science in the years following World War II made necessary a more precise definition, and the second was redefined as 1/31,556,925.9747 of the tropical year, as standardized at zero hours, minutes, and seconds on December 31, 1899, by international agreement in 1956. This definition was accepted until 1967, by which time the need for a still more precise and unvarying standard of measurement had become apparent. Scientists abandoned the use of larger, changing bases and decided to redefine the second
in terms of electromagnetic wavelengths, that is
The Atomic Clock.

The Second is now established as 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of cesium-133. The Atomic Clock, with an accuracy of better than one second in six million years, known as the NIST-7, (in service from 1993 to 1999) differs from its predecessors in that the process used for selecting and detecting atomic states involves laser-manipulation rather than magnetic-deflection methods. This was the first major change in design for cesium-beam frequency standards.
NIST F-1 Atomic Clock is referred to as a fountain clock, it is the new cesium atomic clock at NIST's Boulder, Colorado Laboratories and it is one of the most accurate clocks in the world,

see the time on this site? it says All times are GMT -8 hours.

GMT MEANS THIS>>>>>>>


Greenwich Mean Time
GMT

Since the earth rotates 15 degrees of longitude per hour, the earth's 360 degrees were divided into 24 zones, each measuring about 15 degrees in width. Time zones to the west of Greenwich decreases by one hour, but going east they increase. Greenwich Mean Time is the mean solar time at the prime meridian of zero known as GMT (0) from which time in other zones are calculated. This was officially established in the year 1884.

:barf:

seabass44 once agaian folks!:flipoff2:

Originally posted by ross hildebrandt
:barf:

seabass44 once agaian folks!:flipoff2:
Why Thank you, thank you very much...SeaBass44 has left the building.

Why would they say Elvis has left the building after one of his conserts??? I know;)

ok heres a hard one what does fj stand for as in fj40?

and then tj and yj in jeeps?

and what does this symbol mean:flipoff2:

FJ = finger jelly

fj fawk jeeps:flipoff2: get a real 4x4:D

Originally posted by dirtrod
SM (SM420)

SM = Saginaw/Muncie or is is Saginaw-Muncie?

I cut and pasted. :D

"Question: Please help settle a bet. My friend and I are arguing over what "442" means on the old Oldsmobile 442. My friend says that 442 means 400 cubic inch engine, four-barrel carburetor and limited-slip differential, meaning two-wheel drive. I say it stands for 400 cubic inch engine, four-barrel carburetor and dual exhaust. Who is right? — C.M.P., Elgin, Ill.

Answer: I once owned a 1970 Olds 442 I wish I still owned. It had a 425 c.i.d V-8 engine, four-barrel carburetor, a 400 Turbo Hydra-matic automatic transmission, limited-slip rear differential and dual exhaust.

At the time I knew what 442 meant, but now my old memory has faded. I do remember hearing that 442 means four-barrel carburetor, 400 c.i.d. engine and two attractive ladies. Yeah right!

I also heard it meant 400 cubes, 400 horsepower and double trouble. Also, I heard it meant 400 cubic inches, four-barrel carburetor and 2 spinning rear tires.

There is one thing I know for sure. The Oldsmobile 442 was one of the first muscle cars that had amazing power and could pass just about everything on the road except a gas station. On a good day the fuel economy of my 442 was about 13 mpg while burning premium gasoline.

Now to settle the argument, a 1964 Motor Trend article states that 442 stands for four on the floor, four barrel carburetor and dual exhaust. According to the article the car was originally configured for police pursuit work. Nobody wins the bet. "


Originally posted by MeenGreen63
442 means

4 barrel carb

4 speed trans

and dual exhaust

:D i know that one

Ass reem butt

Originally posted by NE-RokToy
best part about what 442 stands for is you could get it with a 3 speed auto :rolleyes: kinda goofy

my friend had one of those and to make matters worse it was a 73. I was still in decent shape and was only $700. Anything with a working 455 for $700 is pretty good even if it is raped by smog equipment

Originally posted by Paul Gagnon


SM = Saginaw/Muncie or is is Saginaw-Muncie?

I've heard it's "Stewart Muncie".

FJ is F engine style, J body style. Since Toyota tried to call their first model the "Toyota Jeep", theory is the J body style originally meant Jeep. (This was the early 50s. Willys sued them and they changed the name.) The first in the Land Cruiser line was the BJ (no joke) which had a diesel B-series engine I think.

Some more useless trivia:

Volvo is Latin for "I roll".
There is a second odometer with one extra unit of precision (999,999) in the little box on the firewall of some cruisers.
The first Jeepers Jamboree was 1953, next year is 50 years.
The original Rubicon is a little creek in Italy.
"Gasket" comes from French slang for an intact hymen. (cherry)
Soap and sugar will patch a hole in a gas tank.
IBM's first commercial hard drive was called the "winchester" because its model number was 3006.
She says she doesn't like it that way, but she sure acts like she does!

Morgan

Saginaw/muncie ....those are the towns where the factorys were...same as saginaw strg. gearbox.

Err...some should have told the geeks at IBM remington developed the 30.06

Hey ! Theres another trivia ? what does 30.06 stand for, or how about 12 "gauge" anyone know what a gauge is ?

...30 caliber adopted by military in 1906

...12 lead balls of that size weigh 1 pound

Originally posted by SeaBass44
see the time on this site? it says All times are GMT -8 hours.

GMT MEANS THIS>>>>>>>


Greenwich Mean Time
GMT

Since the earth rotates 15 degrees of longitude per hour, the earth's 360 degrees were divided into 24 zones, each measuring about 15 degrees in width. Time zones to the west of Greenwich decreases by one hour, but going east they increase. Greenwich Mean Time is the mean solar time at the prime meridian of zero known as GMT (0) from which time in other zones are calculated. This was officially established in the year 1884.

Come on, get up to date. GMT ain't GMT anymore - It's now UTC or Universal Time Coordinated.

Hey Seabass, since you're on a roll, tell'em how a metre is defined.

all right sea bass this is making my brain hurt but if i remember right COPO
C corporate
O office
P production
O order
i know its close, just drank to many beers since i picked it up.
and the mesurement of one meter was just made up and the rest of the metric system was designed off of it.

Dirtrod....keep 'em coming...this is cool!

Seabass...so who "invented" standard time smart guy?

Some clown at work tried to convinve me dzus fastener stood for "danger zone unless secure"...ha ha ha. Actually Ukranian Immigrant Wiliam Dzus invented them .

Originally posted by gunracer1
all right sea bass this is making my brain hurt but if i remember right COPO
C corporate
O office
P production
O order
i know its close, just drank to many beers since i picked it up.
and the mesurement of one meter was just made up and the rest of the metric system was designed off of it.

Yup:D just watched regie jackson sell off his at auction for over $50,000 :eek:

Originally posted by BillaVista
!

Seabass...so who "invented" standard time smart guy?



Before Time Zones every major city and region set clocks according to local astronomical conditions. This created confusion as to when the trains were to arrive or depart. Time zones were first used by the railroads in 1883 to standardize their trains schedules across the USA. In 1918, the U.S. Congress made the United States rail zones official under federal law.

NP205= New process.

Here's something I don't know, what exactly does the number on Dana axles indicate, e.g. D30, D44, D60. Was it originally a diameter of the ring gear or something like that?

Originally posted by FattyCBR
NP205= New process.

Here's something I don't know, what exactly does the number on Dana axles indicate, e.g. D30, D44, D60. Was it originally a diameter of the ring gear or something like that?


I have no knowledge on the dana axle designations, but it could stand for the axle capacity in 100 lb. increments...i.e. 30=3000 lb axle, 44=4400 lb axle...

Big truck axles use a simular designation in 1000 lb increments

depart. Time zones were first used by the railroads in 1883 to standardize their trains schedules across the USA. In 1918, the U.S. Congress made the United States rail zones official under federal law.

BZZZZZZT/ Wrong :flipoff2: I knew you'd have some americanized answer ;)

Close though. Sir Sanford Flemming, a Scottish Canadian railroad engineer gave the world standard time, while building the Trans Canada railroad.....long before the yanks did.

Americans.....always think it's about them :flipoff2:

Originally posted by BillaVista


BZZZZZZT/ Wrong :flipoff2: I knew you'd have some americanized answer ;)

Close though. Sir Sanford Flemming, a Scottish Canadian railroad engineer gave the world standard time, while building the Trans Canada railroad.....long before the yanks did.

Americans.....always think it's about them :flipoff2:
Bzzz wrong, it's not an american thing:flipoff2: www.askjeeves.com:D

How many licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2:

Bzzz wrong, it's not an american thing

Bzzzz wrong...it's ALWAYS an American thing :flipoff2:

I didn't ask Jeeve - I don't have to, coz i know the answer, which i shal generously share with you below.

if Jeeves disagrees, he's an idiot :flipoff2: :D

Next you'll be telling me an American invented the telephone :flipoff2: :D


a Canadian who came here from Scotland at the young age of 18. His genius got Canada running on time. Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915) was to become one of the leading men of science in the 19th century. Fleming's became the chief engineer during the construction of the Intercolonial Railway, which joined Toronto and Montreal with the Maritimes. He then went on to become chief engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1871 - a mammoth nation-building endeavour that eventually linked Canada from coast-to-coast.

But Flemming's most significant contribution on a world scale was his formulation of Standard Time. In a scientific lecture in Toronto in February 1879, he proposed dividing the world into 24 equal time zones. The time would be the same within each zone. (Prior to Fleming's new time concept, a train passenger going from Halifax to Toronto could pass through as many as five different regional standards of time). Fleming's universal standard would be 12 noon, when the sun reaches its peak at Greenwich, England.

At a conference in 1884, 25 countries adopted his proposal, which went into effect on New Year's Day, 1885. Somehow, this incredible man had enough time of his hands to also design the first postage stamps in British North America. Issued in 1851, the stamps were called the "three-penny beaver".

:flipoff2:

How many licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
1184 if you go by what my 10 year old says or 3 if you believe that fawkin' owl :flipoff2:

Originally posted by Rockcrusher


Come on, get up to date. GMT ain't GMT anymore - It's now UTC or Universal Time Coordinated.





Yup, but the military calls it Zulu Time.

:D :D :D

Originally posted by BillaVista


Bzzzz wrong...it's ALWAYS an American thing :flipoff2:


U know I could care less if u fucking canoks invented time:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: U sound JELOUS of us AMERICANS!:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :rasta: :rasta:

ok this is for the smartest of the pbb members

i have a pound of concrete bricks and i have a pound of gold which one weights more?


lets hear it:flipoff2:

Originally posted by ironpig70
ok this is for the smartest of the pbb members

i have a pound of concrete bricks and i have a pound of gold which one weights more?


lets hear it:flipoff2:

BY bus

The gold. Sea-ass told me. :D

Originally posted by ironpig70
ok this is for the smartest of the pbb members

i have a pound of concrete bricks and i have a pound of gold which one weights more?


lets hear it:flipoff2:

Originally posted by ironpig70
ok heres a hard one what does fj stand for as in fj40?

and then tj and yj in jeeps?

and what does this symbol mean:flipoff2:

yj = yuppie jeep :D

wich is further... or by bus lol

Originally posted by Paul Gagnon


SM = Saginaw/Muncie or is is Saginaw-Muncie?

I heard it was Syncro-Mesh. Anyone else?

Ok all you trivia buff's, what's my goats name?

Originally posted by FearMe
Ok all you trivia buff's, what's my goats name?

Thats not fair, some of these people KNOW your goat. ;)

I'd just have to die fawking laughing if someone came up with her name. They would have to be awful close to read the tag on her collar.

Originally posted by MattS
The gold. Sea-ass told me. :D


A cheap shot there....I thought we got over this.....:p

Some things never die. How about this? Anyone remember the picture of the goat playing hide the flashlight?

Anybody know the definition of the CVCC anacronymn by Honda :question:

Chippewa Valley Cycling Club http://www.angelfire.com/realm/cvccbikers/

Cuz with only 23 hp ya had to fred flinstone that SOB up the steep hills. :D

Originally posted by tigger4x
Anybody know the definition of the CVCC anacronymn by Honda :question:

So you lied to me? Now that's a cheap shot!!

Originally posted by SeaBass44

A cheap shot there....I thought we got over this.....:p

I'm edgeumacated. :D

CVCC (Compound Vortex-Controlled Combustion) engine.

Originally posted by tigger4x
Anybody know the definition of the CVCC anacronymn by Honda :question:

Originally posted by MattS
So you lied to me? Now that's a cheap shot!!


padder:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: yes it's gold, it's heavy stuff!:D

See what you guys that never visit Chit-Chat are missing?

Actually this is a little more tasteful than the average Chit-Chat thread :p

Great stuff, keep it coming!

you probably named the goat (tight ass)

Originally posted by FearMe
Ok all you trivia buff's, what's my goats name?


"cream saver":flipoff2:

Originally posted by MattS
How many licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2:

a one... a two... CRUUUUNNNCH!!!
Two. :D

Originally posted by Donovan


I heard it was Syncro-Mesh. Anyone else?

It is Saginaw/Muncie. I was making a statement not asking a question.

Here's one for all you smart guys.

GPW

Originally posted by Paul Gagnon
Here's one for all you smart guys.

GPW
General Purpose Wagon.

YJ= yuppie Jeep

TJ= town Jeep

Originally posted by smurfsdad
you probably named the goat (tight ass)

Actually it's pretty loose now. She don't shit raisins anymore she shoots Avacados.

OOOHHHH! I heard a good one the other day.
Does anyone know what a brass monkey is?

General Purpose Wagon.

I don't think so.

Most conventional wisdom states

G= Governmant contract
P= 80 inch wheelbase
W = Willys design

But there's no definitive "final answer" just like the origins of the name "Jeep" or "jeep" itself. I'm a fan of the Popeye character story myself.

Anyone know the origin of the expression "the whole 9 yards"?

Brass monkey is some kinda :beer: :beer: . Like in the beasty boys song. Drink up.:barf:

Anyone know the origin of the expression "the whole 9 yards"? [/B][/QUOTE]

saw on the discovery channel in wwII .50 cal guns on planes ammo belt was exactly 27' long hence 9 yards. so when you unloaded on the enemy you gave him "the whole nine yards"

Originally posted by ironpig70
Anyone know the origin of the expression "the whole 9 yards"?

saw on the discovery channel in wwII .50 cal guns on planes ammo belt was exactly 27' long hence 9 yards. so when you unloaded on the enemy you gave him "the whole nine yards" [/B][/QUOTE]
I saw that too, but forgot:D

su = sidedraft u = beats me, jiMMy

why are man-hole covers round?

Originally posted by JR
why are man-hole covers round?
well, it's NOT so they wont fall in as many belive...I'll wait and see if anyone gets this one, it's to early to answer:smokin:

Originally posted by JR
why are man-hole covers round?


So that the cover can't fall into the hole (past the lip).

Originally posted by Cutter

well, it's NOT so they wont fall in as many belive...I'll wait and see if anyone gets this one, it's to early to answer:smokin:
that's the answer I found, here:I'll look for another answer but this one does make sence.

So that the manhole cover can not fall in.

Manhole covers are heavy, and if they fall in, they can be tough to raise up again. Also, if the cover is ajar, there is a good possibility that a person is in the hole. Hence the name--"manhole". (OUCH!)

When other shapes are used for manhole covers, the cover is usually hinged or otherwise attached.

This question comes up often in job interviews, as a test of critical thinking under stress.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK here's a new one to ponder. What does F.i.a.t. stand for? If nobody gets it I'll post the answer tomorrow.


edit: How about not asking Jeeves on this one so that the smart people can show their stuff.

Originally posted by JR
why are man-hole covers round?


actually it's so they don't fall in

and easier acess than suare? just a thought the first one i know is partialy correct

heres one and you can ask jeeves all you want

is a frog ass watertight:flipoff2:

Why are man-hole covers round? the answer "This is the only shape that can never fall into the manhole." While a circle will not fit through a hole which is slightly smaller than itself, is it the only shape for which this is true:eek:
and FIAT "fix it again tony" :D I know that is the fun answer.

fawk
it
againg
tony

foreign
idiot
ate
toast

fawking
inbreed
ass
taster

french
import
against
toyota

friggin
important
ass
test

frigging
impotent
animal
testicle

well to much


:smokin: :smokin: :smokin:

Fix
It
Again
Tony

Originally posted by smurfsdad
Fix
It
Again
Tony
I posted that allready:D

Originally posted by Jimmy76FJ40
su = sidedraft u = beats me, jiMMy

SU was picked off early...skinners union

A brass monkey is a cannon ball holder.

What was the Ferari 'Dino' named for?
DMG

Originally posted by DMG
A brass monkey is a cannon ball holder.

What was the Ferari 'Dino' named for?
DMG named after his son, or grandson

What does JEEP stand for?




J ust
E mpty
E very
P ocket

Ok here is a easy one, why is the 4 runner called a 4 runner?

Originally posted by SanDiegoCJ




Yup, but the military calls it Zulu Time.

:D :D :D

That's because Greenwich is in timezone Z.

OK - I thought it was so they wouldn't fall in too...

Hmmm....if not, could it be preventing stress accumulation at sharp corners ??

C'mon - give us the answer.

Why when you die is it called:

Buying the farm
or
Kicking the bucket

why are they called APARTments when their close together

That's disappointing.

Nobody knows what FJ (ie. FJ-40) stands for?

:confused:

Originally posted by DavidO
That's disappointing.

Nobody knows what FJ (ie. FJ-40) stands for?

:confused:
I used to:D Forgot:(

My roomies have Jeeps, so the saying around the house is:

Today's Junk
Yesterdays Junk
Fawkin' Junk


But somehow I don't think that's what the Japanese had in mind.

:D

Jeep......

Justifies
Extra
Expensive
Parts

Junk,
Everyone
Expects
Problems


I do not really Know what the FJ stands for but I know what Toyota stands for........

Truck
Over
Years
Oxidises
Totally
Away

Cruiser is.........

Corrosion
Readily
Undermines
Integrity
Sadly
Everything
Rusts

IH Scout................

Super
Crappy
Old
Unsafe
Truck

BTW For FJ I will guess ........Fire Jeep




:D

FJ= Fake Jeep

Easy

man and i thought i was going to be first on a brass monkey.
guess not, but the term freezing the balls off a brass monkey comes from the brass shrinking when it got so cold that the cannon balls would raise up and fall out of the monkey. which looks like a big egg holder.
C crazy
R redneck
U usally
I intoxicated
S smashes
E everthing
R regularly

Originally posted by smurfsdad
why are they called APARTments when their close together

I why is it that we Drive on a Parkway and Park on a Driveway?

Who was the Genius who thought that up?
CJ

Originally posted by morgan
IBM's first commercial hard drive was called the "winchester" because its model number was 3006.


ERROR READING DRIVE A..... :rasta:

The initial drive had two 30Mbyte platters -- i.e. 30-30
This reminded them of the WINCHESTER 30-30

The Win 30-30 got it's name from:
30 caliber bullet.
30 Grains of black powder.

:D :D

I always likes this acronym, what does TWAIN stand for?
And don't go looking it up either ya :rainbow:

where did the word "gaget" come from as in all the 007 gagets:)...........hint, it has something to do with the statue of liberity........no FJ is not fake jeep:rolleyes:

I'm sorry I was just messin around we all know it stands for Fawkin' Junk:flipoff2:

Easy

Originally posted by SeaBass44
where did the word "gaget" come from as in all the 007 gagets:)...........hint, it has something to do with the statue of liberity........no FJ is not fake jeep:rolleyes:

I thought the word was "gadget" as in Inspector Gadget

007 Gadget?

Seabass, were you watching the History Channel last night? I bet if I were paying better attention I would know this one.

The best Bond car is the newest AM. <flame on>

Originally posted by DavidO
007 Gadget?

Seabass, were you watching the History Channel last night? I bet if I were paying better attention I would know this one.

The best Bond car is the newest AM. <flame on>

YES:D and the new AM, wow! but $$$$$ bling bling;) ok I can't spell thx for not pointing it out there hatraker:flipoff2: when the statu[sp] of liberty was going up, a guy made lil 4" modles of it called gaduuuutes or something we can't pronouice so the us usa people[americans 4 U conoks that don't get that:D] pronouced it gadget.

Originally posted by SeaBass44


ok I can't spell thx for not pointing it out there hatraker:flipoff2:

No problem, I'm here to help;)

i heard jeep came from the army's need for a "general purpose" vehicle
which later just got shortened to jeep.

here is something though for trivia sake
why the hell do people drive on the opposite side of the roads.
like on the right hand in england etc

most people are right handed.
they used their right hands to wield swords.
when fighting on horseback, you would obviously have your opponent on your right so you could hack at him.(and he the same)
hence when passing a stranger, you would keep him to your right.
by the time North America was discovered, technology had progressed to guns, negating the real need for the sword on the right kinda thinking.
someone should link to "basic engineering 101 funny shiot" thread. that was good!
:p

Ok, anybody know where the phrase, "rule of thumb" comes from?

Originally posted by BillaVista

Why when you die is it called:

Buying the farm
or
Kicking the bucket

maybe it had something to do with life insurance ie: you paid monthly fees to the (bank/landlord etc.) but if you died and there was an insurance policy, you could actually buy the farm, in an "ironic, did you no good anymore" kinda way)

sometimes turned over buckets were used to stand on while putting the hangman's noose around a neck. when convulsing, the legs would swing around kicking the bucket.
that would be my guess.:p

I'm not sure the history of it, but along the same lines.... I was reading a photo journalist's website the other day. He's a Cruiser man doing work in Afganistan right now. He's been able to drive several different Cruisers. The strange part is that although the vehicles are right-hand drive (like Europe), they drive on the right side of the road (like N. America). Pretty strange. One comment that he made was that "it makes for interesting passing."

Also trivia, American railroad tracks have an odd width. I can't remember what it is exactly. But the measurement comes from the width of Roman wagons which were originally converted into rail carts.

Wierd wacky stuff.

~dso

Originally posted by ralstonm
Ok, anybody know where the phrase, "rule of thumb" comes from?


Old (wife) beating law. Couldn't use anything thicker than your thumb. Still on the books in some states. Louisiana comes to mind. Cajun?

Originally posted by XtremeGod
I always likes this acronym, what does TWAIN stand for?
And don't go looking it up either ya :rainbow:

Technology Without An Interesting Name

And no I didn't have to look it up.:flipoff2:

Good one ol' man.

Originally posted by DavidO
That's disappointing.

Nobody knows what FJ (ie. FJ-40) stands for?

:confused:

Foreign Jeep, don't know what the number of the end, I assume model designation

Originally posted by DavidO
I'm not sure the history of it, but along the same lines.... I was reading a photo journalist's website the other day. He's a Cruiser man doing work in Afganistan right now. He's been able to drive several different Cruisers. The strange part is that although the vehicles are right-hand drive (like Europe), they drive on the right side of the road (like N. America). Pretty strange. One comment that he made was that "it makes for interesting passing."

Also trivia, American railroad tracks have an odd width. I can't remember what it is exactly. But the measurement comes from the width of Roman wagons which were originally converted into rail carts.

Wierd wacky stuff.

~dso

You know Eshan from Pakistan said something like that. He has a Wagoneer that has been converted to RHD and yet they drive on the right side of the road. Strange.

Wide Load

The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That is an exceptionally odd number.

Why was that gauge used?

Because that's the way they built them in England, and the U.S. railroads were built by English expatriates.

Why did the English build them that way?

Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Why did "they" use that gauge then?

Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

So why did the wagons have that particular odd spacing?

Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads?

The first long distance roads in Europe (and England) were built by Imperial Rome for their legions.

The roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads?

The ruts in the roads, which everyone had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels, were first formed by Roman war chariots.

Since the chariots were made for (or by) Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.

The U.S. standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot.

Specifications and bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back end of two war horses. Thus we have the answer to the original question.

Now the twist to the story....

When we see a space shuttle sitting on it's launching pad, there are two booster rockets attached to the side of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRB's. The SRB's are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRB's might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRB's had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory had to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So, the major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass!!!

Don't you just love engineering?

That's classic.

Originally posted by zags
Does anyone know what a brass monkey is?


In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters
carried iron cannons. Those cannon fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon, but
prevent them from rolling about the deck. The best storage method devised was a square based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of thirty cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem - how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a, "Monkey," with
sixteen round indentations.

If this plate was made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to
it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make "Brass Monkeys." Few landlubbers realize that ! brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the cannon balls would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold enough to
freeze the balls off a brass monkey!"

From 442.com:

Meaning(s)
Definition of 4-4-2 from the Oldsmobile Factory Literature:
1964 (Original meaning)
4: Four Barrel Carburetion
4: Four On the Floor
2: Dual Exhausts

1965 (First year of automatic transmission option on 442)
4: 400 Cubic Inch Displacement
4: Four Barrel Carburetion
2: Dual Exhausts


1985 to 1987 (Last of RWD 442s)
4: Four speed automatic
4: Four barrel carburetor
2: Dual exhaust


1990 and 1991 (FWD 442)
4: Four cylinders
4: Four valves
2: Two camshafts


[ Thanks to Wes Fujii, Steve Ochs, Mike Coccagna for this information ]

Originally posted by morpheus



In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters
carried iron cannons. Those cannon fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon, but
prevent them from rolling about the deck. The best storage method devised was a square based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of thirty cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem - how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a, "Monkey," with
sixteen round indentations.

If this plate was made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to
it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make "Brass Monkeys." Few landlubbers realize that ! brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the cannon balls would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold enough to
freeze the balls off a brass monkey!"


This is false.Didn't this come up already??gohere (http://www.snopes2.com/) and type in brass monkey.

http://www.snopes2.com/language/stories/brass.htm

Origins: Somebody's fanciful imagination is at work cooking up spurious etymologies again. In short, this origin for the phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" is nonsense because:


Not even the venerable Oxford English Dictionary, records a usage of "brass monkey" like the one presented here.

When references to "brass monkeys" started appearing in print in the mid-19th century, they did not always mention balls or cold temperatures. It was sometimes cold enough to freeze the ears, tail, nose, or whiskers off a brass monkey. Likewise, it was sometimes hot enough to "scald the throat" or "singe the hair" of a brass monkey. These usages are inconsistent with the putative origins offered here.

Warships didn't store cannonballs (or "round shot") on deck around the clock, day after day, on the slight chance that they might go into battle. Space was a precious commodity on sailing ships, and decks were kept as clear as possible in order to allow room for hundreds of men to perform all the tasks necessary for ordinary ship's functions. (Stacking round shot on deck would also create the danger of their breaking free and rolling around loose on deck whenever the ship encountered rough seas.) Cannonballs were stored elsewhere and only brought out when the decks had been cleared for action.

Particularly diligent gunners (not "masters," who were in charge of navigation, sailing and pilotage, not ordnance) would have their crews chip away at imperfections on the surface of cannonballs to make them as smooth as possible, in the hopes that this would cause them fly truer. They did not leave shot on deck, exposed to the elements, where it would rust.
Nobody really knows where the phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" came from, but the explanation offered here certainly isn't the answer.

Originally posted by R O



This is false.Didn't this come up already??gohere (http://www.snopes2.com/) and type in brass monkey.

doh ... just goes to prove you can't believe everything you read on the internet... :rolleyes:

- jack

Originally posted by gnob

why the hell do people drive on the opposite side of the roads.
like on the right hand in england etc
why? because all the cars r going in the same direction:D:D

UZI - 2 damned good guesses.

My understanding (haven't checked Snopes....go in there and you can't come out for a week - fascinating stuff)

Buying the farm - wartime origin, young men going off to war from rural areas would have some sort of war bond life insurance - when killed oversees, the family would receive the money, and be able to pay off the mortgage - hence juniour "bought the farm"

Kicking the bucket - when livestock slaughtered and hung up to bleed - would spasm and "kick the bucket" placed to catch the blood.

Both are probably total BS :p

Best advice I ever got were the 3 "F"'s.

FFF???