4 ms·
Reminds of of the replacement of "threeks" at the UW-Madison campus in the 1980s. At the time, it was common for satirical parties to win student elections and
by jhbadger 2y ago
Reminds of of the replacement of "threeks" at the UW-Madison campus in the 1980s. At the time, it was common for satirical parties to win student elections and do odd things like cover the campus with plastic flamingos. One of the satirical parties was upset that the UW-Madison cafeteria didn't have true forks (with four tines) but only "threeks" (forks with three tines). So they decided to work with friends at Northwestern university outside Chicago to trade their cafeteria's forks for UW's threeks. They were successful, but obviously both UW's and Northwestern's administration weren't pleased and the trade was reversed.
- wjnc 2y agoDon’t tell me “fork” and “four” are related. Did my homework: “Old English forca, force (denoting a farm implement), based on Latin furca ‘pitchfork, forked stick’; reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman French furke (also from Latin furca ).” Four in Latin is quattuor. Scared me there.
- hgomersall 2y agoIt definitely is: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0CmaLgxLDE0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0CmaLgxLDE0
- cenamus 2y agoHowever, Latin quattuor and english four are related through the PIE word kʷetwóres, as basically all words for 4 in indoeuropean languages are
- yard2010 2y agoIn my humble linguistics experience where there's smoke there's fire - many new languages words that sound similar may have and common abstract ancestor in one of the old proto languages
- shkkmo 2y agoYet 'consume' and 'consummate' have entirely separate origins so it isn't always a safe assumption.
- SideburnsOfDoom 2y agoNo. A forked stick does not have 4 branches, nor does a fork in the road.
- theodric 2y agoI have some Dansk (which is Finnish, because logic is for Vulcans) flatware from the 1970s which instead of having forks has threeks. Still stabs food pretty well.
- hintoftime 2y agoWhen I went there in 2012, there was a fee each semester for dining hall silverware that goes missing. They assumed that you'd take $60 worth of silverware and plates.
- whamlastxmas 2y agoI’d steal more than $60 worth out of principle
- xattt 2y agoAnd get your money back by selling for scrap! Fun fact: replacing copper pipes with PEX during a renovation will often pay for tools and supplies needed for the replacement when the copper is taken for scrap.
- fuzzy_biscuit 2y agoIs that fun fact legitimate? I know that you can get a premium for copper (see: tweakers who rip out pipes in open buildings and sell it), but the ratio here seems improbable, at least.
- schiem 2y agoAccording to copper.orgs fact page, the "average" single family home (whatever that means) has 151 pounds of copper pipe. The current scrap price for #1 copper where I live is $2.88. That comes out to around $446. That would maybe cover the cost of the pex itself, OR the cost of fittings and tools, but probably not both.
- chiffre01 2y agoI'd argue keep the copper in place as much as possible. PEX is plastic. I'm sure it contributes to all the microplastics/PFAS we see all over the place.
- FireInsight 2y agoWhy weren't the administrations pleased and why is it obvious? Did they stop the trade completely or truly reverse it afterwards?
- jhbadger 2y agoYes, they made the schools reverse the trade. While it was done in a spirit of fun, it was technically a theft of utensils from both schools.