Paid Members BomberPat Posted February 27 Paid Members Posted February 27 That is almost certainly bollocks, to be fair - the sort of thing that cod-historians tend to popularise without considering the likelihood of it; the East End was overcrowded and rife with poverty, but is someone in that position going to be paying just to be propped up against a wall? You'd sooner be sleeping in the streets, for all the difference it made. With language, the more colourful the backstory, the less likely it tends to be true. It's far more likely that it's a "hangover" because the effects of the night before are still hanging over you. On a similar note, I went to a local history talk with a guy who does various London history walking tours, about LGBTQ+ history in Camden. It was mostly very good, but the guy delivering it was upfront at the start about being a 70-something year old cis white man, and therefore much of it being from that perspective. In the Q&A, a woman asked about lesbian history, and included the old urban legend that lesbian sex was never made illegal because Queen Victoria didn't believe it existed, or the slightly different version of that story, which is that the politicians making the law didn't want to shock her with the suggestion that lesbianism was going on. I was disappointed that the speaker agreed with that suggestion, and went into more detail on it. It's bollocks! And obvious bollocks at that. Quote
Paid Members Cod Eye Posted February 27 Paid Members Posted February 27 (edited) 26 minutes ago, BomberPat said: That is almost certainly bollocks, to be fair - the sort of thing that cod-historians tend to popularise without considering the likelihood of it; the East End was overcrowded and rife with poverty, but is someone in that position going to be paying just to be propped up against a wall? You'd sooner be sleeping in the streets, for all the difference it made. With language, the more colourful the backstory, the less likely it tends to be true. It's far more likely that it's a "hangover" because the effects of the night before are still hanging over you. On a similar note, I went to a local history talk with a guy who does various London history walking tours, about LGBTQ+ history in Camden. It was mostly very good, but the guy delivering it was upfront at the start about being a 70-something year old cis white man, and therefore much of it being from that perspective. In the Q&A, a woman asked about lesbian history, and included the old urban legend that lesbian sex was never made illegal because Queen Victoria didn't believe it existed, or the slightly different version of that story, which is that the politicians making the law didn't want to shock her with the suggestion that lesbianism was going on. I was disappointed that the speaker agreed with that suggestion, and went into more detail on it. It's bollocks! And obvious bollocks at that. I'm sure the rope thing was something that did happen, although never heard the hangover thing before last night. A VERY QUICK look into this and I found a piece about it and the below photo, and while they were not propped against a wall like he said, people did indeed hag over a rope. I dint know if they paid for this privilege though... Also, no idea how reliable the source is(Im not a big history person normally), bit more on the Victorian Doss Houses here. It also says they would get a drink, meal and the rope to keep them upright: Four Penny Coffins, Penny Sit-ups, and Two Penny Hangovers - geriwalton.com Edited February 27 by Cod Eye Quote
Rockbus2 Posted February 28 Posted February 28 Til (from my 11 year old son) that Everton once has a mascot that was a giant pair of bollocks called "Mr Testicles" Quote
RIDDUM_N_STYLE Posted February 28 Posted February 28 40 minutes ago, Rockbus2 said: Til (from my 11 year old son) that Everton once has a mascot that was a giant pair of bollocks called "Mr Testicles" It wasn’t a permanent thing, it was to promote a testicular cancer charity We did however have a mascot in the 90s that was a human toffee called Dixie during Joe Royle’s reign as manager but didn’t last long Quote
Chorleydave Posted March 1 Posted March 1 One of those where I base my knowledge of US geography on years of watching wrestling…Yesterday I realised that the high level university in the US isn’t called Stamford university and is not in Connecticut. it is Stanford University and is in California. Felt a bit foolish Quote
MungoChutney Posted March 9 Posted March 9 There is a 13 year old Argentinian chess prodigy named Faustino Oro whose nickname is Chessi. Tremendous. Quote
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted March 10 Paid Members Posted March 10 Today I learned that David Beckham was born in Whipps Cross University Hospital, Leytonstone. WHIPPS CROSS! Quote
WyattSheepMask Posted March 11 Posted March 11 On 2/27/2026 at 11:02 AM, Bruce85 said: TIL that Andrew W.K from party hard, it’s time to party, and party til you puke fame is married to Kat Dennings. Don’t forget Long Live The Party, We Party (You Shout), Big Party, The Party God, The Power of Partying, Party Mindset, The Party Never Dies and Goddess Partying Quote
Paid Members seph Posted March 11 Paid Members Posted March 11 3 hours ago, WyattSheepMask said: Don’t forget Long Live The Party, We Party (You Shout), Big Party, The Party God, The Power of Partying, Party Mindset, The Party Never Dies and Goddess Partying And Red-Eye from Fallout 4. Quote
DavidB6937 Posted March 11 Posted March 11 Today I learned that Andrew WK likes the word 'party'. Quote
Paid Members Statto Posted March 17 Paid Members Posted March 17 TIL 4 things: 1. Jessie Buckley won an Oscar 2. Jessie Buckley lives in Norfolk (the local rag website told me these 2 things) 3. Jessie Buckley is not in fact the wife of Jay off the Inbetweeners. She's called Clair 4. Jessie Buckley looks a lot like Barry Darsow, according to Wikipedia. They use the same MUA too: Quote
deathrey Posted March 17 Posted March 17 The singer Lola Young is the great-niece of Julia Donaldson CBE - the lady who wrote The Gruffalo, Stickman, Zog and pretty much any other book that children under 7 read. An absolute legend in my household. Quote
Paid Members I Bent My Wookie Posted March 27 Paid Members Posted March 27 Wrestling announcer for WWE Alicia Taylor is a professional drummer and was Hannah Montana's drummer. Quote
Awards Moderator Frankie Crisp Posted April 5 Awards Moderator Posted April 5 On 3/27/2026 at 2:17 PM, I Bent My Wookie said: Wrestling announcer for WWE Alicia Taylor is a professional drummer and was Hannah Montana's drummer. And Kate Nash’s for a while. She’s great live. Today I learned that Tom Holland’s Dad is 90/00’s comic/writer Dominic Holland. Probably common knowledge but I had no idea. Quote
davertfnewman Posted April 5 Posted April 5 1 hour ago, Frankie Crisp said: Today I learned that Tom Holland’s Dad is 90/00’s comic/writer Dominic Holland. Probably common knowledge but I had no idea. Dominic had a joke along the lines of "I've got four kids - one of them is Spider-Man... he's my favourite.". Quote
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