thedailyetymology:

mecanyddol:

if anyone ever tells you that english isn’t ridiculous remember that the reason why we have a silent b in debt is because a group of guys got together to standardise english spelling and got to the word debt, which at the time was primarily spelled either ‘dett’ or ‘det’. so they basically went:

‘everyone speaks latin, right? so let’s put a silent b in debt. like debitum, which is latin for debt. problem solved.’

also the reason why there is a h in ghost is because when the printing press first came to england the only people trained to operate it were flemmish speaking, and they put a h after g because that’s what you do in flemmish. they put shit like ghirl and ghoose, but the only reason why ghost stuck is because people saw ‘the holy ghost’ in the bible and were like ‘well, that MUST be right’.

so yeah english is a really stupid language with some of the most ridiculous spelling

Holy shit actually though. From mentalfloss

image

also

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(Source: veesnake, via cthulhu-with-a-fez)

darael:

coille-dithean:

More hearing people should learn some sign language so here are some actually useful signs for us hearing people to learn.

Learning to sign is something I really want to do. For multiple reasons, which I’m going to share because you should learn too. Yes, you.

The obvious one is that it makes the lives of Deaf and HoH people easier. We can communicate directly without things like lip-reading! Wouldn’t that be great?

But it’s not only that

When you’re talking to a hearing person you can sign while speaking

And there are two ways to use that

One is to expand on meaning without having to use verbal circumlocutions - this could be particularly useful for shades of meaning, where you might say one thing while signing something that modifies it.

The other is to say something completely different. Holding two conversations at once becomes an awful lot easier when one’s in sign and the other’s out loud.

Also the Deaf and HoH communities aren’t the only disabled people to benefit. I have Asperger syndrome, which is an autistic spectrum disorder, and sometimes - not often, but sometimes - I go nonverbal. I lose the capacity to speak. Usually I can understand what people say when that happens, and I can write words or make gestures, but think how much easier it would be if I could sign to them instead.

^^^This, a thousand times this.  

More reasons!

If you’re like me and every sickness ever turns into an I-can’t-speak-because-my-lungs-are-trying-to-crawl-up-my-throat situation, learn to sign so you can still communicate with people.  

If you’re like me and you have sensory/perception issues and sometimes you can’t handle voices, learn to sign so that you don’t have to handle the noise.  

If you’re like me and you go to a small college with at least one person who’s assaulted you and is still on campus, learn to sign so that you can tell your friend when you need to get the fuck out NOW.

If you’re like me and you hang out at your friend’s place of work and get hit on by creepy older men, learn to sign so that you can get some backup from your buddy the employee.

If you’re like me and you want to go into a service profession (I’m pre-med), learn to sign in case you ever have a Deaf/HoH/otherwise nonverbal patient.

Basically what I’m saying is learn to sign.  And hit me up with any websites you know are good for learning to sign, I’m making a list.

(Source: feldfrowe, via cthulhu-with-a-fez)

seananmcguire:

lizawithazed:

roachpatrol:

kiddthemaniac:

when-the-reindeer-comes-home:

bolto:

white dude in this horror movie : *translates old arabic text* *somehow it rhymes perfectly in english* 

Now I really wanna see a horrible faltering translation from one of these movies, like “Whomsoever enters this room, they shall… well, this word is like… literally it means ‘unbecome,’ but it was used as a euphemism for death, pooping, and—wait, when was this carved?  was it 15th century? Cuz it was a euphemism for sex too in the 15th century.  This is either a cursed crypt, a bathroom, or a royal bedroom. Who wants to roll the dice?”

“You guys, I’ve gotta be honest, okay? This thing’s written in some kind of weird localized dialect, and I’ve only ever studied the standard form of the language. I mean, this part right here…I can’t even tell if it’s some kind of error, or an obscure slang phrase…whatever it is, I have no idea what the fuck it means.”

‘this is written in ancient sumerian. it’s about… uh… well that word is… uh. okay this is either a poem about farming, or straight-up a nasty sex guide. it might be both. i want a shower.’

“okay see the thing is in one dialect this word is the name of a terrifying Demon but in a completely different language from the same area that has the same writing system and gave a lot of loan words to the first, it means ‘horse’ - and the context is really not helping”

“You know what?  This thing is bound in human skin and the walls are bleeding let’s just leave.”

(via thepainofthesass)

Soldier crushes the outcries against Caitlyn Jenner earning a “courage” award

fuck-yeah-feminist:

via Stephanie McNeal for Buzzfeed:

image
image

Aaaaaand there you have it. If you’re still trying to say she’s not a hero… STFU.

(via cthulhu-with-a-fez)

Anonymous asked: I just went to deathtocapslock and I'm reading sistermagpie's ridic reread and I'm boggling at this. "Lupin continues to impress me with how smoothly he polishes up the story dishonestly on the fly. (Seriously, I love Lupin.)... he adds that James pulled Snape back from the tunnel at “great risk to his own life.” Except James is an animagus, as we’ve already learned, and werewolves are only dangerous to people." Is she suggesting that James saved Snape as an Animagus? Wow. The illogic is scary.

lupinatic:

If Snape had seen James transform into a stag to save him, I find it very difficult to believe that he wouldn’t have told anyone. He’d certainly have told Dumbledore at the very least. And if Dumbledore had known that James was an Animagus prior to the end of POA (I’m assuming that he had a conversation with Sirius while Harry was unconscious), people would have been a lot more careful come POA to keep Sirius out of Hogwarts, because it was known that James and Sirius were inseperable (though many would still not think to include Peter) and that Sirius was likely one as well. And since we know from POA itself that Snape will drop hints and try to find ways to tell people something about someone he dislikes even if he’s been told to keep that a secret, I find it unlikely that Snape would have never dropped any stag hints to Harry in those first three years if he’d known and Harry didn’t.

The simple fact of the matter is that a certain segment of Snape fans will shit relentlessly on James, jeering at the idea that he matured and changed from his bad teen behaviour and stopped being a bully, preferring to think that Lily was just too gullible and stupid to know James’ true self (or else selfish enough to not care because he’s rich). They sneer at the idea that James spent three years working his ass off to become an Animagus for Remus, because somehow that counts as a selfish act, not a brave compassionate one. They discount that he saved the life of someone he hated because oh, he wasn’t really putting himself at risk, and anyway he didn’t do it for the sake of the person he hated (who he also bullied, did we mention that?), he did it for the sake of someone he liked so it just doesn’t count. And any character who says anything that contradicts that view of James (no matter how well they knew James and the sort of things he’d be likely to do) must be ‘polishing up the story dishonestly on the fly’. 

And okay, fine, they’re free to say so. But then they seem really confused and even genuinely hurt as to why people apply those exact arguments to Snape. They’re bewildered that anyone would even dream of pointing out that Snape’s adult behaviour involved bullying others and that there’s not much to admire there, because to some of them Snape wasn’t a bully at all. They can’t get why people aren’t swooning over Snape risking his life to save Harry for Lily’s sake (which suddenly becomes admirable and romantic as fuck) by… sitting on his bum and staring at Harry and his broomstick really really hard while mumbling under his breath, because gosh, such a risk he was taking! His clothes caught on fire, doncha know? Also, Hermione is bad for daring to set said fire in an attempt to save Harry’s life, because she should have somehow assumed that Snape was trying to save the life of a kid he hated and bullied (and continued to bully afterwards). But Snape is totally kosher in thinking that James was in on the attempt to get him killed, because he’d been bullying Snape and continued to do so afterwards.

The double standards, they burn.

lacerating:

takeitbacktotay:

deathcabformatty:

thewhisperwhisperer:

neonizee:

nudeunderwater:

yes

im sorry, but can you honestly look at this and say “nope, i dont want it on my blog” cause I cant.

my fav victorias secret model

i was not expecting that but ill go with it

how is she real

I freaking love her and that last gif reminds me of an old friend

(via yea-lets-do-this-shit)

Anonymous asked: What the fuck is a dreamworks face

absolita:

sonicthehedgegod:

image

this face

#okay no but this is so much funnier to me now#because i went to dreamworks and met one of the head animators#and apparently everyone knows about the dreamworks face#and complains about it#but the marketing people keep doing it for some reason

henstridgebabe:

jemmaswan:

but the real question is since jemma was undercover for shield but still technically working for hydra was she getting paid by both

#OKAY BUT YOU JUST KNOW SHE HAS THIS ALL WORKED OUT#jemma ‘nubile young prodigy’ simmons has 100% worked this out so that she’s being paid by both#grant ward is going to be going through hydra finances and he’ll see jemma’s name and he’ll just be like#wait she’s still on the payroll??? we’re still paying her????#somewhere in the distance jemma simmons slides some sunglasses over her eyes (via imperfectlychaotic)

(via anacfranco)

imdoingstufflori:

aconitequeen:

oonachaplins:

encouraging people to fact check would involve:

  • giving resources like websites that help fact checking,
  • giving instructions on how to fact check information they see on tumblr themselves
  • giving tips for spotting false information
  • giving a list of unreliable sources and satiricle websites that make joke articles (like the onion)
  • kindly pointing out false information without mocking people or calling them names

encouraging fact checking is not:

  • “lol tumblr would believe it if you told them that someone wrote gullbile on the ceiling above their head”
  • “lol this is what happens on a website that thinks school is oppressive”
  • “lol tumblr is so *insert ableist term here*”

Snopes is probably your best source for internet rumors and here’s a list of fake news sites

Most folks know that Fox News is not reliable despite, somehow, being a genuine news broadcaster but I’m always seeing The Daily Mail articles being passed around so keep in mind that TDM is just as bad as Fox News. 

When it comes to science news try to avoid general news, they usually either get it completely wrong or are very misleading. Try to find the journal it was originally published in or, at least, somewhere with the abstract. Science Direct, the U.S. National Library of Medicine, and the Wiley Online Library are good databases.

When you see social media screencaps make sure a link is included, if there’s no link try to find the source for yourself and if you can’t find it than don’t put any stock in it. It’s incredibly easy to falsify facebook, twitter, and even tumblr posts. 

I’ll admit to being occasionally frustrated with Tumblr’s penchant for taking a myth and running with it. But to be fair, this is hardly exclusive to this website. 

All of these tips are sound, I just want to add a few more:

  • Donation drives for bloggers in need: check to see if (1) the original blog post still exists, it might have been deleted because the OP voluntarily put an end to the drive, (2) the original blog still exists, (3) the original blog is just a couple days old, in which case err on the side of caution and either move along or investigate a little more (even if they give a reason)
  • Missing person posts: check to see if the OP gives details such where and when was the person last seen, what clothes they were/might be wearing, whether they have access to a car, etc. Contact info for their relatives or Amber Alert details/police contact info is always a good sign that it is a legit cry for help. Also check to see if the original post/blog still exists, the person may already have been found or it may be a fake post. Double-checking on Google to see if it’s a legit or recent disappearance may also help Please remember that SOMETIMES ABUSERS TRACK DOWN THEIR VICTIMS RESORTING TO FAKE MISSING PERSONS POSTS and that there are people with legitimate reasons to want to not be found!!!!
  • Lifehacks: Snopes it before you reblog – most of them are bullshit or ineffectual. Still, reblogging bogus lifehacks is not as serious as reblogging fake missing persons posts. Some lifehacks, however, are famously illegal or harmful to a person’s health (eg Oreo mascara)
  • Rape prevention tips – DO NOT REBLOG. These are 99% of the time just CLICKBAITING SCARE TACTICS who won’t save ANYONE from harm and will only result in contributing to a culture of fear, chiefly among women.
  • Crime reporting signal boosts – this includes: letters from a company that is purportedly a front for a human trafficking operation, needles infected with HIV scattered around public places, and other chainletter fare. These are most often than not bogus. In any case, Snopes is your best friend. Check to see if they give a date or a place for said crimes being committed – if they don’t, it’s the first sign it might be fake.
  • Call-out posts with Twitter/Facebook screengrabs – check to see if they provide a link to said postings. If not, it might just mean that the person deleted them but BE AWARE THAT INTERNET TROLLS OFTEN DOCTOR SCREENGRABS to make it look like other people (usually women) have said hateful things that they NEVER SAID. They do this to try and get them attacked by social justice-conscious people.

Please remember that for every bogus missing persons post, fake donation drive and poorly fundamented problematic screengrab you reblog, you’re making it a little hard for people who are actually in need to get the visibility and help that they need. I don’t blame you for being trusting, but it would be in everybody’s best interests to exercise some caution in what you signal boost. <3

ED: someone mentioned this and it’s very much worth adding: also please be warned that the internet is full of assholes, and sometimes if you ask for assistance (especially technical assistance) in some less reputable forums and internet communities you might get people intentionally feeding you bad info that will damage your property, because they’re dickheads who get off on tricking gullible people into breaking their own stuff. Do NOT immerse your iPhone in water or put it in the microwave to “charge” it!!!!

(via yea-lets-do-this-shit)

siderefposts:

numenorss:

steeverogers:

I love Clint Barton because he’s the kind of guy who would ask if he could get an Avengers discount at Starbucks

#piece of shit motherfucker probably would #and he’d find a way to get it too #*flashes avengers ID* #probably uses it to get out speeding tickets too #”no no see it’s alright i am an AVENGER” #”that means i save the world and stuff…” #”so you’re welcome” #”no need to give me a ticket see look at my AVENGERS ID-card” #ends up getting a ticket anyway #story of your life #drops by mcdonalds #slides avengers ID over the counter as a form of payment #official avenger coming through #doing hero-business #please step aside ma’am i am an avenger #that means i work with captain america #yes #good ol’ cap #the big c #why yes he does smell like freedom and apple pie

#then one day a barista or shop assistant asks cap if he’s got his avenger id for the discount#and steve gives him a blank stare#and just before he says there’s no such thing as avengers discount#nat comes up behind him#slams her id down#‘yes we both need avengers discount’#reminding herself to high five clint later#because ‘avengers discount’ has clint written all over it (via annperkin)

(via yea-lets-do-this-shit)