Did you know that...

[Sibling DavidH]

I've long doubted that Bavaria is part of the Bundesrepublik at all.  If one could learn their language, it might be possible to find out.

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Did you know that the last words Abraham Lincoln heard were "you sockdologising old man-trap"?

[Swatopluk]

Did you know that the term 'buggery' for homosexual acts is derived from 'Bulgaria' and is also the oldest legal term for this activity in the English written law?

[Lindorm]

I can still remember the outcry in the late eighties when a beer-hall on the Zugspitze (the highest montain in Bayern) dropped Löwenbrau beer in favour of the decidedly northern beer Becks. Angry editorials, interviews with stunned men-in-the-streets, concerned mothers wanting to know if anyone thought of the children -the works and then some.

My general impression of the freistaat is that I only venture south of the Weisswurst-equator very, very cautiously. Preferrably by train or aircraft on the way to Bohemia or Pannonia! 

[Swatopluk]

Bavaria became a member state of the FRG (West Germany) despite a majority vote against the Grundgesetz (The still alive 'provisional' constitution) because every other state had voted yes. For the Bavarians there was not enough 'states rights' in it (they were GOPland from the beginning). They are also the only German member state with a strong separatist movement (Bayernpartei). When this party endangered the eternal majority of the ruling CSU, the CSU leadership went all Karl Rove and managed to get the Bayernpartei leadership convicted in court for numerous 'crimes' before the critical election. The conviction rested almost completely on perjuries by CSU members and the conviction was rapidly overturned. But the smear had worked, the election went to the CSU again and the Bayernpartei never fully recovered.
Bavaria was also for decades a net receiver of federal money (Länderfinanzausgleich). The moment that changed Bavaria became the leader of those that lamented that their federal tax money was used to subsidize the parasite poor states (mainly in the liberal North).
As I said, Bavaria is the German Texas. But admittedly Bavarian schools are considered to be among the best in the country which makes it slightly different from certain states in the Southern US.

[Sibling DavidH]

Did you know that the term 'buggery' for homosexual acts is derived from 'Bulgaria' and is also the oldest legal term for this activity in the English written law?

And there was me thinking it was a corruption of the word 'Bavarian'. 

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Did you know that Alemannic German is spoken not only in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein but also in France, Italy and - believe it or not - Venezuela.

[Swatopluk]

Did you know there are towns in Germany by the name of Heuchelheim (hypocrisy home) and Katzenelnbogen (cat's elbow)?
Not to forget Linsengericht (dish of lentils) and Oberkotzau (Upper puke meadow).

[Pachyderm]

And ones from the States:

Hopeulikit, Georgia

Cut and Shoot, Texas

Toad Suck, Arkansas

and not to forget

Hobo Station, Mississippi

[Aggie]

I always took a shine to Spuzzum, BC and Dildo, Newfoundland.

Here in Alberta, I get a smile out of Westward Ho.

[Swatopluk]

Did you know that there actually isn't a place named Power Cable (Nebraska) despite being proverbial.
Same goes for the legendary Kyritz an der Knatter* (there is a town by the name of Kyritz and there is a river referred to as the Knatter (rattle) but they are too far apart to justify the combination).

*same connotation as provincial town in the middle of nowhere

[Sibling DavidH]

Did you know that Moreton-on-Lugg is a very sensible name for a village and people shouldn't be always taking the pee out of it?

'Lugg', the name of the river, means 'bright' in the original old Celtic and is cognate with 'light', Lat. 'lux' and Gk. λευκὸς.

'Moreton' just meant 'homestead in marshy area' when the village was started, some time in the 8th century.  It's a very common name, and when bureaucracy got going an add-on was needed to distinguish it from all the others nearby (2 other Moretons in modern Herefordshire).

[/etymology_lecture]

[Swatopluk]

Have you ever heard of Hillbury How?

[Sibling DavidH]

No.  It would appear to be one of those tautologous names like Chetwood - Fort-Hill Hill.

[Swatopluk]

Did you know that the Vatican is officially the state with the lowest birth rate?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I'm sure that fatherhood isn't but all babies are born in Italian hospitals

[Swatopluk]

Did you know that the Prussian state semaphore system was used to synchronize watches over a distance of 550 km by sending the time signal forward and back in less than two minutes?