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Comment by kylecazar | Hacker News Reader

"600 giant pills that the men called 'thunder-clappers,'"

I love little reminders that people haven't changed that much over the centuries

Hunter-gatherer tribes probably had some natural laxative they called some version of "thunder-clapper" and giggled as they said it.

I bet.

Source: the amount of time it takes to scroll through the Wikipedia page for “it’s all Greek to me“ (variations common across dozens of languages)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_to_me

Esperanto's translation being "it's all Volapük to me" is exactly the kind of linguistic shade I was hoping to find in that article.

Lobjan: It's Ithkuil to me.

Sadly the list does not include an entry for how you would express this sentiment in Ithkuil.

(both are of course conlangs)

But it's the same in Danish as well? Very odd for a real language.

Danish is a conlang.

Besides the mercury compound, the Lewis and Clark contained a natural laxitive called Ipomoea purga (jalap) which was native to Mexico. Presumably the natives there used it and maybe laughed about it.

Made me look up what "jalap" actually means, but apparently it's just a reference to the city it grows near, and means "sand water" or something like it.

See also: jalapeño.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xalapa

I bet they got drunk / high on loads of things too on the regular.

Most likely sasparilla and root beer. Sasparilla in particular is made from Sassafrass which in its natural state contains safrole and produces a euphoric feeling when imbibed.

Yeah. The oldest known gag is a Sumerian proverb from 1900 BC: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap"

You also have another joke from 1600 BC: "How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? Sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile - and urge the pharaoh to go fishing."

In Taiwan they served me some thin mushrooms with dinner

My host: they're called see-you-tomorrow

Me: oh ok

Host: because they're indigestible

Me: awkward pause

Host: you're gonna shit!

Me to myself: oh thank God. Between the flights and insomnia it's time.

“Grand Tetons”, the mountain range, means “Big Tits” in French.

Big nipple actually.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast-shaped_hill

A marvellous list

I just got back from backwoods camping, each site has a wooden chest/thunderbox/toilet out in the open woods near the site. I'm not sure if the thunder is the heavy wooden lid closing or the noises that come from it. Some are out of sight of the campsite but ours was only 75ft away, fortunately the lid blocked your view if it was in use.

I could be wrong, but I don't think that is the thunder the "thunder clappers" was named after.

'The main active ingredient in “thunder-clappers” was a mercury salt.'

This doesn't seem particularly safe or good for the environment.

I doubt if the product is sold now.

Edit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calomel

Forget about the environment, that thing will poison you.

Ah mercury, sweetest of the transition metals.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zfde7SHM6Dk

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