‘Ye’ should be pronounced like ‘the’. Why?

Writing something like 'ye olde shoppe' is an instant shortcut to making a place or movie set seem old and antiquated. You probably just read that first sentence and you pronounced the Y with a sound like in 'you.' However, you'd be pronouncing it wrong!

Back in the olde days, people wrote in runes similar to the ones used in Lord of the Rings. This alphabet had a different system of letters and was considerably different to the Latin alphabet we use today. 

When people started writing in a letter system similar to the one we use today, some letters stuck around, including the thorn (see image on the left) which was pronounced the same way we pronounce ‘th’ today.

When the printing press came into use, people faced a problem. There was no printing block for thorn. Printers solved this problem by using the letter Y in its place. This caused confusion and led to ‘th’ being used instead.

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If you see Bigfoot in Texas, it's legal for you to kill it

A man wrote to the state of Texas asking about the legality of killing Bigfoot, should he ever run into it while hunting. He was referring to a specific statute that defined which animals were legal to hunt and kill in Texas.

The official from Texas explained that the statute refers to which animals are considered game animals, a specific list of animals that are legal to hunt. The man's fear is that because Bigfoot wasn't included on the list, he couldn't kill it.

Texas responded by saying that the state only defines non-game animals, as animals that are native to Texas and that are not protected. If there's an animal that is not native to Texas and it's not an endangered species, then it's fair game.

This means that because Bigfoot is not officially recognized as an endangered species, you could theoretically kill it while in Texas with no repercussions. Let us know in the comments if you've ever hunted and killed Bigfoot!

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Soft Drinks are the #1 source of calories for Americans.

Although consumption of sodas has dropped about 16% per capita since 1998, the average American still drank slightly less than 2 sodas per day. This has left brands like Coke and Pepsi scrambling to solve their drop in sales. Market observers think we're entering a slow decline of soda consumption. 

Still, sugary soft drink is the #1 source of calories in the average American diet. Think about it. It means that if you're the average person, you get more calories from drinking Coke or Kool-Aid than you do from pizza, hamburgers, French fries and everything else. 

The holy grail is, of course, finding an all-natural sweetener that has no calories. Many people are still apprehensive of the stuff used to give diet sodas their flavor. Until then, soda companies fight the downward trend by adding new brands, flavors and other products like bottled water.

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The sport of Ferret Legging consists in measuring how long you can keep a ferret in your pants

Yes you read that correctly. There is a sport where all you need to do is be able to keep a live ferret down your pants for the longest and you win. There are a few caveats though. Here are the official rules:

• You must be male
• You can't wear underwear
• You can't be drugged or incapacitated
• The Ferret can't be drugged or incapacitated
• Ferrets must have a full set of teeth

That's it. You tie the ankles of the trousers and place two ferrets inside, and fasten your belt. You stand in front of the judges as long as you can. What makes you good at it? Not a whole lot… just an ability to 'have your tool bitten and not care.' The world record is 5 hours and 30 minutes!

A female version of the sport - ferret busting, was attempted by putting ferrets inside a woman's blouse. It proved unsuccessful.

To learn more about this strange sport, including its origins, go here. 

The Unicorn is the National Animal of Scotland!

Actually, that title is slightly misleading. The unicorn is one of the two national animals, along with the Red Lion. The unicorn, despite being fictional, was already being shown as a symbol of the Scottish royal family in the 1400s. 

Examples of early royal connections are a shield carved into Rothesay Castle and some coins dating back to as early as 1466. Scottish mythology, as well as having magical tales of unicorns, is full of mysterious and fascinating creatures. 

One you may have heard of is the Loch Ness monster. Since the 5th century the story of a giant ‘water beast’ that has dragged many a fisherman to their death. 

Lesser known folklore includes the tale of Tam O'Shanter, which was immortalised by poet Robert Burns in the 1800s. 

The story tells of witches and ghosts and perfectly captures the essence of being curled up around the fire on a windy night in the highlands, listening to a scary story.

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