Board index › Off Topic Discussion › Off the Wall: Forum Games, Quizzes, Roleplaying, etc.

Obscure facts ya know!

Page 154 of 154 [ 2450 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 150, 151, 152, 153, 154

Previous topic | Next topic

Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2008
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 60,863
Location: Stendec

07 May 2020, 9:23 am

naturalplastic wrote:
equestriatola wrote:
The first "Made in <Country" label was made in 1887 in England to curb consumption of exported German-made goods in the country, and to encourage consumption of domestically-made goods. This backfired, as the opposite occurred: The British continued to purchase German-made goods, because of their reputation of being high-quality.
Oddly enough earlier in the Industrial Revolution products made in the German state of Silesia (now part of Poland) were consider shoddy knock-offs of British made products.  So anything shoddy came to be described by the name of the region -- hence the origin of the term "sleazy".
On a similar note, the word "chintz" originally referred to glazed calico textiles, specifically those imported from India, printed with designs featuring flowers and other patterns in different colors, typically on a light plain background, and sold as cheap imitations of embroidered silk garments.

The name itself is derived from the Hindi "chīnt", meaning "spotted", "variegated", "speckled", or "sprayed").  Since the 19th century the term has also been used for the style of floral decoration developed in those calico textiles, but then used more widely, for example on chintzware pottery and wallpaper.  Chintz designs are mostly European patterns loosely derived from the style of Indian designs themselves reflecting Mughal art -- a white base with floral and animal prints are its basic characteristics.

Due to chintz's original purpose as a cheap imitation of embroidered silk, the words "chintz" and "chintzy" can be used to refer to clothing or furnishings which are vulgar or florid in appearance, and (commonly in informal speech) to refer to cheap, low quality, or gaudy things, and similarly, to personal behavior.


_________________
 
The previous signature line has been cancelled.


NightMuse
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Aug 2020
Age: 46
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,070
Location: Floating around in space

28 Jan 2021, 12:57 am

New York was briefly named "The New Orange".


_________________
"How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin." -- Ronald Reagan