Short Answers to Simple Questions | September 12, 2018

by AutoModerator

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Please Be Aware: We expect everyone to read the rules and guidelines of this thread. Mods will remove questions which we deem to be too involved for the theme in place here. We will remove answers which don't include a source. These removals will be without notice. Please follow the rules.

Some questions people have just don't require depth. This thread is a recurring feature intended to provide a space for those simple, straight forward questions that are otherwise unsuited for the format of the subreddit.

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Kintpuash-of-Kush

"Said the actress to the bishop" as far as I know is essentially the British equivalent of the American "That's what she said." The British version seems slightly strange to me, and I'd love to learn more about when it began to be used and the social context behind its genesis. How did the phrase "Said the actress to the bishop" originate?

random_Italian

I'll try again here this time.

Every time I read about a ruling house, it usually goes like: the first, eponymous attested member was John Doe, who became satrap/received a barony/built the eponymous castle/whatever in the year x.

But how did John Doe and his Does ancestors climbed the social ladder in the first place?

I tend to assume every noble dynasty started somewhere and at some point everybody was a poor nobody. So, what was the typical peasant -> ruling family progression?

corruptrevolutionary

Do we know the composition of the Teutonic Order at its height in the 14th century? X Knights, X Sergeants, X Chaplains, X half brothers, X servants and employees?

Really just the size of the Order and the number of members in Prussia and Livonia vs the Holy Roman Empire and other ‘peaceful’ commanderies.

Yoseptember92

Did slave owners use the term ‘slave’ in common use? I was listening to a podcast on Lincoln and got thinking how the word slave is so laden in negative connotations.

I know language evolves over time but it made me wonder, did slave owners/traders use euphemism or would they literally refer to other humans as their slaves?

Specifically thinking about the Atlantic slave trade but any answer will be great!

AyukaVB

Is there any practical reason why in Japanese samurai archery the archer pulls the bow above his head?

Nero_Claudius_Caesar

I asked this question 2 days ago but nobody replied. Maybe someone here knows the answer - Why did Soviet Union admit to the killings in Katyn?

I have though myself about the answer for this for the past two days but I am not sure if what I think it is correct as I can't find anything to back it up. I think that maybe Yeltin was the one who somehow(?) managed to make Soviet authorities admit to the guilt in the Katyn killings, as doing so would tarnish the Gorbachov's reputation as the leader of USSR, which in turn helped Yeltin gain more power in RSFSR?

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cdesmoulins

Was there an equivalent call for flogging reform in the British Royal Navy as there was in the US Navy during the 1830s-1840s?

SoundAndFury87

Did ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy ever have ship designation codes assigned to them in a similar way that the US Navy did this? (i.e. USS Iowa being BB-61)

If so, is there a comprehensive list available anywhere online (preferably circa WW2)?

If not, was there any form of short form used whatsoever, or were ships only referred to by their full names?

EnclavedMicrostate

Hopefully this SASQ goes back up long enough once the AMA is unpinned for someone to see this?

Three largely unrelated questions from me:

  1. In early photos of productions of The Pirates of Penzance, and indeed most renditions, the Pirate King wears pretty 'conventional' pirate garb. Yet the versions with Kevin Kline and Tim Curry have the Pirate King in a baggy white shirt, coloured trousers and a bandana. Why did these productions depart so heavily from the conventional look?
  2. Certain Napoleonic armies had several varieties of very similar cavalry – the French, for example, had both Chasseurs a Cheval and Hussars, the British had Light Dragoons and Hussars, the Austrians Hussars and Cheveaulegers. Why weren't all light cavalry in these armies one or the other, given that they appear to have had the same role? Was it just aesthetics?
  3. During the Industrial Revolution and before the railroad (or even after), did canals in Britain suffer from traffic jams, and if so what was done to clear them?
SSJ3-Lachlan

What are some good reads on medieval weaponry or Eastern weaponry in general?

dbologics

I've been reading a lot of Roman History books and early Christianity is fast becoming a new topic of interest based on my time spent reading about Nero. Would Paul Johnson's History of Christianity be a good start? If not are there any other suggestions?

Picards-Flute

Historians, what do you think of Michael Parenti?

lazygreenfox

hello, i came across images of eastern european, (turkish?) militia with really cool, elaborate waistbelts, with swords and other stuff tucked in.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/02/d2/4d/02d24d04c85a2f4877a427bac4861cda.jpg https://nebula.wsimg.com/4b9c7d8038dc297a5a7aeeb85dd6afe1?AccessKeyId=028CF9A021764203BD01&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

i was just curious about what sort of stuff they'd carry there, because some of them seem to get really wild. was there some sort of rank associated with them, or were they purely based on functionality?

Sonic-Oj

Were there other races not allowed to vote, other than black people?

Jyamira

How many Japanese Americans left the U.S. permanently after being released from internment?