CLASSIC QI XL Reaction Kx04 - Knits & Knots (David Mitchell, Ross Noble, Sue Perkins)

[@gilbertbpuk]

That 'get yourself untangled' game haunts my memory after an incident towards the end of school when a teacher wanted to to demonstrate it and out of an entire class of students picked out myself and the straight boy I was hopelessly besotted with at the time to stand at the front tied together and wriggle round to free ourselves. I don't know if he knew I fancied him, but several people in the room watching certainly did. Untangling yourself would be an awkward thing to do in front of a room full of teenagers if you were paired with your best friend even, but paired with someone who is only really a casual acquaintance were it not for the fact you've been nursing colossal unrequited love for them for two years and it's not at all a well kept secret either so they might even know about it is about the least fun you could ever have while in consensual close contact with someone you fancy. I'm not sure why I feel the need to share this, but it just came flooding back as I watched and at least I hope some people can share in my agony and maybe it'll exorcise the experience a little. :D

[@qwertyTRiG]

You painted a very clear picture there. You have some skill with words.

[@wickedymike]

"They even won even though he took the hit for prostitute, good for him", absent context, and even within, a great combination of words that I'd never imagined hearing!

[@ariadnepyanfar1048]

I need that shirt. A moment of QI genius.

[@maxbrown7719]

I look forward to your QI reactions every week as is then I see it's one of my fave episodes double made my Friday 🙌🏻🤩. Love seeing you enjoy these and rocking the shirt too 👌🏻

[@lmillssafc]

Sue Perkins! For some reason i switch over whenever she appears on my tv. I think i’m Perkaphobic.

[@Ubique2927]

She is not funny. Just a left wing mouthpiece.

[@MrNikolidas]

You are correct as to the origins of "knackered". Though I'm not sure if "to knacker" is a real verb, a "knacker" does refer to the person in a slaughterhouse in which horses hooves were turned into glue.

[@mmhdata]

As Neil correctly surmised the slang to be knackered for exhaustion is related to sending horses to the 'knackers-yard' at the end of their useful life. Curious about the etymology, a quick Google suggests this from Wikipedia (not always the most reliable source I know): The word is of uncertain origin, perhaps from the Scandinavian word represented by Old Norse hnakkur, saddle, and related to hnakki, "back of the neck", possibly relating to neck.

[@DrDaveW]

Can't believe Sue Perkins said "was it a superking?", with no reaction from Stephen or anyone. It was a meme in the early days of the internet that her name sounds the same of a brand of British cigarettes, "Super Kings".

[@nicksykes4575]

Super kings isn't a brand, it's a discriptor for the longest type of cigarette.

[@carlosdeferrer3585]

@@nicksykes4575 I´m going to be the pedant here as you raised the issue but in the UK Superkings (or John Player as it was originally called) is a British brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Imperial Tobacco. as Dr Dave mentions

[@DrDaveW]

@@nicksykes4575 It’s very much a brand. Started by Imperial Tobacco. Became generic, much like Hoover and Tannoy.

[@Dan-B]

“Knackered” does indeed come from relation to old tired animals, who were sent to a knacker’s yard.

[@rodentpete]

There has been guerilla knitting in my area recently - all the local postboxes have knitted (or crocheted) covers on top of them - It looks nice until it rains...

[@myopicautisticmetal9035]

I love Ross, but he should have gotten a klaxon for calling Every Rose has it's Thorn a Bon Jovi song when it's a Poison song.

[@Baiko]

Yeah, Bon Jovi has Bed of Roses but that doesn't mention thorns (or prickles)

[@peterjf7723]

Rose thorns are not actually thorns. “Thorn” is used to describe a plant with branches modified for physical defense. Because the pointy projections of a rose bush are modified epidermal cells, roses do not have thorns, they have prickles.

[@jeffrey44]

​@@peterjf7723 Where did you learn that?

[@peterjf7723]

@@jeffrey44 A level biology in 1978.

[@SaintPhoenixx]

The TV show David mentions as giving him breast milk ice cream was, I believe, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year. Maybe around 2006 or 2007, he was on one of them with the TV chef Jamie Oliver and the controversy of breast milk ice cream was in the news that year and the show had some made for the contestants to try. Most of them were fine, a few refused to eat it. You could probably find the clip online if you remotely cared even one tiny bit. And I wouldn't blame you if you didn't, him mentioning it just sparked a distant memory I didn't know I had.

[@Griexxt]

Yes, I remembered that too.

[@Meteorite_Shower]

As someone who does say "I'm knackered" for when I'm tired, I probably shouldn't...

[@carolmurphy7572]

Sue is brilliantly funny! And David Mitchell's righteous indignation is legendary! Thanks for another great reaction! BTW, what does your shirt say about Smarties? 🤔 (Damn, I'm nosy!🙄)

[@qwertyTRiG]

Put Smarties tubes on cats' legs and make them walk like robots. It's from QI (Jimmy Carr).

[@carolmurphy7572]

@@qwertyTRiG Thanks so much! Surprisingly, Jimmy Carr is coming to my home town, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador 🇨🇦 next month. I'm looking forward to a completely irreverent and fun show!

[@TheClairem75]

Don’t leave us hanging Neil! Where did you get the shirt? I need one!!

[@Marina-pe1gx]

yayyy! about to watch it now. Neil, please watch the Knights and Knaves QI episode, I guarantee you will love it!

[@lillithdv8]

If my Bio 101 serves me correctly, gonads are the glands part of the reproductive organ (for either male or female) the testicles is the entire organ

[@andreasbuehler1821]

The Ninja slug bit is sort of real. I suspect he was thinking of sperm darts, which are fired.

[@necessaryevil3428]

Great T-shirt 👍

[@samfisher6606]

where do you find QI shirts?

[@shinbios]

Their little demonstrations don't tend to be related to the shows theme, but in this series the experiments/demonstrations were called 'knick knacks' which was more poignant in this show since it was the silent 'k' episode.

[@rossshepherd9836]

I need to know where you got that T-shirt, Neil.

[@jamesmoore4910]

Love the t-shirt lol

[@AndrewMcClenning]

React to "Pubs", "Origins and Openings", and "Noel". Those are actually hilarious.

[@TheToledoTrumpton]

When you ran a horse too much, you could kill it. So a cavalryman might be told not to run his horse, "Until it was knackered". That easily jumped to people.

[@Cobalt-Jester]

Sorry to say that the joke that's on your shirt was a planned one. Jimmy had done the same joke in various forms before. So for him to have 3 times more letters than the others telling a joke he had done a few times before..... I'm so sorry...

[@qwertyTRiG]

I'm annoyed with myself for not catching the Þe Old Rose and Crown trick. I knew that one.

[@teresacarosella7624]

I love Sue. She gave the most right answers, and knew how to get out of the ropes. How did she lose? Oh well, it's all fun

[@hastobe303]

The show is heavily edited. A lot of stuff doesn't end up in the 45 minute cut that is broadcasted. Also, the scoring system in this show is absolutely mad.

[@teresacarosella7624]

@hastobe303 I'm sure there is a lot that doesn't get shown. I'm in America and just happy to get whatever I can get. It's all so good, and I realize the scoring doesn't really matter. To me, any qi is good qi

[@qwertyTRiG]

None of those first set are knots in the mathematical sense, which is how I'd have answered.

[@wozzywick]

Every Rose Has It’s Thorn was Poison not Bon Jovi. Disappointed in Ross for getting that one wrong!

[@kayemcmullen]

I don’t know if you are able to join the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) IView - the current QI is available there. - no adds but also no extended episodes. I have found them to be a mixed bag. Alan’s constant hijacking of the episodes is just not funny.

[@Cobalt-Jester]

It's obvious that 'prostitution' isn't the oldest profession. Just basic common sense and logical thinking wou ask, "how are the prostitutes being paid?". There has to be earlier paid jobs so people had the means to pay for sex... My 8 year old came up with that hypothesis about 10 years ago. lol

[@boghag]

So, it isn't a profession if you accept barter? Also, your argument would work on any paid jobs, so it's obviously invalid, someone has to create the money first.

[@SaintPhoenixx]

I don't believe it is the oldest either, maybe just the one we have record of that dates back furthest so far, but I would imagine you could pay with food or trade other valuable commodities (shelter, water, gifts, trinkets). With how prevalent it is in other species, especially monkeys, chimps and apes to exchange food for sex, that we would do it too. We're animals, we have an innate desire for sex, is it inconcievable that we'd also partake in females having sex with males in exchange for food or even just to be "valuable" to the tribe/community? I think it really depends what you class as a job, like you could have had a specific member of a tribe be responsible for getting food or 'curing' illness, does that count if they weren't "paid" with money? If you have a leader of a tribe, presumably the eldest male, is he just the patriarch or is he the president/king? Does payment stretch to abstract ideas like respect and authority? If it strictly involves exchanging money for a professional service, it's believed the first person to mint physical coins was King Alyattes, of what is modern day Turkey. If you don't count King as the answer, then presumably 'money creator' could qualify. The first person to make physical 'cash' was probably the first person to receive money for his professional services, paying himself with what he made. Then, I imagine he instantly went down the pub and paid a woman to have sex with him. Just an idea anyway, I'm no expert.

[@danniantagonist]

I thought it was the oldest since the oldest one which is still going strong. Haven't monkeys been observed bartering with sexual favours? Perhaps it's even older than human beings 😁

[@Xanderj89]

You know there were professions before currency right

[@qwertyTRiG]

​@@boghag The "barter economy" is an invention of economists. Actual anthropologists doubt that such a thing has ever existed.

[@daveofyorkshire301]

Why does anyone think prostitution is the oldest profession? Back then you took what you wanted, I doubt there was consideration of payment, especially before money existed when slavery was commonplace...

[@hastobe303]

Bartering was definitely a thing before money ever existed, and everyone did not just take whatever they wanted. Trading goods for services or other goods is an extremely old and primal practice. Even animals do that, so it's probably much older than slavery. And sexual intercourse just happens to be one of the most important things for every animal on Earth, whether some people think it's dirty or not. Besides, it's not just guesswork. There are ancient references to prostitution, so it's not at all unlikely that it is at least one of the oldest professions.

[@daveofyorkshire301]

@@hastobe303 You do realise the references you're making are AFTER people learnt to write, in other words civilisation, so these reference are very recent history compared to the length of human existence? There's a little variation in the first written word, but it's certainly hundreds of thousands of years after humanity evolved. _The cuneiform script, created in Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq, ca. 3200 BC, was first_ _The earliest known writing was invented there around 3400 B.C. in an area called Sumer near the Persian Gulf. The development of a Sumerian script was influenced by local materials: clay for tablets and reeds for styluses (writing tools)_ _Fossils and DNA suggest people looking like us, anatomically modern Homo sapiens, evolved around 300,000 years ago_ Before civilisation, culture, money, barter, trade humans existed as waring tribal factions, small separate group that if you were unfortunate enough to encroach on their territory or come across them, it would mean all out conflict or capitulation... Nobody was paying or bartering they took it the oldest profession is survival by whatever means necessary, the dominant group was the dominant group and they took what they wanted... Civilisation was way off... Not much different to now really, the strongest militarily still takes what they want, they just hide it better, it's just hidden under thousands of years of religion, culture and society... But the strongest still just takes what they want, they always have. The idea you think animals trade is ridiculous. A dominant animal utilises force and aggression to become and remain dominant. They don't trade, they take! Once an alpha he doesn't need to fight, it's his and that's it. What are you watching modern chimpanzee dynamics where we're actually imposing a degree of control over them to prevent injuries? What natural history programmes are you watching?