Educating Ricky

Educating Ricky was a feature introduced by Karl in Series 2 in which he attempted to teach Ricky some interesting bits of trivia. Typically, Karl would have three nuggets of information to offer, and would give each one a "teaser" headline that usually involved an overwrought pun. Though the conceit of the feature was to inform Ricky and Steve, often times the two would have to clarify or completely refute what Karl told them.

The title of the feature is a pun on the film Educating Rita.

History

Below is a complete list of Karl's lessons:

12 October 2002

Hanging Bacon: Years ago, wealthy people would hang bacon in their kitchen. When guests came over, they would stand around and chat while eating it. This is the origin of the phrase "chewing the fat."
Hairy Chinese Kid: A story that lives on in RSK infamy.
Alien Gives Man A Beard: An American man goes missing and, when he reappears three days later, has a bushy beard and claims to have been abducted by aliens.

19 October 2002

Don't Do That To It, You Know It Can't Live Without A Head: Karl dispels the "myth" that cutting a worm in half will make two worms.
What's Tomato With You?: Years ago, people thought tomatoes were poisonous. In actual fact, people were getting sick because they were eating them off lead plates.
If Only It Was Raining: (The show ran out of time before Karl could read this one.)

26 October 2002

Stocking, Aiken & Waterman: In the 40's, people would put socks in gramophones to lower the volume, which gave birth to the expression 'put a sock in it'.
It's Not His Volt: An electric man was walking about in the 70's.
Get A Lobe Of This: A deaf woman is pushed against a wall and is suddenly able to hear.

02 November 2002

Don't Worry About Him, He Candle It: The phrase 'burning the candle at both ends' originated when, "years ago", workers would light their candle at both ends of the day.
I'm Kermit-ted To This Treatment: Doctors used to put toads in people's mouths during examinations, a practice that gave us the phrase 'frog in the throat'.
The Police Are Causing A Bit of A Stare: Police once arrested a man under suspicion that he was drunk, but in fact his glazed expression was the result of a glass eye.

09 November 2002

We'll Have A Big Fire To-marrow: In ancient times (probably during the Black Plague), the bodies of the deceased would be piled and burned to help stop the spread of disease. This is the derivation of the word 'bonfire' ("bone fire").
He's A Bit of A Noose-ance: When a particularly unpopular person was hanged, the hangman would often keep the rope that he used and cut it into pieces to sell to the townspeople. The phrase 'money for old rope' refers to this practice.
I'll Ba-con In The Morning If You're Sick Of Having Me Here: The expression 'cold shoulder' originated when people used to give unwanted guests cold pieces of meat to convince them to leave.