this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2025
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS

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[–] pseudo@jlai.lu 41 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

The french word "mousquet" means first a place of the belt where you hold stuff. Hence the name of the sword that you hold there, and the military unit that would were them even within the capital city as they were charged to protect the king. Later, it meant the firearm you could hold at the same place.

Source: the wiktionnaire I looked once I had about the same thought.

[–] ScrollerBall@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago

You got a link to your source on that?

Merriam-webster says mousquet came from the Old Italian moschetto meaning a small artillery piece. It's also a term for a male sparrow hawk. Which there was a traditio of naming weapons after animals.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/musket

The Wikipedia page for musketeer says this:

The Musketeers of the Guard were a junior unit, initially of roughly company strength, of the military branch of the Royal Household. They were created in 1622 when Louis XIII furnished a company of light cavalry (the "carabiniers", created by Louis' father Henry IV) with muskets.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musketeer

So the term Musketeer comes from the fact that they are armed with muskets. I cant find anything about a mousquet being a place on the belt to hold stuff.

[–] nBodyProblem@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Since when could you hold a musket on your belt?

They typically had barrels over three feet long, with a total weapon length over four feet.

[–] Test_Tickles@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

You'd hang it next to the onion which was the style at the time.

[–] iii@mander.xyz 2 points 4 days ago

There's no room next to the onion. That's where I keep my other onion.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 33 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 35 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

It's one of those things where we shortened a phrase and then it stopped making logical sense.

"The three musketeers" werent just musketeers who carried muskets.

They were "the king's musketeers". They were elite special forces as well as the personal bodyguard for the King. The best of the best. The "musketeer" part was the common bit, it just sounds fancy centuries later.

But the book might as well be called "The Kingsguard"

[–] cheese_greater@lemmy.world 27 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Privateers didnt use their privates

[–] IhaveCrabs111@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

Yes they did but only in private

[–] FerretyFever0@fedia.io 12 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 6 days ago

Fr, I'm positive "legalized pirates" used their privates. That's crazy.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

But they privatized the loot

[–] son_named_bort@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

Well yeah, it's hard to fit a musket in to a candy bar.

[–] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 24 points 6 days ago (1 children)

i was curious about this also. seems like in the book they did have muskets, but they were rarely used as most of the book involved 'close' fighting in which swords were used while muskets were battlefield, long-range devices.

[–] Boddhisatva@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

Indeed. You get one shot with a musket. You wouldn't have time to reload before the enemy would be on top of you and you had better have that sword out.

[–] thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org 16 points 6 days ago (1 children)

And don't you fucking forget D'Artagnan!

There's 4 of those fuckers regardless of what the elite Paris guard think!

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Oui, d'accord, ~~but~~although he's not officially a Musketeer until he's proved himself with gallantry, daring, and disregard for the evil Richelieu and his minions.