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Original poster

To want to know the useless facts you store in your brain..

334 replies

IseeNarcPeople · 31/07/2023 20:25

The ones that never get an outting, the chance to use them has never arisen.
For instance, from the many useless facts in my brain:
The phrases "Not enough room to swing a cat" and "Don't let the cat out of the bag" are actually about a whip "Cat O' nine tails" which was kept as a warning and punishment on ships.
Oh and snails can sleep for three years.
Please release some of yours.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Uppersop · 31/07/2023 21:03

In 1142, Empress Matilda (daughter of Henry I) escaped from Oxford Castle where her cousin King Stephen, was holding her captive. She crossed the frozen Thames wrapped in a white cloak, so wasn’t spotted in the snowy conditions. I am convinced that this snippet of info will come in useful one day!

MustBeThursday · 31/07/2023 21:03

The vegetation of the Savannah grassland is tall tufted grasses with the occasional tree or shrub. I have no need or use for this small piece of information.

Allmyghosts · 31/07/2023 21:02

Sarah nelmes was the milkmaid who inspired Edward jenner, I have no idea why her name has stuck in my head.

MrsTerryPratchett · 31/07/2023 20:59

Soubriquet · 31/07/2023 20:55

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog is a sentence that uses every letter in the alphabet

If you like word ones...

John, where Paul had had 'had had', had had 'had'. 'Had had' had had more impact on the marker.

11 'had's in a row and it's grammatically correct.

MrsMoastyToasty · 31/07/2023 20:59

Edinburgh is further west than Bristol.

BarelyLiterate · 31/07/2023 20:58

Rolls Royce PLC does not make cars. It makes jet engines, gas turbine power plants and nuclear reactors.
Rolls Royce cars are made by BMW.

englishrose1234 · 31/07/2023 20:56

Over50usernamesNow · 31/07/2023 20:33

Seven eights are fifty six.

I remember learning, and re-learning, and re-learning that over and over as a kid because I couldn't get it! Eventually it just got completely and permanently lodged there.

I cannot remember once ever finding this a useful thing to know as a adult. 🙂 Noone has ever asked me "what are seven eights?" And it doesn't seem to have been a necessary piece of knowledge in any area of my life (and I did statistics as part of my university degree!! So not averse to maths generally!!)

You'd be a good pharmacist! 56 is a really common number in pharmacy (one tablet daily - two months supply, one table twice daily - one months supply - all 56!)

AffIt · 31/07/2023 20:55

Usernamenotavailabletryanother · 31/07/2023 20:54

Waterloo has 24 platforms and is the largest in the UK

Edinburgh Waverley has 20, so technically no.2 in the UK, with Leeds no.3 (although 2nd largest in England)

Every time I’ve posted on one of these threads someone tells me my facts are wrong, it’s dicing with death 😂

Show quote history

At the risk of being 'that arsehole', I'm fairly sure Edinburgh Waverly has 21?

Soubriquet · 31/07/2023 20:55

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog is a sentence that uses every letter in the alphabet

Usernamenotavailabletryanother · 31/07/2023 20:54

Over50usernamesNow · 31/07/2023 20:35

That's quite interesting! What station has the most platforms in the UK?? Is it kings cross?

Show quote history

Waterloo has 24 platforms and is the largest in the UK

Edinburgh Waverley has 20, so technically no.2 in the UK, with Leeds no.3 (although 2nd largest in England)

Every time I’ve posted on one of these threads someone tells me my facts are wrong, it’s dicing with death 😂

Toohotto · 31/07/2023 20:54

My dad's car registration from about 50 years ago, my family phone number from 50 years ago, every main holiday I've been on for the last 40 years in chronological order, the order of the planets

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 31/07/2023 20:53

MeThinksTime · 31/07/2023 20:50

There are 4 witches in Macbeth. Not 3 like everyone thinks.

And Frankenstein is the name of the doctor who created the monster, not the monster's name - he doesn't have one.

Shakespeare died on his birthday.

The monster was called Adam.

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 31/07/2023 20:52

SarahLHs · 31/07/2023 20:48

Polar bears fur is actually see-through, not white.

Same with most white animals. The hair is hollow and allows miniscule particles to enter the skin, hence white animals are more likely to have skin allergy problems.

MeThinksTime · 31/07/2023 20:50

There are 4 witches in Macbeth. Not 3 like everyone thinks.

And Frankenstein is the name of the doctor who created the monster, not the monster's name - he doesn't have one.

Shakespeare died on his birthday.

C1N1C · 31/07/2023 20:49

If you line up all the planets on the solar system, you could fit them between the Earth and the Moon.

Lellochip · 31/07/2023 20:48

AlanJohnsonsBeamer · 31/07/2023 20:34

The word used to describe the smell of rain is Petrichor.

Humans are more sensitive to the smell of petrichor than sharks are to blood

SarahLHs · 31/07/2023 20:48

Polar bears fur is actually see-through, not white.

Usernamenotavailabletryanother · 31/07/2023 20:45

P&O stands for The Peninsular and Oriental (Steam Navigation Company).

The longest escalator on the London Underground is at Angel station. The shortest is at Stratford.

Original poster
IseeNarcPeople · 31/07/2023 20:43

Wow, all of these are genuinely interesting!
My brain is going to have to make more space.

OP posts:
MrsTerryPratchett · 31/07/2023 20:42

If someone accidentally touches your foot in Mongolia, they have to grab your wrist. Freaks out tourists.

BarelyLiterate · 31/07/2023 20:42

Margaret Thatcher campaigned for Britain to Remain in the European Community in the 1975 referendum.

PostItInABook · 31/07/2023 20:41

One of the reasons newborns generally cry straight after birth is to create pressure changes in the thoracic cavity to force fluid out of their lungs and inflate them so normal breathing can occur.

Foetal circulation pre and post birth is different. It’s actually pretty amazing, but I am a physiology geek so.……😂

NetballHoop · 31/07/2023 20:41

AffIt · 31/07/2023 20:29

Rats don't have gallbladders.

The New Zealand basketball team is nicknamed 'the Tall Blacks'.

The chemical symbol for lead is Pb, derived from the Latin plumbum, which is where the word 'plumber' comes from. Oh, and lead has 82 protons in its nucleus (WHY DO I KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT LEAD? I WORK IN I.T.).

Following on with the plumbers theme, plumbers in Chile are called gasfiters. It's a spanishification of the name used when Americans installed gas to Chilean homes.

MrsTerryPratchett · 31/07/2023 20:40

The dog's bollocks and bog standard both come from the same etymology. Apocryphally

Box Deluxe and Box Standard in Meccano.

catwithflowers · 31/07/2023 20:38

I was in a school production of Joseph at first school, aged 9, and can still remember the song about the coat and can still remember the order of the 29 colours 😂😂😂