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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:
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7
handlion · 31/07/2023 20:38

Bees don't have lungs

DrMadelineMaxwell · 31/07/2023 20:37

I always tell my class 5, 6, 7, 8 to help with that. 56 = 7x8

The word for the feeling of the sun in winter is Apricity. I love that word.

My remembered French word is Eclair, which means lightning. Useful in a recent pub quiz.

Over50usernamesNow · 31/07/2023 20:35

DoesItHaveKosovo · 31/07/2023 20:34

Leeds railway station has the highest number of platforms for a non-London station in the UK. It has 18.

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

DoesItHaveKosovo · 31/07/2023 20:34

Leeds railway station has the highest number of platforms for a non-London station in the UK. It has 18.

AlanJohnsonsBeamer · 31/07/2023 20:34

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

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!!)

ElvenDreamer · 31/07/2023 20:32

The four stomachs of a ruminant animal are the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum. (Farmers daughter, do not work in farming or vetinary or move in any circles where this would be useful or interesting information!)

Also, the one French word I never forget is épouvantail - Scarecrow. How handy!

Freepo · 31/07/2023 20:31

The Brooklyn bridge isn’t anchored to the river bed on one side - it was so deep that the workers were getting sick from decompression sickness so they stopped before they got there

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.).