Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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
MillicentTrilbyHiggins · 04/08/2023 22:35

There is erectile tissue in your nose. So your nostrils can get an erection Shock

HollyRocks · 04/08/2023 22:31

Hedgehogs masterbate (orally)
Gorilla penis is only around 4cm when erect

MillicentTrilbyHiggins · 04/08/2023 20:24

Ds just told me that when you blush so does your stomach lining!

JesusdroveaHonda · 04/08/2023 20:21

@Pinkbakerscap Glad it wasn't just me!

MillicentTrilbyHiggins · 04/08/2023 20:16

NevergonnagiveHughup · 04/08/2023 20:10

God help my future 210cm DD so…..

Show quote history

I wouldn't worry too much. It's not true.

Pinkbakerscap · 04/08/2023 20:10

I'm 41 and the panther fact is completely unknown to me.

NevergonnagiveHughup · 04/08/2023 20:10

Laiste · 31/07/2023 21:06

At 2 and a half years old you are half the height you are going to be as an adult.

Sounds nuts but it's true. I checked with my 4 DCs (3 are in their 20s now) and it's accurate to within an inch or so.

God help my future 210cm DD so…..

JesusdroveaHonda · 04/08/2023 20:02

Most people probably already knew this, but there's not one specific type of cat called a panther.

I always thought a panther was one specific type of cat- like lion, tiger, jaguar, panther.

It's basically an umbrella term for any big black cat (like a black jaguar or black leopard or sometimes used for mountain lions/pumas/ cougars too in some parts of the world, I think).

Please someone tell me I'm not the only idiot who didn't realise this till adulthood!

SagittariusDwarf · 04/08/2023 19:33

Soubriquet · 03/08/2023 08:43

The platypus and the echidna are the only two egg laying mammals (I have lots of random animal facts).

They don’t have nipples. The pups just lick the belly as milk is secretes through the fur

I love this. I did palaeobiology and evolution as part of my degree many years ago, and this post has unlocked a memory.

HopeSpringsInfernal · 04/08/2023 19:28

AffIt · 04/08/2023 13:36

It's Wells, is it not?

Dunblane is the smallest cathedral city in Scotland.

Show quote history

You're right - I stand corrected 😊

Merapi · 04/08/2023 14:10

Things that look like postage stamps but aren't valid for postage are called 'Cinderella stamps'.

AffIt · 04/08/2023 13:36

HopeSpringsInfernal · 03/08/2023 19:02

I always thought Ripon was the smallest cathedral city in England

It's Wells, is it not?

Dunblane is the smallest cathedral city in Scotland.

DysmalRadius · 04/08/2023 02:25

MalcolmsMiddle · 03/08/2023 19:04

Yep - I think its an inherently British trait to quote this fact upon hearing Vienna!

Show quote history

I thought the done thing was that if anyone ever says the word Vienna in your earshot you have to immediately croon 'this means nothing to me' and then carry on as if nothing happened.

Like if someone mentions swans - you politely inform that one will almost certainly break your arm then move on swiftly without further explanation. It's actually considered one of the most effective citizenship tests.

MalcolmsMiddle · 03/08/2023 19:04

LlynTegid · 03/08/2023 18:38

Joe Dolce?

Yep - I think its an inherently British trait to quote this fact upon hearing Vienna!

HopeSpringsInfernal · 03/08/2023 19:02

I always thought Ripon was the smallest cathedral city in England

LlynTegid · 03/08/2023 18:38

Joe Dolce?

LlynTegid · 03/08/2023 18:37

I know the words to both the French and Dutch national anthems, could sing them to you if wanted.

Never had cause to sing the latter.

MalcolmsMiddle · 03/08/2023 18:05

Motorways are numbered after the A road they were built to relieve traffic from - the lowest number motorway that doesn't exist is the M7.

The mileage to a town/city on a motorway sign reflects the distance to the central post office.

(I have nothing to do with motorways, it's just a coincidence I find those two fascinating!)

Can't believe no one has posted the name of the song that kept Vienna by Ultravox off the #1 spot!

LakieLady · 03/08/2023 17:25

I can't believe that Google doesn't know St David's is in Wales! I'll never trust it again.

Some friends and got that as a question in a pub quiz years ago, and we nearly came to blows over the answer. One friend thought it was Wells, and was adamant he was right, because he has a first in theology. A theology degree obviously doesn't prepare you for what is almost a trick question.

DanceWithTheBigBoysAgain · 03/08/2023 17:14

gingerguineapig · 03/08/2023 16:26

I just googled that, and it said that St David's was the smallest cathedral city in England St David's is in Wales

I didn't know Elizabeth I kept guinea pigs. Did she eat them?

We need to tell Google that, because it very confidently says that the answer is St David's. It's so reliable and useful so much of the time that it comes as a bit of a shock when it cocks up so blatantly.

To want to know the useless facts you store in your brain..
Zanina · 03/08/2023 17:14

If you tap two eggs together, only one will crack. I use this method and find it works

EducatingArti · 03/08/2023 16:50

That should be cow, goat sheep ( of course)! 🐄🐐🐑

EducatingArti · 03/08/2023 16:48

The outer part of animal horn ( eg cow, goat, pig) has properties similar to some types of plastic. In medieval times it was a useful commodity and taken from animals slaughtered for food. It can be carved, put in hot water and bent and shaped and sliced extremely thinly to produce translucent pieces. If you put an animal horn in boiling water you can detach and unwind this layer to get flat pieces. The inner horn core was not of much use and archaeologists sometimes find pits of them buried and it is a sign that animal industries ( butchery, tanning etc) were probably nearby.

gingerguineapig · 03/08/2023 16:26

I just googled that, and it said that St David's was the smallest cathedral city in England St David's is in Wales

I didn't know Elizabeth I kept guinea pigs. Did she eat them?

Horsedoglover59 · 03/08/2023 15:33

LakieLady · 03/08/2023 14:20

London is the smallest cathedral city in England.

I just googled that, and it said that St David's was the smallest cathedral city in England.
Also I disagree with one of the pp - I'm sure David Attenborough said in one of his programmes that wombats passed cube shaped feces