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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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Original poster
IseeNarcPeople · 02/08/2023 20:28

Hawkins009 · 02/08/2023 20:17

In the jungle the mighty jungle the ants nod tonight

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Ha ha, thanks for the intended earworm it's been received and firmly lodged for tonight's sleep.

OP posts:
Figmentofmyimagination · 02/08/2023 20:25

Until the late 1800s, little boys as young as 5 or 6 were sent to work in the fields as bird scarers. They were allocated a field each where they had to remain all on their own, walking up and down, all day long. The farmers had a saying: ‘one boy’s a boy, 2 boys are half a boy, and 3 boys are no boys at all’.

Original poster
IseeNarcPeople · 02/08/2023 20:23

SarahAndQuack · 31/07/2023 23:22

This is my favourite: before humans could reliably write, they knew how to graft trees (ie. grow a par tree spliced onto a quince rootstock). They basically made aliens!

I worked for many years with an elderly lady who grafted plants, she said as far as she could trace back in her family it was done. It blew my mind at the time this was a thing.

OP posts:
Hoppinggreen · 02/08/2023 20:22

Post menopausal Orcas will protect their male offspring but not their female offspring

Soubriquet · 02/08/2023 20:21

Some species of burrowing spider, have small species of frogs as pets. It’s a symbiotic relationship between them.

The spider has the benefit of the frog because it eats bugs too small that would eat the spiders eggs. The frog benefits from the spider as the spider protects the frog from predators

Hawkins009 · 02/08/2023 20:17

IseeNarcPeople · 02/08/2023 20:16

I dreamt of ants nodding at each other last night because of reading this.

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In the jungle the mighty jungle the ants nod tonight

Original poster
IseeNarcPeople · 02/08/2023 20:16

Soubriquet · 01/08/2023 15:39

In Costa Rica, a crocodile lay fertile eggs despite never being in contact with a male. She had been kept in a zoo for 7 years and had never been placed with a male

Ants nod at each other as they pass by

I dreamt of ants nodding at each other last night because of reading this.

OP posts:
Original poster
IseeNarcPeople · 02/08/2023 20:13

mrsmacmc · 01/08/2023 00:17

Place marking to learn new facts 🤓

Aberdeen based fire engines used to be white as the commander at the time didn't want to spend money on getting them sprayed red

That did make me laugh.

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HRTQueen · 02/08/2023 14:25

Allchangehereagain the ban was from the 1930’s (can’t remember the exact year) until 1966

Some little disease they apparently spread

They would probably spoil Ribena anyway by adding more sweetener so best left to us to keep it to ourselves and hopefully one day it shall return to the unique delicious original recipe

Obviously I ❤️ Ribena and was thrilled to hear Kayne West refer to it on American Boy 😊

Piglet89 · 02/08/2023 14:20

“Sinn Fein” means “ourselves alone.”

Allchangehereagain · 02/08/2023 14:19

@HRTQueen i am now going to lose my afternoon to google aren’t I!

Allchangehereagain · 02/08/2023 14:18

The nearest football ground to the River Mersey is Edgeley Park, Stockport County

HRTQueen · 02/08/2023 14:16

Blackcurrants were banned in the US

that’s why you can’t get Ribena products there (but I have in a little shop) and some fake Ribena nonsense

most if my family drink loads of Ribena when they are here

Allchangehereagain · 02/08/2023 14:12

Ribes Nigrum is Latin for blackcurrant hence Ribena 😁

sophiasnail · 02/08/2023 14:02

MissJoGrant · 31/07/2023 21:43

The M61 (Preston bypass) is the oldest motorway in the UK.

My mum can remember her family all getting dressed up to drive down it the day it opened!

Bookist · 01/08/2023 20:17

That a baby girl is born with all the eggs she'll ever have, already inside her ovaries. This means that at one point I was an egg, inside my Mum's ovary, when my Mum was in my Grandmother's womb.

Original poster
IseeNarcPeople · 01/08/2023 19:31

RonObvious · 01/08/2023 08:59

Seagulls drink seawater. They have built in desalination filters, and the concentrated saltwater comes out of their salt glands.

That's actually pretty amazing. I'm going to find out more on that.

OP posts:
VeterinaryCareAssistant · 01/08/2023 18:08

Soubriquet · 01/08/2023 15:39

In Costa Rica, a crocodile lay fertile eggs despite never being in contact with a male. She had been kept in a zoo for 7 years and had never been placed with a male

Ants nod at each other as they pass by

Reptiles can store fertilised eggs in their body and decide to release them.

KStockHERO · 01/08/2023 15:39

I know every single capital city in the world

Soubriquet · 01/08/2023 15:39

In Costa Rica, a crocodile lay fertile eggs despite never being in contact with a male. She had been kept in a zoo for 7 years and had never been placed with a male

Ants nod at each other as they pass by

MonumentalLentil · 01/08/2023 12:44

lovemycbf · 31/07/2023 22:40

Snails have 1400 teeth (saw a program saying it )
Also your foot is the length of your forearm- heel towards inner elbow and toes towards your wrist

My forearm is longer than my foot.

Catsmere · 01/08/2023 12:43

MeThinksTime · 01/08/2023 09:09

Haha! It's true. Act 3, scene 5. There are the 3 witches plus a 4th called Hecate - she is like the 'head' witch.

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Is this right, though? Hecate is goddess of witchcraft in the play, not merely head witch (and the scene may not have been written by Shakespeare).

MonumentalLentil · 01/08/2023 11:46

MrsTerryPratchett · 31/07/2023 21:03

Wombats poo is a cube.

Ouch.

Should fit OK in a supermarket trolley... (old thread).

MonumentalLentil · 01/08/2023 11:45

Sorry, random 'be' in there.
Eights as in 8s, not a fraction of a whole.

MonumentalLentil · 01/08/2023 11:43

Allmyghosts · 31/07/2023 21:06

Seven eigths of what? I'm confused

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You are probaby be confused because you transposed the letters of eights.