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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
Catsmere · 01/08/2023 03:45

Soubriquet · 31/07/2023 21:44

Not too sure if a baby would enjoy a cloth person Grin

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Or whether a cloth person would fancy being used as a nappy!

Catsmere · 01/08/2023 03:43

barbarahunter · 31/07/2023 21:43

Daleks can go upstairs. I distinctly remember seeing a dalek kind of floating up the stairs when watching Dr Who in the 60s.

Which make Jon Pertwee's comment about thinking they were stupid things because all you had to do was go upstairs and they were stuffed all the more amusing!

Curiousquestion124 · 01/08/2023 03:42

A wedgie once killed a man in Oklahoma in the USA

MrsTerryPratchett · 01/08/2023 03:39

Georgeandzippyzoo · 01/08/2023 01:41

Edinburgh is further west than Cardiff

The quokka will throw its babies at an attacker so it can esacpe -sod the babies!

A double rainbow has the colours the opposite way.

And all rainbows are double rainbows.

sashh · 01/08/2023 03:29

During the plaugue ships with plauge had to dock outside Italian cities for 40 days. The Italian for 40 days is quaranta giorni from which we get the word quarantine.

Lots of words entered the Eglish language fron the Normans, but the Normans spoke a different dialect which is why the king was called William not Guillaume.

Not such uncommon but this is why we have different names for animals and the meat from them. The English worked with pigs, cows, and sheep, the French call those animals le porc, le bœuf and le mouton.

OCaptain · 01/08/2023 02:54

goingback · 01/08/2023 00:16

Most penguin live outwith Antarctica , some live in a desert and others in a jungle

Some live in Melbourne.

MeThinksTime · 01/08/2023 02:15

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 31/07/2023 20:53

The monster was called Adam.

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No he isn't. At one point he refers to himself as 'the Adam of your labours' but that is not his name.

OCaptain · 01/08/2023 02:10

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!

Interestingly, the word 'ruminate' - meaning 'to think over' - is derived from 'ruminant' - chewing the cud.

Catsmere · 01/08/2023 02:06

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 😂😂😂

I just had the song go through my head after reading your post! I had an LP of the original production years ago.

Georgeandzippyzoo · 01/08/2023 01:41

Edinburgh is further west than Cardiff

The quokka will throw its babies at an attacker so it can esacpe -sod the babies!

A double rainbow has the colours the opposite way.

Charmatt · 01/08/2023 01:14

Best before dates on crisps are always Saturdays!

The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows- they have been removed by excess cleaning over the years!

fdgdfgdfgdfg · 01/08/2023 01:05

4 8 15 16 23 42

Lost finished over a decade ago, why are these numbers still lodged in my brain!!!

DysmalRadius · 01/08/2023 00:57

Nodeepdiving · 31/07/2023 21:43

Something to do with the East opening of the Panama Canal being further West than West opening. I'm sure someone will be along to explain it better in a minute 😊

No idea about the geography of it, but my favourite palindrome is:

A man, a plan, a canal : Panama

TeaPotPetPig · 01/08/2023 00:55

That the River Nile drains 10% of the African continent. Or it did back in the nineties when I took my Geography G.C.S.E. Also I can recall all the capital cities of South America and Asia. That's slightly more useful.

Nodeepdiving · 01/08/2023 00:54

DysmalRadius · 01/08/2023 00:41

Factoid means something that is untrue but so commonly known that everyone treats it as true. Given your top contributions to this thread, I wonder if you know that and have planted factoids to fool us...

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I genuinely, hand on heart, did not know that!

IVFlife · 01/08/2023 00:51

Percy Shaw invented cats eyes on the road

dizzydizzydizzy · 01/08/2023 00:48

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

Are you me?

mrsmacmc · 01/08/2023 00:47

dreamonlucid · 01/08/2023 00:30

The only place you can't get endometriosis growing is the spleen.

Why the hell they haven't looked at the spleen and uncovered it's magical ability god knows.

The creative industry makes up around 5.6% of the Uk economy and is worth £120billion, so anyone who scoffs at art being important in schools is a plonker!

Yet they can't get their act together to support women with endometriosis effectively 🤦‍♀️

crazeekat · 01/08/2023 00:43

freddie mercury had a 27-29 inch waist

DysmalRadius · 01/08/2023 00:41

Nodeepdiving · 31/07/2023 23:41

Haha, yes I do vaguely recall that one from school.

Which of my factoids was it that made you laugh?

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Factoid means something that is untrue but so commonly known that everyone treats it as true. Given your top contributions to this thread, I wonder if you know that and have planted factoids to fool us...

Itsybitsypiper · 01/08/2023 00:37

wishihadagoodone · 31/07/2023 23:11

They're qualified to run for public office then

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This made me LOL

dreamonlucid · 01/08/2023 00:30

The only place you can't get endometriosis growing is the spleen.

Why the hell they haven't looked at the spleen and uncovered it's magical ability god knows.

The creative industry makes up around 5.6% of the Uk economy and is worth £120billion, so anyone who scoffs at art being important in schools is a plonker!

Crucible · 01/08/2023 00:27

HairyMcHairyFace · 31/07/2023 22:55

Cobra, as in "the Prime minister attended a cobra meeting this afternoon" is an acronym for Cabinet Office Meeting Room A.

It's cabinet office briefing room A

If it had been held in the meeting room on Second Level Upper Ground, they'd have convened SLUG.

Horsedoglover59 · 01/08/2023 00:23

Over50usernamesNow · 31/07/2023 20:35

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

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It's actually Waterloo - 24 platforms in use