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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
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

CarpeDiemCarpeDontem · 01/08/2023 00:16

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 😂😂😂

That’s so funny my husband was impressed with the fact I can remember the colours the other day!

it was red and yellow and green and brown, scarlet and black and ochre and peach..

goingback · 01/08/2023 00:16

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

wheresmymojo · 01/08/2023 00:14

European foxes can climb trees but UK foxes can't.

Badgers on the other hand, despite looking far less agile than foxes can scale six foot fences!

HRTQueen · 01/08/2023 00:08

Alligators can climb trees and fences

It’s terrifying to watch

Bearpawk · 31/07/2023 23:59

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 know it by heart too!

Winduptorch · 31/07/2023 23:55

Your arm span is the same as your height

PerrinAybara · 31/07/2023 23:53

@CherieBabySpliffUp Defenestration is probably a term useful if you own an inkjet printer and you need to explain what happened to it.

CliffsofMohair · 31/07/2023 23:52

St Patrick (famous Welshman, ended up tending pigs and driving snakes in Ireland) is the patron saint of Nigeria.

SheilaWilde · 31/07/2023 23:50

You can't fold a piece of paper more than 7 times is something I know but still can't fathom how it's true.

SheilaWilde · 31/07/2023 23:49

IseeNarcPeople I've been using it in the wrong way forever but yesterday DS and I picked up a pizza. He put it on the dashboard and I said 'don't put it there it'll go for a burton". He asked me where the saying came from and I Googled it. I'll probably still use it wrongly but I'm glad I know it's real meaning and etemology.

Nodeepdiving · 31/07/2023 23:44

"Wherefore" in Juliet's famous "Romeo, O Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" means why, not where - she's asking why he is Romeo (a Montague, and thus forbidden), not where he is!

Original poster
IseeNarcPeople · 31/07/2023 23:44

SheilaWilde · 31/07/2023 23:32

To 'go for a burton' doesn't mean that the precariously placed item will fall quickly and suddenly.
It was coined in WW1 after Burton Ale and was used to say someone was missing/presumed dead.
John: "where's Tim?"
Sheila "he's gone for a Burton (Ale)"

(Tim is presumed MIA).

The original meaning actually sounds strangely comforting.

OP posts:
SheilaWilde · 31/07/2023 23:43

HeyMrScott · 31/07/2023 22:05

If you get a chess board and put one grain of rice in a corner square, two grains in the next square, 4 in the next square and keep doubling as you fill all the squares, there wouldn't be enough rice in the world to complete the last square.

That hurts my head. Is it actually true? I don't have the mathematical sense to work it out.

Nodeepdiving · 31/07/2023 23:41

Echio · 31/07/2023 22:28

This one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem

Show quote history

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

Which of my factoids was it that made you laugh?

Nodeepdiving · 31/07/2023 23:40

CherrySocks · 31/07/2023 22:01

FOUR witches??? This is astonishing information. Do you have proof of this?!

Yasss... There's the three that are unimaginatively named first, second, third witch and then there's Hecate, Queen of the witches. There is speculation that the scene she appears in wasn't actually written by Shakespeare though.

AnImaginaryCat · 31/07/2023 23:36

AlanJohnsonsBeamer · 31/07/2023 20:34

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

I've always been under the impression that petrichor is the smell of the earth after it has rained.

Specifically earth that was dry because it hasn't rained in a while. Which might explain why I can't smell petrichor now!!

JaneorEleven · 31/07/2023 23:36

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 31/07/2023 20:52

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.

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This explains my Westies skin problems

GininMcGlass · 31/07/2023 23:36

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

Edinburgh Waverley has 20 platforms, Leeds has the highest number of platforms (outside London) in England not in the UK. Waterloo has the most platforms with 24.

SheilaWilde · 31/07/2023 23:32

To 'go for a burton' doesn't mean that the precariously placed item will fall quickly and suddenly.
It was coined in WW1 after Burton Ale and was used to say someone was missing/presumed dead.
John: "where's Tim?"
Sheila "he's gone for a Burton (Ale)"

(Tim is presumed MIA).

Hawkins009 · 31/07/2023 23:31

Randomly I remember a friends dads number plate from years ago, never attempted to remember it,

Mysleepisbroken · 31/07/2023 23:30

Most mammals take the same level of time to empty their bladders - approx 21 seconds. The bigger the animal, the bigger their bladder but also the bigger/wider their urethra!

Bonjovispjs · 31/07/2023 23:29

maddiemookins16mum · 31/07/2023 21:28

The B side of David Soul’s number 1 hit ‘don’t give up on us baby’ was called Black Bean Soup.

First single I ever bought 😁

NannyGythaOgg · 31/07/2023 23:25

Gorillas know to chew leaves from a specific tree and rub it on their limbs if they are suffering from arthritis/inflammation (although I'm sure they only know it as PAIN

HateTheView · 31/07/2023 23:25

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.

Think the B stands for briefing