Possessing an intriguing fact can be a trusty dusty ace in the hole when conversation wavers. A tidbit that manages to surprise while it caters to logical intuition is worth its weight in gold.
Many of them, however, despite being interesting, are complete nonsense and they came from God knows where.
This Reddit thread is stocked with the vigilantes of the fun fact. They've adopted the thankless, but important role of setting the record straight.
The result is a list of deflating revelations. But arguably, these corrections carry as much, if not more interest than the original *incorrect* facts themselves.
Ryrylx asked, "What's a common 'fact' that's actually incorrect?"
Bring a Shield and it's Safe and Sound
"It's not dangerous to wake a sleepwalker. They won't have a heart attack or be put into a coma. They'll just be confused and it won't be pleasant for them, that's it." -- calathea1
"And depending on what kind of dream they're in, they might hit you." -- Fantastic-Mrs-Fox
Gotta Cut Corners Somewhere
"The beverage used by Jim Jones to kill all of those people was not Kool-aid, it was another brand called 'Flavor-aid.' " -- FloralBison
"When you're making enough fruit-flavored beverage to serve a thousand people, the savings from using a generic brand can really add up." -- brberg
Better Odds, but Still Bad
"Gladiator games in ancient Rome were not 'two men go in, one comes out.'"
"The figure I've seen in most studies is a chance of 1:9 for a gladiator to die during a munus that he took part in."
"That's huge, of course... but still means that, in most cases, it wasn't a fight to the death."
-- slacker25
Work Smarter, Not Harder
"You most probably weren't the fastest sperm cell. The egg has an outer protective layer that takes several sperm to wear down before fertilization."
"Honestly, you were probably one of the slowest sperm cells who arrived too late to do any work but still won the race of life."
"Also, the egg actually has a number of chemical barriers that select sperm with certain attractive chemical markers. The egg actually chooses which packet of DNA makes it to fertilization."
-- TinCupTan
Don't Flatter Yourselves
"Humans eat 8 spiders a year in their sleep."
"Spiders generally like cool, dry places. The inside of your mouth is not an appealing place for them."
Brian Power--About Three AA Batteries
"'We only use 10% of our brainpower.'"
"You always use 12 watts. That is the total power of the brain." -- DjDisingenius
"More specifically, you use all of your brain, but use different parts at different times, rather than all at once."
"This is why you never hear doctors saying, 'Thank god, he got shot in the 90% of the brain that doesn't do anything.'" -- Kakyoins_Egg
WHAT.
"'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day...'"
"Kelloggs payed researchers to create studies confirming that statement and started using it as a slogan to sell more cereal."
-- ValentinerX
Standard Measurement Strikes Again
"Napoleon wasn't short, he was actually 5'7" which was considered average-to-tall height for the time."
"Apparently the only way we can surmise that the urban legend started that he was short was because of the difference between English and French Imperial units, which led to his height seeming small by British figures."
-- Mayfair_Heir
And How do you Account for the Lungs Hmmmm?
"That the blood in your body is blue until it hits oxygen." -- StrikingWeb3
"I got onto a debate about this last year and dropped the 'blood literally carry's oxygen through your body' and they shut up." -- onionswithrubber
Would Have Run Out of Places a LONG Time Ago
"It's commonly said that 'lightning never strikes twice in the same place. In fact, it does - and frequently.'" -- Back2Bach
"Otherwise lightening rods would not be a thing." -- otter_pickles
"Or the one guy that has about 7 lightning strikes in his medical history." -- redbetweenlines
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk him about it.
One Redditor wanted to hear about all the things people have done for the ones that didn't love them them back, so they asked:
"What's the stupidest thing you ever did for a guy/girl?"
I can't tell you my secrets.
I am the epitome of foolish.
Us First
Breathe Mtv GIF by INTO ACTIONGiphy"Put them before my mental health, we’re all responsible for taking care of ourselves."
MasterAeliyan
Young & Stupid
"When I was younger I was awarded a settlement from a motorcycle crash; at the time, I was with my ex. I bought and repaired a car for her bday and paid off half her student loans. She was not a nice person, and I ended the relationship. Damn being young and naive."
OdinsReach
Stay Home
"Fly to another state to meet up with someone from online. We met on discord and video'ed a lot for 7 months before deciding to meet irl. We texted and talked all the way to boarding. When I landed, I texted her no response. I called, straight to voice mail."
"Went on discord, she deleted her account. Instead of flying back, I spent the weekend exploring a new city. Wasn't going to pass up going to the Smithsonian Museum and seeing the landmarks. To this day, I have no clue as to why she ghosted me."
AnotherAnimeNerd
The 100
"Baked cookies and created this '100 things I love about you' jar with small bits of paper to open everyday for a new reason so my ex could see the amazing traits he had and what I admired. This was supposed to be a V-day gift, but he cancelled plans to see friends instead lol."
beam_of_taco
"Valentines Day, notorious for being a day to skip the partner and hang with the bros."
Enk1ndle
Nevada
jimmy fallon wow GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonGiphy"Gave up a position with the Secret Service for a woman I thought I was going to marry. A year later she was living in Nevada with her soon-to-be husband."
boxedcrackers
Maybe you can go back? We need security.
Duh
Behind The Scenes GIF by BET AwardsGiphy"My 17-year-old brother told me he bought a girl a $350 bracelet for Christmas AFTER she already told him she 'didn't like him like that.' We all let him know how dumb that was."
blue-tomorrow
Cash Options
"My high school sweetheart and I ended up going to different colleges. I went to a pretty cheap state school, she went to a very expensive private university in a big city. Sent her a check for something like $10K since my tuition was basically zero and she needed it way more. Same day the check cleared she texted me to say that she'd been seeing someone else and it was over between us."
chrismamo1
Bad for Business
"I built a catering business from the ground up because my friend said she wanted to stop stripping since she would cry about the bad treatment all the time. After the business was fully operational and I even got the first couple gigs, all she had to do was pass out business cards and talk to potential clients at an expensive charity dinner and she bailed so she could hang out at home. I already had a well paying job so didn't really need a side business. I bet she is still stripping now coming up on 40."
whyunoletmepost
Clap. BACK!
"Walked 9 miles in tornado weather with freezing cold rain just to see her. Thought she was worth it. We were together for 4 years and then I found out she had been cheating on me with her blood brother for the past 2 years. I found out because I got the clap from her and she let slip that her brother also had the clap."
CaptianOfCows
No Excuses
Phaedra Parks Bye Felicia GIFGiphy"Forgave him for cheating. Caught him cheating again a few months later."
evm2103
"Same. I stayed with him, he continued to cheat. I finally cut him loose when the other girl became pregnant."
godrainlovemusic
"That's why I have a 0 tolerance for cheating. 1 time is enough to end the relationship or even a marriage. No excuses. No forgiveness. No ok let's try it for the kids."
dat_oracle
Oh my word. Humans make some questionable choices when our brains are flooded with love hormones.
Do you have any crazy love confessions for us? Let us know in the comments below.
Redditor Eli_JMI wanted to hear about the things children have said aloud that left people SHOOKETH, so they asked:
"Parents of reddit, what is the creepiest thing your child has said to you?"
I once had a kid, stop me in the mall and just point at my head and go... "BOOM! HEAD!"
Creep.
Over Him
Big Brother Reaction GIF by Big Brother After DarkGiphy"My then 2 year old accidentally locked himself in a room and was crying hysterically while I tried in vain to coach him through unlocking the door. My then 5-year-old pulled me aside and said, in perfect seriousness, 'Forget about him, Mom. He's dead to us.' I'm a little worried about that kid."
Plus_Cardiologist497
In the Fire
"Not my child but my grandchild. She was about 3 years old when her parents were expecting another baby. She kept talking about how she was so happy she'll have her sister back once the baby was born. The sister that 'died in a fire before.' At the time she only had an older brother and had never had a sister, let alone one that passed away in a fire."
MaggieMews
Before
"My youngest daughter has always had a fear of the water that’s gotten better as she’s gotten older. But when she was a toddler, it would have been easier to baptize a rabid cat than try to get give her a bath. One night at around age 3, I was doing my routine of trying to get her in the tub to wash off when she said to me 'I scared of the water. It’s how I died before.' Yeah, the bath definitely didn’t happen that night."
bluegrassmommy
Wild
"My grandma used to tell this story all of the time! Apparently when I was a young kid, I saw a big blue lifted truck and began talking about how I used to drive one like that, and I had gotten into a car crash and died at a young age and talked about missing my life. Kids either have wild imaginations, or they remember some stuff from an alternate timeline."
NewToReddit4331
Bye Daddy
Excuse Me No GIF by Late Night with Seth MeyersGiphy"As I was leaving for work, my daughter said 'bye daddy, have a good day. I hope you don't get shot' and then went back to playing with her toys."
BarkingBagel
Kids know jobs are dangerous.
Think
Okaay What GIF by ABC NetworkGiphy"Woke one morning before my alarm went off to my three year old son standing next to my bed. He then says, 'Go back to sleep and think about your life.'"
KJDub6
Dreams
"My son used to say when he was younger that he used to fly around at night. Jumping from lamppost to lamppost in the neighborhood. That it was hard to get there because of the connection to his body through the belly button."
"I would have considered imagination if it weren’t that my dad told me he had the same type of dream when he was little as did I."
felixkatz
The Watcher
"Not my kids but I used to work with toddlers."
"We had one girl who got so upset at changing time. She would cry and say 'No, the man is watching!' When she was on the changing table. She would point to the ceiling tiles (sometimes the wind from the garden door knocked one out of place) and say he was watching."
"Freaked all of us staff out, we all looked but there was definitely no one there. We had to change her on a mat on the floor inside of a stall because she was so upset. We did that for the rest of the year."
"The next years class starts... A little boy (these kids did not know each other at all!) starts crying on the changing table. 'No! The man is watching!' Pointing at the ceiling tiles again. Same situation for the rest of the year. Had to change him in a stall on the floor."
"There was never anyone in the ceiling but it freaked us all out constantly!"
moonchild_86
Oh Timmy
"We were living overseas and the area we lived in had been an old Chinese fishing village. Locals were superstitious about the area because the village had been removed to replace with modern housing and it was supposed to have made the spirits angry. My 5 year old son had an imaginary friend named Timmy but he didn't actually like Timmy. He complained about him so much it got creepy."
"For instance, Timmy didn't like certain people... Timmy told him to misbehave... anything that was misplaced was lost because Timmy took it, etc. I joked that at least we knew Timmy wasn't a ghost because a Chinese kid would not be named Timmy. One day my son drew a picture of Timmy to show me. He labeled it 'Tai Mei.'"
NinaNina1234
Stick with Chicken
Wait What Sudden Realization GIF by Nick JonasGiphy"Went to check on my five year old daughter who was asleep. She rolled on her back, still asleep, and said, 'I must not eat humans, humans aren't food.' Before rolling back over."
tiredandstupid82
Kids are crazy. Thank the Lord I don't have any of my own to terrorize me like this.
Do you have any crazy kid-related stories? Let us know in the comments below.
Curious to know about the types of food that are given more hype than they deserve, Redditor Faihus asked:
"What cuisine do you find highly overrated?"
Unfortunately, many Redditors misunderstood the assignment and named examples that were not a style or method of cooking that represents different countries or establishments.
Nevertheless, here we go.
It's crazy how marketing adds crazy value to edibles that are nothing out of the ordinary.
Fancy Bake
"High-end cupcakes."
– redjack847
Cheap Bake
"Yeah. I would have to agree with that. It may be an unpopular opinion but I still love the Duncan Heinz or Betty Crocker Blueberry Muffin mix. Grew up on that stuff."
– redjack847
Store-Bought Reigns Supreme
"I fail to see what's wrong with a normal cupcake. Hell, even boxed cupcakes are super good. I would rather have 10 delicious boxes cupcakes than one mediocre, overpriced one."
– cbk00
Some people use condiments to enhance a flavor. Others prefer methods that induce an eye-roll.
Mineral Sprinkles
"Gold-flaked cuisine."
– bushbeanbuddy
Aesthetics First
"Gold leaf on food is bullsh*t. It does not add flavour, only makes it look gold and increases the price. If you want to sh*t good like a Lannister, it’s good for that. The instagram food trend is all about looks not taste."
– timesuck897
Snapworthy
"Social media-oriented cuisine, like those milkshakes where they spread chocolate outside the glass. The only point of doing that is looking better on Instagram since it objectively worsens the product"
– anon
Some establishments would do well serving just alcohol.
That, or patrons shouldn't expect much fro the menu at their local watering hole.
Barf-ood
"As an American, any 'American' restaurant eatery without a speciality. It’s all bar food that’s SLIGHTLY better than actual stereotypical bar food (Chili’s, Cheddars, Logan’s etc) Hell, actual bar food is probably better honestly."
– ShadowsCheckmate
Tall Order
"You don’t want an 18 dollar cheeseburger with onion rings and 'our house made barbecue sauce' that you have to unhinge your jaw to eat?"
– guanwho
Sticking To The Basics Is A +
"There’s so many 'brew houses' and 'bistros' where you cant get just a regular cheeseburger. They’ll have a first time chef trying to be fancy but if you can’t make a plain cheeseburger made with upscale ingredients taste really f'king good I guarantee you your bacon jam’d, house made ketchup’d, unripe off season tomato, 3/4 lb patty on a brioche that doesn’t hold together just doesn’t taste that good. And what do you mean you don’t have pickles? The acid is there for a reason. As a veteran of the business it drives me insane."
– pullonmynards
Finally, we were going somewhere with the assignment in reference to naming a cuisine.
Real Italian
"I want to say Italian, but sometimes my italian friend will make something for me and I will eat myself stupid so I think it's probably just americanized italian that I'm not into."
– KittyLord0824
We Need A Re-Introduction
"I told my Italian friend I didn't like Italian food and she almost fell off her chair. I think I've eaten too much domesticated Italian and need some re-centering...for her sake."
– Limelight1981
I can't say with absolute certainty which particular cuisine is overrated, but I can say which type of food is overrated.
Under that scenario, I can say smoothies sold in chain restaurants like Jamba Juice are overrated.
People seem to think that just because they're having a fruit smoothie, it does their bodies good.
Most smoothies are pretty much fruit juices, not actual fruit with fiber, and are loaded with tons of sugar.
They may taste delicious, but that's because all of the added sugars tantalize repeat customers.
Seeing so many locations selling smoothies, in general, makes me question the nutritional value of many of their menu options. But, that's just me.