The mind is an amazing muscle. The amount of information it holds is awe inspiring. Why is it that sometimes one can solve the answer to a historical question (like who created bread) but can't remember how to change a tire? Knowledge is power and useless knowledge is abundant and always at the ready. If you are that person brimming with mundane facts... get yourself to Jeopardy!
Redditor u/ReverseFlash_94 wanted everyone to divulge all the information our minds have downloaded that seems to be useful if we end up on 'Jeopardy' by asking.... What is your most useless fact?Hey J....
Michael J Fox Waiting GIF by Back to the Future TrilogyGiphyMichael J. Fox's middle name is Andrew.
I before O
Confetti is the plural word, the singular is confetto.
Oh, like how macaroni is plural and the singular is macaronous.
Say what you Mean
The term "third world country" refers to countries not allied with NATO or the USSR during the Cold war, not developing nations.
Like the word "literally" literally meaning "figuratively," and only figuratively meaning "literally."
Or "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" originally being a saying to demonstrate how impossible something is, but now being considered (by some, at least) the standard for how hard-working a person should be.
What about a Hiney?
sexy the simpsons GIFGiphyA "butt" is a unit of measurement equivalent to 126 gallons. So if you claim that you have a buttload of something, you better have 126 gallons of that something.
Thanks Bill
Bluegrass music isn't named after the type of grass.
It's named after Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys (the original blue grass band the category comes from)
It's interesting... but I haven't found a use for it.
Dumbo is Lucky
timothy q mouse disney GIFGiphyElephants can move their skin to crush mosquitoes between their rolls.
Wish I could do that. Lord knows I have the rolls.
The List is Long...
Oh boy do I have a few! I collect these!
- A chinchillas fur is so thick it can suffocate fleas
- Cows have best friends and accents!
- The human nose is one of the best predictors of when its going to rain because it can pick up its scent
- The reason zebras are black and white is for camouflage! Their main predators are lions which are black and white color blind! Seeing a moving wave of stripes makes it harder to single out one sole zebra to focus on!
- The human brain has the consistency of soft butter and is mostly water which is why staying hydrated is so important
- There are such things as underwater lakes. Water meets another liquid which has a different density creating the illusion of a lake under water. Think oil and water. You should honestly look up pictures they look amazing.
- Squirrels have been known to adopt other squirrels babies if they have been abandoned!
- The reason dogs look to their owns when they poop is because they feel scared and vulnerable and like knowing your keeping an eye out
- Albino plants exist! However, they are really rare and often don't survive due to the chlorophyll (which makes plants green) being necessary for photosynthesis
- Popcorn was an accident! I don't remember the details but essentially they were trying to eat the kernels but couldn't so they said they were useless and threw them away into the fire. Boom. Popcorn. Honestly_Done
Go Fish
sushi GIFGiphy'Sushi grade' fish isn't a real thing.
Fish grading is a real process, but it's to do with weight and size, and it doesn't go C, B, A, Sushi.
Here comes the Sun
The diameter of the sun is roughly 400 times that of the moon but it's also approximately 400 times farther away from earth. These two things cancel each other out and, with astronomical odds, they end up looking the same size from earth.
King Shot
elvis love GIFGiphyI learned this yesterday that Elvis was asked in 1956 before going on the Ed Sullivan show if he'd get a polio vaccine in front of cameras, that photo was put in newspapers nation wide. There was a vaccination gap in teens of the time they were not getting it, that photo caused I believe a 15+% increase in the total vaccinated population of the US.
Centered
- The center hole of a CD/DVD/BD is based on the Dutch 10 cent coin called dubbeltje.
- The dubbeltje was the smallest coin in the world until it was replaced by the Euro. AncientMumu
Twisted
Death Becomes Her 80S Movies GIF by absurdnoiseGiphyIt takes a full three rotations to remove the human head due to the elasticity of skin.
So Much Knowledge
You're more likely to die on the way to buy a lottery ticket than to win the jackpot.
You're nose is always in view but your brain blocks it out.
Homosexuality occurs in 90% of known species, none more than spiders who are predominantly homosexual rather than heterosexual like most species.
In Harry Potter all pure blood wizard families follow naming schemes and are closely related and accidental incest was caught on an official family tree JK Rowling made for Pottermore.
Following Dinner
Crows are symbols of death because they followed the soldiers to war because they knew that there would be something to eat afterwards.
Cars Then?
easy rider motorcycles GIFGiphyIt's illegal to have sex on a parked motorcycle in London.
The Family Süd
The store Aldi was founded by two brothers in Germany. At one point, they had a falling out, and the store was split into two different corporations - Aldi Nord (north) and Aldi Süd (south). As you might guess, you can find Aldi Nord in northern Germany, and Aldi Süd in southern Germany. The Aldi that exists in the US is owned by Aldi Nord. For trademark reasons (I believe), Aldi Süd was unable to come to the US and call itself Aldi. However, Trader Joe's is owned by Aldi Süd.
In Time
A second is called a second because it is the 2nd division of the hour by 60 (pars minuta secunda), the 1st division being a minute (pars minuta prima).
Mhmmmm.....
GiphyThe phrase "I told you so".
- It is a fact since you told me.
- The fact that you told me doesn't help me at all which makes it a useless fact. Boring_Youth3531
How about Bare?
Bears were not always called bears. The word bear was used as a placeholder name for the animal; as medieval folk thought that saying the real name of the animal would cause one to appear. The original name for a bear has since been lost and no one knows what it was.
Falling
squirrels GIF by CheezburgerGiphySquirrels can fall from any height and not get hurt. It something to do with their terminal velocity.
Squirrels can fall from any height up to about 4800 miles, because they are able to spread out their body, which slows their terminal velocity to a slow enough fall that they survive. The only reason they can't survive from 4800 miles is that they will starve to death (assuming they were somehow managing to fall at terminal velocity towards earth, since that is in the frigid cold that is space).
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Unlike introverts who tend to shy away from engaging in random discussions, those who are comfortable–or too comfortable–in their own skin love to get all chatty.
That doesn't mean they have anything significant to say.
"What’s the weirdest thing someone casually told you as if it were totally normal?"
People whom you don't know tend to overshare as these Redditors experienced.
A High Request
"A story from a friend - in Colorado, someone once asked, 'Could you watch my wolves, I can pay you in weed.'"
"There's a lot to unpack in that question!"
– surlymoe
"You don't unpack wolves, you keep them together."
– hwarang_
Unsolicited Prediction
"Husband (30) and I were pushing our shopping cart out of the grocery store when a random man (who honestly looked like dumbledore) looked at my husband and said 'take my hat, you're gonna need it, you'll be bald very soon.' Obviously my husband didn't take it. It was super odd of him to say because my husband had a FULL head of hair."
"Three months later, my husband was diagnosed with a condition that made him lose all of his hair. Weird coincidence."
– hollyjollyaf
Self-Casting
"A guy once told me how he loved the feeling of wearing casts, so he'd put casts on himself- for days or weeks on end. Even if it meant he couldn't drive and would be stuck at home the entire time. He'd use vacation time just to wear full leg & arm casts."
– Present_Dust_2308
Homophobic Homosexual
A homophobic guy I know: 'Being gay is a choice.'"
"I said something like - ok, choose to be gay for a day, an hour, a single minute if you can."
"Guy - That's easy, I'm attracted to men all the time, I just choose to only like girls because I'm not gay."
"Me - Ummm..."
– discostud1515
Longheld Grudge
"Once, an older woman came up to me on the street, took hold of my wrists and simply said 'they ripped out my afterbirth', and then carried on walking."
– JennyW93
"It's strange to grab strangers. But one day in Walmart, my granny walked ahead of me, and reached to grab me to show me something, without looking and she was pulling on an old lady's arm obliviously, and the old lady's eyes were like O.O."
"My grandma didn't even apologize, she just let go and yelled at me to stay closer."
– chzygorditacrnch
A Hairdresser-In-Training
"I was getting my hair done this last weekend by my daughter at her cosmetology school. One of her fellow students was excited to meet me. She talked nonstop and eventually told me that she has hemorrhoids and that she has her husband push them back in. So much TMI from a stranger!"
– Digjam823
You never know about the personal lives of people you see on a regular basis.
Squeaky Clean
"I had a college professor on the first day of class say that she is obsessed with Q-tips and cleaning her ears and that her family has to limit her to 3 a day-"
– lokeilou
Here's The Story...
"That they have 6 kids, all with different dads & each dad is in prison."
– ChyCgx2
"I once had a coworker who had seven kids with five different women and he'd constantly complain about how most of his paycheck went to child support. You uh, dug your own grave, pal. I'm really not sympathetic to your plight."
– apocalypticradish
It's the end of the world as we know it.
End Of Civilization
"I know a guy, we don't talk often but due to business we cross paths on occasion. More or less every time we talk he asks if I'm ready for the total societal collapse coming next week, or Tuesday, or at the end of the month.. and so on."
"I just tell him that it's not gonna happen; he usually then asks about my "crystal ball" so I remind him that I've been right every time."
– rkpjr
Zombie Apocalypse
"I went to a ComicCon type event in my city years ago(Walking Dead was a new show, first season for reference) and went to a panel about zombies. They talked about historical zombie lore, the first zombie movies, and the exciting first season of the new show Walking Dead, with some actors on the panel. When they opened it up to the audience for questions one of the first ones was, 'what kind of zombies do you predict we’ll have in a real zombie apocalypse? (Fast vs slow)'…panelists don’t really know how to answer, each gives their personal favorite or worst case scenario. Then we get to, 'What do you think the timeline is for the start of a coming zombie apocalypse?' Panelists are kind of like….? Talk about how things usually play out fiction."
“'No, but exactly WHEN do you think we’ll need to be fully prepared for zombies in real life?' Like, guys, these are actors and media studies academics, first of all they don’t have the level of belief you do and second, the people you should be asking about this stuff are probably biologists."
– AlternativeAcademia
Whenever I feel threatened by a homeless person who is pressuring me to hand over them cash, I tell them, "I''m allergic to corn."
The random phrase throws them and in the brief moment they assess what they heard I'm afforded more time to distance myself from them.
It always works, especially when they realize I'm all kinds of crazy and not worth targeting.
The Most Ridiculous Things Someone Said With A Totally Straight Face