Wednesday, 20 May 2020

Looney Facts repost from 2011

Here is a list of seemingly looney facts. Can you spot the one that 's not true?
  • Japanese research has concluded that moderate drinking can boost IQ levels.
  • The fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth is called Arachibutyrophobia.
  • Macadamia nuts are not sold in their shells because it takes 300 pounds per square inch of pressure to break the shell.
  • Florida: An elephant tied to a parking meter must pay the regular parking fee.
  • In Samoa, it is illegal to forget your wife's birthday.
  • In Alabama it is illegal to stab yourself to gain someone's pity.
  • In the UK it is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.
  • Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
  • London taxis (black cabs) must carry a bale of hay and a sack of oats.
  • Descendants of Sweeney Todd, the cannibalistic barber, founded a sausage factory in Somerset, England after the First World War.
  • The word "queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.
  • Queen Elizabeth Ist regarded herself as a paragon of cleanliness. She declared that she bathed once every three months, whether she needed it or not.
  • An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
These facts have all been verified by the Internet....so they must be true! Answers at the weekend.
I'm listening to Dion & The Belmonts singing Ruby Baby, one of the all-time great rock and roll songs. Listen here.

7 comments:

  1. Hello Bazza, Nice to see your post. I didn't think that Sweeney Todd was real, so I'll guess that one. About the macadamia nuts, I have purchased them in the shell, but the thick shells are partially sawn through, and each bag is provided with a steel key to wrench the nuts open.
    --Jim

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  2. Queen Elizabeth I was indeed regarded as a paragon of cleanliness. Her staff bathed once every month, whether she needed it or not :)

    [And I spell loony without an e].

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  3. Hi Bazza - these are some great ideas ... yet so much is often written into county/provincial rules and government regulations ... so the elephant one ... but I'm sure I'm wrong - take care and good to see a post - Hilary

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  4. Thanks everyone. I shall refrain from commenting until the weekend!

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  5. Jim (Parnassus) was right - Sweeny Todd is a fictitious character!

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  6. Those are some peculiar facts! I remember hearing about the elephant in Florida. I wonder what inspired that rule?

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  7. Sherry: I would guess that it's an interpretation of a law that says anything you leave in the space must be paid for!

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