useless facts

[Ostfriese]

The German language allows to chain nouns together to form new nouns, and in theory there's no limit, so basically you can chain as many nouns together as you want.

Officially, the longest German word is Grundstücksverkehrsgenehmigungszuständigkeitsübert ragungsverordnung with 67 letters, a legal term not commonly used in everyday- language.It contains the nouns

Grundstück (a plot of land)
Verkehr (traffic)
Genehmigung (approval/permission)
Zuständigkeit (responsibility/competency)
Übertragung (transfer)
Verordnung (legal decree).

For the first five an "s" is added to show the genitive case.

The word roughly translates as "decree which regulates the transfer of responsibilty for permitting traffic on a plot of land".


Edit: for some reason the forum added an empty space in the word after the 50th letter - don't ask me why.

[Jimbuna]

Baby kangaroos are born the size of an inch.

[fireftr18]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Being gassy is normal.

It is considered normal to pass gas 6 to 20 times a day. The average person passes gas around fifteen times a day.

Finally, I found something I'm way above average on.

[Sean C]

[Jimbuna]

The little finger contributes 50% of our hand strength.

[Platapus]

Canadians say “sorry” so much that a law was passed in 2009 declaring that an apology can’t be used as evidence of admission to guilt.






A similar law was passed in the US. A common US phrase can't be used as evidence that the person actually had sex with their mother.

[Ostfriese]

A large container ship (like the one in Baltimore), which has a mass of 100,000 metric tons, moving at 5 knots has a kinetic energy of about 312 MJ.

That's about the same amount of kinetic energy a typical SUV (about 1.5 metric tons) has at Mach 1.9 (slightly more than 2300 km/h or 1437 mph).


(The ship that crashed into the bridge in Baltimore looks bigger, fully loaded it will very likely be closer to 150,000 metric tons).

[Jimbuna]

The webs of spiders were once used as bandages.

[Platapus]

If a Polar Bear and a Grizzly Bear mate, their offspring is called a “Pizzy Bear.”

[Jimbuna]

There is a quick way to escape the grip of a crocodile.

Experts state that the best way to escape a crocodile is to poke its eyes. The pain can distract the crocodile long enough for it to loosen its grip and for you to escape.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

There is a quick way to escape the grip of a crocodile.

Experts state that the best way to escape a crocodile is to poke its eyes. The pain can distract the crocodile long enough for it to loosen its grip and for you to escape.

The best way to escape a crocodile is to reach behind you and start flinging that rather large pile of poop that appeared behind you

[Platapus]

A single strand of Spaghetti is called a “Spaghetto.”

[Jimbuna]

Mosquitoes are unable to penetrate silk.

[Platapus]

The scientific name for Giant Anteater is Myrmecophaga Tridactyla. This means “ant eating with three fingers.”

[Jimbuna]

A tomb found in London is said to be a time machine.

One of the tombs in the Brompton Cemetary has an en entryway that features a keyhole. However, the key to this chamber has been lost for years.

Local legend believes that there is a secret in this chamber due to the gold Egyptian hieroglyphs that is decorated on the door. This has lead others to believe that it may be a time machine or a time chamber of some sort.