Fast facts


Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 6, 2005

Things you've always never wanted to know

  • If you lace your shoes from the inside to the outside the fit will be snugger around your big toe.

  • Only one-third of the people who can twitch their ears can twitch only one at a time.

  • The expression "What in tarnation" comes from the original meaning: "What in eternal damnation."

  • Only two states' names begin with double consonants: Florida and Rhode Island.

  • The volume of the Earth's moon is the same as the volume of the Pacific Ocean.

  • Ingrown toenails are hereditary.

  • The Cincinnati Reds baseball team name was officially changed to the Redlegs during the anti-communist movement.

  • Winston Churchill was born in a ladies restroom during a dance.

  • "Xmas" does not begin with the Roman letter "X." It begins with the Greek letter "chi," which was used in medieval manuscripts as an abbreviation for the word "Christ."

  • The ampersand (&) is actually a stylized version of the Latin word "et," meaning "and."

  • The most common name in the world is "Mohammed."

  • On the cartoon show "The Jetsons," Jane is 33 years old and her daughter Judy is 15.

  • The word "set" has more definitions than any other word in the English language.

  • The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It To Beaver. " Wally and Beaver had a baby alligator, which they kept in the toilet.

  • In the great fire of London in 1666, half of London was burnt down but only six people were injured.

  • The most eastern part of the western world is located in Ilomantsi, Finland.

  • "Hara kiri" is an impolite way of saying the Japanese word "seppuku" which means, literally, "belly splitting."

  • The term "the Boogey Man will get you" comes from the Boogey people, who still inhabit an area of Indonesia. These people still act as pirates today and attack ships that pass. Thus the term "if you don't watch out the Boogey man will get you" spread.