25 One-Word Answers to Very Important Questions

By Ethan Trex |

The cover story for the new issue of mental_floss magazine is The Most Important Questions of 2012. To tide you over until you get your hands on a copy, here are 25 very short answers to very big questions.

1. How do South Koreans get kids to stop studying?

Police.

2. What's the difference between lava and magma?

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Location.

3. What’s the best way to figure out how your tattoo will age?

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Math.

4. What makes New York bagels so tasty?

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Poaching.

5. What’s the biggest downside of an all-beer diet?

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Scurvy.

6. Can soap get dirty?

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Yes.

7. Why do coins make your hands smell funny?

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Iron.

8. What made the AK-47 so popular?

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Reliability.

9. Legally, are tomatoes fruits or vegetables?

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Veggies.

10. How many rupees will a yeti-hunting permit set you back?

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5000.

11. What dog might steal Mary Poppins’ gig?

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Pits!

12. What’s the sound of one hand clapping?

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“Pwwwft.”

13. What’s the oddest thing Antarctica recycles?

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Dreams.

14. What's the name of the space between your thumb and other fingers?

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Purlicue.

15. How would an OCD person prefer to see a pine tree?

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Deconstructed.

16. Have Archie and Jughead ever railed against sinners?

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Yup.

17. What happens when ants wear stilts?

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Confusion.

18. Can you have a two-way conversation with a severed head?

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OK.

19. What’s the neatest thing you can buy for $600,000?

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Submarines.

20. Who’s the weirdest person Barbara Bush ever apologized to?

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Marge.

21. What do you give cold chickens?

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Cardigans.

22. Is this milk still good?

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Probably.

23. Credit, Debit or Paypal: What's the safest way to pay online?

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Credit.

24. What company was Steve Jobs happy Apple appeared before in the phone book?

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Atari.

25. How many ingredients are in the McRib?

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70!

Bonus: Where can I get a free issue of mental_floss magazine?

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Here!

South Korea image credit: Xinhua /Landov; Lava image via Shutterstock; Tattoo image via Joe/Discover; Beer image via Shutterstock; Soap image via Shutterstock; Coins image via Shutterstock; AK-47 image credit: Ed Darack/Science Faction/Corbis; Tomato image via Shutterstock; Hand image via Shutterstock; Deconstructed pine image via Ursus Wehrli; Severed head image via Shutterstock; Money image via Shutterstock; Online shopping image via Shutterstock