Mental Floss

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The origins of the 1940s phrase 'cooking with gas' aren't clear-cut.

If you want to know what it was like to strike up a casual conversation in this mid-20th-century decade, we’re going to tell it like it is—with a list of the words and phrases any eager beaver would know well. Ready to find out what’s buzzin’, cousin?

Kate Schweitzer










Amazon warehouse employees have some stories to tell.

Current and former Amazon fulfillment center associates talk everything from the perils of shipping kitty litter to sharing work space with artificial intelligence: “The robots will not stop for anything.”

Jake Rossen


You might want to give those 'Born in the U.S.A.' lyrics another look.

Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the U.S.A.' isn't the patriotic anthem you think it is, and it turns out that 'Gangnam Style' has a real message behind it.

Erik van Rheenen, Scott Beggs




How did ‘Scrabble’'s makers decide how many points each letter was worth? It started with an unemployed architect during the Great Depression, and it has stayed the same ever since.

Ellen Gutoskey








Coffin bread, Taiwanese nostalgia wrapped in a deep-fried bread bowl. / 54613 / Shutterstock

In this episode of "Food History," host Justin Dodd tells us the story of coffin bread—a dish that is not nearly as morbid as its name suggests.

Bethel Afful