Mental Floss

BIG QUESTIONS

'Organic' doesn't necessarily mean 'healthy.'

To be certified as organic, farmers can’t use prohibited synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or hormones for three full years before applying. Further, any animals they have must be raised on organic foods.

the mag








Now you know.

The abbreviations are widely understood as “morning” and “afternoon,” but what do the Latin translations actually mean?

Ellen Gutoskey








Once upon a time, there used to be B batteries, but they’re not manufactured anymore. Here’s why they disappeared from shelves.

Matt Soniak
Which is which?

Though they’re technically the same animal, there’s an important difference between pigs and hogs. Boars are a different story altogether.

Michele Debczak




Sending out an SOS.

You know it's a distress signal, but what does it actually stand for? A lot of people think it's an abbreviation for “save our souls.” (It's not.)

Matt Soniak


Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin described the guillotine's effect as being “Like a cool breath on the back of the neck.” Anne Boleyn would likely disagree.

Jake Rossen


Everybunny wants to know why we call rabbits “bunnies.”

When it comes to abbreviations for animal names, doggy for dog makes sense, as does kitty for cat, when you think about it: Kitty comes from the word kitten. But where does bunny for rabbit come from?

Kara Kovalchik
English is an outlier in this regard.

Some languages capitalize several of their pronouns. Some don’t capitalize any of them. English just capitalizes ‘I’—but why?

Matt Soniak