Mental Floss

BIG QUESTIONS

Bowling shoes might be gross, but they're also necessary.

Bowling shoes aren't top-line kicks, but they do more to keep you safe than you might think.

The silhouette on the NBA logo—a player dribbling and swiveling between a red and blue background—is Lakers legend Jerry West. But how does he benefit, if at all?

Not as fun as "Ahoy."

If it were up to Alexander Graham Bell, we probably wouldn’t.

Though you can use them interchangeably in recipes, canola oil and vegetable oil are not the same thing.

Queen Elizabeth II

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21, 1926. But having a second birthday is one of the many reasons why it's good to be the queen.

Does the 'Mona Lisa' have eyebrows? It's puzzled experts.

Her forehead seems strangely free of follicles.

This one is a tough code to crack.

These color-coding labels don’t exactly say what they mean—but you can make some educated guesses.

Broccoli rabe isn't the same as broccoli, but once you know how to treat it, you can cook it just as easily.

It's often a bit cozier than this.

Semi truck sleeper cabs can be much more tricked out than you might expect.

Whether you say 'car-mel' or 'car-a-mel', your pronunciation of 'caramel' is technically correct.

Pucker your mouth when you eat something sour? You're not the only one.

If you can't resist puckering your mouth when you lick a lemon or snack on Sour Patch Kids, you can thank evolution.

This guy won't come take your Oscar away.

Will Smith’s AMPAS resignation prompted a lot of questions about resignee privileges. Here are some answers.

Do kids these days even know what this is?

And what do ‘AM’ and ‘FM’ stand for, anyway?

There's nothing subtle about it.

A special ingredient helps sour candy pack a mouth-puckering punch.

Like a game of Russian roulette for your taste buds.

From rotten eggs to stinky socks, the most bizarre Jelly Belly flavors often seem to come out of nowhere. Here’s how the brand actually creates those weird jelly beans.

Softballs aren't soft.

If you’ve ever picked up a softball, you probably realized that the name is a misnomer.

Spick *and* span? In this economy?

‘Spick’ doesn’t mean ‘clean.’ And ‘span’ doesn’t mean ‘clean.’ So what’s going on here?

Truckers like to use headlights to 'talk' to other drivers.

If you notice a truck driver flashing their lights, they're likely trying to communicate some important information about the road ahead.

It's easy to make a case for The Nile as the longest river in the world, but measuring a river isn't that easy.

It’s an issue so complicated that river length isn't even considered a useful measure anymore.

It's Chick-fil-A's pleasure to serve you.

If you say “my pleasure” before your Chick-fil-A cashier has a chance to utter it, you won’t score free food.

People like to get bright and whimsical with their Easter bonnets.

Western culture has linked Easter with new threads for centuries.

Gas prices in California keep soaring.

The cost of gasoline at the pump is up across the United States, but no state appears to be feeling the sting more than California.

Trucks need to be weighed because the DOT says so.

There are two main reasons: taxation and safety.

Yeah, we're not so sure about those toppings, either.

You can thank the cardboard industry.