mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
A recent trip to the local purveyor of household appliances in search of a blender revealed a startling truth about the names behind the items I was casually perusing: they sounded a lot like torture devices. They also had some pretty amazing visual similarities. This presents an interesting question. Can you tell the difference between a medieval torture device and a food preparation gadget?
Take the quiz: Medieval Torture Device or Bed Bath & Beyond gadget?
Comments (16)
Comment
In The Magazine
Ooh! I was so sure that the “breast ripper” had something to do with poultry…
posted by natlynn on 3-17-2008 at 10:47 am
9 out of 10. Can I blame you for losing my appetite, please? Why did I have to read those awful descriptions? I’d vote for the Lead Sprinkler as the most horrifying, but as a woman I need to go with #1 by default.
Ugh.
posted by Jill on 3-17-2008 at 11:16 am
9/10
Damn breast ripper!
posted by Florida on 3-17-2008 at 11:17 am
Score: 90% (9 out of 10)
Missed Chestnutter - thought it might be another term for #1
posted by KJ on 3-17-2008 at 11:40 am
8/10 Totally thought breast ripper had something to do with chicken, and “serrated spreader” just sounded painful.
posted by Harry on 3-17-2008 at 11:43 am
9/10. Not sure how I feel about that.
posted by kate on 3-17-2008 at 1:03 pm
100%! Yay! I finally got to use my useless knowledge about medieval torture devices! (Thanks to too many trips to Ripley’s Believe it or Not)
posted by Marta on 3-17-2008 at 1:30 pm
9/10, not bad. I’m with you guys, I was sure the breast ripper involved poultry. Is anyone else a little queasy from reading those descriptions? “Ouch” doesn’t even begin to cover it.
posted by Diane on 3-17-2008 at 2:16 pm
Personally, it just makes me very happy that I am a protestant NOW and not during the inquisition!
posted by Ashley on 3-17-2008 at 2:48 pm
@Ashley:
The medieval inquisition (from whence these devices hail, if the source website is accurate) was several hundred years before the Protestant Reformation, so what you’d really want to not be is Jewish.
posted by Ira on 3-17-2008 at 3:24 pm
Can I use the excuse that I didn’t know Bed Bath and Beyond sold stuff for the KITCHEN?
posted by Miss Cellania on 3-17-2008 at 3:41 pm
I should have read the post title as well as the artwork!
posted by Miss Cellania on 3-17-2008 at 3:43 pm
For five months in 2001, I worked in a kitchenwares store until it closed. I took the sign that said “Gadgets.” 100%.
posted by Liz on 3-17-2008 at 4:01 pm
9/10
My best score yet. I spend too much time reading of torture, or at BB&B. I missed Spanish Tickler. The Inquisition was for Jews, Muslims, or other non-Catholics. God bless religion.
posted by gus on 3-17-2008 at 4:44 pm
9/10….not too bad…guess visiting all the torture museums we came across growing up in europe really paid off…the one in amsterdam was quite good i remember…
posted by stef on 3-17-2008 at 6:22 pm
The quiz won’t work for me :(
posted by jae113 on 3-19-2008 at 8:58 am