Why Certain British Women Don't Wear Coats

Evidently, a major stereotype among people of the British Isles is how young ladies from the Northeast part of the country are seemingly impervious to the cold. "Geordies," as the lasses are called round hereabouts, are wont to line up for clubs and pubs skimpily attired in naught but their "glad rags," totally inappropriate for the frigid Northeast elements.

And I thought it was just American teenagers.

In any case, scientists at Newcastle, UK's International Centre for Life have decided to get to the bottom of this mystery "“ they've designed an experiment to determine whether or not there's a genetic basis for the apparent thick-skinned nature of the Northern ladies, or if its simply a deeply ingrained cultural habit. Local ladies will be asked to fill out a survey on their habits of cold-weather attiring, including what it would take, weather-wise, to force a Geordie lady to wear a coat. Scientists will also be perusing the clubs, attempting to quantify the coatless.

Other studies have shown that people in the north of the British Isles consume greater percentages of fat in their diets than those in the South "“ could more insulation possibly be the source of their apparent ability to laugh in the face of frigid temperatures? Trust science to sort it out.

Linda Rodriguez is a regular contributor to mental_floss. She just moved to London, so you can look forward to more dispatches like this.