The English language is bursting with colorful expressions that come from strange and surprising places—and many of them once had literal meanings that the general public has long since forgotten.

THE LIST SHOW
Life is bursting with pairs of commonly confused things—we’ll teach you how to tell a bunch of them apart.
History is full of important protests that legitimately effected change.
Did you know that the direction your dog faces when they poop might be as reliable as a compass? And that Doritos make a great firestarter?
It may be tempting to channel your inner Disney princess and befriend (or at least, attempt to befriend) every animal you come across. But wildlife is always better left alone.
Stop doom scrolling and fill your brain with these fascinating—and utterly random—facts instead.
Need an interesting fact to drop at parties? Look no further.
Medicine has evolved dramatically over the last century, but that doesn’t mean unexplainable medical anomalies have disappeared. We’re covering a few of them in the latest episode of The List Show.
In the latest episode of The List Show, we’re diving deep into a few of our favorite phrasal gaffes, from death nails and tenderhooks to bold-faced lies and beyond.
Don’t be surprised to see wild wallabies hopping around the UK.
In the latest episode of The List Show, we’re covering some eponyms you might not have realized were eponyms, from ‘mesmerize’ to ‘pants.’
From the fastest and biggest animals to the creatures with the strongest schnoz and the longest leap.
We love museums devoted to art, history, and science as much as the next person—but sometimes, our curiosity demands quirkier territory.
What exactly is a flop? To us, it’s something that arrived with great fanfare and big expectations, then ate pavement—hard. We’re covering just a few in the latest episode of The List Show.
In this episode of The List Show, Mental Floss editor-in-chief Erin McCarthy is covering works of art that went missing but were thankfully recovered—in the case of a couple of paintings, twice.
From the long legs of the jerboa to basically everything about the duck-billed platypus, evolution has taken some weird turns.
From breathing to tying your shoes, there are many everyday actions you could be doing differently.
Time capsules can hold anything from historic writings to Diana Ross’s fake eyelash.
These fluffy, scaly, and feathered friends will be missed.
From pirate queens to groundbreaking stunt pilots to the guy who gave us kitty litter, we’re covering a whole bunch of overlooked historical figures in the latest episode of The List Show.
Sometimes, wars end when someone’s kettle gets broken.
If the sun were the size of a basketball, the Earth would be no larger than a pinhead.