Mental Floss

From The Archive









By some accounts, the average person owns 19 pairs of shoes. But it’s not just our closets that are overflowing with sneakers, loafers, pumps, and wedges. It’s also our vocabulary.

John Kelly


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Chances are if you’ve ever learned a language you’ll have stumbled across a few false friends—words that look (but don't necessarily sound) similar in two different languages, but differ entirely in their meanings.

Paul Anthony Jones














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The U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC, pronounced: JAY-sock) is best known for the Osama bin Laden raid. But it has long served as the president's secret army, planning and executing the most dangerous, highly classified missions of the United S

David W Brown