Big Questions Answered, How and Why

It would take you more than a month to watch the longest movie ever made. Who has time for that?

It’s called the flehmen response, a.k.a. “stinky face.”

A Carl's Jr. opened in New York City in 2018.

The signs and menus look exactly alike, down to that cheery little star. Are they the same restaurant?

This isn't as tough as the whole chicken-and-egg conundrum.

The story behind which orange came first involves Arab trade routes and a bunch of old phrases that mean 'orange apple.'

Many people use the terms interchangeably, but there’s a substantial difference between the two methods of incarceration.

When you're shopping at a flea market, have you ever stopped to wonder how it came by that name?

It’s another in a long line of etymologies that doesn’t have one clear-cut answer, but a few plausible (and interesting) possible explanations.

"Love the Avenger" by Jean Honore Fragonard, circa 1790.

Cupid’s connection to love and romance dates back centuries.

Middle school and junior high are not quite the same.

The two terms describe the period of education between elementary and high school, but middle school and junior high aren’t exactly the same.

If this is what your eyeballs feel like after trying (and failing) to see Magic Eye pictures, you're not alone.

Magic Eye pictures have been called “the world’s most famous—and infamously frustrating—optical illusion.” Here’s what might be going on if you can’t see them.

Ja’Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals makes a catch over Raymond Calais of the Los Angeles Rams during Super Bowl LVI.

For each year’s Super Bowl showdown, manufacturers and retailers will produce and stock two sets of T-shirts, hats, and other merchandise that declares each team the champ. So who gets the losing team’s stuff?

The flight deck has long been known by a peculiar term—one that probably has to do with roosters.

If you’re planning an early February trip to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, you might want to know the difference between groundhogs and gophers.

Before 2003's 'Finding Nemo,' 'Dory fish' were best known by another name. Actually, several other names.

We pay billions for something that comes out of a faucet for pennies. Here’s why.

Linguists have some theories about how Rock, Paper, Scissors is also known as roshambo.

The term is more commonly used on the West Coast, especially in northern California.

A number of factors go into the price of truffles.

To figure out a little bit about why truffles are so expensive, Mental Floss talked to Vittorio Giordano, the Vice President and Truffle Guru at Urbani Truffles USA.

Iodized salt helped curb a thyroid concern in the '20s.

It could prevent you from developing a goiter, for one thing.

Eyebrows are the Swiss Army knife of the human face.

AriZona iced tea is holding the line on price.

AriZona's enormous vats of iced tea are cheaper than pure water. What kind of sorcery is this?

‘Possum’ and ‘opossum’ are sometimes synonyms—but sometimes they refer to different animals. (Also, there’s a chance you've been pronouncing ‘opossum’ wrong all along.)