Big Questions Answered, How and Why

If you're a human of average size, taking a bath isn't always as relaxing as it sounds—especially when your legs are sticking halfway out of the water. The problem? Bathtubs are too small. But why?

Empathy’s definition originally described the relationship between humans and objects. Now, it’s much less straightforward.

Honey can spend years in a pantry without spoiling because bees are very diligent when it comes to food safety.

Rock salt can damage concrete driveways.

Millions of people treat slippery surfaces with rock salt, but it can wind up doing your driveway a lot more harm than good.

If they're not sitting at a desk all day, they might be a blue-collar worker.

White collar jobs are purportedly better paying and more respectable than blue collar jobs—here’s how that came to be.

JLGutierrez/iStock via Getty Images Plus

When you have a great idea, do you copyright, trademark, or patent it? Well, it all depends on what kind of idea it is.

As potholes go, this one is pretty photogenic.

Potholes are the bane of drivers everywhere. Unfortunately, not much can be done to prevent them from forming.

Your favorite ASMR playlist probably isn’t true white noise—or brown noise or pink noise, for that matter.

A medical professional does the vaccination; your body does the immunization.

If we’re being pedantic here (and we are), ‘vaccination’ and ‘immunization’ shouldn't be used interchangeably.

Screaming out "gimme!" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

American football is home to a lot of nonsensical terminology, but 'hut' has a fairly clear origin.

Even if the sidewalk outside your home isn't your property, you still may have to shovel it after a snowstorm.

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), NOAA

Nor’easters have earned their reputation for wreaking havoc on land. But what qualifies a storm as a nor’easter?

This man does not appear to be occupying a wagon.

'Fall off the wagon,' which is typically used to describe someone who has begun drinking alcohol after a period of abstinence, does not actually involve anyone tumbling off a horse-drawn carriage.

If you call a buzzard a vulture in the UK, be prepared to get some strange looks. There is a difference between the two birds of prey.

Miranda is an important character in Shakespeare's The Tempest, but she's not the titular role.

The definition of ‘eponymous’ has changed over time, and ‘titular’ has more than one. Here’s how to use each word correctly.

You can chalk it up to hormone changes, but your genes aren’t so innocent when it comes to hair color.

Bagels and bialys are often lumped together. They're both round, chewy, and are sold in shops around New York City. But these two staples of Jewish delicatessen cuisine differ in some major ways.