Mental Floss

BIG QUESTIONS

Getty Images

Super Bowl XLVIII is this weekend, and both teams have already selected their designated uniforms for the occasion. But have you ever wondered why we call these athletic garments “jerseys” in the first place?

Mark Mancini
Scott Olson / Staff, Getty Images News

“Squatter’s rights” isn’t a list of specific rights, but refers to a specific form of adverse possession, a legal principle that we inherited from England and has been around, in one form or another, for ages.

Matt Soniak
ThinkStock

Leaving aside for now the few foreign loanwords (e.g., Qatar, Iraq) where Q shows up without a U, an English Q is the only letter that can't go anywhere without a partner. Why does a Q always need a U? We can blame it on a whole bunch of our alphabetic an

Arika Okrent


ThinkStock

Kind of. Boredom won’t directly kill you on its own, but it does make it more likely that a handful of other things will put you six feet under.

Matt Soniak


iStock / zoom-zoom

The term is mainly used figuratively today, but in the past it depended on whom you asked as different cultures gave different answers.

Matt Soniak


iStock

Facial hair is a symbol of virility and wisdom (not to mention a wonderful enhancement to a male body). But that doesn't mean a man who suffers from boy face—meaning, he can't cultivate a beard—isn't wise or manly. So why can't some men grow facial hair?

College Weekend


iStock/maximkabb

From reality TV shows to The Beach Boys’ croons of Aruba and Jamaica, references to honeymoons are everywhere. But where did the term "honeymoon" first come from?

DeAnna Kerley


ThinkStock

When we pull an all-nighter to study for a test or put together a presentation, we assure ourselves we’ll just make it up later—but can you really catch up on lost sleep?

Caisey Robertson


Thinkstock

If you’ve got a receding hairline, don’t be so quick to blame it on your baseball caps or your grandpa.

DeAnna Kerley


Thinkstock

When it comes to buying canned vegetables, we usually find the same handful of choices: peas, beans, corn, carrots, beets, tomatoes. Why don’t we see broccoli or green peppers in a handy-dandy can?

Kara Kovalchik


Thinkstock

We’ve all heard it before: A deafening squeal coming from the speakers at a concert or event that causes everyone in the audience to plug their fingers in their ears and shout, “Make it stop!”

Sean Hutchinson
ThinkStock

Winter is officially here, and for those of you at more northern latitudes, you know what that means: snow and ice. And while walking in a winter wonderland is certainly wonderful, slipping and sliding can mean some nasty injuries.

DeAnna Kerley
Thinkstock

Birthday cakes have been a tradition since the Ancient Romans were around, and celebrating someone’s birth with a delicious pastry seems pretty logical. But have you ever wondered who the first pyromaniac was to light a cake on fire?

DeAnna Kerley




Thinkstock

There’s only one thing in this world shaped like an egg. Not exactly spherical, not exactly an oval, it’s kind of hard to describe what an egg looks like. “Asymmetric tapered oval”? Sure, why not.

DeAnna Kerley




ThinkStock

The concept of the “Happy Hour” isn’t merely a marketing strategy, and the history of hitting the sauce at half price has a surprisingly strong—if not varied—connection to American history.

Sean Hutchinson
Thinkstock

If, for whatever reason, you long to wed somebody who’s already departed for the great beyond, your local government might just be willing to oblige … depending on where you live, and if you meet certain criteria.

Mark Mancini