MF Explains It All

Impress your crafty friends by actually knowing how their sewing equipment works.

The fabric strawberry is more than just a cute accessory to an already cute accessory. It also serves as an important tool.

Everyone here is someone's late someone.

There’s a historical reason, but there may be a social one as well.

This American icon has become a rare sight.

Consumer tastes have shifted over the past 20 years.

You ‘aught’ to know the answer of this question.

Suggestions for what to call the period of time from 2000–2009 ranged from ‘the nillies’ and ‘the oh-ohs’ to ‘the double zeroes’ and ‘the noughties.’ So how’d we land on ‘the aughts’?

Pick-up truck beds have surprising versatility.

Pick-up truck beds are here to make your life easier—if you know how to use them.

This is what Amelia Bedelia would picture.

Eggs aren’t the only things you can devil.

The United States sees more tornadoes than anywhere else on the planet. Geography explains why.

It's what every shower-taker dreads—but it doesn't have to be this way.

Even this cricket wants to know the answer.

Cricket chirps can reach 100 decibels. So why do we use them as a byword for ‘silence’?

‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ is a fairy tale with a long history. But Goldilocks as we know her didn‘t originally appear in the popular children‘s story.

These balls actually do serve a purpose.

If you thought the fluorescent marker balls had something to do with increasing visibility, you were right.

Tennis balls are always under pressure to perform.

The key to holding court? A fresh can of tennis balls.

You’ve likely heard at least one tale that starts with the line.

‘Once Upon a Time’ appears in many fairy tales and stories. The phrase has a long history and a practical narrative purpose.

Jacqueline Anders/Moment/Getty Images (cat), Jon Mayer/Mental Floss (thought bubble)

According to experts, the answer is a lot shorter than you may think.

Code-switching goes beyond language—here's what it means and why it happens.

The concave circles built into the sides of plastic milk jugs are an important part of their design.

Horizontal lines run across the rear glass on most cars. Here's why.

Grasshopper on the left, swarm of locusts on the right

All locusts are grasshoppers, but not all grasshoppers are locusts.

Jack Sprat could refer to two historical royals.

Although “Jack Sprat” may not be in the nursery rhyme limelight, the two theories behind its meaning—both of which involve royalty—are just as interesting as the origins of better-known rhymes.

As brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie on ‘SCTV,’ actors Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas made ‘hoser’ popular—and there are plenty of theories about the word’s origin.