MF Explains It All

It used to be a little harder to keep track of, and not just because you couldn’t Google “When is Thanksgiving?”

As anyone who has seen ‘A Christmas Story’ knows, licking a cold metal object can be dangerous. Here’s why you should never stick your tongue to a metal pole in winter.

Mary Janes have an early-20th-century comic strip to thank for their name.

President Obama departing the White House on January 20, 2016.

Inauguration Day isn’t just a matter of scheduling—presidential term limits are exactly four years, down to the hour.

Whether you love canned cranberry sauce or hate it, the way it’s packaged is pretty brilliant.

As with many words, we have Latin to thank.

Grandfather clocks often become family heirlooms.

The imposing clocks have an origin story, but it doesn't have much to do with any actual grandfathers.

You can save this one for the next time someone makes you mad (though it might not do you any favors, either).

This common phrase is often used during times of political uncertainty, and has even been described as an ancient Chinese curse. History says otherwise, though.

“Fido” is a name that has become synonymous with all things dog. But where did the name come from?

Nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas) is a common anesthetic that only requires a mask over the mouth and nose.

Anesthesia is a complex mixture of medications that lessen pain during procedures. Different types affect the body in different ways.

Alexander Hamilton argued that lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court were the only way, but some modern scholars disagree.

Here are the differences between green onions or scallions (left) and chives (right).

One of these things is not like the others.

A hearse with S-shaped bars in place of back windows.

Those evocative scrolls you see on hearses actually have a name—and going back in the 1800s, they actually served an important purpose.

It’s common for many little kids to go through a “dinosaur phase.” Here’s why.

One theory suggests that we call liquor “spirits” because of alcohol’s association with one spirit in particular: the Holy Spirit. But there are other possible origins.