10 things you didn't know you didn't know

[Dee]

1. It is impossible to lick your elbow.

2. A crocodile can't stick its tongue out.

3. A shrimp's heart is in its head.

4. In a study of 200,000 ostriches, over a period of 80 years, no one reported a single case where an ostrich buried its head in the sand.

5. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.

6. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

7. More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.

8. Horses can't vomit.

9. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have more than a million descendants.

10. The "sixth sick sheiks’ sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.

[Rkitko]

haha, good ones, Dee.

I wonder if I'm the only one that tried to do #1 after reading it. :confused:

And #6 isn't exactly right. Goldfish are egg-layers, so technically no pregnancy occurs. It could refer to them when they're egg-laden. Check this website for an amusing discussion of the term: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020329.html

[Bat]

Thanks, RKitko, for a very funny article! I actually laughed out loud a few times, which is delightful when one is all alone! Tee Hee.

[Dee]

"I am perhaps not the best to ask about Australian slang (I'm a New Zealander, and for us twit and twerp are names for stupid people)."

Must be a British Empire thing, because that all I've ever known twit to mean too. :p

[RedjackRyan]

Amazing the things you learn on this messageboard.. I too only knew of the one definition of twit, twirp and the other one..

Now, i'm off to try to lick my elbow.

[KarenSews2]

Dip that elbow in some BBQ sauce, first! ;)

[ponytail]

An additional fact: rabbits can't vomit either. That's why I have to brush Rosie, my rabbit, all the time -- hairballs are a bad thing when you can't puke. I'd never play Britney Spears music in her presence either -- not that I have any!

Can a goldfish avoid being called a twit if it uses birth control?

[Eva]

I tried licking my elbow for about 15 minutes. Damn! Can't do it. Why do you shatter my dreams? :eek:

Eva

[DaveM]

Somewhere, there must be someone who wanted to make a career of elbow-licking who now feels like a terribly lost soul....

[Bat]

You'd have to have a tongue like a giraffe!

[Rkitko]

All this talk of elbow licking reminds me of a story my high school physics teacher, Mr. Bach, told me years ago...

He was out on the road one summer, driving across the country and he decided to stop for a couple days in a small town. He of course had to check out the local bar scene and stopped in for a drink or two. Sat down at the bar next to another gentleman that was just waiting for the right sucker to come on in.

The two don't say a word to each other until Mr. Bach is about to leave.

Dude say, "Hey, chap. Care to wager a quick bet before you leave?"

Mr. Bach agrees, thinking this might be an easy one to win since this gentleman next to him was rather drunk at the time.

He continues, "Say, I'll bet you $20 that I can bite my eye."

Mr. Bach laughed and nodded, sure he'd win the bet. It was a physical impossibility, right?

The guy takes the laugh and nod as a binding contract and prepares to attempt the challenge. He struggles a bit, putting on a "show" before finally pulling off the real trick.

Mr. Bach is about to accept this guy's $20... noticing this, the gentleman stops pretending to try and... removes his glass eye and places it firmly between his teeth.

Defeated, Mr. Bach put a $20 on the bar and walks away.

The next day he returns to that same bar before he's about to get back on the road. That same gentleman is sitting at the bar, nursing another bottle of beer. The same scenario plays out again: not a word said between them until Mr. Bach is about to leave.

"Now hey, I wanna give you another chance. I know what I did to you yesterday wasn't exactly fair, so I tell ya what. You can win your money back. I bet you $20 that I can do that same trick again, without takin' out my glass eye. Deal?"

Mr. Bach again agrees, thinking there's no way he could really do this without taking out his glass eye.

Wrong! There was no pretending to struggle this time. He quickly removes his false teeth and clamps them down on his other eye.

Mr. Bach leaves a little wiser and $40 in the hold.

[ponytail]

I have a drunken poet friend with a glass eye, who's always poor mouthing me. I'm going to suggest this as a new means of income. Thanks for the tip!:D

(I think his teeth are still his own, but that may change if he pulls Trick Part One a few times!);)

[Dee]

Funny story, Rkitko.

When I was a kid, there was a neighbourhood boy who used to turn his upper eyelids under and chase the girls around to scare them.

It was, shall we say, a disgusting sight to behold. :eek: LOL

[KarenSews2]

When I was a kid, there was a neighbourhood boy who used to turn his upper eyelids under and chase the girls around to scare them.


Hell, Dee! I used to do that! I didn't chase girls, but it did look pretty disgusting! The last time I ever did that probably involved alcohol! :eek: ;)

[Eva]

Karen, Karen...

Did you find that bathroom afterwards? ;)

Eva

[Dee]

Yoikes Karen! :eek: Guess sewing isn't your only talent then. ;)

My major rule in life: what's on the inside ought to remain there - unseen.

[Bat]

I think Karen is going to be the entertainment in Pittsburgh.

[DaveM]

I actually taught my sister how to do that. My brother and I would tell her she was radioactive and that that was the only thing that would let it out (ok, it seemed funny at the time).

My brother seems to have forgotten. My sister remembers all too well and will never let me hear the end of it. Oh well, at least I know what to do in case I should ever become radioactive. Mind, I'm not sure I know how to turn my eyelids inside out any more.

It does occur to me that anyone who can lick their elbow most likely has an interesting social life.