'Don't ask how I know': 33 Head-scratching smartypants facts with questionable origins

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Dec 12, 2023 11:30 AM EST

With great knowledge comes great responsibility. Some of us have eclectic, niche knowledge that we put to good use everyday at our jobs! And some of us are just bookish nerds who have acquired a rare amount of knowledge for the sake of our Thursday night trivia team. But there are those of us with deep-lore knowledge– the kind of stuff you could never bring up at the dinner table –who would rather not say how we know something. We just do.

These taboo facts are not only interesting, but potentially useful if faced with a dire situation– you just can't tell anyone how you know. So if you're interested in learning the dirty details that come straight from some other folks deepest closets, this list is for you. And remember, you didn't hear it from me! Scroll onward to read a collection of facts that we can't exactly share how/why we know.

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  • 01
    Posted by u/Dry_Bus_935 What is your "don't ask how I know" random fact?
    via r/AskReddit
  • 02
    clanculcarius 22 hr. ago old human bones are very porous so if you lick them, they'll stick to your tongue 6.5k Reply Share endertribe 21 hr. ago Wich is fun fact why paleontologist lick bones
    via r/clanculcarius
  • 03
    uselessInformation89 22 hr. ago. edited 7 hr. ago A severed human head has a strange uneven weight distribution. So you better hold it tight or you will be known as the guy that dropped the head.
    via r/uselessInformation89
  • 04
    Hutchison5899 - 21 hr. ago The antidote if you drink antifreeze (ethylene glycol) is whisky (or any hard alcohol) 1.5k Reply Share Apothecary_85 19 hr. ago Large hospital pharmacies stock intravenous ethyl alcohol for this purpose.
    via r/Hutchinson5899
  • 05
    BITE AU CHOCOLAT 1 day ago There's a guy in Germany who has a 1 year waiting list and makes 6 figures making leather harnesses and masks for people who like to roleplay as horses 15.1k Reply Share xito47 19 hr. ago A stable income, good for him.
    via r/BITE_AU_CHOCOLAT
  • 06
    oddidealstronghold 18 hr. ago If your cat chews on fresh eucalyptus, they might start hallucinating and fall over repeatedly, leading to a $400 emergency vet bill just to be told she's just kinda high.
    via r/oddidealstronghold
  • 07
    NecroJoe 21 hr. ago If you wanted your 2,000 daily caloric intake to come from eating nothing but human teeth, you would need to eat the entire mouths-full sets of teeth from 55 adults, every day. Crunch crunch.
    via r/NecroJoe
  • 08
    egorf 20 hr. ago You have quite a lot of time, certainly more than ten seconds, to turn back on the main pumps of a nuclear reactor once you have accidentally turned them off.
    via r/egorf
  • 09
    SlefeMcDichael. 22 hr. ago Turmeric can be used as clothes dye. It is capable of permanently dyeing cotton cloth even after it has passed through the digestive tract of an adult male. 3.2k PMmecrossstitch - 20 hr. ago You Reply Share 3.2k your pants, didn't you? Reply Share SlefeMcDichael · 18 hr. ago I would prefer not to answer that question.
    via r/SlefeMcDichael
  • 10
    Eyouser 23 hr. ago Wikipedia has shockingly accurate nuclear munitions counts for locations and weapon types. ↑ ↓ 1.9k Reply Share Triairius 20 hr. ago Never underestimate the nerds who write for Wikipedia.
    via r/Eyouser
  • 11
    OhTheHueManatee 21 hr. ago A pigeon will only eat a Starburst if you chew it up a little bit first. Just to clarify chew the Starburst not the pigeon. ↑ 4.1k ↓ Reply Share rhandom66 19 hr. ago Note to self: next time read the whole post before trying...
    via r/OhTheHueManatee
  • 12
    the_dumbest_man 1 day ago . A significant component to what makes stealth aircraft stealthy comes down to how their parts are painted. Reply Share 2.0k soupyshoes 22 hr. ago For the moment. Chrome coatings seem likely to change this in the near future, if they haven't already.
    via r/the_dumbest_man
  • 13
    WrongWayCorrigan-361- 1 day ago If you ever trying to survive in the arctic, don't eat polar bear liver. It is so high in vitamin A it will kill you. 5.0k ↓ Reply Share DOK Maverick_1882- 22 hr. ago You overestimate my hunting abilities...
    via r/WrongWayCorrigan-361
  • 14
    Ok_Worth_1093 · 21 hr. ago. edited 2 hr. ago TV shows and movies go out of their way to make military/intelligence officers look bad. Real life "spies", by design and training, are boring. Regular house, standard 2nd hand cars, dress down, have vague boring"- job titles (accounts receivable) as cover and do not draw attention to themselves. Most come from specialized academia.
    via r/Ok_Worth_1093
  • 15
    JustDave62 1 day ago Your muscles can keep twitching for several hours after you die Reply Share 2.7k RRautamaa 22 hr. ago Also, beard can appear to grow. This is however not because the beard itself grows but because the skin shrinks.
    via r/JustDave62
  • 16
    feartheOcean 23 hr. ago edited 10 hr. ago Killing someone by smothering them is not a foolproof way to commit murder, as smothering-caused asphyxiation damages a specific capillary in the eye. The pathologist will check the eye and immediately pronounce the corpse a murder victim, and there are many, many people in jail around the world that did not know this prior to their conviction.
    via r/feartheOcean
  • 17
    Dfiggsmeister 21 hr. ago edited 3 hr. ago When a drowning victim is revived, get them to a hospital as soon as possible. Drowning is the leading cause of death of kids from the age of 1 to 7 and is ruled as accidental drowning when it comes to secondary drowning or dry drowning. Basically your lungs are full of water despite being revived. Your lungs will absorb the liquid, but not before your body acidifies from high levels of carbon dioxide. The only chance to survive is to have the lungs pump
    via r/Dfiggmeister
  • 18
    EngineeringVirgin- 1 day ago Bleach alone doesn't get rid of blood from a UV light however hydrogen peroxide does for the most part. If you need to clean out a large amount of blood pour hydrogen peroxide on it, wait about 5 mins scrub it then use bleach. After cover the smell with candles or if it's in the bathroom open a window and turn on the shower for about 10-20 mins.
    via r/EngineeringVirgin
  • 19
    hefewiseman1 21 hr. ago edited 8 hr. ago Hershey's chocolate has the strong smell of vomit or feces to some people (me), and that's because they use butyric acid as a preservative. Butyric acid is the compound that makes vomit smell so bad.
    via r/hefewiseman1
  • 20
    DiscoInferiorityComp - 22 hr. ago The US had the ability to view any American's backyard via spy satellites about 15 years earlier than you would think could be scientifically possible. ↑ 1.1k ↓ Reply Share Triairius 20 hr. ago The American military is always 10- 15 years ahead of the private sector in terms of bleeding-edge technology.
    via r/DiscoInferiorityComp
  • 21
    poop_stains 1 day ago edited 19 hr. ago If you work 40 hours a week and spend 10 minutes a day pooping it equals a whole week of paid vacation per year Edit: its roughly 52 hours a year pooping Edit 2: math is hard
    via r/poop_stains
  • 22
    Blue Moon_Rabbit - 22 hr. ago You should wash your hands if you have applied tiger balm or icy hot rub on any sore muscles before flicking your bean. 4.3k Reply Share PolyamMermaid 21 hr. ago Or inserting a menstrual product. My name was "Spicy " in my bestie's phone for 3 years after I sobbed to her about my mishap. Lol
    via r/Blue_moon_Rabbit
  • 23
    Annual_Rooster5678 23 hr. ago makes an effective invisible ink. ↑ 1.1k ↓ Reply Share MrLanesLament 22 hr. ago Every man his own stylo.
    via r/Annual_Rooster5678
  • 24
    SA E-MA TooYoungToBeThisOld1 20 hr. ago Asbestos tastes like chalk. And if you lick it, it has the texture of extremely gritty sandpaper. Which is actually the feeling of microscopic asbestos needles piercing your flesh!!!
    via r/TooYoungToBeThisOld1
  • 25
    Porkonaplane 21 hr. ago edited 21 hr. ago . Chlorine gas in ww1 was made industrially by running an electric current through salt water. The more worrying one: bacon grease mixed with lye makes glycerine. Glycerine with nitric and sulfuric acid makes nitroglycerine. Nitroglycerine with wood pulp makes dynamite.
    via r/Porkonaplane
  • 26
    Kittytigris 19 hr. ago Doctors, or surgeons more specifically, that make too many mistakes during surgery, ie, leaving instruments in patients, frequently gets 'quietly traded' to other hospitals where they continue their path of destruction with the patients not being aware of their past record. Hospitals tend to keep quiet about the matter to avoid lawsuits.
    via r/Kittytigris
  • 27
    Thechaosjester776 20 hr. ago If you overfill a fast food gravy cup then put a lid on, it will create a pressurized gravy stream that sprays all over your face and uniform while your coworker looks on in horror
    via r/Thechaosjester776
  • 28
    Snappingslapping. 1 day ago Earthworms, specifically nightcrawlers are way crunchier than you think. 1.4k Reply Share WrongWayCorrigan-361 1 day ago So are sea worms. Same taste and texture as celery.
    via r/Snappingslapping
  • 29
    Lofe__ 1 day ago The Zoroastrians leave their dead in special towers to be eaten by vultures. Reply Share 792 coprolite_hobbyist. 1 day ago There is at least one Native American tribe that does that too. It's called a 'sky burial'. 501 Reply Share Lost-Droids 1 day ago And people in Nepal
    via r/Lofe____
  • 30
    dry poopsimo 21 hr. ago The act of cannibalism is not illegal in the Netherlands. If you were to aquire human flesh in a legal way, you are allowed to eat it. 520 Reply Share Triairius 20 hr. ago I believe that is true in America, too. Cannibalism is not illegal, but defiling a corpse is.
    via r/poosimo
  • 31
    9 RickMosley Reddit . 23 hr. ago Even if you don't want to, if you sit in the back of the plane, you have a higher chance of surviving a plane crash.
    via r/RickMosleyReddit
  • 32
    Igot1forya 21 hr. ago At least in the early '90's, the foam padding inside a school bus's seat burst into flames at the first sign of fire.
    via r/Igot1forya
  • 33
    Med9876 20 hr. ago Cheetah feet smell like corn chips. 144 ↓ Reply Share Kinseys MythicalZero 19 hr. ago You mean Cheetoes?
    via r/Med9876
  • 34
    What is your "don't ask how I know" random fact?
    via u/canva

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