Fun Facts, Did You Know?

Fact: The word “fizzle” started as a type of fart

In the 1400s, it meant to “break wind quietly,” according to English Oxford Living Dictionaries.

Fact: You only have two body parts that never stop growing

Human noses and ears keep getting bigger, even when the rest of the body’s growth has come to a halt. Learn more about the phenomenon and what it means.

Fact: No number before 1,000 contains the letter A

Some of these fun facts will have you counting. But there are plenty of E’s, I’s, O’s, U’s, and Y’s.

Fact: The # symbol isn’t officially called hashtag or pound

Its technical name is octothorpe. The “octo-” means “eight” to refer to its points, though reports disagree on where “-thorpe” came from. Some claim it was named after Olympian Jim Thorpe, while others argue it was just a nonsense suffix.

Fact: The French have their own name for a “French kiss”

This interesting fact doesn’t date that far back. The word hasn’t been around for long. In 2014, galocher—meaning to kiss with tongues—was added to the Petit Robert French dictionary. Here are more fun facts about kissing.

Fact: You can thank the Greeks for calling Christmas “Xmas”

In Greek, the word for “Christ” starts with the letter Chi, which looks like an X in the Roman alphabet.

Fact: Movie trailers originally played after the movie

They “trailed” the feature film—hence the name. The first trailer appeared in 1912 and was for a Broadway show, not a movie. Don’t miss these other 13 things movie theater employees won’t tell you.

Fact: Mercedes invented a car controlled by joystick

The joystick in the 1966 Mercedes F200 showcase car controlled speed and direction, replacing both the steering wheel and pedals. The car could also sense which side the driver was sitting in, so someone could control it from the passenger seat.

Fact: The U.S. government saved every public tweet from 2006 through 2017

Starting in 2018, the Library of Congress decided to only keep tweets on “a very selective basis,” including elections and those dealing with something of national interest, like public policy. Here are 18 more interesting facts about Washington, DC you’ve never heard.

Fact: H&M actually does stand for something

This is one of the random facts you’ve probably never thought about before. The clothing retail shop was originally called Hennes—Swedish for “hers”—before acquiring the hunting and fishing equipment brand Mauritz Widforss. Eventually, Hennes & Mauritz was shortened to H&M.

So glad you are enjoying these post, I love hearing your hilarious comments.

Have a great weekend.

Melinda