# Did you know this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 16, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552 "2009-01-16T04:27:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/41 "2009-01-17T20:36:12Z")
For decades, on tire pressure guages, I didn’t know that the little knob on the head opposite the fitting that goes on the valve stem is for bleeding air out of the tire. I thought it was just a nub left over from manufacturing. Foil in a box? What a decadent country you live in! [wry smiley] My Tesco-branded (store brand) foil was just the foil roll in a thin plastic overwrap. I was honesty shocked that I didn’t need that serrated edge on the box to cut it. I’m honestly relieved because I usually cut my finger on that serrated edge. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/42 "2009-01-17T21:25:28Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > In the wild they do. They are epiphytes, meaning they grow **on** trees but they are not part of the tree. I have seen them in Puerto Rico. In Hawaii they grow them in soil. Um, no. Epiphytes are part of the pineapple family, but pineapple plants are not epiphytes. They require soil. You may have seen a pineapple palm which is a palm tree, not a pineapple plant. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/43 "2009-01-17T21:32:02Z")
Sorry, I tried to edit, but I got confused on my nomenclature there. Pineapples are bromeliads. They are not air plants, and cannot grow on trees with no soil. ---
**Author:** ![Gwyen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/858c86/32.png) [@Gwyen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gwyen)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/44 "2009-01-17T22:38:23Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > That’s why I use 5 mil visqueen… I bet your leftovers are FRESH! I haven’t tried press and seal… must remember to look into that. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/45 "2009-01-17T22:56:53Z")
The stuff about cashews… _The true fruit of the cashew tree is a kidney or boxing-glove shaped drupe that grows at the end of the pseudofruit. Actually, the drupe develops first on the tree, and then the peduncle expands into the pseudofruit. Within the true fruit is a single seed, the cashew nut. Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the fruit of the cashew is a seed. The seed is surrounded by a double shell containing a dermatogenic phenolic resin, urushiol, a potent skin irritant toxin also found in the related poison ivy._ > **[Cashew](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew)** > > The cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale) is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus Anacardium that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as 14 metres (46 feet), but the dwarf cultivars, growing up to 6 m (20 ft), prove more profitable, with earlier maturity and greater yields. The cashew seed is commonly considered a snack nut (cashew nut) eaten on its own, used in recipes, or processed into cashew cheese or cashew b In... ---
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/46 "2009-01-17T23:08:29Z")
My husband thinks I’m nuts because I just went into the kitchen and pressed the little tabs on the foil and Saran wrap. Live and learn! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/47 "2009-01-17T23:08:35Z")
> [@Solfy](#): > > I found the tabs on the foil box when I was a kid and pushed them in. Then my mom complained at me that the foil was too hard to pull out of the box. I didn’t push them in anymore. I pushed them upon reading this thread. The roll doesn’t roll. I unpushed them to make dinner tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Karyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/fbc32d/32.png) [@Karyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karyn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/48 "2009-01-18T01:07:26Z")
> [@katie1341](#): > > My husband thinks I’m nuts because I just went into the kitchen and pressed the little tabs on the foil and Saran wrap. Live and learn! I got a similar reaction when I took apart the toaster. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/49 "2009-01-18T01:11:28Z")
Many thanks for this thread. I don’t often find myself in circumstances where I feel knowledgeable. But now I’m all puffed up and swaggering around on account of my occult toaster knowledge. Crumbs in the toaster? No problem at all! Lemme just pop the hood and take a look… ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/50 "2009-01-18T17:15:44Z")
Did you know that red kidney beans are poisonous until boiled? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/51 "2009-01-20T04:18:45Z")
This morning I started the 2005 Prius I bought from my former roommate last year, and turned the defrosters on while I scraped ice off of the glass. About the time I was finished I noticed ‘steam’ coming from around the driver’s side-view mirror. Apparently I have heated mirrors. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552/52 "2009-01-20T07:36:03Z")
For years and years, I suffered trying to open vacuum-sealed jars. Twisting with all my might, banging with the back edge of a knife, holding under hot water, wasting money on every gadget that promised to open lids. Then one day I was struggling with a jar, and there happened to be a screwdriver lying nearby. I picked up the screwdriver, stuck it under the edge of the jar, gave a little twist . . . and voila, a little hissing sound as the vacuum broke, and the lid immediately loosened. Now, whenever I have a tight lid, I just break the vacuum with a screwdriver. Sometimes you have to try a few locations around the rim, but it always works. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this/481552.md?page=2)