# Factoids that sound right, for a moment... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 27, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234 "2011-01-27T20:49:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/21 "2011-01-28T08:28:47Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > The human body is 98% water. How about “The human body is 98% watermelon” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/22 "2011-01-28T08:33:55Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > You’re more likely to get cut from a dull kitchen knife than a sharp one. > [@runner pat](#): > > You are. A sharp knife is easy to control while a dull knife needs to be forced through the food, increasing the chance of slipping out of control. Sorry, no. You’re just repeating the “factoid”. It may sound logical, but in practice, it doesn’t work that way. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Goliath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/23 "2011-01-28T09:23:30Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Sorry, no. You’re just repeating the “factoid”. It may sound logical, but in practice, it doesn’t work that way. I don’t know your experience, but I’m a chef. I’ve probably logged around 8000 hours in a kitchen and have the burns and cuts to prove it. A sharp knife is only more dangerous if you are careless and not paying attention to what you are doing. For instance, if you pull a knife across your body and nick your arm/hand, a dull knife may simply slide across because it will not cut without significant pressure. Dull knives often create the most serious injuries because of the force required to operate. Wounds caused by sharp knifes generally heal faster than wounds caused by dull knives. Sharp knives slice cleanly, while dull knives rip and tear the skin. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/24 "2011-01-28T09:35:53Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Back in the days when the Great Pyramid was covered in limestone, it could be seen on the moon. Bugger. I always KNEW I was born in the wrong millenium. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/25 "2011-01-28T09:53:45Z")
Maybe we could debate the blunt knife thing elsewhere (for the record, my own experience in an amateur kitchen, I’m inclined to agree that dull knives are more risky). What we need here is factoids that sound right, very superficially, but are patently wrong just as soon as you’ve finished parsing them properly. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/26 "2011-01-28T09:54:13Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Back in the days when the Great Pyramid was covered in limestone, it could be seen on the moon. Nobody knows how the Ancient Egyptians got it up there in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/27 "2011-01-28T09:55:58Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Nobody knows how the Ancient Egyptians got it up there in the first place. It was the aliens who helped build the Pyramids. Duh. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/28 "2011-01-28T10:32:44Z")
A study has shown that people whose names start with a vowel are 37% less likely to become criminals than people whose name starts with a consonant. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/29 "2011-01-28T11:03:10Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I like the ones that are absurdly correct. > > If you took all the blood vessels out of a man’s body and laid them end-to-end, that man would die. Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. – Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/30 "2011-01-28T12:05:06Z")
“Warm water freezes faster than cold water.” This one is more of a double-bluff - it sounds so obviously wrong, that you immediately think, “Hey, it’s one of those quirky facts that sounds wrong but is actually true”. In fact it’s just wrong. All men’s nipples are 9 inches apart. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/31 "2011-01-28T12:20:06Z")
If you don’t eat your breakfast you will be hungry all day long. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/32 "2011-01-28T12:46:38Z")
A kilo of stone is heavier than a kilo of feathers ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/33 "2011-01-28T12:49:56Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Aren’t they? > > Where do they come from? There is no such thing as a pineapple tree. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/34 "2011-01-28T12:51:27Z")
If humans descended from the apes, why are there still apes? ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/35 "2011-01-28T12:56:54Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > There is no such thing as a pineapple tree. I really think (and hope) it is a whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/36 "2011-01-28T13:11:27Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > “Warm water freezes faster than cold water.” > > This one is more of a double-bluff - it sounds so obviously wrong, that you immediately think, “Hey, it’s one of those quirky facts that sounds wrong but is actually true”. In fact it’s just wrong. > > All men’s nipples are 9 inches apart. I actually did a lil experiment…an ice tray filled with hot water, and an ice tray filled with cold water. “Hot” and “cold” were tap-water temps…so neither was absurdly hot or absurdly cold…but the hot water ice tray did get a film of ice quicker than the cold one. I stopped paying attention after that because there was booze involved, and it needed ice. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/37 "2011-01-28T13:12:11Z")
> [@Audrey\_Levins](#): > > I actually did a lil experiment…an ice tray filled with hot water, and an ice tray filled with cold water. “Hot” and “cold” were tap-water temps…so neither was absurdly hot or absurdly cold…but the hot water ice tray did get a film of ice quicker than the cold one. I stopped paying attention after that because there was booze involved, and it needed ice. 😃 Damn it! ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/38 "2011-01-28T13:15:17Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I really think (and hope) it is a whoosh. Pineapples grow on short shrubby plants like [this](http://imagecache6.allposters.com/LRG/21/2159/7W4CD00Z.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/39 "2011-01-28T14:11:28Z")
How about factoids that get cause and effect mixed up, Taking antidepressants increases the chance of suicide…. (They are already depressed, so have a higher chance of suicide) People who drink a lot break fewer limbs during skiing trips? (The more they drink the less they ski…) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/40 "2011-01-28T14:14:57Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > A kilo of stone is heavier than a kilo of feathers A pound of gold weighs the same as a pound of feathers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234.md?page=3)