# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/41 "2011-01-28T14:18:47Z")
> [@Rex\_Goliath](#): > > 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. Most people are careless and don’t know what they’re doing. Your extensive experience in the kitchen is extremely atypical. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/42 "2011-01-28T14:23:43Z")
> [@zagloba](#): > > Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. > – Mark Twain I think that was Groucho, not Samuel. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/43 "2011-01-28T14:27:25Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > I think that was Groucho, not Samuel. Yes, it was definitely Groucho Twain. ---
**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, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/44 "2011-01-28T14:27:42Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > I think that was Groucho, not Samuel. That was the part of the factoid that’s not true! ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/45 "2011-01-28T15:11:02Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > How about “The human body is 98% watermelon” Two thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered with watermelon. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/46 "2011-01-28T15:11:56Z")
Late in life, the rhino sheds its horn and becomes a hippo. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/47 "2011-01-28T15:17:29Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > A pound of gold weighs the same as a pound of feathers. Paradoxically enough, an ounce of gold does not weigh the same as an ounce of feathers. (Really. There are two types of ounces that measure weight, one of which is only used for precious metals.) ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/48 "2011-01-28T15:18:27Z")
I liked the one going around last October that… > [@](#): > > this month has 5 Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and that this happens only once every 823 years. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/49 "2011-01-28T15:30:09Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > I liked the one going around last October that… Man. That’s what I was going to say. OK, how about more people commit suicide at Christmas than any other time of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/50 "2011-01-28T17:02:30Z")
> [@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. 😃 (Hijack) Here’s what I don’t get about this one. If one thing of water is 70 degrees and the other is 40, before the 70-degree water hits 32 degrees, doesn’t it have to hit 40 first? And by the time it’s at 40, won’t the water that started at 40 be colder than 40? I never understood how that was supposed to work. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/51 "2011-01-28T18:14:34Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > (Hijack) Here’s what I don’t get about this one. If one thing of water is 70 degrees and the other is 40, before the 70-degree water hits 32 degrees, doesn’t it have to hit 40 first? And by the time it’s at 40, won’t the water that started at 40 be colder than 40? > > I never understood how that was supposed to work. Google Mpemba Effect. ---
**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, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/52 "2011-01-28T18:37:33Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > OK, how about more people commit suicide at Christmas than any other time of the year. Dunno. That one just sounds plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/53 "2011-01-28T18:41:58Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Dunno. That one just sounds plausible. [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/suicide.asp) says it ain’t so. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/54 "2011-01-28T18:59:57Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > I liked the one going around last October that… I didn’t realize this was a widespread thing. My mom mentioned hearing it on Polish radio and I immediately thought, _wait, that’s can’t be right. Any 31-day month where the first falls on a Friday should fulfill this._. Sure enough, _that year’s calendar_ had proof this statement was false: January 2010. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/55 "2011-01-28T19:36:12Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > The human body is 98% water. > [@Mangetout](#): > > How about “The human body is 98% watermelon” > [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > Two thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered with watermelon. 2/3s of a watermelon is 98% the human body. :eek: ---
**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, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/56 "2011-01-28T19:49:21Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > Paradoxically enough, an ounce of gold does not weigh the same as an ounce of feathers. > > (Really. There are two types of ounces that measure weight, one of which is only used for precious metals.) And there are twelve ounces in a pound of troy weight (gold) and sixteen in avoirdupois (feathers). ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/57 "2011-01-28T21:15:47Z")
I think the OP was asking for common ones that are trotted out, I hadn’t heard of most of these “common” factoids in this thread. But I _have_ heard of this one, and I’m sure y’all will agree it’s common: > [@](#): > > We only use 10% of our brain Mythbusters busted the hell out of that one. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/58 "2011-01-28T22:09:13Z")
The _Odyssey_ was not in fact written by Homer, but by another Greek of the same name. (From Robert A. Heinlein) ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/59 "2011-01-28T22:33:48Z")
You all are missing the point entirely. The OP isn’t asking for widespread facts that are wrong, nor does he want facts that sound like they might be true. He wants facts that sound right but then once you actually digest what was said, they’re obviously false. I shouldn’t have to run to a calendar or look up suicide statistics or freeze water to figure out that it’s false. I should just be able to say “Hey, wait a minute…I can’t see the Great Wall of China right now. Your statement is false.” or “Wait, it might be 5:00 somewhere (give or take) but it’s not Monday somewhere.” How about “I was born in June and my brother was born ten months later. I hated May growing up because we’d both be, like, 12 but April comes before June. So every year, he was older than me for a month.” > [@pulykamell](#): > > I didn’t realize this was a widespread thing. My mom mentioned hearing it on Polish radio and I immediately thought, _wait, that’s can’t be right. Any 31-day month where the first falls on a Friday should fulfill this._. Sure enough, _that year’s calendar_ had proof this statement was false: January 2010. But January isn’t October, so it doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234/60 "2011-01-30T03:34:59Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > But January isn’t October, so it doesn’t count. OK, how about October 1982, 1993, 1999 and 2021? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/factoids-that-sound-right-for-a-moment/569234.md?page=4)