# "Fun Facts" you made up **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 17, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503 "2010-12-17T13:55:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/1 "2010-12-17T13:55:51Z")
Sometimes I like to tell people “facts” that sound like they _could_ be true, but are in fact completely fabricated, just to see how long it takes before somebody calls BS on me. It’s fun! One of my favorites: A small regional department store chain which specialized in housewares was named for its two founders. Before beginning an aggressive national expansion, they changed the store’s name to a sound-alike that was easier to spell and remember. The founders’ names? George Creighton and Roger Barrow. _Creighton-Barrow._ Does anyone else do this? What are some of your faux-facts? ---
**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:** [December 17, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/2 "2010-12-17T14:06:26Z")
Posted on this board several times before, but time for another airing: Banana Worms These are the large (up to 12cm long) larvae of a large subtropical beetle - subodiosus fructus-reproba - cases of infestation are incredibly common - perhaps as many as 60% of the bananas in a typical supermarket will contain a banana worm, yet they are almost never detected; the reason for this is that, when disturbed, their fright response is to stop moving and remain completely motionless, oh and because their flesh has a texture and taste that very closely matches that of a normal ripe banana. If you’ve eaten bananas, you’ve eaten banana worms and you enjoyed the experience. Well, you would have, if they weren’t just a figment of my imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/3 "2010-12-17T14:22:12Z")
42.63% of all spammers have been banned by **Marley** at least once. The squid used in SDMB initiations has been to the deepest point in the oceans. Once… Cecil Adams had a brief love affair with Marilyn vos Savant. **Ed Zotti** was the result. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/4 "2010-12-17T14:50:59Z")
Hemorrhoids were a huge problem for the soldiers fighting WW I. The government invested tons of money in research, leading, eventually to Preparation H. The “H” came from the fact that it was the eighth formula tested. Preparations A, B, C, etc all failed, but H was a winner. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/5 "2010-12-17T14:51:33Z")
Cats will never face the setting sun. Hens that lay eggs in the dark lay eggs with white yolks. Tony Orlando was born in Houston, Texas, and Angelica Huston was born in Orlando, Florida. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/6 "2010-12-17T14:52:08Z")
Blind people can’t feel rain. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/7 "2010-12-17T15:01:57Z")
72% of all statistics are made up (and you wouldn’t believe how many people don’t _get_ it) ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/8 "2010-12-17T15:07:25Z")
When my daughter was little she noticed that gnats only bothered certain people. I told her they could smell fear. Recently she told me that she believed that for the longest time. So mine is " Gnats can smell fear." ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/9 "2010-12-17T15:10:10Z")
Insects have compound penises. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/10 "2010-12-17T15:16:58Z")
A duck’s quack can sterilize frogs at close range. There are 57 US States but seven of them are secret, known only to Freemasons. Barack Obama’s slip of the tongue during his campaign revealed his membership in this shadowy cabal. At the top of Mt Everest are the bodies of a man and woman who froze to death while attempting to set a record for having sex on the highest point on Earth. The logistics of getting the bodies down again has prevented their removal. Clams have ears. Thunderstorms can be artificially induced by seeding the clouds with Pop Rocks. If you lick enough lightbulbs, people will stop inviting you to parties. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/11 "2010-12-17T15:19:54Z")
My husband is dyslexic, and has become farsighted in his old age. This means that I frequently read stuff to him. For those who wonder why he stays married to me, this is probably one reason. The main reason, though, is that he’s addicted to my spaghetti sauce. Anyway, last year I bought a copy of [Munchkin](http://www.worldofmunchkin.com/game/), which has about six pages of rules. It was my task to read the rules and tell him what rule applied when. So I did. I also told him of several rules which WEREN’T in the game, but should have been. I contend that this is entirely within the spirit of the game, and he is free to read the rule pamplet any time he wants to. After all, part of the appeal in the game is that you get to backstab people. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/12 "2010-12-17T15:20:11Z")
My penis has your name tattooed on it. ---
**Author:** ![Galanthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Galanthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galanthus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/13 "2010-12-17T15:22:11Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > If you lick enough lightbulbs, people will stop inviting you to parties. This is almost certainly true, regardless of whether you made it up or not. If people start seeing you licking lightbulbs on a regular basis they are going to start edging away. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/14 "2010-12-17T15:30:29Z")
> [@Galanthus](#): > > This is almost certainly true, regardless of whether you made it up or not. If people start seeing you licking lightbulbs on a regular basis they are going to start edging away. Not necessarily. I know this dude ------------ [[Album] Lucky, The Pain-Proof Man ![](https://live.staticflickr.com/3195/2815218039_1920191880_z.jpg "Lucky, The Pain-Proof Man") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/macwagen/sets/72157607039764117/) (basically SFW) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/15 "2010-12-17T15:39:46Z")
> [@Galanthus](#): > > This is almost certainly true, regardless of whether you made it up or not. If people start seeing you licking lightbulbs on a regular basis they are going to start edging away. Depends on the sort of parties you go to, I guess. I was once told in all earnestness not to point trombones at bats as it could stun them. To be fair, at the time I was in an actual cave filled with bats and standing next to a group of people holding trombones, so that one’s probably true too. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/16 "2010-12-17T15:46:28Z")
in 1880 Edison applied for a patent for an invention that used cadaver’s spinal cords in place of copper wire for low-wattage current. The invention was a way to send photographic images from one machine to another - a fax machine. Starlings are the only birds that can be asthmatic. The IRS estimates that under-reported server’s tips account for the majority of fraudulent untaxed income, more than the GDP of Florida. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/17 "2010-12-17T15:46:40Z")
Every text message ever sent that contained the word “Cheney” has been intercepted by the NSA and is stored on a private government server. They will all be on Wikileaks next Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/18 "2010-12-17T15:57:58Z")
Those gigantic tanks one sees in industrial areas that look like oil storage are actually repositories for government surplus cheese. Red dye #2 had to be pulled from the market because the “#2” meant that it had fecal matter in it. Aristophanes’ “The Frogs” was originally “The Farts,” but Victorian-era translators bowdlerized it. All of the Blue Man Group are Jehovah’s Witnesses. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/19 "2010-12-17T16:46:28Z")
The slang word for a dollar is ultimately derived from the Lord’s Prayer. “Give us this day our daily bread,” --\> “Bread” as slang for money --\> “Dough” as modification --\> from there to “buck,” by way of “doe.” ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503/20 "2010-12-17T17:02:11Z")
When [Come Out And Play](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jOk8dk-qaU) by The Offspring was big, I let people know that the guy earnestly saying “You gotta keep 'em separated” was _Diff’rent Strokes’_ Gary Coleman. I’ve told out-of-state guests, when they go hiking in Colorado’s mountains, to keep an eye out for mountain mambas on the trail – I got that from having John Denver’s _Country Roads_ (“West Virginia … mountain mama …”) in my head while hiking myself. Although she doesn’t believe me anymore, that still doesn’t lessen the pleasure I get from telling Mrs. Urquhart twice each year that all of the Urquhart wives all over the world collectively get up at 2:10 AM to set the family’s clocks back or forward an hour when DST starts and stops (I know: 2:10 AM isn’t the same time for people all over the world – it’s not like this really happens, either). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-facts-you-made-up/564503.md?page=2)