# Nothing Rhymes with Orange. Other useless facts needed... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338 "2003-02-20T15:49:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/1 "2003-02-20T15:49:20Z")
Ok I am looking for some really good useless facts to accompany tests I am giving to my classes. I usually start off the exam with some sort of useless fact, basically as a tool to break the ice for the students, so they are not so tense when it comes to test taking… Here’s a couple I have used lately: In the average humans lifespan, you will spend more time sitting at a stop light, than you did in Highschool. India has a bill of rights for cows. Until the 1960’s men with long hair could not enter Disney. 111,111,111 multiplied by 111,111,111 equals 12,345,678,987,654,321. 27% of U.S. male college students believe life is a meaningless existential hell. _that seems high_ Coconuts kill more people world wide than sharks in any given year. Anyone have others that stand out as particularly funny? ---
**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:** [February 20, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/2 "2003-02-20T16:03:07Z")
[Witchiepoo] Oranges, poranges! Who says… Oranges, poranges! There’s another one! Oranges, poranges! Who says There ain’t no rhyme for oranges? [/Witchiepoo] ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/3 "2003-02-20T16:23:45Z")
Just Google for “useless facts” and you’ll find plenty of them. The first hit listed was this site: [http://www.amusingfacts.com](http://www.amusingfacts.com) . Here’s a few lifted right off the front page: > [@](#): > > After the “Popeye” comic strip started in 1931, spinach consumption went up by thirty-three percent in the United States. > > The average person spends two weeks of their life kissing. > > In New Mexico, over eleven thousand people have visited a tortilla chip that appeared to have the face of Jesus Christ burned into it. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/4 "2003-02-20T16:24:02Z")
A duck’s quack is the only sound that people erroneously claim doesn’t echo. It’s true! ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/5 "2003-02-20T16:37:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phlosphr \* > **Coconuts kill more people world wide than sharks in any given year.** [Cecil has debunked this “fact” about coconuts](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020719.html). I recommend not getting your trivia from spam e-mails, which are often of dubious veracity. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/6 "2003-02-20T16:43:46Z")
Hmmmm… Guess the coconuts one was a bad example. And yes I have found some good sites with interesting facts, but I was more interested in facts of the lesser known variety. Like from dopers here on the boards… ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/7 "2003-02-20T16:47:51Z")
What about death by donkey then? Is it _really_ more common than death by snake? I see that one a lot! ---
**Author:** ![broccoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@broccoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/broccoli)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/8 "2003-02-20T16:48:52Z")
After browsing that site for about 2 minutes I found over half of their “facts” to be total crap. They should call that sitw www.amusing-facts-that-some-joker-heard-from-a-friend-of-a-friend’s-mother’s-uncle’s-roommate-who-once-saw-a-late-night-science-fiction-movie-about-said-subject.com Yes, theres a few good tidbits there, but most of what I saw was bunk. ---
**Author:** ![broccoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@broccoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/broccoli)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/9 "2003-02-20T16:51:00Z")
and that post would look alot better had i realised it would cut off a fake web address ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/10 "2003-02-20T16:53:33Z")
Damn you, **Johnny L.A.**. You took my Witchiepoo quote. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/11 "2003-02-20T17:07:03Z")
Why not go to Snopes, pick an urban legend, and give its true/false status? The headings are usually interesting enough to catch student’s attention, and you could inoculate them against a whole bunch of garbage at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![SnugTheJoiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@SnugTheJoiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnugTheJoiner)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/12 "2003-02-20T17:12:08Z")
All right; here are some real ones, all true: Lincoln Logs were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright’s son. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826–the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Where is Hell? On the Moon. It’s the name of a crater (after an astonomer with an unfortunate last name). Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s name translates to “Great-Soul Fascination-Slave Action-Moon Grocer.” * * * On the other hand, who says that there’s no rhyme for “orange?” Two examples: The King of Spain a daughter had Too fair to lick a porringer; Her father took her by the hand And gave the Duke of Orange her. I gave my lady-love an orange And nuts: she cracked them in the door-hinge. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/13 "2003-02-20T17:17:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Where is Hell? On the Moon. It’s the name of a crater (after an astonomer with an unfortunate last name). It’s also a popular town (to send a postcard from) in [Norway](http://www.hellblues.com/). ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/14 "2003-02-20T17:21:42Z")
Here’s two ho-hum ones about Presidents: \*\* - Harry S Truman’s middle name was simply the letter “S”. His parents could not decide between two family names, Shippe and Solomon. - Gerald Ford was born with the name Leslie King\*\* Is that the kind of thing you were after, **Phlosphr**? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/15 "2003-02-20T17:45:12Z")
**Bordelond** Yes thats what I am looking for… And **SNUG** you take the cake for the Ghandi one. Thats going on the next test… ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/16 "2003-02-20T17:46:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Aro \* > It’s also a popular town (to send a postcard from) in [Norway](http://www.hellblues.com/). And in [Michigan](http://www.hell2u.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horrifying_Howler_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/17 "2003-02-20T18:12:48Z")
I saw an article in some Reader’s Digest that more men would choose to give up sex rather than give up chocolate. I wonder how accurate that fact is. ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/18 "2003-02-20T18:29:34Z")
Although a high number of women say they would choose chocolate over sex I have never heard anything like this applied to men. It makes me think some people are having pretty crappy sex if they would rather have a Snickers bar instead. Sex and chocolate is a completely differnet matter though… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/19 "2003-02-20T18:34:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > \*\*A duck’s quack is the only sound that people erroneously claim doesn’t echo. It’s true! \*\* and no one knows why… ---
**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:** [February 20, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/20 "2003-02-20T18:41:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Damn you, **Johnny L.A.**. You took my Witchiepoo quote. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338.md?page=2)