The 'Useless Facts' thread on h2g2 is a mine of fascinating, though useless, information. Match wits with our nitwit posters.

Aren't you glad h2g2 is here to tell you these things? How else would you get through life?

Here are the amazing answers, according to our witless…er, witty correspondents.

1. The word 'guacamole' is derived from two Nahuatl words, 'ahuacatl' and 'molli'. What does 'guacamole' mean, according to its original etymology? Testicle sauce. Someone had to ask.
2. What is a single strand of spaghetti called? A spaghetto. This is only logical. (And Italian.)
3. What part of the United States has the area code 321? Cape Canaveral. Naturally.
4. What useful office supply was invented by Monkee Mike Nesmith's mother? Liquid paper. She made a believer out of millions of typists.
5. What interesting feature did Dr Schrödinger's door in Vienna have? A cat flap. Why not?
6. What king of England had Uranus named after him in 1781? George III. Oh, the jokes Ben Franklin could have told about that one…
7. What 'medicine' sold in the 1830s was known as 'Dr. Miles' Compound Extract of Tomato'? Ketchup. Anticipating Garrison Keillor's Ketchup Advisory Board.
8. According to the Useless Facts geniuses, what is the meaning of the word 'gambrinus'? Full of beer. (Meaning 2 says, 'See Pastey'.)
9. According to medical historians, why did Ivan the Terrible have such a terrible attitude? Worms. They've been studying his portraits.
10. Where does German Chocolate Cake get its name? Baker Sam German.

We acknowledge that your lives may not exactly be richer for knowing these facts, but we still argue that the collection of useless knowledge is so much a part of life in the 21st Century that it is a skill worth cultivating. Drop in on the Ask thread from time to time, and share a piece of truly useless information with the...er, sages there.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

12.10.15 Front Page

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