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| Preface | |
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| What is the purpose of the warning label on a mattress? And what happens if I rip it off? | |
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| Why do dogs walk around in circles before lying down? | |
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| If nothing sticks to Teflon, how do they get Teflon to stick to the pan? | |
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| Why is the scoring system in tennis so weird? | |
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| Why have humans lost most of their body hair? | |
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| Why don't people get goosebumps on their faces? | |
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| Why doesn't countdown leader on films count all the way to one? | |
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| When a company sells lobster tails to restaurants and stores, what do they do with the rest of the lobster? | |
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| Why do they need twenty mikes at press conferences? | |
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| Why do some localities use salt and others use sand to treat icy roads? | |
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| Why is the telephone touch-tone key pad arranged differently from the calculator key pad? | |
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| What is the difference between a "kit" and a "caboodle"? | |
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| What is the purpose of the ball on top of a flagpole? | |
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| Why does Wayne Gretzky wear a ripped uniform? | |
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| Why is there always pork in cans of pork and beans? | |
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| How do military cadets find their caps after tossing them in the air upon graduation? | |
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| Why does American electricity run on A.C. rather than D.C.? | |
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| What is that sniffing noise boxers make when throwing punches? | |
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| Why, in any box of assorted chocolates, are the caramels square, the nougats rectangular, the nuts oval, and the creams circular? | |
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| Whatever happened to pay toilets? | |
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| When a pothole is formed on the road, why don't we see the displaced concrete? | |
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| Why do most cities in the United States put a maximum-height restriction on a fence a homeowner may put around his residence? | |
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| Why do your feet sweel up so much in airplanes? | |
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| Why are hamburger-bun bottoms so thin? | |
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| Why do golfers yell "fore" when warning of an errant golf shot? | |
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| Why are all executions in the United States held between midnight and seven A.M.? | |
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| Why do ants tend to congregate on sidewalks? | |
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| Why do American cars now have side-view mirrors on the passenger side with the message, "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear?" | |
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| Why do dogs smell funny when they get wet? | |
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| Why do all dentist offices smell the same? | |
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| What are those large knobs between sets of escalators in department stores? | |
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| Why is Jack the nickname for John? | |
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| Which side gets the game ball when a football game ends in a tie? | |
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| Why do ketchup bottles have necks so narrow that a spoon won't fit inside? | |
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| Ivory Soap advertises its product as 99 and 44/100 percent pure-99 and 44/100 percent what? And what is the impure 56/100 percent of Ivory Soap? | |
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| Why do we grow lawns around our houses? | |
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| Why do many exterminators wear hard hats? | |
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| Who was the Emmy that the Emmy Award is named after? | |
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| Why don't dogs develop laryngitis, sore throats, voice changes, or great discomfort after barking continuously? | |
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| Why are there eighteen holes on a golf course? | |
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| What does 0[degree] in the Fahrenheit scale signify? | |
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| What does each one-degree increment in the Fahrenheit scale signify? | |
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| Why doesn't rain come down the chimney into the fireplace when smoke can get out the chimney? | |
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| Why do Curad bandage wrappers sparkle in the dark when you open them? | |
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| Why do garment labels often say "Professionally Dry-clean Only"? | |
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| What is the difference between "flotsam" and "jetsam"? | |
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| Why do doughnuts have holes? | |
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| Why does a newspaper tear smoothly vertically and raggedly horizontally? | |
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| Why are the Netherlands also called Holland and the Low Countries? And why are its people called Dutch? | |
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| What are those twitches and jerks that occasionally wake us just as we are falling asleep? | |
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| Why are there twenty-one guns in a twenty-one-gun salute? | |
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| Why do women tend to have higher voices than men? Why do short people tend to have higher voices than tall people? | |
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| Washington, D.C. streets are named alphabetically. Why is there no "J" Street? | |
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| What happens to the tread that wears off tires? | |
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| Why do whips make a cracking sound when snapped? | |
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| How did Xmas come to stand for Christmas? | |
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| Do batteries wear out faster if you turn up the volume of a radio? | |
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| Why do some ranchers place old boots on fenceposts? | |
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| Why do bananas, unlike other fruits, grow upward? | |
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| Why is there a black dot in the middle of otherwise white bird droppings? | |
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| Do toilet-seat covers really protect us against anything? | |
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| Why do sailors wear bell-bottom trousers? | |
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| Why doesn't sugar spoil or get moldy? | |
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| Why do nurses wear white? Why do surgeons wear blue or green when operating? | |
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| Why doesn't a "two-by-four" measure two inches by four inches? | |
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| Why is an acre 43,560 square feet? | |
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| Why do men's bicycles have a crossbar? | |
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| Why is royalty referred to as "blue-blooded"? | |
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| Why are people immune to their own body odor? | |
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| Why are the outside edges of the pages of many paperback books colored? | |
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| How do they shell pine nuts? | |
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| How can owners of small cemeteries make money? How can they plan their finances when they have to wait for people to die before they derive income? | |
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| Why are most homes painted white? | |
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| Why is one side of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil shiny and the other side dull? | |
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| Why do superficial paper cuts tend to hurt more than grosser cuts? | |
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| Why does the brightest setting of a three-way light bulb always burn out first? | |
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| How do three-way light bulbs work? How do the bulbs "know" at which intensity to shine? | |
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| Why do snakes dart out their tongues? | |
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| Where do they get that organ music in skating rinks? | |
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| What do Federal Express delivery people do after 10:30 A.M.? | |
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| Why do so many mass mailers use return envelopes with windows? | |
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| Why does the skin on the extremities wrinkle after a bath? And why only the extremities? | |
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| What happens to the razor blades that are thrown down used-blade slots in hotels? | |
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| Why doesn't evaporated milk have to be refrigerated? | |
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| Why is evaporated milk sold in soldered cans? | |
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| What causes the ringing sound you get in your ears? | |
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| How did chocolate bunnies for Easter come about? | |
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| Why do old women dye their hair blue? | |
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| What are the criteria for the placement of a "Dangerous Curve" or "Dangerous Turn" sign? | |
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| Why don't we ever see dead birds? | |
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| Why do all packaged bakery goods seem to be registered by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture? | |
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| How do they keep all the raisins in cereal boxes from falling to the bottom? | |
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| Why do runs in stockings usually run up? | |
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| Does putting women's hosiery in the freezer forestall runs? | |
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| Why do traffic signals use red, yellow, and green lights? Why is the red light on top, green light on the bottom, and yellow light in between? | |
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| Why are cows usually milked from the right side? | |
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| Why do many merchants ask customers to put their addresses and phone numbers on credit card slips? | |
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| On airplanes, why do our ears pop and bother us more on descent than on ascent? | |
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| Where do houseflies go during the winter? | |
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| Where does white pepper come from? | |
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| What purpose do wisdom teeth serve? | |
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| Why are ancient cities buried in layers? And where did the dirt come from? | |
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| What's the difference between an X-rated movie and an XXX-rated movie? Why isn't there an "XX" rating? | |
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| Where does a new speed limit begin? Does it start at the speed limit sign, at some point beyond the sign, or where the sign becomes clearly visible? | |
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| If the national speed limit is 55 miles per hour, why do speedometers go up to 85 miles per hour and higher? | |
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| What is the purpose of public and underarm hair, the only body hair that men and women share in abundance? | |
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| Why do construction crews put pine trees on top of buildings they are working on? | |
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| Why aren't whitewall auto tires as wide as they used to be? | |
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| Why do clocks run "clockwise"? | |
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| On clocks and watches with roman numerals, why is four usually noted as IIII rather than IV? | |
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| Why are rain clouds dark? | |
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| Why are so many corporations incorporated in Delaware? | |
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| Why does Coca-Cola from a small bottle taste better than Coca-Cola from a large bottle or can? | |
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| Why and when was 1982-1984 chosen to replace 1967 as the base year for the Consumer Price Index? Why wasn't it changed after ten years? | |
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| Why do firehouses have dalmatians? | |
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| Doughnut-shop employees always pick up the doughnuts with a tissue so that their hands never touch the doughnuts. Why do they then put the same tissue in with the doughnuts for the customer to carry home-germs and all? | |
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| Why is scoring three goals in hockey called a hat trick? | |
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| What are the names on the bottom of grocery sacks? | |
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| Why do Chinese restaurants use monosodium glutamate? | |
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| Why do old men wear their pants higher than young men? | |
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| Why are Oreos called "Oreos"? | |
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| What are those funny numbers on the bottom of copyright pages in books? | |
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| Why is 40 percent alcohol called 80 proof? | |
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| Why are humans most comfortable at 72[degree] F? Why not at 98.6[degree] F? | |
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| Why do they call large trucks "semis"? Semi-whats? | |
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| Why does San Francisco sourdough bread taste different from other sourdough French breads? | |
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| Does the U.S. Postal Service add flavoring to the glue on postage stamps to make the taste more palatable? | |
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| Why do wagon wheels in westerns appear to be spinning backward? | |
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| Why does unscented hair spray smell? | |
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| Why does heat lightning always seem far away? And why don't you ever hear thunder during heat lightning? | |
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| Why can't hair grow on a vaccination mark? | |
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| What kind of hen lays extra-large eggs? What determines the size categories of chicken eggs? | |
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| Why do some chickens lay brown eggs and others lay white eggs? | |
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| How did the expression "two bits" come to mean 25 cents? How did "two bit" come to mean "cheap"? | |
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| Why did Volkswagen discontinue making the "Bug"? | |
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| Why are the flush handles on toilets on the left side? | |
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| Why does the price of gas end in nine-tenths of a cent? | |
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| When I open the hot-water tap, why does the sound of the running water change as it gets hot? | |
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| The measurement of "one foot" was meant to approximate the length of a man's foot. How did they decide how long a meter should be? | |
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| Why does the moon appear bigger at the horizon than up in the sky? | |
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| If we see mockingbirds during the day and hear them at night, when do they sleep? | |
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| Why were Phillips screws and screwdrivers developed? | |
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| Why do trucks now say their contents are "flammable" when they used to say "inflammable"? | |
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| Why can't they make newspapers that don't smudge? | |
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| How and why do horses sleep standing up? | |
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| Why is seawater blue and tap water clear? Why does the color of the ocean range from blue to red? | |
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| Why don't kitchen sinks have an overflow mechanism? | |
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| Why do you have to dry-clean raincoats? | |
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| What is the purpose of the white half-moons on the bases of our fingernails and toenails? And why don't they grow out with the nails? | |
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| Can raisins be made from seeded grapes? | |
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| When a fly alights on the ceiling, does it perform a loop or a roll in order to get upside down? | |
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| How can "perpetual care" be assured in cemeteries after they run out of space for new plots? | |
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| What is the purpose of the pinholes around the sides of screw caps on soft-drink bottles? | |
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| Why are military medals worn on the left? | |
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| Why do bicycle tires go flat when the bike isn't used for long periods of time? | |
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| How do they print the "M&M" on M&M's chocolate candies? | |
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| Why are there no seams on M&M's? | |
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| What does M&M stand for? | |
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| Why are there more brown M&M's than any other color, and how do they determine the ratio of colors? | |
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| Why did they take away red M&M's? Why have they put them back recently? | |
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| How do manufacturers decide whether freezers go on the top or the bottom of refrigerators? | |
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| Why do hot dogs come ten to a package and hot-dog buns come eight to a package? | |
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| Frustrables, or the ten "most wanted" Imponderables | |
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| Why do you so often see one shoe lying on the side of the road? | |
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| Why are buttons on men's shirts and jackets arranged differently from those on women's shirts? | |
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| Why do the English drive on the left and just about everybody else on the right? | |
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| Why is yawning contagious? | |
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| Why do we give apples to teachers? | |
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| Why does looking up at the sun cause us to sneeze? | |
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| Why does the first puff of a cigarette smell better than subsequent ones? | |
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| Why do women in the United States shave their armpits? | |
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| Why don't you ever see really tall old people? | |
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| Why do only older men seem to have hairy ears? | |
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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Index | |
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| Master Index of Imponderability | |