Curiosity files

Weird Historical Facts, Strange Words & Things You Didn’t Know Had a Name

A rotating cabinet of internet curiosities — untranslatable words, historical facts that sound made up, phobias you’ll wish you hadn’t learned about, and the dark side of nursery rhymes.

weird historical facts that sound made upuntranslatable words other languagesthings you didn’t know had a nameweirdest phobias that actually existdark history nursery rhymes

Rabbit Hole

11 Weird Historical Facts That Sound Made Up — But Are Disturbingly Well-Documented

A war fought over a wooden bucket. A Canadian PM who took political advice from his dead dog. A pope who declared war on cats. All real.

Sam Okonkwo · 6 min read

Rabbit Hole

12 Words From Other Languages With No English Translation — And What They Quietly Reveal About Us

The Japanese word for buying books and never reading them. The Inuktitut word for checking the door for a guest who isn’t there yet. English left these on the table.

Maya Lefèvre · 5 min read

Rabbit Hole

9 Everyday Things You Use Constantly That Have a Real, Slightly Ridiculous Name

The plastic tip on your shoelace. The dent above your lip. The smell of rain after a dry spell. They all have names. You just don’t know them yet.

Theo Whitebear · 4 min read

Rabbit Hole

7 Real Phobias That Sound Made Up — Including the Fear of Long Words (Yes, It Has a Long Name)

The fear of beards. The fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. The fear of developing a phobia. All clinically documented.

Maya Lefèvre · 5 min read

Rabbit Hole

Everything You Were Told About the Dark History of Nursery Rhymes Is Half Wrong — The Truth Is Worse

Ring Around the Rosie isn’t about the plague. London Bridge might be about something genuinely grim. Folklorists have been quietly trying to correct the record for 70 years.

Theo Whitebear · 6 min read

Rabbit Hole

The Surprisingly Dark Origins of 8 Phrases You Said This Week Without Thinking

‘Bury the hatchet’ is literal. ‘Caught red-handed’ is a 15th-century legal definition. ‘Bite the bullet’ is exactly as grim as it sounds.

Theo Whitebear · 5 min read

Rabbit Hole

Why Do We Actually Dream? Scientists Have 4 Theories and Zero Agreement — Here They Are

Memory consolidation. Threat rehearsal. Overnight therapy. Random brain noise. Every one is backed by real research. None of them are complete.

Sam Okonkwo · 6 min read

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Editorial picks · external

Weird Historical Facts, Strange Words & Things You Didn’t Know Had a Name

11 Weird Historical Facts That Sound Made Up — But Are Disturbingly Well-Documented

12 Words From Other Languages With No English Translation — And What They Quietly Reveal About Us

9 Everyday Things You Use Constantly That Have a Real, Slightly Ridiculous Name

7 Real Phobias That Sound Made Up — Including the Fear of Long Words (Yes, It Has a Long Name)

Everything You Were Told About the Dark History of Nursery Rhymes Is Half Wrong — The Truth Is Worse

The Surprisingly Dark Origins of 8 Phrases You Said This Week Without Thinking

Why Do We Actually Dream? Scientists Have 4 Theories and Zero Agreement — Here They Are

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