Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Quiz show categories are obsessively formatted as puns
Knowledge is apparently completely worthless unless it is packaged in a terrible joke. Television quiz shows meticulously construct their category names into…
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The Spice Girls were once called Touch
Imagine trying to conquer the globe with a name that sounds like a discontinued 90s body spray. Before they were preaching 'Girl Power' and taking over the…
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Why stadium exits are called vomitories
Yes, you read that right, and no, it isn't a joke about the quality of the concession food. Architectural blueprints for massive arenas officially label the…
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Printing completely wrong psychic predictions
Accountability does not exist in the psychic journalism sphere. Tabloids annually print massive lists of psychic predictions for the upcoming year, completely…
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First sale doctrine allows used physical media resales
Corporate giants absolutely despise the fact that you can sell your old plastic discs at a garage sale. The 'first-sale doctrine' is a massive legal loophole…
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The singer who demanded payment in gold
If you are the most famous singer alive, paper checks are completely beneath you. Adelina Patti famously refused to step onto a stage until promoters handed…
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How professionals fake a roasted turkey
Cooking a turkey to golden-brown perfection is an amateur's game. Professionals blast a raw, completely uncooked bird with a heat gun, then aggressively paint…
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How the Doctor Who theme was made with tape
Long before producers could just click a button on a MacBook to get a synth wave, the most mind-bending sci-fi intro ever was crafted entirely by hand. Delia…
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Noise limits at venues adhere to strict city laws
If the sound suddenly drops during the finale, do not blame the audio technicians. Most open-air arenas are bound by draconian municipal ordinances that…
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Trombones use a continuous slide to manipulate pitch
Why bother with precise mechanical valves when you can just manually stretch the instrument's plumbing? The trombone lowers its pitch by physically extending…
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Why talk-show guests can't name rival networks
Corporate synergy demands absolute loyalty. Guests sign agreements barring them from casually naming rival broadcast networks or shows during their…
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Why Arthur the Aardvark doesn't look like one
Zoology was completely abandoned for convenience. The original character design featured a long snout, but animators quickly realized drawing a realistic…
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Why museum audio guides sound so slow
Listening to an art explanation feels excruciatingly slow because it absolutely is. Audio guides are intentionally recorded at a sluggish one hundred words…
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In Ico, you have to hold hands to survive
Escort missions are universally despised, so this title solved the problem by making it an uncomfortably intimate mechanic. You have to physically hold a…
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Bloodborne's only shield is almost useless
Coming from a franchise known for heavily hiding behind massive slabs of metal, players were shocked to find this gothic nightmare actively mocks defensive…
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Marcel Marceau forged papers to save children
Marcel Marceau is famous for pretending to be trapped in an invisible box, but he spent his youth doing actual spy work. During WWII, he used his illustration…
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Sekiro replaces health bars with exhaustion meters
Instead of slowly chipping away at an enemy's life, you are basically just annoying them until they lose their balance. The posture system rewards aggressive…
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The computer shortcut behind Solitaire's card cascade
The immensely satisfying cascade of bouncing cards at the end of a win is mathematically trivial. The code simply disables the screen wipe function, allowing…
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Why lightsabers do not leave messy wounds
Swinging a weapon made of pure plasma should result in horrific, messy consequences. However, the extreme heat instantly seals up severed appendages, allowing…
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Harvest Moon could exile you for neglecting your dog
In an early installment of the tranquil farming simulator, treating your pets poorly leads to catastrophic failure. If you completely neglect to hug and feed…
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Electronic game Simon directly copies a playground game
The immensely loud circular plastic disc that flashes four colors at you is completely devoid of original mechanics. It is exactly the childhood game of…
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The monument that vanished on live TV
Grand scale illusions require the absolute compliance of the television camera. An illusionist famously broadcasted a stunt where he seemingly made an entire…
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Why movie furniture breaks so easily
When an actor dramatically hurls a chair against a wall, they are secretly throwing the equivalent of a heavy sponge. Balsa wood is incredibly lightweight and…
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Public access mandates were forced onto early monopolies
The only reason local eccentrics got their own shows is due to government interference. Regulators forced massive telecom monopolies to provide free public…
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