Last week, we sent a mailer to all you wonderful people with 4 different articles, one of which was a quick quiz. Gauging the response to these articles, it seems the quiz came up trumps. I found this very interesting. Humanoids like to engage, one and two, like to be asked their opinion. Hm.
With this in mind I’ve devoted this week to preparing blogs that mystify, question and challenge (okay, perhaps that’s a little strong, but then you know me – all about the drama). In this blog we look at facts that have been around for yoinks, except, as it turns out, they aren’t actually facts.
Frankenstein was the name of the monster in Mary Shelley’s book.
Frankenstein is actually the name of the monster’s creator.
Coffee is made from beans.
A coffee bean is a seed of the coffee plant, and is the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit often referred to as a cherry. Even though they are seeds, they are referred to as ‘beans’ because of their resemblance to true beans.
Chameleons change colour to match their surroundings.
They change as a response to mood, temperature, communication and light, not the object they are touching.
Peanuts are a type of nut.
This is incorrect. They belong to the plant family, Leguminosae.
Your blood is blue before it’s oxygenated.
Not true – human blood is always red.
When in London, you are merely 6ft away from a rat.
This is just a rough estimate as rodents are not evenly spread.
Tomatoes are a vegetable.
While the Supreme Court of the United States did rule that tomatoes are vegetables in the legal sense for the purpose of taxation (Nix vs Hedden), they did not claim they are vegetables in any botanical sense. They are still fruits.
Now you know. Amaze your friends and colleagues around the water cooler station. Your street cred will increase exponentially. (Unless, of course, people will think you’re just showing off. Can’t help you with that, sorry!).
