Many (many) years ago, my old physics teacher told us (though I may have been the only one listening) that lagging pipes to prevent heat loss was a waste of material after a certain point. This...
I visited the Vincennes zoo in Paris some years ago and took a photo of some antelopes that should be sable antelopes, but the horns are nowhere near as curved as those shown in illustrations. I...
In Microsoft Excel I had been messing about with the format, including using the "strikethrough" option in a couple of cells. It was only sometime later that I noticed that the labels of the...
I was thinking about that much overused word "basically", and started to wonder why it is so spelled. Almost all adverbs are formed from an adjective by adding -ly. But several adjectives...
What is the most popular track on compilation? I reckon it has to be Your Song by Elton John, with Get Hers by Oleeta Adams, Eternal Flame by The Bangles, or Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me by Elton...
We often hear on nature documentaries that X number of species are going extinct every day (or year). Does anybody list them? WE also hear that there are thoudands of species that have not yet been...
We all know 'nick-nack paddywack, give a (or 'the') dog a bone' but, what is the origin of the expression? 'Paddywhack' is in the OCD and Chambers, but the meaning is of little help. Pet shops around...
I cannot get accents on this form, so sorry about that. The question is, what are your favourite (i.e. most loathed) current cliches? I would like to exclude one-word cliches, such as 'hopefully' and...
I asked this serious question a while ago and only got silly answers. How do blind people know when they have used enough toilet paper? It is not the sort of question I could ask a blind person (I...
In a small town in Spain (Pozaldez) there are two large churches. One is dedicated to San Bual, 'a French saint' according to a guide book. I have been unable to find out anything about him, other...
I've wondered for a long time, how do blind people know when they have used enough toilet paper? I assume they do not have to have a sighted person with them.
Do you have a good authentic recipe for Santiago Cake (Tarta de Santiago)? I got one on the internet that forgot to include sugar in the list of ingredients and didn't use self-raising flour or baking...
Why are watch batteries so ludicrously expensive? I know they use silver oxide, but still, the price charged in shops is crazy. Does anyone on the Answerbank know what they actually cost to make? I...
Why cannot this site have a spellchecker working on it? I know some of the mistakes are merely typographical, but a lot of them are real howlers. And the use of the apostrophe in 'it's' is more often...
I heard this sentence on a TV programme within the past two weeks - it might have been the on about Rodin's 'The Kiss' - it was said as though it was a quotation. When I put it on Google I found lots...