MetaFilter posts tagged with mentalfloss

It's Linguistastic! Or Linguistalicious!

oneswellfoop — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 05:45:24 -0800

Arika Okrent (previously here on sign language interpreters and her 352-page book about 'Invented Languages') is currently kicking ass and taking etymologies at the Mental Floss site with a flurry of listicles* on the 'invention' of today's English/American language:
The solidly informational "11 Weirdly Spelled Words—And How They Got That Way"**
The entertainingly snarky "11 Creative Suffixes That Inspire New Words"
The just plain fun "From Y’all To Youse, 8 English Ways to Make “You” Plural"
plus one non-linguistic piece of pure pedantry: "11 Movie Chess Scenes Where The Board Is Set Up Wrong"*** *a term she MUST dissect sometime
**which SHOCKINGLY does not include an explanation why the word "weird" does not comply with the "i before e" rule. Well, maybe in a future post...
*** come on, if Bergman did it "wrong", doesn't that make it right?

Still nothing nearly as awful as eyeball leeches.

davidjmcgee — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:33:02 -0800

11 Legendary Monsters of Asia. 10 Legendary Monsters of Europe. 7 Legendary Monsters of South America. 10 Legendary Monsters of Australasia and Antarctica. 11 Legendary Monsters of Africa. 10 Legendary Monsters of North America Part 1, Part 2.

Hint: It's spelled Allen.

phunniemee — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 10:30:15 -0800

Mental Floss has some good stuff, but I really like their quizzes. Especially the "Who Am I" series. Novels. Poets. Actors. Sports. Wonders of the World. Bonus: Beards.

Mental Floss: Trivia, Quizzes, Facts, and other Time Wasters

The Deej — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 07:41:55 -0800

For those of us who can't get enough useless (and useful) information, there is Mental Floss. Take the "Color" movies quiz. Find out how Hornando Cortés and his 600 Spaniards subdued 5 million Aztec natives. Remember back to when President Nixon tried to fancy up the outfits worn by White House guards. Had enough? No? OK. Worried about birds exploding from eating wedding rice? Want to know what furfuraceous means? Scroll around this page to find out what Maya Angelou, Marilyn Monroe and Andrew Lloyd Webber were all affected by; what's up with green magazine covers; and why barber shops (as opposed to other places of business) spawned vocal groups? All this and much more! Now, you too can say, "I know more than my friends!"

What's wrong with these pictures?

Oriole Adams — Fri, 07 Feb 2003 05:48:54 -0800

What's wrong with these pictures? I thought I knew at least a little bit about art until I took this quiz. That, plus the blurb about spider-goats (eew!) makes me think that maybe decaf isn't strong enough to kick-start my brain this Friday morning.

Mental Floss

Oriole Adams — Fri, 22 Nov 2002 06:38:20 -0800

Gently strain your brain this Friday morning with some pop quizzes. Besides today's test, there are more in the archives. Sort of an educational way to pass the time (or your employer's time).