Author: Winn Sioux Christnot-Peters

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People Share Little-Known Facts About Their Home State

The United States is a pretty a darn big country and each state is commonly known for some specific features like landmarks, spots of natural beauty or specific customs.

Sometimes the things a state is known for aren’t the most interesting things about that state, though.

Redditor FriendoAmigo asked:

“US Residents of Reddit: What is a lesser known fact about the state you live in?”

It Snows In Arizona

“Arizona isn’t all desert. The northern half is pine trees, lotsa greenery, & snow.” -ThatsMyOpiniiiooon

“This actually surprised me so much when I moved here a few years ago. I lived in the PNW before and was shocked that there are places here almost like it, just farther north. I live in the south though so we just have sand. Lots of sand. ?” -smc0303

“You can ski in Tucson! If they open the road after it snows.” -Redditor

Pennsylvania Used To Be Über German

“Until WWI German was the most spoken language in PA. Papers were printed in it, schools were taught in it, it was spoken in homes and businesses.”

“Then we soured on Germany and in a matter of years it was erased except for place names, last names, and the language of the Plain [Mennonite, Amish, Anabaptist] people.” -tehmlem

Apparently, So Was Texas?

“There is a dialect of German that is only spoken in Texas.” -Implicit_Hwyteness

“Really? What’s it called? Texan German?” -Oiltownboi

“‘Texasdeutsch’, yeah.” -Implicit_Hwyteness

“If you’re interested you can hear it on youtube. Wikitongues has an interview with an older woman speaking it.”

“As a German speaker it’s very strange to hear. She uses really antiquated words. It’s like someone from a time machine” -Fylfalen

Jersey Devil Territory

“New Jersey is home to the Pine Barrens, basically the cleansing apparatus for the entire Northeastern seaboard for the last few centuries. Interesting lore surrounding the New Jersey Devil living there too.” -Kin2monkey

Swiss Cheese Isn’t From Switzerland

“Swiss cheese was created in Ohio, the state ranks number one in swiss cheese production in the country.” -cheesecake_fiend

“Swiss cheese is any variety of cheese that resembles Emmental cheese, a yellow, medium-hard cheese that originated in the area around Emmental, Switzerland.”

“Baby Swiss and Lacy Swiss are two varieties of American Swiss cheeses. Both have small holes and a mild flavor. Baby Swiss is made from whole milk, and Lacy Swiss is made from low fat milk. Baby Swiss was developed in the mid-1960s outside of Charm, Ohio, by the Guggisberg Cheese Company, owned by Alfred Guggisberg.” -BryGuyB

“What !? I’ve been lied to! At least tell me it was invented by a Swiss man in Ohio?” -DatTF2

“Google tells me that a Swiss man named Alfred Guggisberg immigrated to the US and created the cheese in Ohio Amish country.” -cheesecake_fiend

“And if anyone is passing through this area I strongly suggest that they buy some Guggisberg baby Swiss! The best Swiss Cheese I have ever had.”

“Pair it with some ‘trail’ bologna – you can probably find both in the same place if you’re shopping in the area.” -Labhran

Nuclear Oops

“In 1961, a nuclear bomb payload was dropped on Goldsboro, NC when a B-52 started coming apart midair. It was like one failsafe away from detonating, preventing the Piedmont from becoming a crater.”

“We don’t hear about that much and I’m surprised more people I talk to in our state don’t know about it.” -hangtight97

“The part about one of the bombs nearly exploding wasn’t declassified until 2013.” -CedarWolf

Alaska Isn’t All Frozen

“Alaska isn’t just frozen tundra. We also have the largest rainforest in the US, the Tongass.”

“Where I live, you can see old growth rainforest, ocean, fjords, glaciers, and snow capped 10,000 foot mountains all in the same view, while enjoying mild and stable temperatures that only occasionally dip below the 30s or above the 60s (Fahrenheit).”

“Also, because our summertime daylight hours are so long, we grow monster record setting vegetables!”

“I should say Alaska grows record setting vegetables in the Palmer area. Where I live in the rainforest, growing veggies requires cover and lots of fertilizer because there is too much rain.” -ghiagirl13

Iowa Really Is That Empty

“Many people think that Iowa’s emptiness is exaggerated in movies and TV, it’s not. I live in a town of 200 people and the nearest town (about 15 miles away) has 500, if I go to the edge of town, which takes like 3 minutes on foot, then I’d see nothing but corn fields and maybe a house” -Cayden5

“My favorite Iowa fact is that despite its low population, Iowa is actually the most developed state in the country because farm fields still count as development. We have very small % of wilderness left even compared to densely-populated states like NJ and DE.” -Dangerous-Ad-170

You Can’t Have It Back

“Minnesota was not a very populous state during the Civil War, but we sent hundreds of soldiers to fight, including the First Minnesota. The First Minnesota Regiment suffered 80% casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg, but for their sacrifice they won a Virginian Battle Flag as a trophy from the field.”

“Every so often Virginia asks for Minnesota to return it, and every time Minnesota tells them to f*ck off.” -CaptValentine

“I love that story. I read that Virginia sued them saying ‘that flag is part of our heritage!’ and Minnesota basically said ‘yeah, and taking it from you is part of ours ?‘” -incredible_mr_e

“Technically there has been a ruling in 1905 to return Civil War relics to their original states but I would like to point out that the CSA does not exist anymore, in part due to the First Minnesota’s sacrifice, so we actually can’t return it to it’s place of origin if we wanted to. Which we don’t. F*ck off, Virginia.” -CaptValentine

“Terrible governor, but I loved Jesse Ventura’s response to Virginia when they asked for it back, ‘why? we won’.” -air-bear1

“Oh Virginia, you silly sausage, that’s not how capture the flag works! (I’m from MN as well btw)” -2_cats_high_5ing

Texas Probably Isn’t Like You Think

“I’m from Texas, but I’ve lived/spent time in the northeast, midwest and Europe. These are the things that surprise people:

“1.Texas is one of the most diverse states in the nation. e.g.. People commonly assume Texas is very conservative, rural, and white, when it’s actually fairly purple, has large urban populations, and many ethnicities and cultures. Some people are surprised to learn Houston is almost as large (pop wise) as Chicago, and Dallas, Austin, San Antonio are some of the largest cities in the US.”

“2. Most Texans don’t have thick accents. If I had a nickel for every Minnesotan that said ‘you can’t be from Texas, you sound normal’ I’d have, idk, like a dollar or something. Only the most rural areas really have thick accents.”

“3. Texas isn’t really culturally part of the south. Louisiana through Texas forms a kind of cultural gradient between the south and southwest.”

“4. A noteworthy amount of Texans want to secede. It’s really rare actually, it’s more of a meme.”

“5. Texas has several varieties of bbq. It’s not just smoked brisket, but also varieties of barbacoa and direct flame grilling.”

“What is true:”

“Texans are willing to fight about bbq and smoking meat.”

“It’s hot as hell.”

“There are a lot of rural populations that have horses, even if most people don’t.”

“Texans are very proud of Texas.” -Fmeson

“The only show I ever saw that even got close to explaining the oddity that is Houston is Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. A lot of cities use ‘diverse’ as a tagline but Houston is on another level.”

“It’s more than the fact that it has a long history of welcoming immigrants from all over the world. Once you are there, you are a Houstonian.” -voice_of_craisin

The things everyone knows about states are often not their coolest or most interesting features.

There might even be cool facts or landmarks about your state that you don’t yet know.

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People Share The Best Facts About Language That No One Seems To Know

Language may seem like a pretty boring subject—we all had to study it throughout our school years, after all.

But languages are way weirder—and way cooler—than you might think.

Redditor FamousTeam90 asked:

“What is a fun language fact you know?”

Italian Is Newer And Older Than You Might Think

“The official Italian language is both new and old. It is based on an old dialect that was only adopted by the Italian state after unification in the late 1800’s.”

“It’s based on a literary language spoken by upper class Tuscans in 11th-12th 13th century. Most regions in Italy still speak their own dialect and the official Italian taught in schools.”

“Here’s a brief history for the curious.” –TrevArts

“My mother’s grandparents immigrated to the US from northern Italy around the turn of the 20th century. They apparently didn’t speak standard Italian, they spoke Lombard, which is a funky looking language/dialect. My mom said her grandparents kind of cut off the end of words like the French do.” -SagiTsukiko

“My grandparents originally lived near Napoli and spoke Neapolitan. Compared to standard Italian a lot of the pronunciations are totally different. My mother learned it from her parents and when we went to Italy to visit relatives who didn’t immigrate she got comments from people on how she spoke the old language instead of the new one.” -PrivateVasili

Finnish Has A Lot Of Homophones

“The Finnish phrase ‘kuusi palaa’ can be understood in 9 different ways:

“Six pieces / Six of them return / Six of them are on fire / The number six returns / The number six is on fire / A spruce is on fire / A spruce returns / Your moon is on fire / Your moon returns”

“A piece = pala / (multiple) pieces = palaa / A moon = kuu / Your moon = kuusi / A spruce = kuusi / Six = kuusi / To be on fire = palaa / To return = palata / Return(s) = palaa” -InfamousChibi

“‘How many do you want?’ ‘Kuusi palaa.’ ‘My moon is what?’” –joha130

English Is Changing

“We think of English, particularly American English, as becoming more homogeneous over time (usually attributed to the prevalence of national-level media), but in fact, the fastest vowel shift in the history of the English language is currently underway. It’s called the Northern Cities Shift, and is taking place from Chicago to upstate New York.” -HungryLikeTheWolf99

“The pronunciation of short vowels have shifted from their common sound, for example short o is now pronounced as short a, so the word block sounds more like black. It is happening around the great lakes and linguists aren’t sure why it has happened.” -maryxchristmas

“This short video shows people who demonstrate the accent but were filmed for other reasons (i.e. they were not trying to accentuate the Northern Cities Vowel Shift).”

“Edit: I wanted to add this video as well. It does a good job of actually explaining the phenomenon.” -Cat_Man_Dew

German Elements Can Be A Bit Strange

“Sauerstoffe, the German word for oxygen, literally translates to ‘sour material’.” -PersonWhoExists50306

“This isn’t the only weird element name in German.”

“Hydrogen = Wasserstoff = ‘Water stuff’”

“Nitrogen = Stickstoff = ‘Choke stuff’”

“Carbon = Kohlenstoff = ‘Coal stuff’” -GeneralDarian

“‘Oxygen’ means acid forming. Acids taste sour.” –GozerDGozerian

Not All Medical Terms Are Latin

“Many people think that the medical names for organs of the body are derived from Latin, but only the muscles and bones are. For example, ‘gluteus maximus’ is Latin for biggest muscle. But, ‘pulmonary’ is derived from the Greek, since it is not a muscle (i.e. pertaining to the lungs).” -Ex_Nihil

Fruity Confusion

“In French, grape is ‘raisin’ and raisin is ‘raisin sec’ (which roughly translates to ‘dry grape’).”

“F**ked me up as a child.” -_aft3rlif3_

“My parents always interchanged French and English, but would only use raisin for the dry type and I never knew if I was getting grapes or raisins.” -notyetcommitteds2

ASL Is Quite Complex

“American Sign Language (ASL) is one of many signed languages around the world and has very little relation to the English language.”

“Also, when confronted with a proper noun, name or a concept that needs to be clarified because of the lack of a sign, we use fingerspelling. While you might think this is like speaking the letters of a name, signers spell so quickly that you aren’t supposed to catch every letter, just notice the general shape of the word as it’s spelled.”

“Some signs for ‘bank”dog’ and ‘what’ are fingerspelled so hurriedly that you omit a letter or two, leaving a quick motion in place of what would have been B-A-N-K.”

“Fingerspelling in general is bananas. Watch a Deaf person spell their own name (especially something long like Josephine) and you’ll see what I mean. It’s probably the toughest part of the language to learn since it’s nearly all intuitive.” -ICantHearYoo

Why Pineapple?

“Pineapple is some variation of ‘ananas’ in most languages…except English” -yeEEeEeeEeee3eeeeEet

“In Mexican Spanish, pineapple is piña, while in most other varieties it’s anana” -ThePeasantKingM

“It’s ananas in Kannada, a smaller language of a state of India. So weird, considering I doubt that there is any shared roots with other languages.” -Redditor

“Its ananas in Marathi too. I think it is that for PIE [Proto-Indo-European] root languages. Kannada isn’t one but maybe interacting with Sanskrit and other Indo-Aryan language probably gave it ananas.” -AdiSoldier245

Arabeezy

“When people type Arabic using Latin letters, they substitute some numbers for letters because they look similar. It’s commonly called “Arabeezy” as a portmanteau of the Arabic word for English, Engleezy, and Arabic. Examples include ew3adni, 2ool, 7abibi, 3li, 6arab. So sometimes you’ll see sentences like, ‘Eh a5bar sho3’lak?’ and wonder if their cat jumped on their keyboard.” -H0use0fpwncakes

“Been learning Arabic for two years and I had no idea the numbers were chosen because they looked like the letter, I just thought it was because English had no equivalent for that Arabic letter so we used numbers. This makes much more sense haha” -laika_pushinka

Don’t Interrupt

“You can’t really interrupt someone who use a language that places the verb at the end of the sentence because you won’t understand what he wants unless he’s finished” -OmarAdelX

“I mean to a certain extent. Japanese is that type of language but some sentences are even made not to be finished.. You don’t need the verb always.” -elrulestheworld

“Sure you can…if you know what they are going to say (context). Source – speak Japanese. People interrupt all the time.” -bless_your-heart-

“I’ve always wondered how translators work with this?”

“Like in German, for example, where you place the verb at the end.”

“For example, ‘I want to run quickly through the green grass.’ is ‘Ich möchte schnell durch das grüne Gras rennen.’”

“If someone was translating that it would seem like they’d hear ‘I want to quickly through the green grass run,’ so how do they know it’s going to be run?” -liamemsa

“Interpreter here, though in Spanish not German, but Spanish works the same way where I have to untangle the sentence to get it to make sense in English. When a client is talking, I usually wait for them to finish the thought before rendering it in the other language. This is called consecutive interpreting, one person talks, stops, and lets me do my thing. The other form, simultaneous, is when one person talks and once I can’t remember any more I start talking too, taking in info while I’m actively interpreting. Most of us don’t work in this mode often, unless you’re interpreting a conference or something. Most interpreter’s working memory is 4 ish sentences, so we know what you said and we just flip it around as we go. We also take notes depending on the type of session. It takes practice and a very high degree of fluency, but I honestly don’t think about the grammar much anymore. I’m trying to find the vocabulary that will get the message across best or remember a medical term.” -GrayGhoast

Language is even more fascinating than a lot of people think. Even if you take your native language for granted, there are probably a whole lot of really cool things you don’t know about it yet.

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People Describe The Most Wholesome Facts They Know

It’s always good to add some new wholesome knowledge to your life.

Here’s extra wholesome facts from the folks on the AskReddit subReddit to hopefully make your day a little better.

Redditor PM_YOUR_HAPPY asked:

“What is the most wholesome fact you know?”

Coral Is Awesome

“Someone, while handling coral, discovered that when shattered, coral will grow back and mature at unprecedented speeds.”

“This discovery has led to the very real hope that the Earth’s endangered coral beds can be repaired quickly and efficiently” – breedlesbean

“That’s great to hear! Can you give me your source?”

“I’d really like to read more about that.” –schuelli27

“Of course! Because there are actually quite a few sources, I had a bit of trouble narrowing it down to the best ones but here is a well written article and a PBS video on it!”

“Article“

“Video” –breedlesbeans

Relief Cattle

“In 2002, Kenyan Masai tribe people donated 14 cows to the U.S. to help with the aftermath of 9/11.” –MalonePostponed

“IIRC, the US ‘accepted’ the donation, but let the cows stay in Kenya as the shipping would have been enormous.” –Little-Jim

“To add to this, they started paying the village who offered the cows to look after them on America’s behalf.” –HoundOfNoHouse

Gorilla Song

“Gorillas make up cute food songs and sing louder for the food they prefer.” –halinw191


GIPHY

“Today I Learned (TIL) I’m a Gorilla” –silkblackrose

“This sounds like my children” –IMuleIt

“This is the link from a Reddit TIL a few days ago” –MuSE555

Slumble Bees

“Bees sometimes fall asleep on flowers.” –tealgirl94

“I saw one today with its big bumble bee bum sticking out of one today and thought it was dead. Around 40 minutes later it woke up and got back to bumble beeing.” –inselaffenaktion

“They are resting as they’re tired. They can die from dehydration!”

“It is often advised to leave a teaspoon of water and sugar out for bees to drink so they can quench their thirst. It is important that we do this.”

“Always remember to feed the little fellas who spend their entire lives feeding us.” –OmenedRaven

Mr. Rogers Is Always Wholesome

“Mr. Rogers mom, Nancy McFeely Rogers, knitted all the sweaters he wore on tv.” –Cheshire_Cat8888

“Mentioning Mr. Rogers in a thread about wholesomeness is cheating.”

“And since we’re cheating anyway, I’ll take the opportunity to share his quote:”


GIPHY

“‘When I was a boy and would see scary things in the news, my mother would always say to me “look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping”‘.” –pm_me_n00d

“There is an episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (current animated spinoff of Mr. Rogers) where dad tiger says this to his son, Daniel, and I tear up every time!” –mrsgarrett27

“To add to this wholesomeness: When he would feed his fish on the show he would announce that he was doing it because the mother of a young blind girl wrote him saying her daughter was worried that the fish were not getting feed, so, he started doing it to let her know the fish were ok.” –whiteknight804

Beavers Are Actually Adorably Wholesome

“Beavers ‘close the door’ of their lodges with sticks whenever they go out and i find it incredibly cute for some reason” –doradeexplora

“Baby Beavers look like teeny adult beavers when born. Before you go ‘well duuh’, think of all the other animals – birds, humans, dogs, cats – that look similar but not identical to their adult versions.”

“Also they have fwooopy tails.” –Redditor

“Also guinea pigs. Every time I see a newly hatched guinea pig my brain cannot compute that it is EXACTLY the same as an adult guinea pig only smol.” –FlippityFelts

Dogs Are, Of Course, Ridiculously Wholesome

“Dogs, when aggressively playing with them, will sneeze to let you know that they are just playing and don’t want to hurt you.” –Agent_301

“My dog sneezes whenever she’s excited. Or going out the door. Or going for a wee. Or a poo. Or anything, really.”

“Maybe everything is exciting?” –t-scotty

“My dog does this when she gets excited about meeting someone familiar, I always thought it was something uncontrollable TIL” –SvenskBlatte

“My trainer told me that some breeds do this as a way to “clear their head” when getting excited or flustered. A person might pause for a moment and shake their head but a dog sneezes to reset themselves.”

“I was told this is especially common in terriers and other smaller breeds” –My_Invalid_Username

Dolphins Are Great Too

“Dolphins will assign other dolphins a sound, kind like a name, and even if the dolphin doesn’t know who said it’s ‘name’ it will still respond.” –lobo_Cop

“It’s even cooler than that. The dolphin’s ‘name’ is called a signature whistle.”

“A dolphin’s signature whistle usually fully develops within the first year of life, and rarely changes throughout adulthood. A calf develops its own signature whistle based on the signature whistle of an adult in its pod.”

“The calf does not copy the whistle, instead it uses it as a model. Calves tend to model their signature whistles after those of adult dolphins who they do not spend much time with.”

“This leads to the signature whistles of individual dolphins in the same pod sharing certain characteristics, almost like a family name.”

“When two dolphin meet in the open ocean, they emit their signature whistles to each other. From this they decide whether they are friends of if they should fight or run.”

“So with this information, we know that dolphins can use vocalizations to reference others. And they have a sense of permanence and continuity of others.”

“The question is do dolphins use vocalizations to reference objects, and will they do so without being taught by a human. The really cool thing is that is the basis of language.” –tweakingforjesus

Seals Are Kings Of Wholesome

“When seals feel safe and content, they do this thing.” –subjection-s

Various seals in banana poses.

“they become banana” –Rantsandopinion

“They not only become banana, they become happy and calm bananana.” –Redditor

“I actually went home on Friday for the day and was on the train from Edinburgh when I saw some seals on a rocky shore doing this. I feel happier knowing this” –CaledonianWarrior

Keeping Others From Making The Same Mistake

“There was a guy who jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge when he was 19 and immediately realized he’d made a huge mistake. He miraculously survived the fall.”

“Thanks to help from a sea lion he was kept afloat and it swam around him until he could be rescued. He is now a mental health advocate and has gone on to save who knows how many people from making that same leap.” –morbidnerd

“Kevin Hines is the guy’s name. He was a guest speaker in a class I once took.”

“Fascinating to listen to what was going through his head as he fell. Instant regret, reaching out for the rail as he fell back away from it.” –DangerBrewin

“I am not a religious person, but this really sounds like a divine intervention.” –Turhaturpa

“Well, female sea lions can act a bit interesting around divers. One kept trying to feed a National Geographic diver penguins.”

“It made numerous attempts including stuffing one into his face, and got anxious that he wasn’t taking it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was maternal behaviour, but quite wholesome that they do it to another species.” –inselaffektion

“I like to think that in its own way, that sea lion has also helped save all those lives along with the kid who survived the lowest point in his life.” –morbidnerd

Hopefully these wholesome facts helped improve your day, even if just a little.

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People Break Out The Best Hygiene Hacks They Know

We all like to think we’re clean people, and we probably are.

But there are probably still some ways we can improve, or ways to get things just as clean without all the time and effort.

Redditor ProudSilver1576 asked:

“What is a hygiene tip/trick that everyone should know?”

You Might Be Surprised What Is Dirty

“Occasionally wipe down your doorknobs and light switches. When I was a maid I’d clean people’s light switches and they’d be covered is brown gunk because they’d never been cleaned before. We touch them multiple times every day. They get nasty.” –yarnfrog

“At the start of the plague I deep cleaned the office. The worst part was the door. Not the handle but the door itself, because everyone touches the same spot to hold it open when they pull their key out. Also the armrests on chairs. I swear I went home and took two showers from how nasty it all was.” –shiguywhy

“Whenever I lysol wipe my phone, the wipe still has lots of life left so I’ll go wipe any switches, door handles, sink handles, fridge handles, microwave buttons, all that good stuff in the vicinity. Doesn’t take too long.” –drsandwich_MD

They’re Really Not A Luxury

“Don’t ignore a toothache. Abscesses can lead to sepsis that’ll destroy your whole body. Take care of those luxury bones!” –februarytide

“During the lull between the first and second covid waves, we had two admissions to our intensive care unit with pericardial infections secondary to dental abscesses. One died. Don’t ignore dental infections.” –Mouse_Nightshirt

“Brush your tongue and the top of your mouth along with your teeth.” –pdxblaxer

Bad Acne?

Could Be Your Pillowcase

“Clean your pillowcase regularly, it helps keep your face from breaking out.” –Amish_Juggalo469

“I change my pillowcase every 4 nights (1 night per side) originally because of breakouts. Helped a lot. Just went to a second hand store, got a ton of cheap pillowcases, washed them with hot water and bleach and voila.” –Balderdash966

“And your comforter/blanket if you’re like me and bring it all the way up to your face.” –Reamund

Your Hairbrush Could Use Some Love Too

“Washing my hairbrush. I used to just get rid of the excess hair but that was it: I never rinsed it out. I wash it in a mild soap solution and rinse in very hot water and it makes my hair smell so much better.” –Redditor

“I did this the other day, I was pretty grossed out by how dirty the water was afterwards.” –spitfire07

“Omg. Bc of product buildup, natural oils, dry scalp, wtf I’m doing this tomorrow thank you! Seems like common sense that a brush would need cleaning too ?” –rayne-drops

The Sun Is Not Your Friend

“Maybe not hygiene, but use a face lotion with a SPF of 15 or higher. You’ll thank yourself later on in life.” –__Sentient_Fedora__

“I’ve been doing this daily since I was 18. I’m now 52, no wrinkles at all. I still get asked for ID. Do it.” –Acornpoo

“Mid-40s here: Same. My sisters and I have been putting on SPF daily since childhood. My mom was super stringent about it. Face and neck.”

“My mom is 70-ish and she looks like she could be early 50s. My sisters and I have smooth skin, no sun spots and no wrinkles. It could be genetics, but it could also be rigorous use of sunscreen.” –ResidingAt42

The Order Is Important

“Poop first, shower second.” –belachewm

“I poop 5 times a day and shower once or twice so this isn’t really sustainable for me.” __Guy_Incognito

“One word. Bidet.” –Canisnate

This One’s For Everyone

“Pee after sex! Male or female, everybody needs to pee after sex.”

“Also, if you’re reading this, you probably need to drink at least one glass of water.” –hananobira

“I don’t need to drink any more water. I work in construction and it is summer here. I drink plenty because I sweat it out like a faucet. What I need are electrodes especially sodium.”

“That ‘drinking lots of water is good’ mentality can be really dangerous. We periodically get reminded that drinking water is not a substitute for a rest to cool down because of how many people drink themselves to the point of water poisoning.”

“The peeing to prevent UTI is spot on though.” –idunnoijustlurk

Quick Fixes For BO

“You’re in public and your armpits smell disgusting. Use hand sanitizer because the smell is caused by bacteria, and the hand sanitizer killed it. Just don’t do this regularly because your skin is sensitive under your armpits.” –Toxicity5675

“Also don’t do this on freshly shaved armpits.” –standinginmyownway

“Pro tip for hairy guys: Shave your pits. Saves your shirts from stains and GREATLY reduces the smell. Also, your deodorant will actually work.” –Intyleryoutrust

“Years ago I had BO that would go through the best deodorant. My dermatologist told me to buy this product called Hibiclens – it has 4% chlorhexidine gluconate- and use on my pits when i shower.”

“Game changer. I still use it to this day, maybe 1 or 2 times a week instead of every time I shower.” –PAXICHEN

Nobody Likes A Wet Floor

“When you take a shower or get out of a pool, slide your hands down your legs, arms, stomach, butt etc a few times like windshield wipers when you turn the water of and there’ll be less on the floor when you get out and your towel wont be as soaking wet either.” –pURPleDorito4108

“Hand squeegies!” –II_Confused

“Note for my fellow hairy dudes: It still works somewhat but mileage may vary.” –Ennbeard

“points finger to temple”

“Dry off while standing in the tub/shower. No water on the floor.” –InanimateSensation

Your Feet Might Need Some Attention

“Wash you feet! Most people I know seem to believe their feet magically become clean from having soapy water run down them while they are showering.”

“That is NOT the case! You really need to wash your feet.”

“Also a good idea to take a pumice or foot file to calluses and use a hard nail brush for toenails.”

“Keeping your feet clean will prevent a lot of problems, particularly with fungus. Funguses live and thrive on dead skin cells so if you have toenail fungus you will have a really hard time getting rid of it till you get rid of dead skin around the nails!” –internet_commie

“To piggyback off foot health – if you work at a job where you work for long hours and maybe your feet kinda smell at the end of the day.”

“Try having two pairs of shoes and wear them alternate days.”

“Changing socks mid shift can help a lot.” –OrcOfDoom

Hopefully some of these hygiene hacks will help make your life a little easier, and maybe a little cleaner.

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People Divulge The Absolute Best Questions To Ask In A Job Interview

The job interview process is almost always stressful, and that’s only after you’ve sent in enough resumés and applications to get someone to offer you an interview in the first place.

Knowing what to ask your interviewer when they ask you “Do you have any questions for us?” is often the most nerve-wracking part of the interview itself.

But below, you’ll find some great questions to ask your potential employer during your next interview.

Reddit user fmgame asked:

“What is THE best question to ask on a job interview?”

Ask About Your Predecessor

“One that has always gone over well for me: ‘What were some qualities that the previous employee in this role brought to the job that you would like to see carried forward?’”

“Another good thing to do is research the company you are interviewing with and you can ask things about what they may be involved in or you could drop that while reading about the company, you wondered this.” –uneasyandcheesy

Ask For Your Interviewer’s Expertise

“When you were interviewing here, what would you have liked to know before you joined?” –BeBackInASchmeck

“This worked for me. I asked my interviewer a question about how she had personally dealt with a company policy she had just explained.”

“She bragged about her stellar adherence to the policy. I nodded my approval. I got the job.” –slowbreaths

“This sounds like it allows too much room for them to promote themselves or the company. It’s not a bad question, I just think it will be hard to get an honest answer.” –Dukeronomy

“But are we looking for an honest answer, or just trying to get hired?” –DungeonsAndDragonsD*ldos

What Do They Want From You?

“Ask them what is the biggest problem you can solve for them in your first six months with the company. Similar to ‘don’t think of a purple hippo,’ this forces them to imagine you succeeding in the position.” –stack_cats

“I asked this question in the interview for my current job. The answer I got was great:”

“‘Nothing. Just settle in, find your feet, concentrate on doing the basics right. We’ll sort out some challenges for you next year’.”

“It meant that I felt really relaxed and at ease when I started, knowing that I didn’t have to make any grand statements early on in my career here.” –SamwiseTheOppressed

This One Can Help You Weed Out Places That Aren’t A Good Fit

“What do you like best about working here?” –SJExit4

“This question has helped a lot to get an accurate view on the employer” –HurricaneHugo

“‘Good work-life balance, open and transparent communication, and a healthy work environment,’ even if none of those things are true.” –reallydarnconfused

“In February I asked this question in a job interview and the immediate response of the guy interviewing me is to look down and laugh a bit.”

“He then told me the likes the ‘balance’ and the ‘comradeship’ and that it feels like ‘family’.”

“That didn’t satisfy me but they proceeded to hire me a week later and I accepted. That comradeship he was talking about was true.”

“It was a group of 15 people and they were all 45+ and older and we’re highly racist towards everyone not German enough.”

“I quit after 2 months after listening to daily right wing conspiracies and whining about foreigners.” –Shaawny

Are They A Good Manager?

“A question that landed me a job once was: ‘If I asked your direct reports about your management style, what do you think they’d tell me?’ Stumped a hiring manager and he emailed me personally to tell me about it, no one ever asked him that question but I got the job.”

“In my current interviews I’m asking ‘what did your company do for its employees during COVID to improve their day to day, work life balance, etc.’ and I ask ‘Is there anything your company adopted during COVID that they plan to keep post COVID?’”

“These questions give a lot of insight into whether a company treated their employees well.”

“Other questions that I’ve been complemented on are:”

“‘If we were currently sitting in my 1 year review, what would I have done in this year for you to say I excelled in my role?’”

“‘If I could snap my finger right now and change anything about your job or the company, what would it be and why?’” –Ophelia_AO

“When I’m interviewing, if it’s not offered proactively, I ask to meet some of the team I would be working with – and have a meeting where the hiring manager was not present.”

“When I’m talking with my potential coworkers I can them ask them about daily tasks/projects, any challenges, and what it’s like to work with the hiring manager. Not being able to meet with them separate from the hiring manager would be a red flag.”

“But then a couple of years ago I was interviewing and was offered a job where I would be the first employee at a company. The owner had previously done a lot of his business with contractors, and wanted to bring on an employee.”

“Obviously there were no coworkers for me to interview, since I would be the first one hired.”

“I did a couple of interviews with the owner, and he said he definitely wants to offer me the position, and he asked me to email him my references.”

“I said I would, and then I noted that normally I would want to speak with coworkers, but since that was not really possible I asked him for references of his own – specifically some who could speak to his management style.”

“He apparently loved that I did that. Said he had never been asked that before, and I could see he was surprised and hadn’t even thought about it.”

“But he agreed to send me an email later that night.”

“What I really appreciated was that he didn’t just give me people who were his direct reports in past jobs. He gave me a couple of levels of people to speak to.”

“One reference was someone who he directly managed previously. This one could speak about his long term experience with my prospective boss, and management style, and whether or not he was a micromanager (was not one, yay).”

“One reference was someone who was currently a managing partner at a pretty big Australian company. They had been VPs at the same time, managing different divisions at a previous company.”

“This one could speak to the leadership style, how my prospective boss approached business problems, and about his vision for the company. They had a long history, and it was really valuable to understand that my boss had a 5 year and 10 year plan for the business that was well thought out.”

“And I think the third reference was a current contractor at the company I was thinking about joining. This one was able to speak about current management style, and current projects I would work on.”

“Got valuable info from all of those references, and I accepted the job”

“Absolutely all of them were accurate about him as a manager.”

“A year or so later told me that me making the request for his references stood out – he took it as a sign that I was a good choice.”

“I don’t work for him anymore, but he’s still one of the best managers I have ever had.”

“The only manager I ever had who when he was trying to hire more people, came to me and said that in trying to hire he had come to realize that he was underpaying me, and gave me a $10k raise on the spot.” –LadyCiani

This One’s Important

“Why is this position open?” –TXJOEMAMA

“The position was ALWAYS hiring (call centre) so I asked them what their turnover rate was… 20% per month.”

“I lasted a good while. I had the highest call ratings in the company, and several customers spoke to or sent letters to my manager about how much they appreciated my help.”

“But I also had the lowest amount of calls taken per shift. Because of that, they never gave me my monthly award in front of the other staff.”

“They didn’t want anyone else to think they could get away with it.”

“Quantity, not quality.” –blameitonmyouth

Not Everyone Wants To Move Up

“Perhaps not the best but very interesting. A candidate asked me if it is possible in our company to get a significant raise without climbing up the career ladder in our company.”

“This guy never wanted to be a manager, he wanted to do what he applied for but wanted to know it will be well paid.”

“We hired him. He’s introvert, working alone in his ‘basement’ but he’s great at what he does.” –Nathaniel66

Job interviews are often stressful, but hopefully these suggestions about what to ask your interviewer make at least part of the process easier.

Happy job hunting!

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People Who Work For Dating Apps Share The Best Behind-The-Scenes Facts They Know

Online dating seems to be the norm for finding a partner these days, but the process can seem a bit esoteric and confusing for those who haven’t been using the apps all along.

Working for the companies that run dating apps and websites is more interesting than the average person might expect, too.

Reddit user brunetteht3 asked:

“Redditors that worked with a dating company (Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, etc.), what’s the most insane user stat or behind-the-scenes fact you found out about?”

Try Reaching Out

“I ran operations for an online dating company (notably not affiliated with Match). From database analytics I can tell you a few things.”

“Men initiate contact around 80% of the time in straight matchmaking, and if you are a woman looking to date other women and you simply initiate contact with another woman you have a good chance of success simply because it’s very very very common for women to match but then neither initiates contact.”

“IIRC we were able to determine that it takes on average about 3 dates before sex happens (I don’t recall how we worked that out, I’m not a data analyst, but presumably it was some keyword based algorithm looking at chat messages).”

“We got so many requests for information from the police that we had an informal system with them, to save them from wasting time getting warrants for information about people who we didn’t have data on, they would ask about a particular name/email/whatever other identifier and we would just say yes we have data about them or no we don’t, and if we did they’d then go get the warrant to get a copy of it.”

“The other thing I can tell you from our analytics, that really shouldn’t be at all surprising, is to get some decent profile photos.”

“Go get your talented friend or just hire a photographer to take some really nicely-lit well-composed photos of yourself and watch your match rate soar.” – jamesinc

Not The Best Job

“I used to work at a dating site in the UK. I was on the tech side but most of the staff was a group of young women who manually approved images and text changes to profiles.”

“There was about 10-15 of them and the turnover rate was about one a week. The work was just so mind numbing.”

“About 10 times a day they’ed shout that they’d ‘got another one’.”

“Which basically meant one of the hundreds of thousands of men on the site has differently thought ‘I’ve thought of something nobody else has tried, I’ll upload a picture of my c*ck’ at which point they’d all laugh at it, cancel the profile upload and go back to reading about people’s choice of pets or whatever else they thought was interesting.” –mvrander

This One Isn’t Either

“My ex bf worked for the Yahoo Italy dating site back in the earlyish 2000s. His job was to pretend to be a woman, and message male customers just as their accounts were going to expire.”

“This would encourage them to pay to renew their subscriptions. Once they renewed, he would ghost them.”

“He only lasted for a few months due to how unethical it was.” –visualisewhirledpeas

More Than One Word Per Text Is Probably Good

“I used to work at Bumble, although this was about 4-5 years ago. Globally, about 90% of the users are men, so there is a huge male to female disparity, although it’s not that bad on a per country basis (for some countries).” 

“The most depressing stat though was the histogram of word count in messages. Something like 91% of opening messages were just one word ‘hey’, and ~85% of conversations were just one exchange long (‘hey’ -> no reply ever).”

“Looking at human, digital mating habits splayed out in data science form was really depressing.” 

“The countries which had better male-female ratios (which I can remember) were the Nordic ones, Sweden and Norway were close to 50/50, and for a time, one of them even had more women on the app than men.”

“Not sure how it is now.” –trias10

It Might Not Always Work Out

“[There was] A dude with over 2000 right swipes and no matches.” –Deleted Account

“Bless him – that’s quite sad actually. Hope he found someone eventually.” –brunetteht3 

Maybe Don’t Use Dating Sites For Your Side Hustle

“Lots of gay guys get banned from grindr selling weed. Would get a lot of emails of ‘why am I banned’ .”

“Go to their profile and will say ‘HMU for that ?‘” –PayneTrayne

“At my bachelorette party in New Orleans someone wanted weed and was going to try to find someone on Burbon Street. My friend said it was way easier and safer for him to use Grindr ?” 

“Took less than ten minutes!” –mathlady89

Too Bad They Don’t Take Monopoly Money

“Most dating sites and apps are owned by one company The Match Group. They have a near monopoly. I think Bumble is one of the few not owned by them.” –HueJass84

“Funny you should say that, Bumble is owned by a woman who was also a co-founder of Tinder. The rest of that founding team owns The Match Group.” –zadeon9

“To be fair, she (Whitney Wolfe Herd) launched Bumble as a more comfortable and empowering alternative to Tinder and later sued them for sexual harassment. This comment seems to imply that she’s somehow in cahoots with Tinder/Match.” –spacemanaut

 So Many Unsolicited Pics

“I used to moderate OK Cupid. The amount of unsolicited dick pictures men would send women, not even accompanied by any words was horrifying.”

“I mean, you’d expect it because online dating is a cesspit but the sheer amount would still surprise you.”

I had to look at each reported picture and say ‘Yes, that’s a penis’.” –Jimmypeglegs

“99% of the time, the dick pic doesn’t work. What happens after it’s reported?” –IsThisNameTakenThen

“I’m guessing they think it’s a numbers game? I’d only ever see the picture if it had been reported by the recipient, but if they liked it then fair enough.” 

“As to what happens afterwards, usually their account would be banned. OKC were usually quite quick at getting rid of surprise dick piccers.” –Jimmypeglegs

Everybody Lies, But About Different Things

“I worked for Match for a couple years. This is probably widely known but women frequently lie about their age and weight and men lie about their height and salary.”

“Also, it’s a big problem that women are inundated with DMs while most men get none.” –ChickumNwaffles

Dating Life Pro Tips

“Ok so I didn’t work with a dating company per se… But I helped software engineers optimize their profiles.” 

“Men get VERY FEW matches, regardless of how good their profile is. Women get A LOT of matches, but most of those matches are useless.” 

“1) Don’t try to appeal mildly to EVERYONE. Appeal strongly to a small subset of people. Emphasize who you are.” 

“2) Show don’t tell—what makes a person want to date you? Will you impress them with your volunteer work?”

“Will you bring them fun places? Will you make them laugh?” 

“3) Get good photos. If you have to, get a friend with a good camera to take photos of you multiple times over a day with several changes of clothes.” 

“4) Be brutally honest. Do you need to go to the dentist because your teeth are gray? Go.”

“Do you need to get a haircut? Go somewhere that charges $50 a haircut and tell them to do what they want (if male).”

“Do your clothes fit? Ask a fashionable friend.”

“Remember: people are judging you on your appearance as much as you are judging them. They can’t see you’re kind of funny or interesting.”

“They can see if you’re well groomed and making an effort.” –Katamende

While online dating might seem even scarier after reading these facts, it’s still worth giving it a try if you’re looking for love.

Just remember to put your best (online) foot forward!