Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?: An Imponderables Book

PrefacexviiWhat is the purpose of the warning label on a mattress? And what happens if I rip it off?1Why do dogs walk around in circles before lying down?2If nothing sticks to Teflon, how do they get Teflon to stick to the pan?3Why is the scoring system in tennis so weird?3Why have humans lost most of their body hair?6Why don't people get goosebumps on their faces?8Why doesn't countdown leader on films count all the way to one?9When a company sells lobster tails to restaurants and stores, what do they do with the rest of the lobster?9Why do they need twenty mikes at press conferences?11Why do some localities use salt and others use sand to treat icy roads?12Why is the telephone touch-tone key pad arranged differently from the calculator key pad?14What is the difference between a "kit" and a "caboodle"?15What is the purpose of the ball on top of a flagpole?17Why does Wayne Gretzky wear a ripped uniform?18Why is there always pork in cans of pork and beans?19How do military cadets find their caps after tossing them in the air upon graduation?20Why does American electricity run on A.C. rather than D.C.?21What is that sniffing noise boxers make when throwing punches?22Why, in any box of assorted chocolates, are the caramels square, the nougats rectangular, the nuts oval, and the creams circular?24Whatever happened to pay toilets?25When a pothole is formed on the road, why don't we see the displaced concrete?27Why do most cities in the United States put a maximum-height restriction on a fence a homeowner may put around his residence?27Why do your feet sweel up so much in airplanes?31Why are hamburger-bun bottoms so thin?32Why do golfers yell "fore" when warning of an errant golf shot?34Why are all executions in the United States held between midnight and seven A.M.?34Why do ants tend to congregate on sidewalks?37Why do American cars now have side-view mirrors on the passenger side with the message, "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear?"38Why do dogs smell funny when they get wet?40Why do all dentist offices smell the same?41What are those large knobs between sets of escalators in department stores?42Why is Jack the nickname for John?43Which side gets the game ball when a football game ends in a tie?44Why do ketchup bottles have necks so narrow that a spoon won't fit inside?44Ivory Soap advertises its product as 99 and 44/100 percent pure-99 and 44/100 percent what? And what is the impure 56/100 percent of Ivory Soap?46Why do we grow lawns around our houses?47Why do many exterminators wear hard hats?51Who was the Emmy that the Emmy Award is named after?52Why don't dogs develop laryngitis, sore throats, voice changes, or great discomfort after barking continuously?53Why are there eighteen holes on a golf course?54What does 0[degree] in the Fahrenheit scale signify?55What does each one-degree increment in the Fahrenheit scale signify?55Why doesn't rain come down the chimney into the fireplace when smoke can get out the chimney?57Why do Curad bandage wrappers sparkle in the dark when you open them?58Why do garment labels often say "Professionally Dry-clean Only"?59What is the difference between "flotsam" and "jetsam"?60Why do doughnuts have holes?62Why does a newspaper tear smoothly vertically and raggedly horizontally?64Why are the Netherlands also called Holland and the Low Countries? And why are its people called Dutch?65What are those twitches and jerks that occasionally wake us just as we are falling asleep?67Why are there twenty-one guns in a twenty-one-gun salute?68Why do women tend to have higher voices than men? Why do short people tend to have higher voices than tall people?70Washington, D.C. streets are named alphabetically. Why is there no "J" Street?71What happens to the tread that wears off tires?72Why do whips make a cracking sound when snapped?74How did Xmas come to stand for Christmas?75Do batteries wear out faster if you turn up the volume of a radio?76Why do some ranchers place old boots on fenceposts?77Why do bananas, unlike other fruits, grow upward?81Why is there a black dot in the middle of otherwise white bird droppings?83Do toilet-seat covers really protect us against anything?83Why do sailors wear bell-bottom trousers?84Why doesn't sugar spoil or get moldy?85Why do nurses wear white? Why do surgeons wear blue or green when operating?86Why doesn't a "two-by-four" measure two inches by four inches?87Why is an acre 43,560 square feet?89Why do men's bicycles have a crossbar?90Why is royalty referred to as "blue-blooded"?91Why are people immune to their own body odor?92Why are the outside edges of the pages of many paperback books colored?93How do they shell pine nuts?94How can owners of small cemeteries make money? How can they plan their finances when they have to wait for people to die before they derive income?95Why are most homes painted white?100Why is one side of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil shiny and the other side dull?102Why do superficial paper cuts tend to hurt more than grosser cuts?103Why does the brightest setting of a three-way light bulb always burn out first?104How do three-way light bulbs work? How do the bulbs "know" at which intensity to shine?105Why do snakes dart out their tongues?106Where do they get that organ music in skating rinks?107What do Federal Express delivery people do after 10:30 A.M.?109Why do so many mass mailers use return envelopes with windows?111Why does the skin on the extremities wrinkle after a bath? And why only the extremities?112What happens to the razor blades that are thrown down used-blade slots in hotels?113Why doesn't evaporated milk have to be refrigerated?114Why is evaporated milk sold in soldered cans?114What causes the ringing sound you get in your ears?115How did chocolate bunnies for Easter come about?116Why do old women dye their hair blue?117What are the criteria for the placement of a "Dangerous Curve" or "Dangerous Turn" sign?119Why don't we ever see dead birds?120Why do all packaged bakery goods seem to be registered by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture?121How do they keep all the raisins in cereal boxes from falling to the bottom?123Why do runs in stockings usually run up?124Does putting women's hosiery in the freezer forestall runs?125Why do traffic signals use red, yellow, and green lights? Why is the red light on top, green light on the bottom, and yellow light in between?126Why are cows usually milked from the right side?128Why do many merchants ask customers to put their addresses and phone numbers on credit card slips?129On airplanes, why do our ears pop and bother us more on descent than on ascent?130Where do houseflies go during the winter?133Where does white pepper come from?135What purpose do wisdom teeth serve?137Why are ancient cities buried in layers? And where did the dirt come from?138What's the difference between an X-rated movie and an XXX-rated movie? Why isn't there an "XX" rating?141Where does a new speed limit begin? Does it start at the speed limit sign, at some point beyond the sign, or where the sign becomes clearly visible?143If the national speed limit is 55 miles per hour, why do speedometers go up to 85 miles per hour and higher?144What is the purpose of public and underarm hair, the only body hair that men and women share in abundance?146Why do construction crews put pine trees on top of buildings they are working on?147Why aren't whitewall auto tires as wide as they used to be?149Why do clocks run "clockwise"?150On clocks and watches with roman numerals, why is four usually noted as IIII rather than IV?151Why are rain clouds dark?152Why are so many corporations incorporated in Delaware?153Why does Coca-Cola from a small bottle taste better than Coca-Cola from a large bottle or can?157Why and when was 1982-1984 chosen to replace 1967 as the base year for the Consumer Price Index? Why wasn't it changed after ten years?159Why do firehouses have dalmatians?162Doughnut-shop employees always pick up the doughnuts with a tissue so that their hands never touch the doughnuts. Why do they then put the same tissue in with the doughnuts for the customer to carry home-germs and all?164Why is scoring three goals in hockey called a hat trick?165What are the names on the bottom of grocery sacks?166Why do Chinese restaurants use monosodium glutamate?168Why do old men wear their pants higher than young men?171Why are Oreos called "Oreos"?173What are those funny numbers on the bottom of copyright pages in books?175Why is 40 percent alcohol called 80 proof?177Why are humans most comfortable at 72[degree] F? Why not at 98.6[degree] F?178Why do they call large trucks "semis"? Semi-whats?179Why does San Francisco sourdough bread taste different from other sourdough French breads?180Does the U.S. Postal Service add flavoring to the glue on postage stamps to make the taste more palatable?182Why do wagon wheels in westerns appear to be spinning backward?183Why does unscented hair spray smell?184Why does heat lightning always seem far away? And why don't you ever hear thunder during heat lightning?185Why can't hair grow on a vaccination mark?186What kind of hen lays extra-large eggs? What determines the size categories of chicken eggs?186Why do some chickens lay brown eggs and others lay white eggs?189How did the expression "two bits" come to mean 25 cents? How did "two bit" come to mean "cheap"?191Why did Volkswagen discontinue making the "Bug"?192Why are the flush handles on toilets on the left side?195Why does the price of gas end in nine-tenths of a cent?197When I open the hot-water tap, why does the sound of the running water change as it gets hot?199The measurement of "one foot" was meant to approximate the length of a man's foot. How did they decide how long a meter should be?200Why does the moon appear bigger at the horizon than up in the sky?202If we see mockingbirds during the day and hear them at night, when do they sleep?205Why were Phillips screws and screwdrivers developed?206Why do trucks now say their contents are "flammable" when they used to say "inflammable"?207Why can't they make newspapers that don't smudge?209How and why do horses sleep standing up?212Why is seawater blue and tap water clear? Why does the color of the ocean range from blue to red?213Why don't kitchen sinks have an overflow mechanism?214Why do you have to dry-clean raincoats?216What is the purpose of the white half-moons on the bases of our fingernails and toenails? And why don't they grow out with the nails?218Can raisins be made from seeded grapes?218When a fly alights on the ceiling, does it perform a loop or a roll in order to get upside down?220How can "perpetual care" be assured in cemeteries after they run out of space for new plots?221What is the purpose of the pinholes around the sides of screw caps on soft-drink bottles?223Why are military medals worn on the left?223Why do bicycle tires go flat when the bike isn't used for long periods of time?224How do they print the "M&M" on M&M's chocolate candies?227Why are there no seams on M&M's?228What does M&M stand for?228Why are there more brown M&M's than any other color, and how do they determine the ratio of colors?228Why did they take away red M&M's? Why have they put them back recently?229How do manufacturers decide whether freezers go on the top or the bottom of refrigerators?230Why do hot dogs come ten to a package and hot-dog buns come eight to a package?232Frustrables, or the ten "most wanted" ImponderablesWhy do you so often see one shoe lying on the side of the road?236Why are buttons on men's shirts and jackets arranged differently from those on women's shirts?237Why do the English drive on the left and just about everybody else on the right?238Why is yawning contagious?238Why do we give apples to teachers?238Why does looking up at the sun cause us to sneeze?238Why does the first puff of a cigarette smell better than subsequent ones?238Why do women in the United States shave their armpits?239Why don't you ever see really tall old people?239Why do only older men seem to have hairy ears?239Acknowledgments241Index247Master Index of Imponderability253