Source: Wikimedia Commons
What the Number Is Actually For
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The number on that sticker is a Price Look-Up code, and the clue is in the name: it exists so…
The Thing Everybody Has Experienced
Everybody who has ever assembled flat-pack furniture or taken the back off an appliance knows the sensation. You lean on the screwdriver, the screw is…
The Fold Most People Assume Is a Mistake
Turn a pillowcase inside out at the open end and you will usually find an extra depth of fabric - a flap,…
The Stripe Everybody Assumes Is Decoration
Most toothbrushes have a block or a stripe of coloured bristles set among the white ones, usually down the centre of the head or…
The Snap-Off Knife Blade Was Invented by Someone Watching How People Broke Glass to Get a Sharp Edge
A Knife Designed to Be Broken
The snap-off blade is one of the few tools designed on the assumption that you will deliberately destroy part of it, repeatedly, as the…
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The One Rough Part of a Smooth Object
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Turn a plate over and run a finger around the ring it stands on. On most crockery it…