Fascinating Facts ... But Are They True?

Mind your manners!

Ever heard this one? “In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. When customers got unruly, the bartender would yell 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.' That's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'”

Well, don’t be so sure. There are quite a number of theories about where the phrase came from, including a British play by Thomas Dekker that was all the rage in 1602, The Untrussing of the Humorous Poet in which a character, Afinius, says the immortal words:

“Troth, so thou'dst need; for now thou art in thy Pee and Kue: thou hast such a villanous broad back,” according to this website.

Are you sure? How do you know?

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.

So, how do we prove this one? This bit of trivia appears over and over on "fact lists" on the Internet, but none of them offers any evidence – such as a Babylonian clay tablet describing such a tradition.

Are you sure? How do you know?

Is it true that men can read smaller print than women can? And that women can hear better than men?

This one is true if you insert the words "on average." If you select men and women at random, chances are about 6 in 10 that the woman’s hearing will be more sensitive. The same goes for eyesight, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.