222 QI Answers to Your Quite Ingenious Questions

The QI Elves

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9780571381272
• Edition: 0

EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR - A NEW BOOK BY QI ELVES JAMES HARKIN AND ANNA PTASZYNSKI - IS AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER NOW

* The perfect gift for the incurably curious *

This edition includes all new, even more ingenious questions and answers! It was previously published in hardback as Funny You Should Ask . . . Again.

'The best trivia book of the season.' THE SPECTATOR
'Mind-blowing.' DAILY MAIL
'Genuinely interesting.' POPULAR SCIENCE

Which lottery numbers should I pick?
Is it true that we are made entirely of stardust?
Can dogs tell the time?
Why do songs get stuck in my head?
If Rome wasn't built in a day, how long did it take?
Do plants make noises?
Where is last Wednesday?

These are just a few of the questions put to the QI Elves by the listeners of BBC Radio 2's The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show. This book is a collection of their cracking, unexpected and frequently hilarious answers. Chock full with extra facts and illustrations from the Elves, 222 QI Answers to Your Quite Ingenious Questions will spark wonder and joy.

Includes a foreword from Zoe Ball.

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For more from the team behind QI's hit TV show check out the QI FACTS series of books, @qikipedia and listen to their weekly podcast at nosuchthingasafish.com or visit qi.com

Table of contents

• Landing Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Foreword: Zoe Ball ponders and wonders with the QI Elves
• For more on QI
• Why do ladybirds have spots?
• Why do we salute magpies?
• How does an ant measure distance?
• Why are some spies called ‘moles’?
• Is there really such a thing as a ‘00’ number and a licence to kill in the British Secret Service?
• How do organisations like the police name their operations?
• Why do American army personnel say, ‘Roger, do you copy me?’ Why Roger?
• Who was the original king of the castle and who was the dirty rascal?
• Why do we say someone is an ‘unsavoury character’ if they are unpleasant? If they were unsavoury, wouldn’t they be sweet?
• Why are doughnuts called ‘nuts’ when they are made with flour?
• Why are so few nuts actually nuts?
• How many types of pasta are there?
• Why are all my loaves of bread either 400 or 800 grammes in weight?
• Why do we never get tinned broccoli?
• Why does holding a spoon get rid of the smell of garlic?
• Why do we have two nostrils rather than one big one?
• Which of our lips is the most important?
• Why do people get left and right mixed up, but no one seems to struggle with up and down?
• When you throw a boomerang, will it really come back?
• Why do the clocks go forwards in March and backwards in October?
• Why is Christmas pudding sometimes called ‘plum pudding’, when it doesn’t have any plums in it?
• Why do we pull crackers at Christmas time?
• Is it true that feeding your Christmas tree lemonade keeps it alive for longer?
• What’s so special about mistletoe?
• How many Christmas songs are there?
• Why does the UK never win Eurovision?
• What sort of song tends to win Eurovision?
• Is it true that we are made entirely of stardust?
• How do we know what’s at the centre of the Earth?
• How do we know that greenhouse gases warm the Earth?
• What would happen to the planet if someone blew up the Moon?
• How big is a cloud? And how can you measure it?
• Why doesn’t the snow melt on mountaintops, where it’s closest to the Sun?
• Can you clean a pair of jeans by freezing them?
• How long would it take for a snowman to melt in the Sahara Desert?
• Why don’t women’s clothes have pockets?
• If you cloned yourself, would your clone have the same fingerprints as you?
• How do they put the stripes into striped toothpaste?
• What’s the strangest thing that anyone has ever stockpiled?
• Was spam email named after the tinned meat?
• Why does my stomach rumble?
• Can you eat while hanging upside down?
• Would a cheese sandwich rot in space?
• Why, if we clean most things with hot water, do we brush our teeth with cold water?
• How do you wash a raspberry?
• Why do we say ‘sweating like a pig’ if pigs don’t sweat?
• Why are cats’ tongues so much rougher than dogs’ tongues?
• Don’t zebras’ stripes make them stand out like a sore thumb?
• What’s the difference between antlers and horns?
• Can goldfish hear?
• Can dogs tell the time?
• Why is it so hard to win a prize at a funfair?
• Has there ever been a strike in a bowling alley?
• What’s the oldest sporting competition in the world?
• What’s the longest anyone’s left a light on?
• Does electricity consumption peak at certain times of day?
• Will we ever be able to catch a bolt of lightning and capture all that free energy?
• How do you pronounce ‘Shrewsbury’?
• Who decided what letters went where on a keyboard, and why aren’t they in alphabetical order?
• Why is a computer mouse called a ‘mouse’?
• How is Bubble Wrap made?
• How do manufacturers produce hundreds of ripped jeans that all look so similar?
• Which was the first-ever boy band?
• How do the umlauts change the pronunciation of Mötley Crüe?
• Why are sideburns called ‘sideburns’?
• Why is laughter so infectious?
• Can anything live without oxygen?
• How have dinosaur footprints survived for so long?
• Can elephants sneeze?
• How do cats know where they live?
• How does a chameleon change colour?
• How do bees become queen bees?
• If the monarch has firstborn twins, how is it decided who is next in line for the throne?
• Why was Queen Elizabeth crowned Elizabeth II when there was more than one Queen Elizabeth before her?
• Why do you wait for a bus, then three come at once?
• Who invented speed cameras?
• Do we drive on the left because right-handed knights on horseback wanted to tackle oncoming rivals with their strong hand?
• What’s the difference between a ship and a boat?
• What did the person who named New South Wales have against North Wales?
• Why are New York’s taxis yellow?
• Why is New York called ‘the Big Apple’?
• Where is Shangri-La?
• Rock, paper or scissors?
• Why do ice-hockey players fight so much?
• Why do we call it a ‘derby’?
• Why do we say someone is ‘toadying’?
• How can some people walk slowly across hot coals, but it really hurts if I accidentally touch a shelf in the oven for a split second?
• Why do some people get bitten by mosquitoes, while others get away scot-free?
• Why is yawning contagious?
• Why does my voice sound so different when I hear it on a recording?
• Why do artists make self-portraits?
• What makes modern art, art?
• Why are galleries covered in ‘Please do not touch’ signs?
• Why do we have finger and toenails?
• Who first thought it would be a good idea to put a lens on your eye rather than in your glasses?
• Why don’t my eyes steam up like my glasses do?
• Why do we rub our eyes when we’re tired?
• Where do all the birds go at night?
• What did a dinosaur’s bottom look like?
• In chess, why is the rook shaped like a castle and not like a bird?
• Is it just me, or are parking spots too small?
• If I lose weight, does Earth get lighter?
• Why do my clothes turn inside out in the washing machine?
• What’s the point of dust jackets?
• Who is the most successful novelist of all time?
• Did any sleuths actually work in Baker Street?
• Can you really crack a safe by listening to it with a stethoscope?
• Why do songs get stuck in my head?
• Why does my arm get pins and needles?
• What are hiccups for, and why can’t I get rid of them?
• How does a painkiller know where the pain is?
• Why do snakes shed their skin?
• Can I hatch an egg that I bought from the supermarket?
• We get hen’s eggs, duck eggs and goose eggs, so why do we never see turkey eggs in the supermarket?
• How do baby birds breathe inside their eggs?
• If our normal body temperature is 37ºC, then why do we feel too hot when the temperature outside is only in the 20s?
• Thermal leggings are called ‘long johns’. So who was John?
• Why does ‘inflammable’ mean ‘flammable’?
• How do stinging nettles sting?
• Is it true that inside every fig there is a dead wasp?
• How deep do you have to bury a body?
• What’s the sweetest way to go?
• Why do we crave sugar?
• Is it true that the average person swallows eight spiders a year while they’re asleep?
• Why are people so terrified of spiders?
• Spiders build webs to catch prey, but why don’t they get caught in their own webs?
• Can an aeroplane fly through a rainbow?
• Are we the only ones who like making sandcastles?
• Why are we not allowed to smile in passport photos?
• Why do film-makers use green screens?
• Why do we produce tears when we are upset?
• Why do teeth need nerves?
• What is the hardest tongue-twister in the world?
• Where is last Wednesday?
• ‘Have you been involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault?’
• Why are Turner’s paintings so hazy?
• How can I get my own blue plaque on my house?
• Where did surnames come from?
• Why do church organs have multiple keyboards, and how does the organist know which one to use?
• Why are earwigs called ‘earwigs’, when they don’t look like wigs or ears?
• Do fish get seasick?
• Why don’t crocodiles have hair?
• Why don’t we say ‘sheeps’?
• What do you get if you cross a sheep with a kangaroo?
• Who came up with the phrase ‘Once upon a time …’?
• Why are booby traps called ‘booby traps’?
• If Rome wasn’t built in a day, how long did it take?
• How wide are the borders between countries?
• Which commercial airliner first broke the sound barrier?
• What causes that beautiful smell after rain?
• Why do some plants close their flowers at night?
• What is the most dangerous plant?
• Which lottery numbers should I pick?
• How do you keep Prosecco fizzy?
• How much sugar can you fit in a cup of tea?
• How do I remove permanent marker from a whiteboard?
• Why do you hardly ever see £50 notes?
• When a competition offers a prize of a lifetime supply of something, what constitutes a lifetime supply?
• What is the most expensive thing on Earth?
• How many items are there in the world?
• Is it possible to juggle while skydiving?
• Is there any truth to the old saying ‘Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning’?
• Where does the nursery rhyme ‘Humpty Dumpty’ come from?
• How much does the Tooth Fairy spend each year?
• Why can’t we use giant solar-powered freezers to help protect the North Pole from global warming?
• Are humans the only animals that can go snow blind?
• In historical novels they often mention ‘changing horses’ at certain points. How did this work?
• How does my sat nav work?
• How many coats would it take to paint the average UK bedroom to the point where physically there was no room left?
• Is there anything wetter than water?
• What’s better for the planet: sending a birthday card by post or an e-card by email?
• Why do paper cuts hurt so much?
• How do QR codes work?
• Why are warning signs triangular?
• If I were stranded on the Moon, how big would my ‘HELP’ message have to be for the letters to be seen from Earth?
• Why is stretching so satisfying?
• How many breaths do we take a day?
• Why does my runny honey crystallise when left in the cupboard for too long?
• Why do maple syrup bottles have such tiny handles?
• If I were to toss a bottle into the sea, how long would it take to travel around the world?
• How did fossils of ocean creatures end up at the top of mountains?
• Can electric eels be shocked by their own electricity?
• Who gives storms their names?
• How many grains of sand are there in the world?
• What happens if you cross a one-humped camel with a two-humped camel?
• Why do dogs chase cats?
• Do plants make noises?
• Which animal is slower, a tortoise or a sloth?
• Why is our planet called Earth, and who gave it that name?
• Why are things interesting?
• Puzzle answers
• Credits
• Index
• About the Author
• By the Same Author
• Copyright