13 oddities about socks you don't need to know
Useless knowledge: About primal socks, the sock trap and deep-sea socks
In the scientific work "Mythos Socke" the student Boris Grunwald collects facts about footwear. Inspired by the author, we bring you 13 oddities about footwear in this highly scientific article.
1. The original sock is the beginning
The term "sock" comes from the Latin term "soccus". It was a type of shoe that the Romans slipped on. The ancient Greeks also knew the slippery footwear and mainly wore them in the theater as a substitute for shoes. In some remote German regions, residents still call the slipper socks.
In the 13th century, clever tailors lengthened socks into stockings and joined them together. This is how the first, rudimentary pants came about. This leads to the following conclusion: Robin Hood may have been wearing some kind of trousers when he forayed through Sherwood Forest.
2. Sock Holidays
Whether Robin Hood made Sherwood Forrest unsafe in pantyhose is uncertain. What is certain is that the British are still good for one odd fact or another today.
May 9th is known as Lost Socks Memorial Day. This was first announced in Great Britain in 1998. In honor of all the lost individual socks, the British put on two different socks instead of a pair on this day. In this way, the people try to give the leftover footwear back the hope of reunification with their partner. What would the world be without the peculiarities of the islanders?
Different in America. The population there celebrates “National Sock Day” on December 4th. Cheers to footwear!
3. Fiffi is now a member of the Anonymous Sockoholics
Impossibly hungry, we imagine the male from the USA, who does not want to be named here. It is well known that dogs like to eat anything that gets in their way. This three-year-old mastiff has outdone itself. Man's best friend from Portland devoured a whopping 43 (and a half) socks. And that's not all because the missing half stocking has not been found until now. The dog proves: no washing machine is needed. Woolen footwear is also getting lost elsewhere.
4. Deep Sea Socks? Now that's a stupid joke, isn't it?
One of the strangest animals on our planet is the so-called deep-sea sock. Discovered in 1915, the marine creature has no eyes or gills. Hardly to speak of internal organs. It is a few centimeters tall and resembles a limp tongue or a deflated balloon when lying on the ocean floor. The only indication that the animal is feeding is an opening on its underside. To date, it is not known what role the creature plays in the ecosystem of the sea.
5. How pairs of single socks enrich the world of physics
Reinhold A. Bertlmann, an Austrian physicist who works with quanta, wears unequal pairs of socks as a matter of principle. In his book "Dr. Bertlmann's Socks – How Quantum Physics Changes Our World View” he explains physical processes thanks to his socks, such as the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox (called the EPR effect). Why? Because he is capable of it.
But he's not the only one. His colleague, John Stewart Bell, also compares Bertlmann's footwear to the same physical phenomenon. In a scientific article from 1981, he describes the so-called ERP effect as follows: When Bertlmann turns a corner and his first stocking is pink, it is clear that the second stocking is probably a different color. We think these socks deserve an award!
6. Uh la la! Why you better leave your socks on at the next tryst
Be honest: Do you - like about a fifth of German men - wear socks during sex? If you sneak a peek from right to left and nod, then congratulations!
According to a study by the University of Groningen, people are more likely to have an orgasm if they indulge in physical pleasures in good stockings. What sounds strange is biologically easy to explain. On the one hand, the blood vessels expand optimally thanks to the warmed feet, which promotes orgasm. On the other hand, people with warm feet feel more secure. As a result, women in particular find it easier to switch off.
Now, if you wrinkle your nose. Don't think in the category of "mum's old, baggy cotton socks full of holes". Better think of a pair of shameless overknees in a sexy lace look.
7. Even geniuses don't always have all their socks in the closet
Did you know Einstein hated socks? So much so that he didn't even wear them to formal occasions? The recognized physicist is said to have even accepted the Nobel Prize without socks.
8. Curious customs related to woolen footwear
In the region, unmarried men are given a wreath of socks on their 25th birthday. Since they are considered "old socks". We wonder if the lost stockings of this world are made into the wreaths?
In Denmark, on the other hand, pairs of socks play an important role at weddings. After the waltz, the best man cuts off the toe of the now-married groom's socks. Why? Well, let's be honest: what woman would give a man with holes in his footwear a chance? Except for the (lucky?) bride. She has committed to it. Does this form of “emotional connection” also work in Germany?
9. Curiosities about the imperial bootie
Socks aren't scary, are they? Well and how! (Please don't claim later that we didn't warn you.) Especially in connection with a French king named Louis XIV, you're sure to get goosebumps down your spine. For when the ruler came of old age, his feet rotted. And now guess what his servant found in his stockings one day when he was taking them off the king? Exactly, a toe! A reasonable reason to reconsider your career choice, we think.
10. How to increase your IQ in under 30 seconds with a single sock
Did you know that the average German thinks you are more creative, intelligent and capable if you wear fancy colored stockings in everyday office life? The colorful footwear suggests that the wearer is unconventional. This speaks to an assertive character and a creative streak. Did you know that hosiery has such an impact on the human psyche?
11. Using the sock trap to fight malaria
It does not work? there isn't! This motto is the motto of the African doctor Dr. Fredros Okumu from the Ifakara Health Institute. Believe it or not, the doctor has developed a sock trap that stops malaria mosquitoes from attacking people. The principle is basic. The smell of sweat from the worn socks in the machine is released into the air thanks to a fan and attracts the mosquitoes. Better they pounce on smelly footwear than human victims!
12. A special kind of stolen goods: single socks
In Heidelberg in 2017 there was a rude robber. He stopped innocent passers-by and stole ... right! Your footwear, what else? More precisely, one of them. It is not known whether the perpetrator has been caught and what he needed the cotton sock for. Possibly as an egg warmer? Or maybe he uses it to form his best friend's sock wreath?
13. In Canada only: with contact lens solution and a pair of socks against the executive
If you ever run into the embarrassment of a breathalyzer, better do it than this young Canadian. Police officers stopped the drunk and asked him to get out and blow into the tube. The man left his vehicle, but only to stuff himself with contact lens solution and his socks. This behavior was intended to prevent the cops from doing the breathalyser test. Conclusion: The law enforcement officers took him to the police station. There, he curiously defied the test by sticking his head in the toilet bowl.
Would you like new socks?
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