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(Mental Floss) Interesting Six hugely successful products originally invented for something else. Behold the wonderful mysteries of Listerine   (mentalfloss.com) divider line 47
More: Interesting, Listerine, Play-Doh, Propecia, male pattern baldness, coca, cough medicines, first to invent, hair growth  
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13186 clicks; posted to Geek » on 29 Jan 2012 at 8:28 AM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!



47 Comments   (+0 »)
   
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2012-01-29 08:37:38 AM
Wanna see my Fuzzy Pumper?
 
2012-01-29 08:39:26 AM
I wanna know who the first person was that decided to put a foot-wash in their mouth.
 
2012-01-29 08:44:12 AM
FedExPope: I wanna know who the first person was that decided to put a foot-wash in their mouth.

It's worse than that, because it was also heavily marketed as douching solution. though the one about Brandy is simply dead wrong. To quote Lion in Winter after the French king offers Henry what he thinks is the new invention of brandy:

Henry II: Brandy wine? They were boiling it in Ireland before the snakes left!
 
2012-01-29 08:45:16 AM
Wonder if subby's mom told him about the unintended uses she found for that washing machine that shakes so hard.
 
2012-01-29 08:56:17 AM
The space shuttle was originally invented as a device to process tax returns.
 
2012-01-29 09:01:13 AM
They forgot to mention this one....

Link

Ouch!
 
2012-01-29 09:02:19 AM
Then there's the Harry Potter flying broomstick toy.
 
2012-01-29 09:03:38 AM
basicstock: Ouch!

Well, ya gotta admit, it would do a great job of killing off anything growing "down there".
 
2012-01-29 09:26:38 AM
theorellior: basicstock: Ouch!

Well, ya gotta admit, it would do a great job of killing off anything growing "down there".


Including the works
 
2012-01-29 09:30:18 AM
chitownmike: Including the works

It does say that it "sterilizes". Truth in advertising!
 
2012-01-29 09:39:21 AM
blog.lib.umn.edu
pzrservices.typepad.com
 
2012-01-29 09:52:42 AM
Cracked already did it
 
2012-01-29 10:01:53 AM
jaytkay: blog.lib.umn.edu

I love the unspoken assumption that if your man strays it's probably because you have a smelly cooch.
 
2012-01-29 10:12:05 AM
theorellior: I love the unspoken assumption that if your man strays it's probably because you have a smelly cooch.

The best part is that your intimate parts are maintained by an elaborate ecosystem of commensal bacteria. Going agent-orange on your vagina destroys that ecosystem and provides an opportunity for less pleasant bacteria to take root while the "good" bacteria try and recolonize.
 
2012-01-29 10:13:18 AM
theorellior: jaytkay: blog.lib.umn.edu

I love the unspoken assumption that if your man strays it's probably because you have a smelly cooch.


did someone say cooch chili?

pam from archer, making that scratch (new window)
 
2012-01-29 10:34:32 AM
Interesting that they mention Propecia but not Rogaine.

Minoxidil was originally a medicine to treat hypertension. They just discovered that it also caused people to grow hair all over their body, and said hey, why don't we cash in on that?

Also, cellucotton. I wish I could find that Basic Instructions strip where the guy proclaims to the cashier that they're good for gunshot wounds.
 
2012-01-29 10:38:50 AM
andrewagill: Also, cellucotton. I wish I could find that Basic Instructions strip where the guy proclaims to the cashier that they're good for gunshot wounds.

Wish granted:

i158.photobucket.com
 
2012-01-29 10:40:36 AM
Hmm. I would have thought the vibrator would have been on there, considering it was originally a device used by doctors to treat "pelvic congestion". *snicker*
 
2012-01-29 11:08:01 AM
"Brandy, that delightful, caramel-colored after dinner drink, started off as a byproduct of transporting wine. About 900 years ago, merchants would essentially boil the water off of large quantities of wine in order to both transport it more easily, and save on customs taxes, which were levied by volume. After a while, a few of these merchants, bored perhaps after a long day on the road, dipped into their inventory and discovered that the concentrated, or distilled, wine actually tasted pretty darn good. Voila! Brandy was born.

Read the full text here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/115028#ixzz1krcyQIRp
--brought to you by mental_floss!
"

Yeah... uhm, that's not how alcohol with a boiling point of 147°F works.
So what they're saying is "wine cooler" where they produce alcohol from anything that ferments and then dump it in the joose mix.
We make vodka from already juiced orange rinds down here in Fla.
 
2012-01-29 11:28:14 AM
Peki: Hmm. I would have thought the vibrator would have been on there, considering it was originally a device used by doctors to treat "pelvic congestion". *snicker*

Nope, because its use is as intended. The invention is the various other uses they pretend it's for.
 
2012-01-29 11:29:17 AM
I've never understood the hesitance in men buying female hygiene such as menstrual pads or other devices.
You should be proud and hold it over your head as you dance down the street, because it means you're getting some!
 
2012-01-29 11:30:09 AM
prjindigo: Yeah... uhm, that's not how alcohol with a boiling point of 147°F works.
So what they're saying is "wine cooler" where they produce alcohol from anything that ferments and then dump it in the joose mix.
We make vodka from already juiced orange rinds down here in Fla.


No, they just misspoke somewhat. You don't boil off the water you boil off the alcohol and capture and condense it.
 
2012-01-29 11:38:33 AM
Kurmudgeon: I've never understood the hesitance in men buying female hygiene such as menstrual pads or other devices.
You should be proud and hold it over your head as you dance down the street, because it means you're getting some!


I think, more specifically, it means you are NOT getting any.

/unless you're parting the red sea
//if you're into that
 
2012-01-29 11:54:52 AM
Magorn: as douching solution

So was Lysol, but I see that's already been covered.
 
2012-01-29 11:55:39 AM
red wings hockey...
 
2012-01-29 12:11:47 PM
I have a vague memory of reading about some food product being accidentally invented by someone spraying some edible substance in a silo to create something. (Told you it was vague).

I thought it was Cool Whip, but Google and Wikipedia aren't agreeing.

Anyone? Anyone?
 
2012-01-29 12:16:00 PM
I curious about that use of Listerine to cure gonorrhea. How the heck was that supposed to work?
 
2012-01-29 12:26:52 PM
smadge1: The space shuttle was originally invented as a device to process tax returns.

That's nothing. The state of Wyoming was originally invented to fill a gap.
 
2012-01-29 12:36:50 PM
InfamousBLT: unless you're parting the red sea

Do you have your red wings?
 
2012-01-29 12:45:29 PM
prjindigo: Yeah... uhm, that's not how alcohol with a boiling point of 147°F works.

You could do it that way, but you would need a graphene oxide membrane (new window) to selectively pass the water vapor while blocking all other molecules.
 
2012-01-29 12:54:18 PM
Corydon: I curious about that use of Listerine to cure gonorrhea. How the heck was that supposed to work?

extremely painfully (and generally unsuccessfully)
 
2012-01-29 01:09:47 PM
Anyone here who was semi conscious during the 80's ever have pre-90's Listerine? All they had was the yellow kind, no green.

It was the most farking disgusting thing I have ever tasted. It tasted so bad that, for about 2 minutes, I consciously came online at 4 years old and that memory implanted itself in my current adult brain.

It is one of my first memories ever as a child.
 
2012-01-29 01:10:30 PM
Corydon: I curious about that use of Listerine to cure gonorrhea. How the heck was that supposed to work?

You dip your junk in it and never wanted to fark anyone.
 
2012-01-29 01:17:52 PM
Vaseline should be #2.
 
2012-01-29 01:49:33 PM
Wow, everyone in the world has only heard about the story of Viagra 40 thousand times
 
2012-01-29 01:49:34 PM
Kurmudgeon: InfamousBLT: unless you're parting the red sea

Do you have your red wings?


yes
 
2012-01-29 01:58:32 PM
Kurmudgeon: InfamousBLT: unless you're parting the red sea

Do you have your red wings?


Absolutely! A good, bucking orgasm does wonders for your lady when she's got her menstrual cramps. And folks please remember: Its a good idea to be extra nice to a woman who knows where and when you sleep.

/especially when she's got her period!
 
2012-01-29 02:12:21 PM
Guidette Frankentits: It was the most farking disgusting thing I have ever tasted. It tasted so bad that, for about 2 minutes, I consciously came online at 4 years old and that memory implanted itself in my current adult brain.

I'm thinking that it's not so much the Listerine as your sense of taste as a child. Children respond far more positively to sweet and far more negatively to sour and bitter than adults.
 
2012-01-29 02:27:55 PM
Peki: Hmm. I would have thought the vibrator would have been on there, considering it was originally a device used by doctors to treat "pelvic congestion". *snicker*

Link (new window) Appears to be SFW (no anatomically correct versions). It is just a snapshot of the "medical devices" and a paragraph describing it.

/some serious "pelvic congestion" there.
 
2012-01-29 02:33:12 PM
Kurmudgeon: I've never understood the hesitance in men buying female hygiene such as menstrual pads or other devices.
You should be proud and hold it over your head as you dance down the street, because it means you're getting some!


I always thought of it as more along the lines of "I managed to avoid slipping the puck past the goalie"
 
2012-01-29 02:54:57 PM
No love for silly putty?
 
2012-01-29 02:58:28 PM
Came for the fuzzy pumper jokes, and see it was taken care of in the titties.
 
2012-01-29 03:10:49 PM
Remember, ladies:

If you want your man to go south of the border
You gotta wash that girly odor
 
2012-01-29 03:13:12 PM
 
2012-01-29 08:24:27 PM
Mixolydian Master: Came for the fuzzy pumper jokes, and see it was taken care of in the titties.

....then what happened?
 
2012-01-29 08:25:12 PM
smadge1: The space shuttle was originally invented as a device to process tax returns.

Pfft. That's nothing but a waffle iron with a phone attached.
 
2012-01-29 11:08:47 PM
Freschel: No love for silly putty?

Came here for this...I just saw this on TV this morning...although you have to admit it is not nearly as interesting as Lysol and Listerine....just an accident as a replacement for rubber....kind of boring.
 
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