ODDITIES GALORE

From disgusting to amazing: the 10 most incredible Guinness Records

Image: Domino

From the strangely amusing to the downright absurd, the Guinness World Records are home to some of the most peculiar er… achievements known to humankind. Going through this list, you might find yourself wondering, why would anyone bother to make a world record out of this?

Well, we don’t know either, but we are thankful someone has taken the time to document all these 10 wonderfully weird instances of human creativity.

Image: Annie Spratt

Donald Gorske, a man from Wisconsin, has consumed over 30,000 Big Macs in his lifetime, earning him the record for the most Big Macs consumed. His daily habit of eating two Big Macs has become a legendary feat, and he still claims to look forward to eating them every day.

Image: Andrew Wulf

Charlotte Lee, a woman from Seattle, has amassed an extraordinary collection of over 9,000 rubber ducks. Her fascination with the cheerfully yellow bath toys has led her to scour the globe in search of unique and rare additions to her impressive collection, being eventually inducted into the Guinness World Records for her ever-growing collection.

Image: Jason Yoder

Ever stared at your own navel for too long? For Graham Barker, an Australian librarian, this habit became a riveting hobby, as he has meticulously collected his belly button lint since 1984. Today, he has amassed what is recognized as the largest collection of belly button lint, and his unwavering dedication to belly button fluff has earned him a place in the annals of record-breaking oddities.

Image: Yara

While it might seem that any teenager can break this record with ease if given free reign, it would actually take some serious dedication - and a lot of stamina! - to beat Carrie Swidecki, a California teacher that set the Guinness World Record for Longest videogame marathon while playing Just Dance for an impressive 138 hours.

Image: Anita Jankovic

Yes, you heard right. There is a World Record for the Farthest Distance Squirting Milk From The Eye. Insane as it sounds, Ilker Yilmaz from Turkey holds the record for the farthest milk squirting distance from the eye. In 2004, he squirted milk to an impressive (to be fair, everything about this is quite shocking) distance of 9 feet 2 inches.

Image: Alan Hardman

Paul Slosar of Summerville, South Carolina, is the proud record holder for the longest mustache ever. Despite having fierce competition, he broke the world record with an impressive 2 feet 1 inches long whiskers. His meticulously groomed "English" styled facial hair is measured from the top of the lip, so that it cannot be confused with nearby beard hair.

Image: Yazid N

Shridhar Chillal from India holds the record for the longest fingernails on a single hand, with a combined fingernail length of an astounding 358.1 inches as of 2014. His dedication to growing his nails over decades is as impressive as their lenght, even if the end result might be a little unsettling.

Image: Point3D Commercial Imaging Ltd.

Again, you might justifiably ask: what have I just read? Well, apparently a man named Kevin Shelley, also fittingly known as "The Iron Head," has shattered 46 toilet seats with his head in just one minute in 2007, securing the world record for the most toilet seats broken by the head in a minute. Even though he probably doesn’t have much competition, it is still an impressive feat - and his pain tolerance has left audiences astonished.

Image: Damien TUPINIER

Gao Bingguo, a beekeeper from China, covered himself in a staggering 1.1 million bees, setting the record for the most bees on a human body. The "mantle" of bees weighed almost 240 pounds, and he was stung over 2,000 times during the whole ordeal, but he survived the attempt thanks to his calm demeanor and affinity with the insects.

Image: Daniel Watson

David Rush, a renowned record-breaker, balanced a lawn mower (fortunately not powered) on his chin for an incredible 30 minutes and 33 seconds, setting the record for the longest time balancing a lawn mower on the chin. He already has over 200 Guinness World Records titles, so who knows what he might come up with next?

Time is of the essence

Are words getting shorter? Take a look a these 12 everyday examples!

Image: Markus Winkler

Blame it on the faster pace of modern life, practicality, or whatever else you can think of, but the tendency to optimize time has seeped into our everyday lives and even into our language. Many formal words have been trimmed into shorter versions of themselves, often starting as slang and then becoming standard speech. Did you ever use any of the following words in their longer form?

Image: Jonathan Borba

In the nineteenth century, public coaches were called omnibuses, a Latin term suggesting transport "for all." Passengers soon favored the shorter, quicker "bus" in daily talk.

The shortened word spread rapidly across cities and timetables. Today, omnibus survives mainly in legal texts or historical descriptions.

Image: CDC

During early epidemics, newspapers shortened influenza to "flu" for speed and space, helping the clipped form spread rapidly.

Today, flu is the everyday name for the illness, while influenza persists in medical and scientific writing. Both remain correct, but only one feels familiar.

Image: Kristen Plastique

The French-derived brassiere was common in early 20th-century catalogs, but shoppers quickly favored the brisk, modern "bra."

After mid-century marketing shifts, the clipped form became universal. Today, brassiere sounds dated outside historical writing.

Image: Ann Ann

We might think otherwise today, but a facsimile transmission was once cutting-edge technology. Soon enough, office workers favored the short, punchy "fax."

As machines spread, the clipped form took over press releases and everyday conversation alike. The original term is now largely historical.

Image: Daniel Guerra

Early films were described as moving pictures, but audiences soon began calling them "movies" because, well, it was shorter and catchier.

Hollywood’s rise helped seal the popularity of the shorter form. Today, the longer phrase survives mainly in historical analysis or nostalgic usage.

Image: Waldemar Brandt

Passengers on city streets once hired a taximeter cab, later shortened to taxicab, but everyday speech eventually clipped it to the more convenient and expeditious "taxi."

The shorter word spread globally, becoming the universal name for hired cars. The long form persists mainly in regulations.

Image: Kenny Eliason

Originally coined as weblog, a portmanteau of web and log, the term was later jokingly split as we blog, inspiring the now-standard "blog."

The clipped form quickly overtook its parent. Today, it refers both to the site and to the act of publishing online posts.

Image: Eugene Chystiakov

Retailers once promoted hooded sweatshirts, but youth culture shortened the name to "hoodie," giving it a modern identity.

The clipped form became mainstream across fashion and sportswear. The longer phrase now appears mainly in catalogs or formal product descriptions.

Image: Manny Becerra

The elegant Italian word violoncello entered English intact before musicians clipped it to the smoother, more practical "cello."

The shortened form became the everyday name of the instrument. The longer term survives mostly in formal scores, academic contexts, and archival writing.

Image: Ebuen Clemente Jr

The original pianoforte highlighted the instrument’s ability to play softly and loudly, but speakers quickly favored the simpler and more universal "piano."

As the instrument spread through homes and concert halls, the shorter term dominated. Pianoforte remains in scholarly texts and classical sheet music.

Image: Nguyen Dang Hoang Nhu

The Latin-derived word dormitory described shared student housing, but campus life quickly adopted the brisker, more casual "dorm."

The clipped form feels friendly and familiar, reflecting college culture. The full term appears mainly in brochures and official policies.

Image: BBiDDac

In the nineteenth century, men wore pantaloons, a somewhat funny term that later evolved into "pants" as fashion and language changed.

The shorter form became the everyday American generic term for trousers. Pantaloons now survives almost exclusively in costume history, literature, and theater.