quirky

The many facets of the Dunning-Kruger effect

It was 1999 when social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger decided to conduct a little experiment. Of course, a ‘little experiment’ doesn’t win a Nobel Prize

04.2025 | Toni Botes

The Mandela effect: the mysterious phenomenon of collective false memories

The Mandela Effect is a phenomenon where a large group of people remember something differently from how it actually happened.

04.2025 | ME van Heerden

Foreign Accent Syndrome

It’s rude to mock the way people speak – especially foreign people with accents. It’s the kind of behaviour that can get you permanently cancelled.

02.2025 | R L Drake

Now that we know trees talk to each other and that maybe we can talk to them, what on earth should we talk about?

Scientists are said to be on the brink of unlocking the secret ways in which trees keep in touch with each other. In this reality check, we take a quirky look at the idea and think about a useful agenda.

03.2024 | Peter Dearlove

Other Voices - Confessions of a TV Translator

“I’m setting my lawyer on you,” said the furious woman, speaking from a Crimplene shop in Joburg. “You told lies on TV. When I tried to book the holiday you promised, they told me you made it all up. I can get you into big trouble.”

01.2024 | Tom Learmont

Why adults should (sometimes) read children’s books

If you agree that age doesn’t define who you are, you’re certainly not too old to read children’s literature.

02.2023 | Ingrid Wood

What are you talking about?

The English is a strange and wonderful thing. The most common cause for complaint is the number of different sounds certain letter clusters seem to make in direct contradiction

01.2023 | Alistair Duff

Unconventional laws and where to find them

As many of us marvel at the coming of the digital age, consider just how much has changed over the course of a single lifetime, even half a lifetime. We can be left feeling overwhelmed.

03.2022 | Alistair Duff

The funniest social media parodies

Whether we engage in order to feel more connected to one another and to family and friends living far away, to be updated on the latest news,

11.2021 | Nicole Wills

The Scariest, creepiest, eeriest places in the world

No cheap thrills, here. No silly alleged ghost sightings, or exaggerated local legends, or commercialized rumours. Just creepy, eerie and scary.

09.2021 | Jeff Ohlson

Raak wys to the rejuvenating power of slang

My two-year-old son calls his sandals his “scandals”. So does his five-year-old brother. And so do his parents, come to think of it.

08.2021 | Carlos Amato

Tit for Tatt and the vampire bat

If you’re familiar with the expression “nice guys finish last” you’ve probably considered whether it’s true, and wondered if you should be meaner.

06.2021 | Jon Stilwell

Extreme Ironing

Air-guitar, hobby horsing, bunny jumping, curling… there are tonnes of sports that do not get their due. If you are looking to combine a love of white goods and extreme challenges, then Extreme Ironing may be for you.

04.2021 | Amanda Jones

Why the obsession with zombies?

What is a zombie anyway?

According to pop culture, a zombie is a reanimated corpse with an insatiable hunger for human flesh.

11.2020 | Athalie Russell

Nicknames

They may be badges of honour, scars of shame, compliments or insults – and they can only become stamps when seasoned by time.

06.2018 | Peter Dearlove

But like, you know, how did it take over the language?

We all use them… even though we are not specifically aware of doing so.

06.2018 | Peter Dearlove