Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it—sometimes, the dumbest-sounding ideas turn out to be diamonds in the rough, real pearls of wisdom that make our lives a shade better. We’re talking, of course, about life hacks! Specifically, the kinds of hacks that sound like fake nonsense but are real lifesavers for some people.
After redditor Rat-avec-London asked other users of the site to share exactly those kinds of life hacks, they responded with over 26.6k comments. The thread quickly went viral, getting more than 75k upvotes at the time of writing, as well as attracting media attention. Check out some of the most intriguing life hacks that people shared below and upvote the ones that you liked the most. And remember—just because something sounds fake doesn’t mean it is (and vice versa).
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Using your turn signal actually can help other drivers know which direction you plan to go and makes driving safer for everyone
Whenever you accidentally set off your smoke alarm, give your pets a treat so they learn to come to you when there actually is a fire and you need to escape.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with showing up to work, doing the absolute minimum to maintain a job, and going home and enjoying your life. massive lifesaver to one's mental health.
"Work to live, not live to work". Others may choose to work harder, but that's on them - it's all a choice for what is important to the individual, and that's ok if it's different for different people.
In an earlier interview, I spoke about life hacks that sound absolutely silly with British comedian Ariane Sherine, from London. She helped me settle the age-old question about whether something that sounds and looks dumb is actually stupid or not.
“It’s actually very smart, and it’s a shame if people don’t use it for fear of looking dumb!" Ariane told Bored Panda, pointing out that we sometimes prioritize our reputations over what actually works. And we’re sometimes scared to test something out because it might make us look like utter fools.
If you've forgotten an acquaintance's name, just ask them what their name is, and after they tell you, say "no, your last name." Works like a charm and they never suspect a thing.
If at a place where you don't speak the language, learn the words for please and thank you. Those, and a smile, will get you far.
It's also helpful to learn, "I'm sorry officer. I didn't know she was your daughter"
if you are ever attacked by a dog, push your forearm INTO the bite. This pries the jaws apart and prevents them from clamping down. If a dog is attacking you, the best thing you can do is offer your forearm, push as far back as possible, and then grab the dog by the scruff of its neck with your other hand to hold it. The dog is now functionally muzzled and you have control of its head. The sooner and harder you push into the bite, the less damage the bite will do.
I have used this with students who have biting issues, it works well.
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Don't use your dominant arm. The dominant arm has more power to grab.
That and the agility to do other things in those seconds (plus the grabbed arm will be out of commission for a good while). The main damage will be caused by the head whipping around vs the body, just like a dog whips its head to break a rabbit's (or cat's) back in one snap... So you should strive to immobilize body with respect to head. Would lying on top be a good idea? Danger vs others (humans, more dogs/wolves), back legs kicking/lacerating, panic in the dog seem factors. I've not seen any advice there.
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These tips for when attacked by animals all sound interesting but my only reaction in these cases would be to wet my pants!
Had to do this with my neighbors dogs who attacked me and my dog when we were walking down the road. They use to attack all the cars driving by, eventually they all got hit by cars and died. I am a huge animal lover and never thought I would be happy to see a dead dog on the side of the road but I was. Feel guilty about it though, the owners are the ones who are really responsible. They were boxers and the woman threatened to sue me because during that fight I killed the dog attacking us with a rock. I was traumatized. Then she comes out screaming at me, my dog and me both covered in blood, my arm just chewed to hell. Another neighbor came running and grabbed me and my dog and took us to a vet who lived in the area. This was in the country and the hospital was over and hour away so local vet fixed us both up for free.
Here's what I was taught: STAY ON YOUR FEET NO MATTER WHAT. A dog not at your throat is a dog not killing you in the next 40 seconds. 2. Keep dog off you with a foot in its mouth. If it has your shoe, it doesn't have your throat. 3. PIN THE DOG DOWN on the ground. Dn't try to hold it. Get it off its feet, on the ground, hold it down With your knees and keep your head away from its jaws. 4. If none of these are an option, a sucker punch to the dog's rib cage. Sorry, yes, I know, but if you've been hit by a pit bull in fight mode (and I was, b/c my neighbor's a bad dog-owner), then knocking the wind out of the dog is a pretty good start to subduing the dog, buying time, etc. .... So *I* was taught.
Or if it gets your leg, push your fingers into it's eyes. Better blind dog, that dead kids in neighbourhood.
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If walking ANY dog, always carry a small easily accessible container of white pepper or curry powder. If your dog is attacked by another dog, or two dogs are fighting, do not try and separate them, sprinkle either powder over their heads. With noses as sensitive as that of a dog, they will immediately stop fighting and start sneezing. You can then safely grab either dog safely. Always carry this, it is easy to forget, cannot harm either animal, and it works.
I strongly disagree with this one. So the claim is you have a extremely pissed off functionally muzzled dog biting into your forearm: now what? Reality is that pushing into a painful bite is counter-intuitive when it's actually happening, and I still have dog-bite scars on my arm for instinctively grabbing the scruff of a dog's neck in an attempt to get him away from me: he just let go of the arm he was initially biting into and bit into the other.
Its more along the lines of how dogs lose control of the bite & it usually scares them. They also tend it hate it when they cant control their mouth functions. My dog is very nippy (its a breed thing) & many trainers gave us a "smaller" version of this to work with. Its different since hes not fully biting but the idea is the same. When he nips us, we put our thumb under his tongue & push his tongue back into his mouth. Its uncomfortable for him but more importantly, it prevents him being able to close his mouth at all. By pushing your arm back into the dog's mouth you can prevent them from fully closing their mouth & being able to clamp down. If they can still clamp, its only going to be so far vs having their full range of bite. Think of it like a horse bridle. If you had a stick jammed across the back of your mouth you probably cant bite down all the way
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Former army dog trainer showed me that 50 years ago during anti-Vietnam protests.
They used dogs against protestors? Doesn't surprise me, but that's still f****d up.
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Nah. Bigger dogs won't give a f***. If dog grabs your kid, just put your fingers in dogs eyes. Really hard.
If that doesn't work, bite them back. They might be confused. I've also heard that sticking your finger up their butt works, but that sounds disgusting.
tried this before...got MORE stitches than I would've got at if I didn't do that :/
I hate to say I've experienced this situation first hand and a hose down the mouth with also encourage a fixated dog to release.
You need to be on your game for this to work, but it is sound advice. The real damage is done when they pull and worry at you, not with the initial bite. Also, arms can be mended, the next place they bite might be deadly. It also freaks them tf out and makes them understand that they aren't in control of the situation.
Apparently lifting up their rear legs hinders their ability to attack too - not sure how practical that advice would be if your forearm is in their jaws though.
Or sticking a finger or something up the backside will work
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I'd honestly reconsider that tactic if talking about big or strong dogs like german shepherds a bit. Sure, let them grab your arm, but after that, i would try to poke or smash their eyes out. Otherwise you are just gonna end up having your arm broken or your grip losened up anyhow. I seriously doubt one can keep a german shepherd in a solid grip either. And no, i never tried it, but those kidn of dogs are big and strong animals.
Or pull their 2 front legs upwards and sideways. Rips their heart in 1/2 and instant death.
Saw a picture of Teddy Roosevelt catching wolves by hand. When the wolf lunged they would reach in the mouth to the back and grab the lower jaw. Seems there are no teeth back there.
This is not accurate. They have the same dentition as dogs. Their molars are large, strong and have pointed cusps in order to crack open bones and tear chunks of meat off of them. Canines of all types (dogs, foxes, coyotes and wolves) don't usually chew their meat as much as thoroughly as we would. The reason for pushing your arm further in has to do with the fact that the strongest leverage the jaw muscle has is about halfway forward of their jaw from the attachment point of that muscle to the jawbone. It may be that, by reaching in, Roosevelt compressed the skin at the corners of the wolf's mouth, thereby causing the wolf to, in effect, bite itself. I've used this method, although done by reaching under the jaw and pushing the skin in from the sides with my thumb and forefinger. This forces the dog to open its mouth, making it possible to give the dog medicine. It also works if you want a dog to drop something in its mouth.
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Don't offer your dominant arm. They will damage it and possibly cause permanent nerve damage. It's always better that it's not your dominant arm. Also to release the bite use the lead to choke the dog. wrap it across the throat, pull it up and then squeeze tight til the dog literally passes out. It will release it's bite when it passes it passes out.
So far, I was like 'Life Hacks'? Pff. But this is brilliant. Hope I never find out if it works.
Also important to remember if you are ever being bit, Don't scream!! It's very counterintuitive, yet extremely important. A dog that is in attack mode will try to "silence" you out of pure instinct and go for your throat/head.
Then try to pick him up and slam him into the ground, time and time again until he no longer moves.
if a dog gets a hold of you on somewhere other than your forearm, such as your leg stick your hands on upper and lower jaw and pull hard. it may help you get free enough to do the forearm/scruff of neck move. most people freak out when an animal attacks which, i know, is hard not to do but panic just 'encourages' them to continue.
Worst case scenario is that the k9 is a powerful working line dog with high drive. Those dogs bite down so hard you cant do s**t, and on top of that they will do the so called Kill shake where they rip you apart and you will be dead if you fight back. A police dog here in finland kept attacking a suspect even after the dog was shot to the head. Same in another case where the dog was stabbed. When its this type of dog, your only option is to play dead amd hope the animal wont start shaking you around. If you get a chance, you could try to do your everything to grab around the neck however or get on top of the dog so they can no longer breathe and will let go as theyre passing out.
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I thought you had to hit it’s nose or something. I hope I never deal with this I’d likely panic
Been there done that & I approve this method it works. It hurts like hell but think damage limitation .
I give them my forearm then do a full-body side flip - my arm may get some longer but not deeper lacerations, but it will be free of the dog's jaws. As an added bonus, this will often break the dog's neck.
Prey animals instinctually do this. Horses will lean into pain and therefore can be somewhat dangerous when handling.
Ariane explained that people often look down on ideas that sound dumb on a theoretical level because we want others to think we’re way smarter than we might actually be. That’s how much our reputations matter to us (whether we’re aware of this or not).
Wear the same colours as the zoo employees, the animals will come right up to you.
This is also useful when you're walking off with the animal to your car to take him home.
From the amazing book ‘The Gift of Fear’ by Gavin DeBecker: “A woman alone who needs assistance is actually far better off choosing someone and asking for help, as opposed to waiting for an unsolicited approach. The person you choose is nowhere near as likely to bring you hazard as is the person who chooses you.”
Don’t wait for help either because you might not get it. I’ve been in a situation where I was being harassed by a man in broad daylight in a populated public place—multiple people saw it happening and no one helped. This may seem obvious now but it wasn’t obvious to me back then—do not be concerned with politeness when someone’s intentions toward you are not good. It’s okay to be “rude” to get away from someone who is trying to coerce you into doing something you do not want to do.
If you feel suicidal or depressed....don't focus on hope. It is enough to just stay curious. Curiosity has the power to keep you alive far longer than hope ever will. Curiosity leads to engaging work and this leads to opportunity.
"Everybody wants to think they’re smart (even if they’re actually Donald Trump!) and people hate feeling stupid or being duped. If a piece of advice doesn’t sound helpful, I guess people who see themselves as clever will automatically reject it rather than try it and risk feeling dumb," the comedian said this is why we may avoid doing silly things.
When you're freaking out, need to relax, e.g. when a chiro is about to crack your neck or anything along those lines, wiggle your toes. Apparently your brain can't do both, freaking out and wiggling toes, tensing up and wiggling toes etc
25% of 18 is the same as 18% of 25. Percentages are reversible and one is easier to figure out than the other one.
It you start to cough while eating or drinking, essentially the “went down the wrong pipe”, immediately lift both your arms up in the air and keep them held up for a few seconds. The act opens your airways and will allow you to catch your breath. Also helps food or drink travel downward.
Just throw ya hands in the air... And waive around like you just don't care! :)
One of the British comedian’s favorite life hacks has to do with avocados and how to check if they’re ripe. Ariane pointed out that avocados have an “inbuilt ripeness sensor” that lets you distinguish if it’s still green, ripe, or overripe.
If you’ve got a splinter below your skin surface, wrap a banana peel around it. Wet side against your skin. It will draw the splinter out most of the time. I don’t know how but it fricken works. Banana voodoo. Banavoodoo. Banadoo?
If your car is overheating, turn your heat on full blast.
When you turn the heat on in a car, it pulls heat from the engine into the cab, thus cooling the engine.
And roll down the windows. Working in Little Rock, AR, had to do this often in the summer rush hour traffic...which didn't rush.
If you're watching YouTube on your phone just scroll to the end and restart the vid to skip all ads.
Why TF does YouTube think abruptly cutting away in the middle of a video that’s less than 10 minutes long won’t royally piss people off—-especially not even doing it in a section of the video where it would make sense? YouTube is playing a very dangerous game with that practice. Piss enough people off, and viewership will drop dramatically.
“You know how hard it is to tell whether an avocado’s ripe before cutting into it? Simply twist the stem. If it doesn’t come off, it’s underripe; if it comes off and is green underneath, it’s ripe; if it’s brown underneath, it’s overripe. Voila—no more rock hard or mushy grey avocados!" she shared. The comedian added that it’s ironic how avocados marketed as ‘ripe’ in supermarkets are usually anything but.
Sleep on big decisions.
You think most clearly in the morning, and often after some time passes you realize you were about to make a big mistake.
German expression "I' ll sleep over it", in French "La nuit porte conseil - The night brings advice"
Makeup remover on deodorant stains.
My husband has a lot of T-shirts with white/stained armpits, so I gave it a shot.
It worked. :o
Counting really slowly with the goal of reaching 150 is a decent way to fall asleep. If you have any thoughts during it just let them play out, and if you forget what number you're on just go from what you last remember. If you make any major movements just start again.
The goal is to force your brain in to slowing down and not having any jerky motions or thoughts, and eventually reaching such a level of carelessness that you eventually fall asleep without realising. Helped me quite a few times, especially with rain sounds, hope it helps some of you too!
I don't usually have trouble sleeping but when I do what best works for me is taking a random letter from the alphabet and trying to find as many vegetables and fruit starting from that letter.
Like with plenty of new ideas and inventions, chance plays an important element when it comes to discovering new and useful life hacks. Whether through experimentation or lucky coincidence, we might end up finding a pearl of wisdom among the weeds.
More life advice than a life hack, but: “A dropped knife doesn’t have a handle.” If you ever drop a kitchen knife or other bladed instrument, just let it fall. Trying to catch it will almost certainly give you a nasty slice on the hand.
My involuntary reaction has always been to try to lift both feet off the floor at the same time.
Run your wrists under cold water or rub an ice cube on your pulse points to cool down all over quickly when you get overheated. It seems obvious but I didn’t realize it until last summer working in a warehouse with no ac.
If you’ve written on a dry erase board (or any glossy surface) with a permanent marker (like a Sharpie) just draw over it with a dry erase marker and it will wipe right off.
Hi! I'm pooh & I just use hand sanitizers (100% recommended by a fellow bear)
And despite how funny it might sound, life hacks are an expression of how wonderful the scientific method is, riding on the wave that is human ingenuity. We might lose hope in humanity from time to time, but just the fact that there are hundreds of people sharing useful life hacks is enough to restore our faith in our intelligence as a species a tiny bit,
Gently rocking back and forth while pooping. I’ve never had any problems in the bathroom, but I happened to be sitting on the toilet when I read the comment so I decided to give it a test drive. I was pleasantly surprised at how quick and effortless the whole experience was and I haven’t gone back to my old stationary technique since.
Dawn dish soap is better for cleaning tubs than any bathroom cleaner. Consider that when you bathe you’re mostly washing of body oils/dirt/skin. Dawn is so effective at cleaning oil it’s used to clean up after oil spills. You can use a small amount and it cleans pretty effortlessly with circles on a sponge.
When putting a paint can lid back on the can, first put down a layer of cling film (saran wrap). This will stop the lid sticking to the can once the paint on the lid has dried.
Which of these life hacks did you find to be the most useful? Which ones were a complete surprise to you, dear Pandas? Do you have any fake-sounding-but-real hacks to share with all the other Readers here? Drop us a comment below!
Crayons are flammable and will provide about an hour of light as a candle if you lit the top.
Use a wet knife to chop onions, it reduces tears if you have sensitive eyes.
It really works!! I could barely make it through chopping half an onion without needing multiple breaks before I tried this. Just keep the faucet running and dip your knife under periodically while chopping. I still get a little reaction, but nowhere near as bad.
Don’t leave the faucet running, please. Have a container next to you filled with water rather.
"Pay yourself first". No matter how much or how little you make. Take 10% of your paycheck and put it in an emergency fund before you buy or pay for anything else. That strategy has saved me on numerous occasions.
Mosquitos Bites be gone!
This hack is the most valuable thing I’ve learned in my whole life.
Heat of the back of a spoon with hot water. Then apply the back of the spoon to the bite. I usually do it twice for good measure. The spoon needs to be hot enough to keep on the skin without burning yourself. So test the heat before you press it down. Keep it on until the heat dissipates. Bite will stop itching almost immediately...usually the bite ha completely disappeared within an hour.
This only works with mosquitoes from my experience.
I have used ice cubes for the same result for many years. Rub until the area is numb. By the time it warms up, no more itch. I am guessing the increased blood flow to warm it up helps dilute/carry away the toxin?
If you're going to climb a ladder or work on your roof, wear a bike helmet.
Every male should know this. If you want to get rid of an awkward boner flex any muscle in your body maybe an arm. For a minute. The blood will rush to that muscle and away from your D. Crisis averted.
During pollen season... rinse your hair before bed. Otherwise you’re just depositing pollen on your pillowcase every night and then rolling your face in it all night. And then multiply that by how many nights you use the same pillowcase.
Rubbing vegetable oil (or any cooking oil) on your hands after you cut up jalapeños or other hot peppers. It gets rid of the awfulness that would normally be left on your hands from the peppers. I rub my hands with oil and then wash it off with dish soap. I can totally remove my contacts after doing this. It’s crazy how well this works.
Sounds interesting, but I will test it some other way...just in case.
The cheapest, most effective, and safest insecticide against roaches (especially those huge “water bug” roaches that we have in the South) is a spray bottle of mostly water with just a little liquid dish soap in it.
Shake the bottle & get the water a little foamy, then spray the roaches. They will run, scrabble, and attempt escape, of course, but they will die. The soap film suffocates them faster than any chemicals will.
I know two ways to get rid of roaches. I moved into a place that had an infestation and was working for a guy who had a Masters in Entomology. He said just make sure everything is dry. You can't starve a roach - they will literally eat anything. But always keep your pipes dry, wipe out your sinks, etc. When they have no access to water they will leave. That's all I did. They were gone in a couple weeks and never came back. The other idea is what's stated here but you don't have to spray to roach. Just put out some little dishes of water with a couple drops of soap in them. The roaches will drink it and die.
Drinking a cup of water with your alcoholic drink, waking up Alive not dead.
I hesitantly submit squeegeeing yourself off before getting out of the shower. It's so simple I was dubious, but just use your hands to quickly wipe off excess water and bingo, you're not cold getting out.
Microwave tip: Put a cup of water on the tray with whatever you are microwaving, it always makes it taste better and "fresher".
If your ring gets stuck on your finger windex will slide it right off. Worked at a jewelry store for five plus years.
Eating candied ginger helps with nausea. Any ginger really, but candied ginger is much better tasting.
Vinegar in a plastic bag with rubber band tied around any faucet will make the faucet like-new. I'm talking decade old rust and stuff gone...and water flows like the first day.
Getting 8 hours of time on bed, not necessarily sleep, is mental magic
Note: this post originally had 91 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
I'm confused as to where the "fake sounding" element in the article title comes in. These all seem like perfectly plausible bits of advice.
I’m struggling to understand the bit where it’s supposed to be fake. A lot of these aren’t relevant in the UK but there’s some sound advice on many of these posts.
Live the way the title says “shared by people “. Who else would be sharing it? Animals? Aliens??
My cat is The Terminator. If it moves, he kills. He ate his first kill and threw up within seconds. Never seen him so disgusted. Now he just kills them and calls me to give him a treat. He's turned mercinary.
wish mine was like that, instead she catches them and then walks around growling until someone manages to corner her and take it away (whether it's dead or not)
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My favorite life hack that is pretty unbelievable until you try it: remove smells from your hands (fish, garlic, etc.) by rubbing them on stainless steel while you wash them. If you have a stainless steel sink it works great. They even make stainless steel bars of "soap" for this purpose. Works like magic.
Here's a lifehack for hiccups that works 100% of the time for me, 100%. No more drinking upside down or making someone surprise you, no. Take a deep breath, as deep as you can. Then, bring your teeth together and blow out on an S, making a snake sound, sssssssss! 🐍Blow air out real slowly like that. When you're out of air, push some more out, try it, there is usually a little more left. Then take another deep breath and do it again. Two to five times should do the trick. If you hic while doing the sssssss, just get straight back into the sssSSSssing 🐍and keep focused. This is a common singing exercise, and there is some science to why it works. Hiccups is an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm, which is a muscle that sits like a belt around your lungs. Singing, and especially this exercise, is focused on the diaphragm, so this distracts it for a minute and it "forgets" the spasm. Voila! Hiccups no more!
One time I had the hiccups and so as a joke my grandpa told me to look in the mirror to scare myself. Going along with it just because, I actually went and just looked in the mirror and my hiccups were gone afterwards. Voodoo magic
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If you have a song stuck in your head, sing the last few lines and then announce the next song to yourself.
On the flip side, I've nearly gotten into accidents because of drivers who use their turn signals when they're not turning. I hate driving.
I'm confused as to where the "fake sounding" element in the article title comes in. These all seem like perfectly plausible bits of advice.
I’m struggling to understand the bit where it’s supposed to be fake. A lot of these aren’t relevant in the UK but there’s some sound advice on many of these posts.
Live the way the title says “shared by people “. Who else would be sharing it? Animals? Aliens??
My cat is The Terminator. If it moves, he kills. He ate his first kill and threw up within seconds. Never seen him so disgusted. Now he just kills them and calls me to give him a treat. He's turned mercinary.
wish mine was like that, instead she catches them and then walks around growling until someone manages to corner her and take it away (whether it's dead or not)
Load More Replies... My favorite life hack that is pretty unbelievable until you try it: remove smells from your hands (fish, garlic, etc.) by rubbing them on stainless steel while you wash them. If you have a stainless steel sink it works great. They even make stainless steel bars of "soap" for this purpose. Works like magic.
Here's a lifehack for hiccups that works 100% of the time for me, 100%. No more drinking upside down or making someone surprise you, no. Take a deep breath, as deep as you can. Then, bring your teeth together and blow out on an S, making a snake sound, sssssssss! 🐍Blow air out real slowly like that. When you're out of air, push some more out, try it, there is usually a little more left. Then take another deep breath and do it again. Two to five times should do the trick. If you hic while doing the sssssss, just get straight back into the sssSSSssing 🐍and keep focused. This is a common singing exercise, and there is some science to why it works. Hiccups is an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm, which is a muscle that sits like a belt around your lungs. Singing, and especially this exercise, is focused on the diaphragm, so this distracts it for a minute and it "forgets" the spasm. Voila! Hiccups no more!
One time I had the hiccups and so as a joke my grandpa told me to look in the mirror to scare myself. Going along with it just because, I actually went and just looked in the mirror and my hiccups were gone afterwards. Voodoo magic
Load More Replies... If you have a song stuck in your head, sing the last few lines and then announce the next song to yourself.
On the flip side, I've nearly gotten into accidents because of drivers who use their turn signals when they're not turning. I hate driving.
