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You have likely eaten a bug at some point in your life. And when someone says something “tastes like cardboard,” you likely understand exactly what they mean. 

However, a few unfortunate souls have had something unpleasant meet their taste buds. They’ve shared their experiences in the comments section of this Reddit question: “What’s something you’ve tasted that most humans have not?” 

This list features firsthand accounts of people ingesting elephant carcasses, ladybug secretions, possum meat, and rat droppings. Some are a bit nasty, so proceed with caution. 

But if you’re a fan of weird stories that can get graphic, enjoy scrolling through this list.

#1

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident I was injured in a rocket attack in Afghanistan. I remember lying in the dirt and my ear felt weird, like swimmer's ear. I have sensitive ears, so I stuck my finger in my ear to try to drain it, only to have my finger come away with a thick syrupy substance. It was dark, so I couldn't see what it was, and my nose was broken and bleeding. I decided, f**k it, I licked it. It tasted mildly sweet.

It was cerebrospinal fluid. From my brain.

meme_medic95 , elements.envato.com Report

#2

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Literal bull s**t, straight from a bull. It's not what you think. I mean, it's not what I would think, with that first sentence, but it's every bit true.

I was riding in a pasture of heifers, looking for why they'd been freaking out, when I saw one in the middle stand up, suddenly half again the size of every other bovine in the area. Oh.

One of the young bulls somehow got out of a nearby barn and paddock overnight. So I nudged my horse forward to see if I'd lead him out, or chase him out, or maybe I'd need another cowboy if he was feeling obstinant. He wasn't.

He turned and ran, so it was the chase option, then. No big deal, we do that all the time. So I let my horse do work while I hang out on top and basically just minimize my awkward mass-offset. I was riding a trained horse, so it already knew exactly what to do.

It's called "cutting" when you herd one animal away from the others. None of this aside from the chase is germaine to the story, but it's interesting.

As we were following the bull, who was sprinting away, I watched a giant, healthy looking s**t erupt from this idiot's a**s just as he bucked and kicked both feet back in a young bull's expression of primal joy. He kicked directly through his own massive s**t, launching chunks of it directly into my face. It blasted my hat clean off.

My mouth had been open. My eyes had been open. My shirt collar was open. Everything had s**t in it. Everything I had. I found s**t in my pants pockets. My horse was covered in it.

That's one of the rare times I was unhorsed. Completely thrown. In my shock, I just lost focus and ended up on my back, retching up toward the sky. Pretty sure I swallowed some. I had to f*****g chew it just to spit it out.

Had to walk back about 1/4 mile, too. The horse just kept after the bull. They were grazing near each other when I got back to paddock.

Disturbingly sweet. I didn't expect that. Highly unpleasant.

I've never before or since heard my Dad laugh like that. I thought he was going to die from it. It's the only time I ever saw the man cry.

Eclectophile , Gabriela Palai Report

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#3

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident A ladybug flew into my mouth when I was riding my bike as a kid. Ladybugs secrete a yellow bitter goop when they get eaten as a "f**k you, don't eat me" mechanism, so that happened. Had to run inside and rinse out my mouth, which didn't really help.

Edit: Wow, there are a lot of ladybug tasters in here. My people ✊️.

Hellspark08 , Pixabay Report

#4

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Bronze Age cremated human bones.
Had my coffee cup standing right next to the tub I was cleaning them after excavation. Scrubbed the sediment off of it with a toothbrush and it sputtered together with tiny fractions of the bones all around and also in that coffee.
The last sip felt a little coarse and on the bottom of the cup were still white particles between the sand and coffee grounds.

Spearofaesir , Yunus Emre Ilıca Report

#5

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Moose burgers. I was a little kid, and my god, it was delicious. We were guests, and I embarrassed my parents by asking if I could have another. (They thought people would think they were starving me. Not so … it was just a damn tasty burger.).

seaboardist , Pixabay Report

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JohnGalt
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Moose is hands down the best game meat out there, followed closely by Elk, then Bison.

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#6

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Used a glass of water to put cig butts in when I smoked. Woke up in the middle of the night desperate for a drink and swallowed 2 chuggs before I realised what was going on. It tastes even worse than you might expect.

Edit it seems from the comments many more people than I expected have drunk cig butt juice!

Serberou5 , Basil MK Report

#7

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident 18 Molar Sulphuric Acid

Back in the day you sucked things into a pipet. Sometime I sucked too hard. This time I got a mouth full of acid. I tasted sweet for two weeks.

No_Ground7568 , cottonbro studio Report

#8

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Inside of my mouth got burned so bad it blistered my gums and tongue so bad everything boiled up and shed eventually. Healing sucked because when I talked, I’d accidentally bite down and pop a blister…. tasted like pus. Hated that time of my life lol.

Dontknoworcaretbh , Luz Fuertes Report

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Ovata Acronicta
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

GROSS ALERT. One of my relationships, my partner was Rather Greasy, and he let me just pop all his gross lil pimples. Probably one of the best pops of my life was getting a dilated pore of winer out from behind his ear. The worst was probably when I absentmindedly went to do things to his earlobe with my mouth because we were making out and I felt a series of his pimples pop. In my mouth. Do not recommend.

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#9

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Rat s**t. I used to have pet rats when I was in the uni, and I was one carrying one of them from one dorm to another. He left a few droppings in my jacket pocket he was in (it was short walk so I just put him in my roomy pocket).

I didn't notice, and few weeks later I forgot about it at all, put some nuts in the same pocket and started eating them, until one of them tasted really weird.

yurri , Nikolett Emmert Report

#10

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident The asphalt on the crosswalk in front of the Flatiron building in NYC. Potholes are a b***h.

karaokechameleon Report

#12

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident My pet fox peed on my face/mouth while I was asleep, so I've tasted fox pee.

I could taste it for over an hour even after rinsing my mouth. 0/10 would not recommend.

laptopaccount , Pixabay Report

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#13

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Probably Rattlesnake. Not much flavor, very stringy, and has a lot of bones.

Extension_Cress_2084 , Pixabay Report

#15

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Possum was really common in rural nz back in the 70s/80s it’s disgusting I was 4 and still remember the taste.

Any-Difficulty-8694 , Jennifer Uppendahl Report

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Coral
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unsurprisingly, the photo does not depict the type of possum you'd find in New Zealand.

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#16

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Elephant🐘

For context, it wasn't hunted. It was already dead. Got hit by a train☹️

So technically, it was roadkill. So that's 2 things I guess..

Woodland-Wench , Pixabay Report

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Panda Pandemic
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Are they saying they tasted an elephant as in ate it? I couldn't imagine willingly eating an elephant. That just feels wrong. Which is super hypocritical because I am a meat eater.

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#17

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident I was about 1 week into a 2-month stint in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, when some of the soldiers we were with dragged half of an elk into camp. By the time I left the project, I'd eaten deer, boar, elk and poultry from the Zone.


Several years on and I still have the normal amount of appendages. Don't think many people have eaten slightly-irradiated game.

notatadbad , Gundula Vogel Report

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Kangaroo
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was in the Exclusion Zone, we saw quite a few dogs who looked very normal (some we weren’t allowed to pet due to radiation though 😢). We also fed bread and cookies to some of the most massive catfish I’ve ever seen in my life who were just chilling in the river right next to the CPP.

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#18

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Witchetty grub. It looks like a fat shiny white caterpillar, an aboriginal elder came to our school when I was little (1989?ish) so we tasted bush tucker.

Thackham , harveyandfriends Report

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Kangaroo
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or fungi used for culinary or medicinal purposes, regardless of the continent or culture.” Had to Google it

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#19

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident A 10'000 Dollar Whisky.

SirShortarm , Mister Mister Report

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XanthippeⓐWulf🇨🇦️️🇬🇧
Community Member
3 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Idk, before my father passed, he was a huge connoisseur of whiskey/whisky and scotch. He has several labels that are in the high dollar range, and I can't say that I've been overly impressed trying them out. They're good mind you, but not *the cost of a house* good imho. I will say that the only whisky that stood out was a very old Japanese Yamazaki & a vintage Glengoyne. I've got some collector's Macallan-- the ones in the Lalique decanters--that I want to try, but I haven't found the right occasion. Maybe I'll break them out when Trump loses. Again.

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#20

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Jesus water: water taken from a 2km well at the south pole. Ice is millions of years old, so drinking water from a time never lived.

sureptitiouscasanova , wirestock Report

#21

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Actual battery acid, stupid I was I thought the stickyness I suddenly had on my finger was from the candy I just ate NOPE it was from the TV remote I used.

Kaffekjerring Report

#22

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Not me but someone i knew tasted radiation. It sounds weird but high intensity radiation apparently leaves a metallic taste in your mouth, as if you just licked a penny after holding it for a while. He was a chernobyl liquidator.

LoginPuppy , Romeo Delos Santos Report

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#23

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Welp, I had a pidgeon die inside my place's water tank (it had a hole) and I drank that water for months... So I guess I had dead pidgeon tea.

First-Ravioli-Sauce , wirestock Report

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DEW
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think of the poor girl who died and they found her in their Hotel water tanks. Guests had been complaining the water tasted bad. If I remember it was a few weeks before they found her. Sad because nobody knows what happened to her or how she got into the water tank and close the heavy lid.

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#24

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Well, not me, but my daughter ate a stinkt bug once... That was an intense experience... Stank on the way in...and on the way out...

ChampionshipAlarmed , Pixabay Report

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Daniel Atkins
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Those tastes bad i have eaten fruit that one had rested on and left some of that smell on it.

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#25

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Pig s**t. I’m not proud of it, but sooner or later in every livestock farmers career you’re going to get some floor s**t splash about. And someday some of that splash will unfortunately hit your open mouth. And you will internally cry. God I wish I didn’t know this. It’s kinda like the smell of death tho I’ve found that to be somewhat more common.

Slight_Respond6160 , Colin Lloyd Report

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#26

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Jellyfish salad. I wasn't convinced when I first saw the dish, but I ended up liking it.

Izniss , Jenssen R Report

#27

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Armadillo. Never meant to have it, but was staying on a farm and the dog brought it. Owner wouldn't leave it to waste. Tastes like chicken.

bad_mech , Victor Miyata Report

#28

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Yew berries. The only nonpoisonous part of a tree that every other part is deadly. Including the seed inside.

Do not recommend.

PuzzledWildebeest , Kathy Shiptenko Report

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Roxy222uk
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yew berries are **not** poisonous but the seeds are. So you can eat the berries but must spit out the seeds. Then berries are absolutely delicious, I kid you not. I wish someone would make a jam or something from them. I eat them while out walking the dog, and spit the seeds out.

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#29

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident A prickly pear. They’re native to my country so we eat then regularly, but whenever I’ve seen someone react to it (that’s not Mexican), they just act like it’s something from another planet.

Scary_Course9686 , Marek Piwnicki Report

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Kim Karlotta
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You can buy them in grocery stores or at markets in many european countries. Didn't think it was uncommon.

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#30

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Termites, and it was surprisingly good. Minty if I recall correctly, was many years ago.

MehhRobot , Jimmy Chan Report

#31

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident We grew up on a farm and my brother watched some survival TV show where they were hunting for their own food and cooking it after. He was able to catch a toad, created a fire and cooked and sliced it up afterwards. Me, as the little girl looking up to her older brother (me: 6, him: 8), of course had to taste it. I don’t think it’s really common….

klausmarcel44 , Pille Kirsi Report

#32

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Dunno if this counts but I know a guy who ate a paper cup, just straight up ate a paper cup.

Chaosdemond , Ann H Report

#33

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident A bat slow-cooked whole, skin, guts, and all, tossed right into the pot.

atzizi , Frida Lannerström Report

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#35

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Cuy or so called "guinea pig" delicious and a delicacy in Colombia.

Big-Hawk8126 , Anjie Qiu Report

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ShyWahine
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had it in Peru - also known as Cuy al Horno. Served with potatoes and salsa - very tasty, enjoyed every bite (didn't know what I had eaten until I finished my plate... )

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#36

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Reindeer.

It was when I was younger, very similar to other red meat.

Polz34 , Jean-Daniel Francoeur Report

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Chonky Panda
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's strange seeing something that's really common for you in this list. Same with the moose meat.

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#37

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Callamus root, a quasi psychadelic akin to nutmeg kind of, terrible experience all round do not reccomend.

elasmonut , www.mayernikkitchen.com Report

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Zaach
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Montana state prison system had to lock up nutmeg b/c the inmates were consuming it to get high

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#38

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Denso tape. Health and safety be damned! I was not climbing back down that mast just for a knife.

Either_Cow_7 , www.canzac.com Report

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#39

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Possibly horse sashimi.

HoppokoHappokoGhost , ArtHouse Studio Report

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Dan Flo
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some IKEA customers could be in this list after the horse meatball scandal.

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#40

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Squirrel milk.

monkeysexriot , Pixabay Report

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Random Jackass
Community Member
4 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Thanks. Part of me wants to know how one properly milks a squirrel but the other part doesn't want that in my search history because I'm concerned with what ads I might be bombarded with.

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#41

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Paraffin. (Edit to add: liquid Parrafin, not wax. Lamp oil in the US? Please correct me if wrong)

Not as bad as you'd expect.. still don't recommend it.

Suspicious-Clock-292 , didesign021 Report

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WindySwede
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Something a fire spraying person would do? (Not right word, but I could not find a wikipedia page for it), but this: 0ed46d8ec5...edf16e.jpg 0ed46d8ec58478e3933cd988fbedf16e.jpg

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#42

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Camel hump stew in egypt.

MotherSpinach9280 , Julia Volk Report

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ShyWahine
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also chicken stuffed with rice and hard-boiled eggs, stuffed inside a lamb, stuffed inside a camel - then broiled in a charcoal pit and covered with nuts and dates.

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#43

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Cow s**t.
I was explaining something to fresher farm workers when the cow decided to stomp into a pile of it.

Cucumberneck , Matthias Zomer Report

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Ovata Acronicta
Community Member
4 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For what it's worth, cow s**t is some of the least offensive stuff, but my experience is also limited to getting some on me. I guess if I was forced to eat the poo poo, I'd choose cow first. Or I would die, that would also be preferable.

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#44

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Cougar and bear. Used to go hunting in Wyoming every year with my dad. The hunting guide did everything from Bears, cougars, elk, deer, bison, turkeys, prairie dogs, etc. He was one of those people who had an industrial meat grinder in the back, and his wife used most of their kills for meals in the house. He joked that he hadn’t bought beef in 20 years. Made the mistake of asking him what the weirdest meat was in his fridge. He Got the most wicked smile and came back with some homemade summer sausages. he gave me a slice and asked me if I could guess what it was. It was incredibly gamy, only thing that made it palatable was the spices he’d mixed with it. It had a very odd aftertaste that kind of reminded me of the flavor you get in your mouth after drinking diet cola. Never in 1 million years would’ve guessed it was cougar and he was dying of laughter at the look on my face when he told me. He also had some sausage made out of bear. That one was also gamy and had a very strange “butter” flavor to it, but it was not delicious like butter…
Still, it was good to know he wasn’t putting the animals to waste.

Warrior_White , Lucas Pezeta Report

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#45

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Cow brains. My family in Mexico considered it a special treat. The texture was like scrambled eggs and the flavor was pretty mild.

stdio-lib , Pixabay Report

#46

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Chicken dipped in chocolate .

hughsboner , Alexas Fotos Report

#47

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Peanut butter and pickle sandwiches.

SpecialistTry2262 , SuckerPunch Gourmet Report

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Prince of Darkness
Community Member
4 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Peanut butter, mayo, and lettuce on white or wheat, or peanut butter and onion on sourdough. Peanut butter goes with damn near anything.

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#48

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident I drank out of the top of a skull during a Buddhist celebration.

Cannelope , Andrea Piacquadio Report

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Kat
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You know what's wrong with the world today? Nobody drinks from the skull of their enemies anymore. 🙃 Not my joke; but it makes me chuckle.

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#49

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Raw "chicken of the woods mushroom" when hiking as well as raw wild gooseberries, asparagus, morel mushroom, dandelion leaves. Snapping Turtle Tenderloins. on a double dog dare, a nightcrawler worm. lol.

pwrslide2 , Em Hopper Report

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#50

50 Times People Tasted Something Unusual Whether On Purpose Or By Accident Turtle, dugong, jellyfish, crocodile would probably be the most exotic.

willthisgetkarma , Maria Isabella Bernotti Report

Note: this post originally had 62 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.