The answers come to those who seek them. Especially on the subreddit 'What Is This Thing?'
This online community is home to 2.3 million members who are always ready to help people identify the mysterious objects they found.
The gig is simple: someone uploads a photo of whatever it is they want the name of, and the gang starts commenting under it, offering their input until, inevitably, a person shows up who knows exactly what it is.
However, even if you're not posting anything, scrolling through their solved cases feels like an interesting challenge, where you can test (and expand) your own knowledge. So we invite you to do just that!
#1 Strange Metal Thing On The Bottom Of My Drivers Side
Answer: Your mechanic is gonna want that back. It’s part of a lift.
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276points
#2 This Metal Piece Is Attached To The Wall In A Wc In My Airbnb In France
Answer: It's a magazine rack installed upside down because people decorating Airbnb's don't know what they're doing.
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275points
#3 Saw This In A Restroom Which Has Faucets And Drain Down Low And A Dryer
Answer: This setup prevents Muslims from having to lift our legs up dangerously high while trying to stick our feet in the sink one at a time. The alternative to that is we have to take a handful of water and pour it onto our feet below the sink causing the floor to get wet. Muslims also have to keep their feet clean before praying, which is obviously problematic in a bathroom where everyone pisses on the floor and walks with their shoes between the stalls and the sink, so you might see them trying to keep one shoe on while washing the other foot and then switching. It’s also why we take our shoes off before praying and use prayer rugs to avoid touching unclean things while praying.
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271points
#4 Round Shelf Attached By Metal Brackets To Underside Of Table. What Is It For?
Answer: It's a place to rest your beer while you play cards.
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240points
#5 Weird Semi Circle Wires With Various Beads On A Wooden Plank Found In An Older House
Answer: A Himalayan Calendar. The outer ring as 12 balls, each corresponding to a month. The next two rings have a tens and ones digit. The tens has three balls for up to the 31st, and the next has nine balls, for 0 to 9. And then four rings for the year, up to 9999.
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228points
#6 Hard, Waxy, Blob-Looking Thing Found During Low Tide
Answer: It's whale sick get it checked it could be worth thousands a kg. It's an ingredient used in high end perfumes.
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214points
#7 What Is This? It’s Made Like A Barrel But Looks Like A Carrier Of Some Kind?
Answer: It is a Vasculum, a sturdy collection container used by botanists on field excursions in which plant specimens can be collected without damaging them.
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201points
#8 Steel, Engraved, Hooked Tool Hidden In The Foundation Of An Old House
Answer: My wife says horse hoof cleaning tool, and she's a major horse gal. Also, burying an iron object within the foundation of a home was once considered good luck.
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200points
#9 Made Of Clay/Terra Cotta, Can Fit Inside A Palm. It Came With Something I Bought But Can't Remember What
Answer: Terra cotta sugar saver. You put it in with your brown sugar to keep it from clumping or drying out in storage.
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188points
#10 What Is This Spoon With A Tong-Like Attachment? Seen In An Antique Store In Lyon, France
Answer: It is a spoon designed to separate the fat from the sauce, called "cuillère dégraisseuse".
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187points
#11 Found On Charmouth Beach, Dorset. Screw Cap And Has Bright Green Liquid Inside
Answer: It’s a diver rescue marker, for ocean rescue. You release it to dye the water around you and even at night a blacklight can light it up.
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183points
#12 What Is This Wall Mounted Metal Thing That Was Seen In Hohensalzburg Fortress? There Were 3 Or 4 Rooms With One Of These Objects And None Had An Explanation
Answer: These are pretty much radiators that were filled with embers and/or hot stones when needed.
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182points
#13 This Plaque Came In As As Scrap Metal. Measures Approx 1.5ft X 6in. Made Of Cast Aluminum. Google Turns Up No Results. Witt??
Answer: Probably a horse. The bottom is the sire and dam.
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180points
#14 Found In Kitchen Junk Drawer. Heavy, Solid Brass
Answer: Telephone dialer. You put the ball end in the desired number of the phone dial instead of your finger tip and used it to turn the dial.
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176points
#15 What Is This Oval Metal Thing In A Plastic Holder Mounted To The Kitchen Wall Next To The Sink?
Answer: Steel "soap" bar. Removes odors like onion from ur hands when u wash with it by just adding a strong steel odor on top.
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175points
#16 1940 Mercury Dime Turned Into A Two Sided Spoon Of Some Sort With Fused Ring At The Top. Came With Odds And Ends From Deceased Older Relative From Ohio
Answer: A vintage spoon pendant used for illegal substances.
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173points
#17 4 Inches, Plastic, Pointed On One Side. Received As A Xmas Gift?! Witt??
Answer: Looks like a page spreader for reading. Point end goes into the spine and thumb in hole so you can one hand books easy.
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163points
#18 What Are These Heavy Metal Objects I Found In A Thrift Store?
Answer: You hang weights on chains to power mechanical cuckoo clocks. One powers the clock mechanism, and the other powers the cuckoo. The weight turns gears in the mechanism as the chain drops. To wind the clock, you pull on the other end of the chain and bring the weight back up, and the same for the chain that powers the cuckoo.
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163points
#19 Bought A New Pair Of Nike Shoes. Inside The Box Was This Small, Plastic Bubble, Filled With Air, And What Looks Like Tiny, Colorful Micro Plastics. Has A Loophole On The Top And Is About An Inch Long
Answer: Micro plastic particles. Probably to show how Nike helps to clean up our planet. Greenwashing at best.
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161points
#20 What's This Heavy, Brass, Genie Lamp-Like Object With Both A Weird Cutout Spout And A Narrow Upwards Spout?
Answer: It’s a lamp. It’s literally an oil lamp, to be used to create light. The wick goes in the spout. The oil goes in the belly. You light the wick and a flame will burn on the end of the spout like a little candle, and you can carry your lantern around with you.
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160points