Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for August 09, 2019

How does toasting determine that? (How is Ian Usher’s new life going so far?)

I drive a 1974 Slow Loris sedan. Terrible gas mileage and parts are scarce.

They wanted to test whether the slow loris had a taste of that wine or not.

But why do they have beer in the wineglasses?

Maybe poisioned is different than poisoned.

Ian Usher gives identity theft a whole new meaning.

That thing Ian did sounds kind of cool. I hope he got the life he wanted.

Make sure the slow loris did not spit in the wine.

Wondering how clinking wine glasses together identifies poison, or what poison is counteracted by clinking glasses.

Walk softly and carry a big spit.

I’m not sure you could say that something that causes anaphylactic shock is a venom. A venom is a poison in and of itself, whereas any number of things that are not poisons can cause anaphylaxis and, potentially, death. Including foods, plant spores, medicines, etc., any of which you can be allergic to.

Can anybody explain how toasting with a drink somehow shows if something is poisonous? Does a toast somehow force the other person to drink, and if they won’t, then it’s poisonous? Kind of a stretch in the first place, and would only be useful if the other person was the poisoner. I can’t make this one work in my old brain; just doesn’t make sense.

being venomous is a very rare trait among mammals, it makes sense that only one primate has that ability. The Platypus is another venomous mammal. The venom doesn’t come from its mouth, but rather fang like barbs on its hind legs. The venom isn’t deadly, but causes EXTREME pain, that even narcotic painkillers like morphine can’t stop

Can anybody make heads or tails of the Wine bit?

Why hasn’t anybody asked about how that toasting/poison thing?

The host would pour some of his wine into a compatriot’s glass to show it wasn’t poisoned, but if the other person believed him, he would just touch his glass to his host’s. Supposedly we got the term “toast” because wine was served in large bowls, and they would put pieces of toast in them to help absorb the acidity. Two men saw a beautiful woman in a public bath, and one of them took out a goblet and filled it with her bath water and drank to her beauty. The other one said something like, “I like not the wine, but I would have the toast.” And that’s supposedly where we got it. Probably just a good story.

Someone that believes the Slow Loris is the only venomous primate is someone that never met my wife…

this just in: Steph B. asks: Why do we make toasts with drinks and why is it called that?

Humans throughout history have made a habit of basing a great deal of our traditions and customs around food. The curious practice of raising our drink containers is one of the most ancient of these.To answer your question, for starters, we’ll dispel a myth. You may have heard that the tradition of toasting originated out of a fear of poisoning- the idea being that clinking two glasses together would cause the liquid from both to spill into one another; thus, the people you’re drinking with wouldn’t poison you as they’d then be poisoning themselves. As interesting as this historical rumour is, not surprisingly, there is not a single shred of evidence backing up this conjecture.

How can you determine the toxicity of wine by only toasting?