Common Things You See & Use Every day That You Probably Don’t Know Their Purpose & Meaning


In our daily lives, we are surrounded by lots of objects that seem so common we don’t bother about their meaning or the purpose of some of their features. Every design or feature even to the smallest one has a meaning and you are about to find out.

1.

You should have noticed that lot of padlocks have a small hole in the bottom. Most padlocks are used to lock door or gates outside and are therefore exposed to sun and rain. The tiny hole was put there for the pouring of engine oil into the padlock during situations when it becomes stiff and difficult to open. The tiny hole also helps to drain water that might have entered the padlock while being exposed to rain.

2.

The margins of a book were not initially designed for numbering or for teachers to write comments. In the past, rats were a common thing in houses and they often feed on paper (and they still do) among other things in the house.

In order to prevent the rats from eating the important information written in the books, people started leaving spaces at the edges (margins) where the rats are most likely to start eating from and in that way the main writing in the book was protected.

3.

I’m sure you will have noticed that all headphone jacks have 2 or 3 stripes/bands on them. They aren’t just for mere design, there are wires going to both ears of the headphone from each band. That’s the reason why you sometimes hear the sound in only one side of the headphone if the jack is not plugged in properly.

4.

If you are an iPhone user, you probably would have seen the tiny black dot between the lens and flash on the back of your iPhone. This black dot is actually a microphone which helps to provide good sound quality by eliminating background noise and also record better sound when recording a video in a crowded place.

5.

You have definitely have used solo cup but haven’t cared about the lines on the body of the cup. The lines actually aren’t for mere design as they can serve different measurement function when drinking. lines on a Solo cup can be used as liquid measurements for different kinds of alcohol. The bottom line is the rough equivalent of a 1 oz recommended serving of hard liquor, the second marks the 5 oz recommended for serving wine, and the third line marks 12 oz, the perfect amount for a cup of beer.

6.

You have probably taken time once to open the white liner inside of soda bottle caps and confirm if you won a prize or see “Try Again”. The white plastic liners were actually not designed mainly for this purpose. The liner inside of the lid acts as a seal that traps the carbon dioxide gas in the drink and prevents it from escaping. The carbon dioxide in drinks like Coke, Pepsi, Fanta is what make them fizzy. Without the liner, the gas would escape and all you would be left with is a flat, syrup rather than a refreshing drink.

7.

Most pots and pans come with handles that have an oval-shaped hole at the end. To most people, the holes are there for you to hang the pots and pans after washing. On the contrary, the holes were designed for holding of the handle of your stirring spoon while you are cooking or after you are done.

8.
You must have noticed the smallest pocket on your jeans that seems to be there mainly for design with no specific purpose. A number of people use it for keeping small things that could go missing in the main pockets while some don’t even consider it for anything.

The tiny pocket in denim Jeans were actually designed for keeping watches. Jeans were the major pant worn by Gold Miners in California in the mid-1800s and one of their most important possession is their pocket watch. So, the small pocket was to ensure that their expensive watch was safely kept.

9.



Certain pens have holes in their cover (cap) and ordinarily, the hole seems not to have meaning or purpose. The holes in pen caps were designed to prevent suffocation in case the caps are swallowed.

The BIC Cristal was the one that originally incorporated this design due to the fact that the pen caps were one of the most common objects swallowed by children which result in choking and could be deadly.

10.



If you own a converse shoe, you definitely would have seen the sides holes which you rarely use for anything. The side holes were designed to allow air to enter into the shoes while you are wearing it to prevent from feet from getting sweaty and causing the inside of the shoes to smell bad.

The side holes were also designed to be used as part of the holes for lacing the shoes for those that can be creative with it.

I hope you have learned something…