Useless Mackerel Fact; Your input,please

Donald Schneider

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Someone gave me what is euphemistically referred to as, er, a “bathroom book” awhile back. It is entitled The Encyclopedia of Useless Information (2007), by William Hartston. The author and publisher are in no danger of breaching truth in advertising laws. For those who have suffered with an absence of this tour de force in your personal libraries, I just wanted to share one priceless factoid with others here in the hope of receiving the benefit of your input:

MACKEREL

“The only station on the London Underground system whose name has no letters in common with the word ‘mackerel’ is St. John’s Wood.”

Now, although I have no doubt that this fabulously interesting piece of information is perfectly true (or at least was at the time the book was published), my question to you is: Can you offer even a reasonable conjecture as to how it would ever occur to anyone to ask one’s self: “What can I do today? I know, I’ll see what London Underground stations have no letters in common with the word ‘mackerel.’"?

Thank you.
 
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MaeZe

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http://www.robeastaway.com/blog/mackerel
Your response might be: Who Cares?
But bizarrely, a surprising number of people do care about this question (the answer is at the end of the blog). Ever since a group of Cambridge students came up with it after an evening in a pub about 30 years ago, the mackerel-tube question has been a meme that refuses to die. In a list of 150 "Fascinating Tube Facts" published in the Daily Telegraph in 2013, the existence of a non-mackerel tube station was the very first item in the list.
It's a bit of trivia that has appealed to some prominent people, too. Back in 1999, in a trailer for his short-lived BBC chat show, Jeremy Clarkson* (remember him?) announced: "And I will be revealing the underground station that has no letters that appear in the word mackerel" His viewers must have been baffled when he then failed to mention the question or the answer during the show itself.
Meanwhile Victoria Coren Mitchell has said that it is her all-time favourite trivia question, which is quite a claim given that she is in charge of Only Connect, the most cerebral TV trivia quiz ever.
Why has this question proved to be so popular? One reason is that the British seem to love trivia questions about the London Underground.
 

Donald Schneider

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MaeZe, wow! Thanks so much! I think you might have just solved my recurring insomnia problem! :)
 
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mirandashell

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ERmmm..... you know how it's really hard to 'hear' tone of voice on the Internet......
 

PorterStarrByrd

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I'd really like to see a comprehensive list of every train station in the world that can claim that, and one of all of the airports that contain no letters in common with catfish.
 

Helix

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Now, although I have no doubt that this fabulously interesting piece of information is perfectly true (or at least was at the time the book was published), my question to you is: Can you offer even a reasonable conjecture as to how it would ever occur to anyone to ask one’s self: “What can I do today? I know, I’ll see what London Underground stations have no letters in common with the word ‘mackerel.’"?

It's creativity, innit? Smash together two unrelated concepts in an ideas collider and see what happens.
 

GailK

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I've always taken the stance that every day I learn something is a successful day. Thank you for offering me this bit of information so early in the day!