14 Fart-Tastic Facts About Farts That You Should Know

Jack De Graaf
3 Minutes Read
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Did you know that the world's oldest joke is actually a fart joke?

    Farting is just as natural as yawning or blinking.

    It’s a bodily function we can’t control, and it’s something we can’t avoid.

    Factually talking about flatulence, there are many interesting little things to learn.

    From the speed of a fart to why they smell, and just what exactly they’re made of, you can read all about it here with these fourteen fart-tastic facts!

    99% of a fart is odorless.

    A man holding his nose

    Only 1% of a fart is made of hydrogen sulfide, the stuff that smells extremely bad.

    The other 99% is non-smelling stuff like carbon dioxide, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and methane.

    The world’s oldest joke is a fart joke.

    A farting cushion joke toy

    Toilet humor is global – it doesn’t matter what language you speak when we’re all unified in our bodily functions, but apparently, fart jokes are also timeless as well as universal.

    The oldest known joke in history is a Sumerian proverb that dates back to 1900 BC that says, “Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap.”

    What a classic.

    In Britain, they sometimes call a fart a “Trump.”

    Donald Trump

    Yup, that’s right, President Fart.

    There’s many a colloquialism for farting and many more national – and even regional – variations around the world.

    One such is the British slang “Trump,” which is why you’ll catch your British friends chuckling when you mention the Former President by name.

    As if Donald Trump didn’t have enough on his plate without the British laughing at his name!

    Vegetarians fart more than carnivores.

    A woman holding her nose

    Well, for the most part, anyway. Generally speaking, vegetarians tend to eat more beans than their meat-eating counterparts.

    Beans contain carbohydrates made of molecules too large for absorption into the small intestine during digestion.

    Because of this, they pass into the large intestine still intact, which increases certain bacteria to break them down, producing large amounts of hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide gas.

    Although vegetarians may fart more, meat-eaters farts smell worse.

    A man breathing through a paper bag

    Due to the increased sulfur in meat, more hydrogen sulfide is created during digestion when meat is broken down.

    Women’s farts smell worse than men’s.

    A farting peach emoji

    In 2014, a study was conducted by a Flatologist, Dr. Michael Levitt, M.D., which found that women produce more hydrogen sulfide during digestion, and as a result, their farts smell worse.

    Sorry ladies, you might be the winners of fart etiquette, but you’re the losers of this one!

    Farts can be highly flammable.

    Flammable gas sign

    This is due to the fact that there are methane and hydrogen in your farts, both of which are flammable and can be ignited.

    But don’t worry; you can’t explode by lighting one.

    Farts are faster than hoverboards.

    Hoverboard Speed Vs Farts

    A fart speeds out of you at 3.05 meters a second. That’s 7 miles per hour!

    So they might be faster than hoverboards, but the jury is still out on whether or not they’re more flammable!

    Your butt can tell the difference between a fart and a poop.

    A dog taking a dump on the toilet

    The tactile nerve endings in a person’s rectum can distinguish the difference in sensation caused by each.

    However, there is one exception: the runs!

    This is due to the liquid consistency, which confuses your poor nerve endings.

    Although it can be uncomfortable, holding in farts isn’t lethal.

    Cartoon farting on a bench making someone next to him angry

    You’re not going to just puff up like a big balloon and then explode!

    The average person farts roughly between 14 – 22 times a day.

    An unimpressed sheep with another sheep who just farted

    That’s 98 – 154 times a week, 392 – 616 times a month, and 5,110 – 8,030 times a year!

    It’s impossible to go through life without farting.

    No farting sign

    Even if you were to hold them in all day, every day, whilst you sleep, your body’s natural functions will take over.

    Your farts could smell like roses or chocolate…

    Dark Chocolate for anxiety

    In 2014, 65-year-old French artist and inventor Christian Poincheval created some pills from 100% natural ingredients.

    These pills aid digestion and make your farts smell like roses or chocolate.

    Talk about coming up roses!

    The scientific term for a fart is “flatulence.”

    The real word for fart is actually flatulence

    This is derived from the Latin “flatus,” which means “blowing” and “wind.”

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About The Author

Jack De Graaf
Jack De Graaf

Jack De Graaf is a BA English Studies graduate and a part-time writer. In his spare time he likes to read and do circus skills. He enjoys writing about video games, television and general knowledge.

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