There's a good article in the Washington Post from July that was on a repeat on the Radio this morning about the Five Second Rule. There's even some research on it and a WikiWorld comic.
"The five-second rule. If you've never heard of it, ask any sixth-grader. "It means that if you drop something on the ground, you can still eat it if you pick it up in five seconds," says Kiara Hopkins, 11."
I'm not sure when this started, but I've always known this. I think my two-year-old knows this, although it may be the five-day-rule for him.
"It's not just for children: In a 2003 survey conducted at the University of Illinois, 70 percent of women and 56 percent of men had knowledge of the rule."
I'm shocked it's not 100%. There's also the interesting "Line of Sight Corollary to the Five Second Rule" which allows you to extend the Five Second Rule as long as you held the dropped object in your line of sight the entire time. "Who knows what could have happened while I wasn't looking?"
Additionally, things like M&Ms and Skittles candies have a hard-shell or 'armor' that allow for an more liberal interpretation of the Rule. Wet things, on the other hand, like cake or fruit, might only be allowed two seconds, or none at all.
Because I have a fairly international (non-US) bunch of readers here, I'd like to ask you:
Discuss.
It's alive and well in Canada, though I have no idea why the Quebecois who posted above wouldn't have heard of it, except for their usual isolationist tendencies. :)
I've never heared of this (Germany).And anyway, our dog is faster.
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