Party lines: Big ideas for small talk

22 August 2016 - 10:36 By Matthew Santoro

Life can be awkward especially when, during a conversation, you run into that cringeworthy brick wall of silence that accompanies running out of things to say.Never fear as YouTube star Matthew Santoro has made a career out of arming people with quirky facts they can use to segue out of any unwelcome muteness.His eponymous YouTube channel has 5million subscribers. Here are a couple of his favourites:CRAZY LAWSThere are lots of crazy laws in the world. Some include: it is illegal to wear a bulletproof vest while committing a crime in the state of New Jersey; kissing in public is illegal in Dubai; you can legally marry a dead person in France as long as you were engaged to them before they died.CHEQUE IT OUTFamous celebrities often use ink as currency. Marlon Brando didn't like to sign autographs, which is why his personal cheques are worth far more than the amounts of money for which they were written.The artist Salvador Dali used to draw on his cheques as a way of getting out of paying for dinner. He knew his artsy doodles would be more valuable than the cost of his meal and the cheques would never be cashed.COINCIDENCE?Around 1760, when King Louis XVI was a child, he was warned by an astrologist to be on guard on the 21st day of each month.What followed was bizarre. On June 21, 1791, he and his queen were both arrested following the French Revolution. On September 21, 1791, France abolished the institution of royalty and proclaimed itself a Republic. Finally, on January 21, 1793, Louis XVI was beheaded.LONG QUEUESIf the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.MEAT AND VEGJapanese scientists found a way to genetically modify pigs by injecting them with a "spinach gene" that converts saturated fat into unsaturated fat, essentially transforming the pig into both meat and vegetable - a Popeye Pig. However, critics argued that this hybrid is unnecessary, as you could simply eat your vegetables on the side. To those critics I would counter that bacon and bacon is tastier than bacon and veggies.If those cannot help you break through a wall of silence, nothing will. - ©The Telegraph..

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