Stapler
A stapler always knows how many staples are left, and keeps it to itself until the answer is none.
Doorstop
A doorstop is a wedge whose entire career consists of a door trying to leave and being told no.
Doorbell
A doorbell lets people outside tell people inside that they are outside. This is then confirmed by asking.
Spatula
A spatula finds which side of a pancake is up by flipping it and seeing which side is now down.
Coat hanger
A coat hanger is a hook with shoulders that spends its life holding coats it will never get to wear.
Paperclip
Only 0.4% of paperclips are ever used to clip paper; the rest are unbent during phone calls or lost.
Fax machine
The fax machine was patented in 1843, more than thirty years before the telephone.
Playing card
A well-shuffled deck of cards is almost certainly in an order that has never existed before.
Piano
The piano’s full name, pianoforte, means ‘soft-loud’, which was the whole point of it.
Dice
On a standard die, the numbers on opposite faces always add up to seven.