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Every summer, people gather in the English county of Dorset to choke down these spiky, acid-filled plants in order to earn the coveted prize of ... 100 pounds and a small trophy? Seriously? Not even a lifetime supply of nettles?

The sport was created in 1986, when two farmers drinking in a pub started arguing about who had the worst infestation of nettles (the same way that every other sport worth a damn was created). At some point, they made a bet that they would eat any of each other's nettles that were longer than their own. Naturally, when word of this got out, the entire town wanted to get in on the action, and do so every single year.

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Just to be clear, stinging nettles are covered in microscopic hypodermic needles filled with boric acid. If those needles break, like when the stalk has been grabbed (or when it's been shoved into some dumbass's mouth), the acid burns your skin. Also, they taste like rancid spinach, bitter lettuce or garbage juice, depending on who you ask, but it's mainly the "there's acid burning your mouth from the inside" part that concerns us.

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"Aww, is the acid hurting your stupid baby mouth?"

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Contestants are given a pile of 2-foot-long nettle stalks and have to eat as many as they can in one hour without puking, spitting or excessive drooling. That last rule isn't for etiquette's sake, either -- your jaw tends to go numb in the process, and slobbering out too much nettle juice is considered cheating.