Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

I found a handfull of AA cells not in their packaging nor in one of the places where I usually put effectively-dead ones, so I checked them with a meter. Given that I use AA cells mostly in camera flash units, and change them when the flash starts taking longer to cycle than is convenient (usually around 1.3 - 1.4 V (a bit of trivia: a "1.5 V" battery (can I really call it a "battery" when it's only one cell? -- okay, okay, nitpicky and obsolete...), when new, is usually 1.6 V, and a 12 V car battery in good condition and fully charged is more like 13 V)), and hang on to them to give to a friend who finds not-dead-but-not-new cells useful ...

Sorry, I'm feeling kind of scattered ... Anyhow, given the way I use AA cells, I was rather startled to find two that were reverse-polarized. One was -0.3 V and the other was -0.1 V. I'd heard of the phenomenon but have no idea how I managed it with the way I use batteries.