# 15 bags of sugar, my sweet ass! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472 "2003-12-07T01:54:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CaptBushido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CaptBushido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptBushido)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/21 "2003-12-07T05:02:03Z")
> [@](#): > > I was watching a show about the explosion of Krakatoa (I believe it was the History Channel, but I’m not certain), and they made up a new unit of weight: the cubic ton. Yes, that’s right: Krakatoa blew up X number of cubic tons of ash and rock. Me and my buddies have been measuring things in “metric assloads” for years… ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/22 "2003-12-07T05:10:40Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Mr. B_ > Not true, Miller. Henry has a restless night prior to the battle and has a flashback to his dismissal (exile-death-hanging) of Falstaff. Nope. Had to break out my Bartlett’s to make sure, otherwise this would’ve kept me up all night. The line is from _Henry IV, Part I_, Act II, scene iv, line 524. You’re thinking of Kenneth Brannagh’s adaption of _Henry V_, which included a few scenes from the two _Henry IV_ plays to establish the relationship between Hal and Pistol’s crowd for those in the audience who hadn’t seen the less well-known plays. To the best of my recollection, Falstaff doesn’t make an appearance in _Henry V_, despite the author’s promises to the contrary. He dies of an unnamed illness (probably too much drinking) off-stage in Act II without putting in a personal appearance. “Ah, poor heart! He is so shaked by a burning quotidian tertian that it is most lamentable to behold.” In fact, I seem to recall that the entire concept of a “flashback” is an invention of the cinema, although I could very well be mistaken on that score. Didn’t occur to anyone until the invention of the flatbed editing table. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/23 "2003-12-07T06:03:59Z")
Was just watching the same show. How fucking odd. What next, the Enola Gay dropped a single bomb that had the explosive power of 9.75 trillion snap-caps? Modern Marvels: The Golden Gate Bridge. Over 60,000 inch-worms long! Odd. Just fucking odd. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/24 "2003-12-07T06:10:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > \*\*Why not flour, or baking soda, or chocolate-chip cookies, or your mom? \*\* I would pay so much to see a History Channel documentary with the phrase “An armored knight trying to pull his foot out of this mud would have felt as though he had YOUR MOM attached to his ankle! Boo-yah!” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/25 "2003-12-07T06:16:12Z")
If you could release all the energy in 15 bags of sugar, it would allow you to make the Kessel run in 3 parsecs, even while carrying a cubic ton of handwavium. ---
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/26 "2003-12-07T06:23:15Z")
“An armored knight trying to pull his foot out of this mud would have felt as though he had a discarded ceiling fan attached to his ankle.” No, wait. That’s TLC. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/27 "2003-12-07T06:44:59Z")
“Waiter, I’ll have the Guillaume de Martel, Sire de Bacqueville in heavy syrup, please.” ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/28 "2003-12-07T06:49:04Z")
“Better bring a set of lobster crackers as well. Oh–and hold the ceiling fan. I’m on Atkins.” ---
**Author:** ![CadburyAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@CadburyAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CadburyAngel)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/29 "2003-12-07T07:57:29Z")
Reminds me of a Discovery channel thing I saw where they were describing everything in units of rhinos. In the Pacific Northwest, we’re not all tremendously familiar with how big a rhino is. Bigger than a horse (although maybe not as tall) and smaller than an elephant is about the best I can give you. Funnily enough, anybody familiar with rhinos would probably be mad at the program, too: “White rhino or pygmy black rhino? Female? Male? How old? NOT ALL RHINOS ARE OF EQUIVALENT SIZE!” Perhaps they are appealing to a Platonic ideal of rhino. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/30 "2003-12-07T11:31:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. B \* > \*\* > > Falstaff was fond of the sack (food) and especially fond of sugar (booze). \*\* Nope. Sack is cheap wine with a bunch of sugar in it. I refer you to Falstaff’s tavern bill- one capon with sauce and a lot of wine. Hal “One capon to this intolerable deal of sack!” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/31 "2003-12-07T11:38:16Z")
**CadburyAngel** : What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen rhino? Which kind? You expect me to know which kind? Well, I don’t. What do you think about _AAARGH_… ! ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/32 "2003-12-07T12:20:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gadfly \* > \*\*10 statues of Hitler… Made of sugar. \*\* Whoever compares the other person to a statue of Hitler made of sugar loses the argument! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![E.T.Bass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@E.T.Bass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.T.Bass)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/33 "2003-12-07T12:38:02Z")
My father gets annoyed at two sayings, First, “It’s as large as (1,2 etc.) football fields.” How long is a football field anyway? From goalline to goalline, it is 100 yards or 300 hundred feet, how deep is the endzone? I believe that they are 10 feet deep, so a football field should be 320 feet across (unless you are referring to a CANADIAN football field, which is 20 feet longer.) My father does not watch football, so he does not have a clue. Second-Somebody asks someone how far it is to say, Chicago to St. Louis is, and the person answers, “About 4-5 hours away.” How are we travelling, by foot? Car? Rocket ship? I understand it to be a car fro domestic travel and a jet for international, but who really knows? Bass ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/34 "2003-12-07T14:39:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DocCathode \* > \*\*Nope. Sack is cheap wine with a bunch of sugar in it. I refer you to Falstaff’s tavern bill- one capon with sauce and a lot of wine. > > Hal “One capon to this intolerable deal of sack!” \*\* No, it’s “one half-penny of bread to this intolerable deal of sack”. Hal’s read the tavern bill, and he discovers that they spent a couple of pounds on sack, but only a half-penny on bread. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/35 "2003-12-07T14:47:35Z")
This is just the logical extension of foodstuffs as units of weights and measures. Just look at the medical profession. How many times have you heard, “he has an orange-sized tumor in his lungs” or “she has a grapefruit sized cyst on her uterus.” This is, of course, why I don’t eat citrus foods. Tumor avoidance, pure and simple. Pass the sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/36 "2003-12-07T15:01:50Z")
It’s 30kg. Don’t ask me how I know. I’m guessing it’s one of those odd phrases that are used not because it is useful or accurate, but because it’s been repeated without question from an earlier source. Happens in history texts all the time, so why not the ultimate in McHistory? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/37 "2003-12-07T15:22:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Governor Quinn \* > \*\*No, it’s “one half-penny of bread to this intolerable deal of sack”. Hal’s read the tavern bill, and he discovers that they spent a couple of pounds on sack, but only a half-penny on bread. \*\* Considering that I read the play about 8 years ago, I’m proud that I got the rest of the quote right. In any event, from [this here site](http://eat.epicurious.com/dictionary/wine/index.ssf?DEF_ID=2630&ISWINE=T) we learn > [@](#): > > sack > The name used in the sixteenth century during the reign of Elizabeth I for sherry or other fortified wines from málaga or the Canary Islands. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/38 "2003-12-07T18:34:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\ ***CadburyAngel** : What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen rhino? > \*\* Wait! I actually know that! Barring the use of a handy trebuchet, it’s right around zero. OTOH, using a trebuchet to fling a rhino would be wicked awesome. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/39 "2003-12-07T19:05:10Z")
**Doc** , **Gov** , thanks! My University-gained view of Falstaff is officially sacked. “Obscure” was definitely correct, **Miller**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Short](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Short](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472/40 "2003-12-07T21:43:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by **Jack Batty** \* > How many times have you heard, “he has an orange-sized tumor in his lungs” or “she has a grapefruit sized cyst on her uterus.” > > This is, of course, why I don’t eat citrus foods. Tumor avoidance, pure and simple. You should watch out for all natural foods. Do you have any idea how many deaths each year are attributed to natural causes? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/15-bags-of-sugar-my-sweet-ass/217472.md?page=3)