# 3rd grade science--how did I miss this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 28, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460 "2006-02-28T15:15:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/1 "2006-02-28T15:15:23Z")
My very serious 9 year old is studying the planets in school these days. Still hungry for details after the school lesson left her cold, she hied herself to the libarry and checked out half a dozen boks on the planets (very nice series but very different information than what I was given in 3rd grade. Hmmm…). So, there she is in the living room just reading away in The Very Serious Book Of Planetary Science and: **Very Serious 9 Year Old** : “_snerk_” **Me** : “What?” **VS9YO** : “How do you say U-R-A-N-U-S?” **Me** : (oh boy, here we go…do we say it like the Brits and make it a pee planet or do we say it like Americans and makeit a butthole? I default to the Yankee pronunciation–we won that war after all), “Uranus. Ha ha, that’s funny isn’t it?” **VS9YO** : “heeee…that’s funny.” _later_ “_snort!_” **Me** : “What?” (even though I know what’s coming) **VS9YO** : “Daddy, are there rings around Uranus?” “_titter_” **Me** : Har har…that’s an old one, kiddo. _later_ **VS9YO** : “\* HAW-HAW-HAW-HAW-HAW \*” **Me** : 😕 (what could possibly be left?) “Eh?” **VS9YO** : “It says here ‘Uranus is a \*gas giant’ \* !!!” We’ve been having a ball with that one for a few days now. Apparently in class yesterday when the teacher asked for some characteristics of Uranus she raised her hand and belted out, “Uranus is a gas giant.” Her teacher, the assistant principal, was amused…luckily. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/2 "2006-02-28T15:20:02Z")
I can’t wait for the 27nd century when they [rename it](http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/ListsReferences/timeline2.dhtml) to “Urectum” … ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/3 "2006-02-28T15:28:46Z")
As I’ve noted in the past, Uranus was almost named “George”. William Herschel, the first person to discover a new planet since ancient times, decided to brown-nose and offered to name it “Siderium Georgius” after the King of England. After I posted that on the SDMB someone chimed in that the name actually stuck for a few years. (although some insisted on calling it “Herschel” – Humble yourself , and you will be exalted), until cooler heads prevailed and the planet was given the name of a Classical Graeco-Roman deity, like the others. I’ll take “Uranus”, any way you choose to pronounce it, over “George” any day. ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/4 "2006-02-28T15:36:48Z")
My favorite: You need a telescope to see Neptune, but only a mirror to see Uranus. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/5 "2006-02-28T15:50:49Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > . . . **VS9YO** : “How do you say U-R-A-N-U-S?” > **Me** : (oh boy, here we go…do we say it like the Brits and make it a pee planet or do we say it like Americans and makeit a butthole? I default to the Yankee pronunciation–we won that war after all). . . . Slight hijack: you can always go with Classical Latin: OO-rah-nus (or better yet Greek, oo-rah-nós). This pronunciation comes with two (2) Pretention Points.™ ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/6 "2006-02-28T16:08:26Z")
We had [this](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,179538,00.html) headline back in December. You know someone at FoxNews was snickering when they wrote it. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/7 "2006-02-28T16:10:14Z")
> [@Dr. Drake](#): > > Slight hijack: you can always go with Classical Latin: OO-rah-nus (or better yet Greek, oo-rah-nós). This pronunciation comes with two (2) Pretention Points.™ And a nitpick - we Brits tend to say Yoor-anus - I always thought it was you Yanks that went for the Urine-us pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/8 "2006-02-28T16:31:40Z")
Why is the starship Enterprise like toilet paper? They both circle Uranus and wipe out Klingons. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/9 "2006-02-28T17:34:39Z")
well, that particular George was indeed a gas giant. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/10 "2006-02-28T17:47:54Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > well, that particular George was indeed a gas giant. I thought that was George IV, also known as [Prince of Whales](http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/c-eight/people/regent.htm). Uranus was discovered during George III’s reign, and [named Georgium Sidus in his honor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus_(planet)#Discovery_and_naming). ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/11 "2006-02-28T17:54:13Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > I thought that was George IV, also known as [Prince of Whales](http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/c-eight/people/regent.htm). Uranus was discovered during George III’s reign, and [named Georgium Sidus in his honor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus_(planet)#Discovery_and_naming). I believe you mean the Prince of **Wales**. The Prince of Whales is the guy responsible for artificially inseminating orca’s at Sea World. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/12 "2006-02-28T18:20:52Z")
Prince of Whales was the nickname of George IV ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/13 "2006-02-28T19:02:28Z")
I always get my Georges mixed up. They’re all fat, German and stupid. That could equate to gas giant, no? I made a (weak) joke yesterday: her: I am so mad at this one Doper in that Uranus thread! me: Jupiter? (Ju/ pit/'er?) I told you it was weak. ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/14 "2006-02-28T19:23:19Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > her: I am so mad at this one Doper in that Uranus thread! > > me: Jupiter? (Ju/ pit/'er?) Now _THAAAAAAT’s_ my kinda joke: so bad it’s painful! 😃 It did make me laugh, tho! ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/15 "2006-02-28T19:25:46Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > her: I am so mad at this one Doper in that Uranus thread! > > me: Jupiter? (Ju/ pit/'er?) … but Ceres-ly, I Oort-a comet muder for you Charon on like that! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/16 "2006-02-28T19:30:59Z")
> [@Madd Maxx](#): > > I believe you mean the Prince of **Wales**. Nope, it was a reference to a poem by Charles Lamb, which lampooned George IV for being fat: The Prince of Whales Not a fatter fish than he Flounders round the polar sea. See his blubbers - at his gills What a world of drink he swills … Every fish of generous kind Scuds aside or shrinks behind; But about his presence keep All the monsters of the deep… Name or title what has he? … Is he Regent of the sea? By his bulk and by his size, By his oily qualities, This (or else my eyesight fails), This should be the Prince of Whales. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/17 "2006-02-28T19:41:38Z")
Wow, according to **Anne Neville** ’s wiki link, Uranus is not only a gas giant with rings but it also has an axial (_snerk_) tilt of 98°! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/18 "2006-02-28T19:44:59Z")
> [@Encinitas](#): > > Wow, according to **Anne Neville** ’s wiki link, Uranus is not only a gas giant with rings but it also has an axial (_snerk_) tilt of 98°! Yup, Uranus is a bass-ackward place 😃 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/19 "2006-02-28T20:06:02Z")
> [@JustAnotherGeek](#): > > … but Ceres-ly, I Oort-a comet muder for you Charon on like that! heh. Jupiter uranus? Nope, just mooned her. I got a million of 'em. You are getting the best ones. :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460/20 "2006-02-28T20:34:20Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Prince of Whales was the nickname of George IV This discussion reminds me of when I was in ninth grade and took a class titled “History of the Earth”. The teacher was talking about the Cambrian Period and explained that _Cambria_ was an old word for Wales. However, many students heard “whales”, and thus assumed that the arrival of cetaceans was an event significant enough to be commemorated in the nomenclature of the geological record. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3rd-grade-science-how-did-i-miss-this/346460.md?page=2)