# Aren't you shocked by what some people DON'T know? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2000, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431 "2000-11-30T20:34:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![super\_head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@super\_head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/super_head)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/301 "2000-12-11T05:03:57Z")
Oh, and that wasn’t spamming - sorry - please don’t go if you don’t want to - didn’t realize it would automatically parse the URLs. Although if you do go there, and win, you damn well better give me a cut. 🙂 P.S. That last post should have read “by not going.” ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/302 "2000-12-11T05:29:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Peculiar Pixie \* > \*\*My grade twelve history teacher told me that a lot of people of the Jewish faith fall into an ethnic category called Semitic peoples or Semites, a category that includes arabs. > > If anyone knows more about this than I do, please correct me. \*\* Your teacher is correct. Picture the Middle East, with southwestern Asia to the east and northern Africa to the west. There are many cultures, languages and religions in this area, many of which are related in their origins, despite their eventual growing to be very different from each other. Some very old Semetic cultures include Phonecians, Arabs and Hebrews, and some current Semetic religions include Judaism and Islam. (Ever wonder why the Old Testament of the Bible is used in Judaism, Islam and Christianity? It is because these religions all have the same Semetic roots.) Many of these cultures even have languages that share the same roots, and are known as Semetic languages. Confusion arises because of the term anti-Semite, which is used to indicate hostility or prejudice toward Jewish people specifically, and is not used to indicate hostility or prejudice to other Semetic peoples, such as Arabs. It leaves a lot of people thinking that only Jewish people are Semetic, but this is incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![What\_fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f475e1/32.png) [@What\_fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_fire)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/303 "2000-12-11T07:19:34Z")
I’m amazed so many people think everyone can ride a bicycle, drive a car, use a skateboard, ski, swim, etc. These are all learned skills, and in any group at a cocktail party someone will be deficient in each of those categories and more. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@MonkeyMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/304 "2000-12-11T22:46:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Ever wonder why the Old Testament of the Bible is used in Judaism, Islam and Christianity? Not to nitpick, but the OT is not used in Islam. The Qur’an has a great many OT stories and people, and they’re similar enough that they can easily be called the part of the same (Abrahamic?) tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/305 "2000-12-12T03:10:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zero Hero \* > When I was in Colorado, some girl asked where I was from and when I told her Florida, she looked at me funny and said something along the lines of “You mean people live there? I thought it was just a vacation place.” I heard a similar gaffe about the District of Columbia, I heard some saying that the reason DC had no Senators or fully-voting Representatives was because nobody lived there except members of Congress, who voted in their home districts. I wonder who he thought drove all taxis (and filled all the schools, and staffed all the museums, and …). ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/306 "2000-12-12T04:16:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMan \* > \*\*Not to nitpick, but the OT is not used in Islam. The Qur’an has a great many OT stories and people, and they’re similar enough that they can easily be called the part of the same (Abrahamic?) tradition. \*\* Quite right. I failed to be precise. Thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/307 "2000-12-12T16:07:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > \*\*When I go to Florida visiting my dad one year, I am always astounded at what people think of Arizona. People think of it as the wild west, with cowboys running around in dusty chaps and 10 gallon hats, shootouts, Indians running around living in teepees… I swear! There are people who really still think it is like that! Also, I remember once talking about saguaro cactus with someone and they knew what they were… the tall thin cactus with arms. However, they thought they grew to, at most, maybe 6 feet tall. When I said they could get up to 60 or 80 feet high and have dozens of arms, they didn’t believe me. I had to get my mom to send a picture of my dad standing next to a really tall one. He is just a little speck at the bottom. > > Lots of people don’t believe that birds live in cactus. People think gila monsters are make-believe. People think all kinds of weird things. \*\* Well, sure - it looks just like all the Roadrunner cartoons, right? My brother lives in Mesa. He sent me a photo of his new house when they settled in…and gosh! They have green lawns and sidewalks and stuff, just like here!! ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/308 "2000-12-12T17:49:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Danimal \* > OTOH, I would expect at least eight out of ten to know the difference between Sweden and Switzerland. \*\* Don’t bank on it! ---
**Author:** ![klepto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@klepto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klepto)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/309 "2000-12-12T18:36:05Z")
I had a science teacher who insisted that there are NOT four hemispheres (North, South, East, West). She said that there could not be because there could only be two at once, since “hemi” means “two”. I tried to explain that there is a reason why Asia, etc. is called the East and America, etc. is the West. She said that since there is already a North and South hemisphere, there CANNOT be an East and West hemisphere. This woman is now the principal of the school I attended. Oh god. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Teeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Dr.Teeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Teeth)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/310 "2000-12-12T19:35:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sheerah \* > They had never heard of Harry S Truman, nor for that matter, any president after Lincoln and before Reagan. How frightening!!! \*\* You think THAT’S bad–right down the street from my house is “Harry S. Truman Elementary School.” Now, I wouldn’t expect your average Joe Doofus to know that the S is not abbreviated in the ex-President’s name, but–silly me–I DO expect a school board to know it. At least one person on that board should have caught the mistake. Sure, my kids will be in great hands when they start school. Scary. Also, I had the following conversation with my roommate when I told her I was going to go live in Japan for a while: Her: Oh, that means that, like, when it’s winter here it’s summer over there? Cool. Me: No, because Japan and the US are both in the same hemisphere. Her: Nu-uh! Japan is, like, WAY on the other side of the earth! ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/311 "2000-12-12T19:39:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > So anyway, I guess “grunion runs” are not well known world wide, I had never heard of the grunion running until I moved to San Diego (from MI) at the age of 18. My first husband and I once got into a fierce arguement because he insisted that Georgia was landlocked. Despite my insistance that I had actually visited a beach in GA, he refused to believe it until he saw a map. ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/312 "2000-12-12T19:45:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Floater \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Danimal \* > > OTOH, I would expect at least eight out of ten to know the difference between Sweden and Switzerland. \*\* > > Don’t bank on it! \*\* Well, I wouldn’t bank on 8 out of 10 being able to locate the two countries on a map, but I do think they would grasp the fact that they ARE two different countries. (As Cecil says, I have to believe there’s some hope). ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/313 "2000-12-12T19:52:43Z")
> [@](#): > > **You think THAT’S bad–right down the street from my house is “Harry S. Truman Elementary School.” Now, I wouldn’t expect your average Joe Doofus to know that the S is not abbreviated in the ex-President’s name, but–silly me–I DO expect a school board to know it. At least one person on that board should have caught the mistake.** Actually, Truman used the period. It was in a biography of him by – I’m drawing a blank on the author and don’t have time to dig it up, but I do recall clarifying this point elsewhere. His daughter Margaret confirms it. [Here’s](http://www.trumanlibrary.org/speriod.htm) further confirmation from the Truman Library Web site. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Teeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Dr.Teeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Teeth)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/314 "2000-12-12T20:46:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* > Actually, Truman used the period. It was in a biography of him by – I’m drawing a blank on the author and don’t have time to dig it up, but I do recall clarifying this point elsewhere. His daughter Margaret confirms it. [Here’s](http://www.trumanlibrary.org/speriod.htm) further confirmation from the Truman Library Web site. \*\* D’OH! NOW who’s the doofus? That’s right–my high school AP history teacher is. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/315 "2000-12-12T21:01:24Z")
Two friends were helping me move once. I was 18, they were in their early 20s. During the drives, we were playing some sort of trivia game to pass the time. They didn’t believe me that Egypt was in Africa. They thought I made up Sri Lanka. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/316 "2000-12-12T21:33:13Z")
[pedantry] NASA is an acronym. FBI is not an acronym. NATO is an acronym. CIA is not an acronym. An acronym is a word formed from the initial letter(s) of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term. FBI and CIA are abbreviations, while snafu, scuba, and radar are acronyms. (radar is derived from _ra_dio _d_etecting _a_nd _r_anging) [/pedantry] I don’t know how to change a tire. I’m relatively clueless about cars- if something went wrong, I’d get off to the side of the road and call AAA, then be appropriately embarrassed. (Oddly enough, when I see ‘AAA’, I think ‘anti-aircraft artillery’ and not ‘Automobile Association of America’.) ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/317 "2000-12-12T22:15:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by What fire ? \* > \*\*. . . in any group at a cocktail party someone will be deficient in each of those categories and more. \*\* You said a mouthful, bub! ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/318 "2000-12-12T22:25:15Z")
Hmmmmmm… I knew a girl who was expaining a nightmare she’d had the night before about some war. She said, “I’m pretty sure it was World War Four…” Think about that for a moment. Also, a local company has a big sundial in front of their headquarters, which can be seen from the highway. My girlfriend’s mother passed by it everyday on her way to work, and she told us one day, in all seriousness, that it was broken. “It’s been stuck in the same position for weeks.” ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Mr.B\_to\_you](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@It\_s\_Mr.B\_to\_you](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Mr.B_to_you)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/319 "2000-12-12T22:34:03Z")
I can never understand people on the El who don’t know there are schedules and signs to show what train is next. They block the door and refuse to move when it’s not their train, so they can be first in the next line. ---
**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431/320 "2000-12-12T22:42:35Z")
A few years back I had mentioned to a woman that it was Beethoven’s birthday. “Oh really? He’s old now, isn’t he – about 70 or 80, right?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-you-shocked-by-what-some-people-dont-know/43431.md?page=17)