# Ask a stupid question **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 28, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950 "2023-01-28T17:35:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/1 "2023-01-28T17:35:18Z")
I was taking the grandkids home this morning after they spent the night with us. On the way, my 8 year old grandson says “I want a sno-cone!” I said, “A sno-cone? Where do you get a sno-cone?” His older sister, in a voice where you could practically hear her eyes rolling, says “The sno-cone place.” ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/2 "2023-01-28T17:39:43Z")
This reminds me of a conversation I had with our daughter Elizabeth when she was six years old. We went horseback riding while on vacation. It was her first time on a horse. We rode for an hour, following a guide. Afterwards I said to her, “Hey, you did good. You should think about taking some horse riding lessons.” She replied, “Why? I already know how to ride a horse.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/3 "2023-01-28T17:47:24Z")
If I eat myself, will I double in size or disappear completely? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/4 "2023-01-28T17:47:49Z")
When my youngest sister was about 5 or 6, she asked “How do you say ambulance?” Maybe she meant spell instead of say, but we still had a laugh. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/5 "2023-01-28T18:52:52Z")
I remember from kidhood a persistent common mispronunciation of “ambulance” as if it was spelled “ambliance”. So AM-blee-uhns or AM-blee-ans. Was she trying to sort out how she heard other kids saying it versus how she heard you saying it? But not getting quite the right words for the concept in her head? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/6 "2023-01-28T19:01:20Z")
Me and the Lil’wrekker saw a small person older man once and she ask “Why is that little boy so old?” The man got a kick out of it. I had to do some ‘splaining on that one, tho’. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/7 "2023-01-28T19:41:47Z")
I think I’ve posted this before. We were road-tripping on a vacation and the subject of porcupines somehow came up. My young nephew: Are there any porcupines in Michigan? Me: I think so. I know they like to live near mountains. Nephew: Are there any mountains in Michigan? Me: Yeah, there are mountains on the far west side of the Upper Peninsula. Nephew: What are they called? Me: (pause) The Porcupine Mountains. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/8 "2023-01-28T19:50:54Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > When my youngest sister was about 5 or 6, she asked “How do you say ambulance?” > > Maybe she meant spell instead of say, but we still had a laugh. I see the joke, but it’s not _really_ a stupid question. If you hear a new and unfamiliar word, it seems normal to me to try to reproduce the way you think you heard it, hopefully close enough to identify the word, while asking for confirmation of how to pronounce it. How else would you do it? An adult might say “am I pronouncing ‘ambulance’ correctly”, but that’s obviously what she meant. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/9 "2023-01-28T19:54:53Z")
That’s how I would have interpreted it. “You’re saying it right, honey” if she is, or “Almost. It’s [ambulance].” I’m fairly sure both my kids have done this from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/10 "2023-01-28T19:56:42Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Me: (pause) The Porcupine Mountains. Ok, but… > [@Omnibus Stupid MFers in the news thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread/931945/6012): > > There’s a section of the Grand Canyon where all of the side canyons were optimistically named by prospectors who presumably thought it might bring them luck. Agate, Sapphire, Turquoise, Ruby, Emerald, Serpentine. None of these things were ever found by the miners, so I always thought they should have continued the tradition of naming the side canyons after things that are not there. Plum, Giraffe, Obama, Cyclotron, Mozzarella. There’s a famous Elephant Canyon in Canyonlands NP, too. But I guess I’m less skeptical about Fish River. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/11 "2023-01-29T10:46:18Z")
I remember being 6 years old, my first visit to my grandparents house in Florida [just moved back from Germany] and we went through the airport and saw a cluster of little people - it was Christmas, and back in the 60s Sarasota was a really big Circus wintering place. I was thrilled, we had just seen Wizard of Oz =) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/12 "2023-01-29T15:11:13Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Afterwards I said to her, “Hey, you did good. You should think about taking some horse riding lessons.” She replied, “Why? I already know how to ride a horse.” Not really stupid-question related, but this reminds me of how I used to think typing classes were stupid (and maybe still do?). The keys are labeled! It’s pretty obvious that if you want a W, you press the key with a W on it. Who needs a class to learn that? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/13 "2023-01-29T15:56:55Z")
When I took typing classes way back in high school (when there were still typewriters!) the goal was so that you could type accurately _without_ looking at the keys. But yeah I see your point… ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/14 "2023-01-29T16:33:19Z")
Not a question, but when my son was 6 or so we were standing in the lobby of a building waiting for the elevator to arrive when a Muslim man wearing a white, flowing Thobe arrived to wait with us. > **[Men Thobes](https://www.arabicattire.com/collections/men-thobes)** > > Arabic Attire provides thobes and dishdashas for men available in a wide range and discounted prices. My son whispered to me, “I think he’s a ghost.” It still cracks me up when I think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/15 "2023-01-29T16:41:15Z")
Similar thing happened when we were visiting a zoo. One of my kids asked “Why is that boy smoking a cigar?” ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/16 "2023-01-29T23:42:52Z")
My brother was visiting us when my son was about 4 years old. Bro was smoking and my son said to him, "Uncle Gary, do you know that smoking is bad for you?’ Bro crumples his pack of cigarette and tosses it away. Son: “Wow, did you do that because I asked you?” Bro: “Nope. Out of cigarettes.”. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/17 "2023-01-30T00:00:06Z")
Linus Van Pelt: Lucy, why is the sky blue? Lucy: BECAUSE IT ISN’T GREEN! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/18 "2023-01-30T01:13:41Z")
My little sister, in preschool, told me that at the end of the day, all the kids had to sit on their coats on the floor. I asked why. She said, “Well, who _else_ is going to sit on them?” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/19 "2023-01-30T01:29:15Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > She said, “Well, who _else_ is going to sit on them?” It sounds like she’s a natural at Dad jokes. Why are your legs so long? If they were any shorter, they wouldn’t reach the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950/20 "2023-01-30T02:06:26Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Why are your legs so long? If they were any shorter, they wouldn’t reach the ground. Why don’t you see Elephants hiding in trees? Because they are so good at it. (Yes, it’s a non sequitur. Big woop, wanna fight about it?) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/30GD25un0XQ/hqdefault.jpg "Big Whoop, Wanna Fight About It?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30GD25un0XQ) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-stupid-question/978950.md?page=2)