# Attention numbskulls! Get edumakated right here, y'all.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [December 11, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415 "2003-12-11T19:37:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 9
### Author:  [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/161 "2003-12-15T13:26:29Z")
Another nitpick for **Mayflower** :
You say that it’s not relator, it’s realtor. However, it should be “real estage agent.”
REALTOR is actually a trademarked name for a particular association of real estate agents. The word REALTOR is properly spelled in all caps with a (r) rights reserved thing by it. The realtor R is also properly depicted with a rights-reserved (r) thingy. Check [REALTOR.com](http://REALTOR.com). (I was an engraver and I had to engrave those stupid things on REALTOR plaques.)
Sorta like Xerox and Kleenex. You get the idea. 🙂
FISH
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### Author:  [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/162 "2003-12-15T15:00:29Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Every manga and anime company in the country makes a number of minor alterations to account for cultural and linguistic differences. There’s nothing at all unusal about Tokyopop’s handling of Initial D.
Well, nonetheless, I hope you’ll understand if I’m a little pissed that they initially decided that English-speaking North Americans could handle the repeated destruction of Tokyo, the bloody maiming of a teenage boy crushed in a robot’s hand, the decapitation of another, one biomechanical robot eating another, streams of bloody battles, and the eventual apocalypse, but one boy being in love with another was too disturbing to make the cut.
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### Author:  [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/163 "2003-12-15T15:05:30Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Fish \*
> \*\*Another nitpick for **Mayflower** :
>
> You say that it’s not relator, it’s realtor. However, it should be “real estage agent.”
>
> REALTOR is actually a trademarked name for a particular association of real estate agents. The word REALTOR is properly spelled in all caps with a (r) rights reserved thing by it. The realtor R is also properly depicted with a rights-reserved (r) thingy. Check [REALTOR.com](http://REALTOR.com). (I was an engraver and I had to engrave those stupid things on REALTOR plaques.)
>
> Sorta like Xerox and Kleenex. You get the idea. 🙂
>
> FISH \*\*
OK, OK, so I learned something new–but it’s _ **still** _ reALtor and not reLAtor! 🙂
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### Author:  [@CarlaH1210](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarlaH1210)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/164 "2003-12-15T15:28:26Z")
It is spelled probably, not prolly. I don’t know who invented that “shortcut” but it’s not worth saving two letters to make yourself look like a freaking idiot.
The funny thing about this thread is that the people who need the “edumakation” about grammar and spelling errors are probably at Yahoo playing games or in a chat room somewhere.
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### Author:  [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/165 "2003-12-15T15:35:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by CarlaH1210 \*
> \*\*It is spelled probably, not prolly. I don’t know who invented that “shortcut” but it’s not worth saving two letters to make yourself look like a freaking idiot.
>
> The funny thing about this thread is that the people who need the “edumakation” about grammar and spelling errors are probably at Yahoo playing games or in a chat room somewhere. \*\*
Not true, I am here and I know my grammar and spelling needs some work. Everybody needs some work. I have learned quite a bit from this thread alone. (ya just have to admit you are wrong when evidence is overwhelming)
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### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/166 "2003-12-15T16:04:59Z")
> [@](#):
>
> **r\_k** : I had intended it for great and undeniable truths.
I found it informative and interesting. However, beginning your list of undeniable truths with an absolute about the Kennedy assassination did not set a good pace. I’ve watched the latest _certainty_ swing back and forth for forty years. We will probably never know to a point of established fact.
> [@](#):
>
> Alot is not a word, any more than abunch would be. A lot–TWO words!
Actually, it _is_ a word meaning _to assign a portion_ – as in: _I will alot this amount of money to you for vacation expenses._
Despite the captioning on DVD’s and televisions shows, _all right_ is correct – not _alright_.
The topic doesn’t _center around_ something. It _centers on_ something.
> [@](#):
>
> The apostrophe after the terminal S is used only for plural possessives; singular nouns ending in S take an apostrophe S. Strunk and White said it, I believe it, that settles it.
There are a few proper nouns that are exceptions and I don’t know why: _Jesus, Brutus, Cassius_ – to name a few.
Traditionally, _Hi Opal_ is reserved for the third spot on a list.
A _feminist_ can be male or female and believes in the social, economic, and political equality of the sexes. (_Webster’s_
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/167 "2003-12-15T16:07:51Z")
> [@](#):
>
> to assign a portion – as in: I will alot this amount of money to you for vacation expenses.
Different word–that’s _allot_.
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### Author:  [@haardvark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haardvark)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/168 "2003-12-15T18:04:48Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by vunderbob \*
> \*\*99 US restaurants out of 100 blow it whenever the menu lists a French Dip sandwich. FDSs come _au jus_, not "with _au jus"_. **Au** is the French form of with. \*\*
I was travelling through Michigan once and stopped at a _Schuler’s_ off the interstate to eat. The special of the day? French dip. My waitress described it to a gentleman at the next table thusly: “Well, hon, it’s a roast beef sandwich, okay? And what you do is, you dip it in the **oh joo juice** …”
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### Author:  [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/169 "2003-12-15T18:33:02Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Spiff \*
>
> You just like to be “offended” so you can spout off about your new age sewage. \*\*
And, also a fact, “new age” rhymes with “sewage”
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### Author:  [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/170 "2003-12-15T20:57:11Z")
In light of this weekend’s events, the following must be reiterated:
- Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
- Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were fierce enemies.
- The capture of Saddam won’t affect the terrorist threat from _al Qaeda_ one iota.
- Iraq was never a threat to the United States.
- Terrorists don’t hate the United States because they’re jealous of our freedoms.
(Just for fun, go read a transcript of Bush’s morning press conference and see how many of these items can be applied to Bush’s answers.)
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### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/171 "2003-12-16T05:06:09Z")
> [@](#):
>
> ## quote originally by Zoe:
>
> ## _alot_ – to assign a portion – as in: I will alot this amount of money to you for vacation expenses.
>
> **Dung Beetle** : Different word–that’s allot.
Former English teacher, now corrected by a dung beetle, blushes furiously and slinks away…
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### Author:  [@alibey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alibey)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/172 "2003-12-16T05:58:15Z")
• Just because someone belongs to a certain group (race, religion, nationality, etc) does not make them automatically innocent.
• Just because someone belongs to a certain group (race, religion, nationality, etc) does not make them automatically guilty.
• Just because I say Hi Opal, doesn’t mean that I know why
• Just because someone does not belongs to a certain group (race, religion, nationality, etc) does not make them automatically innocent.
• Just because someone does not belongs to a certain group (race, religion, nationality, etc) does not make them automatically guilty.
• If you start fighting with the police, don’t be surprised when they fight back.
• If you don’t like the way that your group is portrayed in the movies, don’t blame Hollywood. Blame the members of your group who act the same way as the movies in real life.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2003, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/173 "2003-12-16T08:33:30Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by r\_k \*
> \*\*And the ubiquitous Bill Gates-bashing. \*\*
I resemble that remark. 😃
But seriously, I only bashed his business practices. I don’t know anyone who’s going to stand up and say he’s a choir boy in the business world, or anyone who will openly admire someone who would show that lack of morals in the pursuit of profit. I didn’t even compare him with the Hearsts or the Rothschilds or the other Robber Barons, as there is no comparison: They were much, much worse.
I did, however, shred his company’s software mercilessly.
Maybe this is beyond the realm of the Pit, but attacking someone’s company’s product is a far cry from calling that person a moronic droolbucket who couldn’t find his ass with both hands and a map. I don’t know Bill Gates personally, but I do have a better-than-average knowledge of his company’s product, and it is the shoddiness of the product I am angry with.
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### Author:  [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/174 "2003-12-16T12:51:57Z")
I heard this one yesterday and it always grates on my nerves.
The state in which you would find Chicago is pronounced “Illa-noy,” **not** “Illa-noise.”
The ‘s’ is silent. Really, it is.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/175 "2003-12-16T13:06:36Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Former English teacher, now corrected by a dung beetle, blushes furiously and slinks away…
Sorry, **Zoe**! But I have to at least pretend to be smart or y’all won’t let me stay here…😃
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### Author:  [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/176 "2003-12-16T22:06:17Z")
There’s no such word as ‘boi’, despite whatever Anvil Langlais claims.
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### Author:  [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/177 "2003-12-16T22:16:50Z")
1. Danish isn’t something you can eat or buy in a bakery (…and if you don’t believe that, eat me!)
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### Author:  [@Age\_Quod\_Agis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Age_Quod_Agis)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/178 "2003-12-17T00:58:15Z")
A couple more facts:
- Both **mademoiselle** and **rjung** have posted their opinions as facts. To demonstrate the difference between an opinion and a fact, I’ve bolded the parts of the following post that are opinion:
> [@](#):
>
> _DKW:_
> It’s possible to be thrilled at the capture of Saddam Hussein and still not like the idea of spending billions of dollars and hundreds of lives on a **directionless melee** that has **yet to produce tangible benefits for America** and **has no end in sight**.
- When Robert Frost wrote that he took the road “less traveled by,/And that has made all the difference,” he was not saying that things have turned out better, and he was certainly not endorsing the road that he’d taken.
> [@](#):
>
> _Mayflower:_
>
> 1. There is no such frozen dessert as sherbert. It is sherBET, B-E-T.
- From the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.):
> [@](#):
>
> **sherbet** (shûrbt)
> n.
>
> 1. also **sher·bert** (-bûrt) A frozen dessert made primarily of fruit juice, sugar, and water, and also containing milk, egg white, or gelatin.
- _It’s_ is a contraction of _it is.__Its_ is the possessive form of _it._
> [@](#):
>
> _Dewey Cheatam Undhow:_
> 42. Anyone who quotes Shakespeare’s “kill all the lawyers” line as a means of denigrating the legal profession is only demonstrating his own ignorance of Shakespeare. Goddammit, read Henry VI, Part 2 before you quote it: the Bard was praising the legal profession, not criticizing it. (Explanation).
- Not necessarily. [Here is a rebuttal](http://www.spectacle.org/797/finkel.html).
> [@](#):
>
> _mademoiselle:_
>
> 1. Nit picking is annoying, and does not take from the content of my first post.
- It’s “nitpicking,” not “nit picking.” 😃
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### Author:  [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/179 "2003-12-17T01:02:07Z")
If you can’t stand the occasional lame post, don’t go to a message board.
If you can’t take as well as you give, don’t go to a message board.
If you don’t like wading through lots of posts for the one gem that’s actually worth your time, don’t go to a message board.
If you can’t stand wildly varying opinions, don’t go to a message board.
If you can’t stand back-and-forth arguments that go nowhere, don’t go to a messag board.
And for the love of the immortal superbing of your choice, if you think that subjects like **certain words not actually being acronyms** counts as a freakin’ incredibly deep subject, you have issues.
(If you can’t stand the occasional pointless, irascible, purely-out-of-spite knee-jerk blowback response in the Pit…well, you get the idea. 🙂 )
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### Author:  [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-numbskulls-get-edumakated-right-here-yall/218415/180 "2003-12-17T01:09:08Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by WinstonSmith \*
> \*\*42. Danish isn’t something you can eat or buy in a bakery (…and if you don’t believe that, eat me!) \*\*
Not without being arrested, I suppose!
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