# Best News Typo of the Day **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 21, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404 "2004-10-21T14:01:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/61 "2004-10-25T16:03:42Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > At least she didn’t say I was crazy… You’re absolutely bonkers. (What? I didn’t say you were crazy!) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/62 "2004-10-25T21:40:41Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > **Polycarp** , you loon, if I had a hat it would be off to you. > > Cheers, mate! [pictures in mind’s eye…] **GILLIGAN!** [/pime…] ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/63 "2004-10-26T02:46:28Z")
:mad: MY NAME IS NOT GILLIGAN, IT IS GILLIAN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH BYE. :mad: _pant, pant_ Sorry 'bout that. ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/64 "2004-10-26T03:10:39Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Very conservative atoms tend to cast away electrons at all possible opportunities – holding Right to Work values, they’re afraid of being unionized. ROTFLMAO! Best SDMB comment I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/65 "2004-10-26T03:58:43Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > What is the matter with you guys? Sol isn’t a white dwarf-he’s a nice Jewish guy who runs the deli over on 14th. Is that Sol & Sol’s Deli? They make the best whitefish there. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/66 "2004-10-26T21:02:30Z")
> [@Angua](#): > > Our sun isn’t a white dwarf! Its a main sequence star. It may _become_ a white dwarf one day, far in the future, but it isn’t a white dwarf at the moment. What makes you assume that the story in the OP was referring to the sun at the center of \*\*our \*\* solar system? You know what they say about people who assume … ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/67 "2004-10-26T21:14:37Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > I’d rather get shot by a pen missile than with a penile miss. No, no. Would you rather be shot with a pen missile or with a penile, Miss? ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/68 "2004-10-26T21:22:24Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > What makes you assume that the story in the OP was referring to the sun at the center of \*\*our \*\* solar system? > > You know what they say about people who assume … Well, whilst we’ve found planets around other stars, we’ve not found intelligent life on them (and sometimes I think we’re mistaken about this planet too). But, hey, if you can provide me with factual scientific evidence of life on other planets… …Can I plagarise your evidence and get my PhD now please? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/69 "2004-10-26T22:20:57Z")
Dwarf != Midget ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/70 "2004-10-26T22:27:55Z")
Quite correct. However… Jokes != invitations to nitpickery ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/71 "2004-10-26T22:48:52Z")
**danceswithcats** said “No, no. Would you rather be shot with a pen missile or with a penile, Miss?” I don’t know. And don’t call me Miss. As far as nitpickery goes, what about this: 1. Our sun is a **yellow** dwarf. Insert non-PC joke correction here. 2. Isn’t the term ‘the sun’ just a general term used to refer to the star that the Earth orbits around? I know I’ve heard other stars referred to as ‘suns’, but that’s, to my mind, not strictly accurate. So someone help me out. Does this equation make sense in any way: The sun is a star, but a star is not necessarily a sun (I suppose sun-like stars could be called suns?) ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/72 "2004-10-27T07:51:30Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > 1. Our sun is a **yellow** dwarf. Insert non-PC joke correction here. Er, last time I checked our sun was a bog standard main sequence star. Not a dwarf of any description. > [@](#): > > The sun is a star, but a star is not necessarily a sun (I suppose sun-like stars could be called suns?) Yeah. And to avoid confusion, sun-like stars are generally referred to as being ‘sun-lke’ 😉 ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/73 "2004-10-27T08:05:49Z")
Are they suns or stars? Dwarves and midgets arguing Time to go to bed ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/74 "2004-10-27T15:02:13Z")
> [@Angua](#): > > Er, last time I checked our sun was a bog standard main sequence star. Not a dwarf of any description. “Bog standard”? Translation, please? The problem lies in an obsolescent system of terminology which uses: White dwarf: Degenerate-core star at lower left of H-R diagram Red dwarf/yellow dwarf: Main sequence star in lower right quadrant of H-R diagram, so called to distinguish from red giant/yellow supergiant Red giant: Distended-atmosphere star in upper right of H-R diagram Blue or blue-white giant: Main sequence star in upper left of H-R diagram For obvious reasons, the terminology combines unlike things and has effectively been disregarded for some time, but it’s still used in some older popular works on astronomy, and it is a royal PITA to deal with. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/75 "2004-10-27T15:16:01Z")
😕 Astronomers are anti fur? ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/76 "2004-10-27T16:38:12Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > “Bog standard”? Translation, please? Run of the mill, everyday, average. Its a Brit thing. My point being that our sun, compared to all the other stars that we can see, is not really remarkable in any real way. Apart from the life thing, of course. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/77 "2004-10-27T17:55:05Z")
> [@Angua](#): > > …our sun, compared to all the other stars that we can see, is not really remarkable in any real way. Apart from the life thing, of course. You mean, the Sun is _alive!?_ :eek: Whipping Star indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/78 "2004-10-27T20:03:31Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > For obvious reasons, the terminology combines unlike things and has effectively been disregarded for some time, but it’s still used in some older popular works on astronomy, and it is a royal PITA to deal with. This terminology is the bread and butter of astronomers. > [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Astronomers are anti fur? No, astronomers love fermions. It’s the sailors they can’t quite figure out - they find it hard to gauge bosons. Can anyone shed any light on this? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/79 "2004-10-27T20:21:50Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > Our sun is a **yellow** dwarf. Insert non-PC joke correction here. Well yeah… that’s why we feel obligated to squint. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404/80 "2004-10-27T20:23:03Z")
> [@](#): > > No, astronomers love fermions. It’s the sailors they can’t quite figure out - they find it hard to gauge bosons. Can anyone shed any light on this? Bosons are just wierd. You need particle physicists for that kind of thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-news-typo-of-the-day/270404.md?page=5)