# Come on Cecil, if you're going to be a smartarse...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-cecil-if-youre-going-to-be-a-smartarse/276820>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [November 27, 2004, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-cecil-if-youre-going-to-be-a-smartarse/276820 "2004-11-27T02:08:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-cecil-if-youre-going-to-be-a-smartarse/276820/1 "2004-11-27T02:08:45Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> …a teapot doesn’t make noise, a teakettle does.

[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_115a.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_115a.html)  
Anybody with any tea-making self-respect simply calls it a kettle, and nothing else. So there.

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-cecil-if-youre-going-to-be-a-smartarse/276820/2 "2004-11-27T02:17:50Z")

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“Teakettle” is normal USAian. Bare “kettle” conjures up images of open-hearth cooking.

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-cecil-if-youre-going-to-be-a-smartarse/276820/3 "2004-11-27T02:35:10Z")

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1. Criticising **Cecil** for being a smartarse is rather like criticising the Sun for producing light.

2. It was the guy at Johns Hopkins who got it wrong, after all - they referred to it as “teapot” in a context that shows they obviously meant the tea kettle. **Cecil** ’s reference to tea kettle just helps to drive home the difference, for those who are obviously using inaccurate terminology.

3. What **John W. Kennedy** said.

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-cecil-if-youre-going-to-be-a-smartarse/276820/4 "2004-11-27T02:40:42Z")

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When I get a good cup of tea made by a USAian, I’ll accept everything else said. 😃

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**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-cecil-if-youre-going-to-be-a-smartarse/276820/5 "2004-11-27T02:59:21Z")

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[Kettle](http://collections.ic.gc.ca/history_units/kat-nfra/imageD22.JPG)  
[Tea Kettle](http://www.cnn.com/interactive/style/0012/graves/07.alessi.kettle.jpg)

Any questions?