# Demanding cites for things that would take you 2 second to look up is lazy **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 30, 2025, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281 "2025-06-30T01:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2025, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/201 "2025-07-06T04:57:50Z")
I think this convo is straying from the original discussion… ---
**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:** [July 6, 2025, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/202 "2025-07-06T07:33:40Z")
Yeah it did. No matter. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2025, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/203 "2025-07-07T02:26:55Z")
I submit that there is a significant distinction between TikTok doomscrolling brainrot and interrupting a message board thread to research an odd unknown and then spelunking a rabbit hole. The former is an endless series of rolling from one false promise of interest until a threshold of boredom is reached, then on to another, and on and on. Like an infant who’s unable to latch onto any nipple, but is supplied with a whirlwind assembly line of breast, each slathered in Vaseline. The former has the advantage of being self-directed study, and therefore emblematic of the exercise of free will. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Irv Kupcinet, when writer’s-blocked, would file “things I discovered while looking up other things.” (Whenever Mike Royko became blocked, he’d have a beer with Slats Grobnik). These columns were often better than the standard think-pieces. Too often, a reader only is offered three options: something they already knew, something they already believed in, or raw seeds that may sprout into something neither the author intended nor the reader expected. French Writers: _One flew East, One flew West, One flew ver the Cuckoo’s Nest_ Answer: [Astolphe-Louis-Léonor, Marquis de Custine,](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_de_Custine), [Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville), and [Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_de_Sade). I’m somewhat confident that the first of those three will accumulate the most curiosity hits. _“There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge_.” ― Bertrand Russell _“The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”_ — Karl Marx Your own life experience may prove the first, the Venice wedding of Jeff Bezos the second. But I propose that we propagate the flux of useless ideas as a counter to the false enrichment of useless goods (hawked on TikTok) as a means of creating a race of useful people living meaningful lives. Bravely highlighting unknown words and French names and sweeping valiant fingers over to the “look up” option. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2025, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/204 "2025-07-07T02:42:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > NWS FTW. Didn’t Trump nerf them recently? Ask Texans. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2025, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/205 "2025-07-07T03:52:23Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Chicago Sun-Times columnist Irv Kupcinet, when writer’s-blocked, would file “things I discovered while looking up other things.” (Whenever Mike Royko became blocked, he’d have a beer with Slats Grobnik). These columns were often better than the standard think-pieces. My goodness, how I miss those two! ---
**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:** [July 7, 2025, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/206 "2025-07-07T10:47:25Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > The former has the advantage of being self-directed study, and therefore emblematic of the exercise of free will. I bet you meant “latter” there. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > NWS FTW. > > Didn’t Trump nerf them recently? Ask Texans. There is no evidence that the NWS cuts did anything to harm the forecasting or response in Texas from Post-Barry flooding. Too little too soon. For sure the NWS cuts will bring widespread harm all across the country soon enough. It was a profoundly ignorant bit of royalist toddler vandalism that itself alone is grounds for immediate removal from office as manifestly unfit. See here for some highly informed commentary on the topic of Texas flooding and NWS cuts: > **[Making sense of the weather that led to a horrible Texas flooding tragedy,...](https://theeyewall.com/making-sense-of-the-weather-that-led-to-a-horrible-texas-flooding-tragedy-plus-tropical-storm-chantal/)** > > In brief: Invest 92L became Tropical Depression 3 yesterday and is now Tropical Storm Chantal. It’s en route to the Carolinas. We take a detailed look at what occurred in Texas Thursday night… and > **[Chantal makes landfall near Myrtle Beach and now moving inland as a rainmaker](https://theeyewall.com/chantal-makes-landfall-near-myrtle-beach-and-now-moving-inland-as-a-rainmaker/)** > > In brief: After yesterday’s post on Texas, we wanted to raise a couple additional points after some reactions. Plus, TS Chantal made landfall near Myrtle Beach and is now a flooding threat fo… ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2025, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/207 "2025-07-07T13:05:28Z")
Well, consider yourself lucky it hasn’t turned into a cookbook. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/208 "2025-07-07T13:37:18Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > cookbook But then it can be used to serve man. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/209 "2025-07-07T14:33:13Z")
The country fried gambler recipe on page 73 is especially tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/210 "2025-07-07T15:29:43Z")
The mix of free cocktails, cigarette smoke, and suck cost fallacies helps the meat make its own gravy, which has a complex, peppery flavor profile. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/211 "2025-07-07T15:34:35Z")
When Mike Royko was at the Sun-Times, he was practically the only reason I read the paper. Irv Kupcinet was a bonus. I just had a fantasy that Royko was still alive and writing columns about Trump. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/212 "2025-07-07T20:04:20Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > NWS FTW. > > Didn’t Trump nerf them recently? Ask Texans. Further reading from a different source on NWS vs. Texas flooding. > **[Trying to Make Sense of the Unspeakable Texas Tragedy](https://michaelrlowry.substack.com/p/trying-to-make-sense-of-the-unspeakable)** > > Catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Country over the holiday weekend is one of the deadliest in modern memory. How did it happen? ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2025, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/213 "2025-07-09T00:43:18Z")
My first reaction to “king of the hill”? That was a game we used to play at recess when I was in grade school. Oh, _King of the Hill_, a TV show. I’ve heard of it, knew it was a cartoon, but going by the YouTube link up yonder it’s not the one I would have guessed. (What’s the one with the redhead, her large husband, and a dog?) No idea who any of the characters are, but I would guess that the main character’s name is King. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Skeletor, Grimlock, Punky Brewster, and Mister Belvedere. Like LSLGuy, I’ve heard of Skeletor, but I can come up with a mental image of him. Okay, I got the skull in a hood right, but not the body or the colours. Punky Brewster? Main character in a … '80s? … TV show about a girl (girl, not woman or teen) which I’ve never watched, and I doubt I could pick her out in a lineup. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Marjorie Taylor-Greene … Does MTG need a parenthesis every time she comes up? Does MTG an acronym even need an explanation on first mention? Some sort of politician? > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I want a Care Society. I’d rather have a CARE package. > [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > What kind of lame things were people doing in the 90s, instead of watching King of the Hill? Playing Civilization, two deployments to the Mediterranean, getting married… > [@Johanna](#): > > Do you recognize that? If not, congratulations, you’re under 60 (or over 70). I’m over 70, and I recognise it. > [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > a wildly popular tv show Wildly popular amongst people who watch TV, that is. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2025, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/214 "2025-07-09T00:53:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yahoo is showing me a high of 91 tomorrow. My phone app is showing a high of 82 tomorrow. Who to believe? [Weather.com](http://Weather.com) is showing 84 I used to check NWS, AccuWeather, and the Weather Channel. NWS was usually the most accurate, so now I just check them. (Long, long ago, when I lived in the Chicago area, John Coleman was the best!) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2025, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/215 "2025-07-09T00:58:10Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > (What’s the one with the redhead, her large husband, and a dog?) That would be _Family Guy_. > **[Family Guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Guy)** > > Family Guy is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois, their children, Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and their anthropomorphic pet dog, Brian. Set in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode Island, the show exhibits much of its... [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/Griffin_family.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/Griffin_family.png) It’s an understandable confusion. Both aired on Fox originally, and they premiered only a couple of years apart. They are both animated shows about families. Very different in tone and style, though. _Family Guy_ is a raunchy, fantastical show kind of in the _South Park_ vein, which at times pushes boundaries as far as what is acceptable on TV. _King of the Hill_ is far more realistic and tame, with more subtle humor. _Family Guy_ is the brainchild of Seth MacFarlane, also known for the _Ted_ movies and the Star Trek homage show _The Orville_. He also created a similar animated show _American Dad_, and a short-lived spin-off of _Family Guy_ called _The Cleveland Show_. _King of the Hill_ was created by Mike Judge, most famous for the animated show _Beavis and Butthead_, but he also created the films _Office Space_ and _Idiocracy_. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2025, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/216 "2025-07-09T02:30:35Z")
I kinda just look out the window. Cause around here you wait awhile it’ll be different. No weather man, channel or app can keep me posted well enough. I have a weather thermometer on the wall of the garage and it’s never right. My Daddy would drive to town to read the temp on the bank sign. Eh, he gotta kick outta it. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/217 "2025-07-29T11:54:38Z")
I think I finally figured out what unsettles me about questions along the lines of “What does that easily-searchable term mean?” Personally, I get a very positive feeling from satisfying my curiosity and I am willing to go to fairly great lengths to do so. So I have a hard time relating to people who reason along the lines of “I’m curious what this word means, but I would prefer to go to my grave not knowing the meaning rather than type it into a search bar.” ---
**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:** [July 29, 2025, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/218 "2025-07-29T18:43:07Z")
A frequent issue is the term or acronym may refer to 5 or 10 things. Some posters are clueful / knowledgeable to figure out which. Others aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/219 "2025-07-29T18:58:56Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#): > > Playing Tamagotchi while tripping over their JNCO jeans? I’m not going to lie about it: In the 90s I was watching more[jeans commercials](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybp9aNgn11o) than I should have. I chalked it up to \< cough \> \< cough \> shopping… ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281/220 "2025-07-29T19:25:33Z")
Acronym finder has 71 definitions for MMT, with Modern Monetary Theory ranked as 17. I don’t get much of a charge by figuring out which definition fits MMT, any more than I would for HEPP (9 definitions, when I had High Energy Particle Physics in mind) or AGW (25 definitions with Anthropogenic Global Warming ranked 2). Acronym Finder is a helpful website. Here’s the link: > **[Abbreviations and acronyms dictionary](https://www.acronymfinder.com/)** > > Acronym Finder is the largest and most trusted database of over 4 million acronyms and abbreviations. What does an abbreviation stands for? The answer is here [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demanding-cites-for-things-that-would-take-you-2-second-to-look-up-is-lazy/1020281.md?page=12)