Welcome to the Straight Dope, greengreen!
The ATMB is, for lack of a better word, our meta-forum where we discuss threads (and moderator actions) in other forums in order to keep the discussions uncluttered. Another thing you’ll probably notice is that once the OP’s question has been resolved, threads tend to degenerate into rampant wittiscism and sidenotes. It’s a feature, not a bug!