# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380 "2022-09-28T11:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 179
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3562 "2023-04-23T18:54:11Z")
I’m surprised I’m still the only one who’s answered “parachute.” I only did it once, nearly 30 years ago. Didn’t think it was that uncommon. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3563 "2023-04-23T19:35:39Z")
“down” is not my preferred direction of travel ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3564 "2023-04-23T19:47:32Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I’m surprised I’m still the only one who’s answered “parachute.” I only did it once, nearly 30 years ago. Didn’t think it was that uncommon. Some stats from [this website](https://comparecamp.com/skydive-statistics/) (which appear to be from around 2019) suggest that it’s still a pretty seriously niche activity. It says that 350,000 people completed a skydiving jump in 2018, which would be about 0.1% of the U.S. population; it also cites that the U.S. Parachute Association only has 35,000 members (so, about 0.01% of the U.S.) I went to an indoor skydiving facility once, which was fun, but you’re essentially flying around in a vertical wind tunnel, and as there’s no actual parachute involved, I didn’t select it as something I’ve “operated.” ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3565 "2023-04-23T20:08:20Z")
I’m wondering how there can be 2 people who’ve piloted a steam locomotive ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3566 "2023-04-23T20:15:22Z")
Are those little kiddie trains in the park steam powered? If so, I forgot to claim that one. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3567 "2023-04-23T20:23:00Z")
Re: vehicles and cylinders. We currently own and drive a 4-cylinder car (my wife’s Mazda CX-7), a 6-cylinder (my Mustang), and an 8-cylinder (my wife’s Corvette); I’ve driven various other cars with those configurations over the years, but never a 10- or 12. When I was in high school and college, I had a moped, which had a tiny one-cylinder engine. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3568 "2023-04-23T20:24:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Are those little kiddie trains in the park steam powered? Possibly, though many of them are likely to be gasoline- or diesel-powered. Live steam is a bigger challenge to operate and maintain than an ICE, and requires skills and knowledge which are less common now. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3569 "2023-04-23T20:27:08Z")
I just want to know who’s driven a turbine powered vehicle that’s street legal. Is Jay Leno among this board’s readers? I guess if he were here he would have picked steam as well, though. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3570 "2023-04-23T20:35:43Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Prawns and shrimp are different species. It occurs to me that I don’t know whether I’ve ever eaten a prawn. Maybe I haven’t. I’ll eat as much of a shrimp as I can plausibly chew, though. So I’ll let my answer stand. – I honestly have no clue what was under the hood of some of the vehicles I’ve driven; but I do know about some others, so I didn’t select that choice. However, the fact that I don’t know about some of them means that my negative answers on the ones I didn’t choose are in some cases suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3571 "2023-04-23T20:54:32Z")
Not only have I driven a car with a rotary engine, it was a Wankel rotary engine. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3572 "2023-04-23T21:02:15Z")
Why was American Sign Language not on the poll? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3573 "2023-04-23T21:16:21Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Not only have I driven a car with a rotary engine, it was a Wankel rotary engine. You kiss your mom with that mouth? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3574 "2023-04-23T21:27:16Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > I’m wondering how there can be 2 people who’ve piloted a steam locomotive I am one of them! When I worked at the zoo, I drove the “Little Puffer” Steam Train about once a week. (Not me in this photo) [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/6199/6067570485_3a766c51cf_b.jpg "Steam train - San Francisco Zoo") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/58708751@N00/6067570485/) While it’s clearly not a full-sized locomotive (runs on a 22-inch gage track), it is indeed an honest-to-god real steam engine with pretty much the exact controls you’d find on a big one. It took many hours of training and I needed to be certified by the state before I could carry passengers. So I’d say that counts. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3575 "2023-04-23T21:43:39Z")
In _La Bete Humaine_ Jean Gabin plays a locomotive operator of a 1930s French steam engine. He wanted to know how to do it, so he received training and was actually driving (is that the correct word?) the train in several scenes. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3576 "2023-04-23T22:02:19Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I am one of them! > When I worked at the zoo, I drove the “Little Puffer” Steam Train about once a week. Very cool! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3577 "2023-04-23T22:22:53Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > When I worked at the zoo, I drove the “Little Puffer” Steam Train about once a week. That is awesome, and speaking as a lifelong fan of railroads and trains, I’m exceptionally jealous. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3578 "2023-04-23T23:35:00Z")
It was by far my favorite part of that job, and I miss it. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2023, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3579 "2023-04-23T23:48:16Z")
I’d ask who voted that they are not fluent in English, but I guess they might not be able to understand the question. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3580 "2023-04-24T00:57:43Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > When I worked at the zoo, I drove the “Little Puffer” Steam Train about once a week. > [@silenus](#): > > Are those little kiddie trains in the park steam powered? If so, I forgot to claim that one. Those aren’t running on roads. They do exist, called road locomotives, but they’re pretty rare these days. [![](https://bangshift.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Picture-64.png) ](https://bangshift.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Picture-64.png) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2023, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/3581 "2023-04-24T01:20:32Z")
Alas, only English. I had four years of high school German but after 50+ years of disuse it has largely evaporated. OTOH I am fluent in menu-German, also -Spanish, -French, -Japanese, and -Italian, plus somewhat in -Vietnamese, -Thai, -Greek, and -Ethiopian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=178) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=180)