# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636 "2024-02-16T02:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 393
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7842 "2025-08-01T16:25:52Z")
42 is actually the title of a film about Robinson. 42 is just a non sequitur punchline…which I keep misremembering as 43. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7843 "2025-08-01T20:43:56Z")
I had multiple answers for the 42 poll. Hitchhikers, the street (songs that is) and one other. But when I clicked on the first, the poll closed. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7844 "2025-08-01T20:48:59Z")
There are two ways to set up polls, either allowing multiple choices (there is a max on how many you can select) indicated by a square check box, or allowing exactly one choice, indicated by a circular check box. This was a single-answer poll. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7845 "2025-08-01T23:17:04Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > This was a single-answer poll. Thank you, yes i did not carefully check. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7846 "2025-08-02T11:37:39Z")
Re: the poll that asks which short-term leader would you have liked to have seen serve a full term - creating (in your opinion) the “most compelling alternative history” - I would have added JFK (assuming he remained in reasonable health, if his Addison’s disease permitted it) - if he served one full term (1961-65) or two (1961-69). ---
**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:** [August 2, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7847 "2025-08-02T18:33:00Z")
None of the possibilities in that poll were at all interesting to me. Didn’t vote. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7848 "2025-08-03T16:41:59Z")
I voted for Garfield in the second “what if” poll. I read a book on Garfield’s assasination without knowing a whole lot about him before. He was an interesting person, and I felt a real sense of loss and regret about his death. I’d have liked to have seen what he could have accomplished. Never heard of a strawberry parfait called a B52. I’m old, so the hairstyle is what comes to my mind. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7849 "2025-08-03T18:03:57Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Never heard of a strawberry parfait called a B52 I took that to be the “other” option. The only thing it brings to mind for me is the plane – but it only brings that to mind because I’ve just been reminded of it. Otherwise, I’d have been at least as likely to pick a bingo draw; or to just say “huh?” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7850 "2025-08-05T20:06:27Z")
Not a poll (unless it’s fixed after I type this), but I can easily do 25 meters of swimming without stopping. OK, I can do all types of styles for 25 yards. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2025, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7851 "2025-08-05T20:08:39Z")
It has been fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7852 "2025-08-05T20:09:38Z")
I checked the Breast stroke box but I think my version of it is more “Breast Stroke”-like than actual Breast stroke. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7853 "2025-08-05T20:56:25Z")
I checked them all plus other. I can do the length of an Olympic sized pool underwater all the way (well, I could years ago). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7854 "2025-08-05T21:04:41Z")
Wrong thread ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7855 "2025-08-05T21:18:37Z")
I was taught the sidestroke when I was a kid, and the muscle memory was still there last I checked; I’m not sure any org. teaches it anymore. The butterfly is a very demanding stroke and the few times I’ve given it a go I could only manage several iterations before my shoulders began to loudly protest, so chose No there. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7856 "2025-08-05T21:30:48Z")
I recently saw some YouTube video about this secret stroke no one in the US knows about, the sidestroke. Is it true that it’s no longer taught? That’s easily my best stroke, and the way i swim if I’m not wearing flippers and want to get somewhere. I dragged my son out of the water when he was held down with 100 wet t-shirts with the side stroke. It’s also just a nice, peaceful stroke that doesn’t get water up my nose. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7857 "2025-08-05T21:35:50Z")
Growing up, the sidestroke was always used by ladies who didn’t want to get their hair wet. However, it’s my default stroke whenever I get tired while swimming in the ocean or a lake. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2025, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7858 "2025-08-05T21:44:45Z")
I had never heard of this, but it looks appealingly relaxed. [How to Swim Side-Stroke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN0eGhrfEs0) ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7859 "2025-08-05T21:48:11Z")
I wasn’t familiar with the side stroke either ! Something to try the next time I’m at the pool ---
**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:** [August 6, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7860 "2025-08-06T00:34:44Z")
I can do a crawl stroke and a proper backstroke. Never really learned breaststroke or butterfly. But my two go-tos are the sidestroke and elementary backstroke. I swim for leisure more than exercise, and these get me across the pool in the easiest and most efficient manner. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/7861 "2025-08-06T02:02:48Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Growing up, the sidestroke was always used by ladies who didn’t want to get their hair wet. I was a lifeguard at a Y. We had one old guy who always swam sidestroke facing the same side of the pool, so left arm leading on the way up & right arm leading one the way back (or maybe the other way, I don’t remember anymore). On the way up he looked fine as his hair was plastered to his head; however, on the way back his combover trailed to about his knees. 😳 > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I had never heard of this, but it looks appealingly relaxed. > > [How to Swim Side-Stroke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN0eGhrfEs0) A modified/single-arm side stroke is used to rescue people. Your bottom arm is used to propel you thru the water while your top arm wraps around their chest to hold them to you, their back to your chest, as you move toward safety, whether that’s a pool edge, shallow water, or a boat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=392) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=394)