# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 3) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 29, 2026, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157 "2026-01-29T18:21:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 154
**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:** [September 14, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3061 "2026-09-14T18:37:28Z")
I rarely have blood drawn for medical reasons, usually it’s for donation purposes. I’m not looking at anything while it’s being drawn except the inside of my eyelids…& I’ve done it lots of times w/o incident so don’t wake me until I’m done! 😠 The nap is the best part of donating! ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3062 "2026-09-14T18:42:06Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > I also like to praise the phlebotomist if the stick is particularly good (that is, painless). If you’re my phlebotomist and I don’t say, “Good stick!”, that means it hurt. Same! I definitely believe in rewarding good sticks. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3063 "2026-09-14T18:49:10Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > The nap is the best part of donating! If I fall asleep during donations, the stupid machine beeps, wakes me up, and the staff come over to chew me out! ---
**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:** [September 14, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3064 "2026-09-14T19:03:57Z")
If it’s truly painless, i thank them for the good stick. Usually, it’s just uncomfortable. Rarely, it’s quite painful. I don’t like to the stuck. I don’t look, but i ask them to tell me when they will stick me. They usually count, which works okay. If they stab me unexpectedly, i sometimes jump, and that’s just bad for everyone. I should probably learn to just watch them. Sometimes, the stick is pain-free, but the blood runs really slowly. Today was a good stick in that the blood filled the tubes quickly. (Back when i used to give blood, i always took longer to bless than anyone else there.) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3065 "2026-09-14T19:15:26Z")
I watch every part of the blood draw; I want to make sure they know what they’re doing. I once was the victim…er…patient that needed a specific blood draw and the two techs were wondering aloud between themselves if the type of tube they were about to use was appropriate for the lab test I was having. I had to tell them that it was not. mmm ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3066 "2026-09-14T19:30:01Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Well, the cat likes to gnaw on the big boxes. My cats, especially the girl cat, REALLY loves a good cardboard box. > [@TroutMan](#): > > I am relieved that I am not the only person who didn’t have my facts straight about the War of 1812. Yeah, I knew the White House and some other stuff got torched, but I could not remember details. When they take blood for tests, I do watch, unless I have something better to do. ---
**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:** [September 14, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3067 "2026-09-14T20:01:40Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I once was the victim…er…patient that needed a specific blood draw and the two techs were wondering aloud between themselves if the type of tube they were about to use was appropriate for the lab test I was having. I wouldn’t know the answer to that question. But I’ve had some bizarrely bad blood draws, and i now always request an experienced phlebotomist. They can practice on my husband, with his huge easy current veins and his total lack of fear. Not on me, thanks. (For everything except blood draws, i do let new doctors practice on me. I had a really painful failure to insert an IUD at the hands of a family-doctor-in-training, but usually it’s nice to get a second set of eyes. And even the painful failure, well, he obviously needs practice. I’m glad i gave him that opportunity.) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3068 "2026-09-14T23:15:25Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Why do people add a Y sound in _use_, _Utah_, etc.? > [@markn\_1](#): > > Many British English dialects retains a Y sound before a U in a number of words where the Y has been dropped in US English, like “tune”, “duty”, “student”, “avenue”, etc. That would be a reasonable answer if it were spelled “cupon.” In the case of “coupon,” however, wouldn’t the yod that got dropped have been between the C and the O? ---
**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:** [September 15, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3069 "2026-09-15T00:26:28Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > If it’s truly painless, i thank them for the good stick. Usually, it’s just uncomfortable. Rarely, it’s quite painful. I had to get blood drawn last week. The nurse who did it is wonderful. She has a great bedside manner and treats me like a person, rather than yet another collection of symptoms. Phlebotomy is not her calling. At all. My arm is still bruised. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3070 "2026-09-15T02:58:37Z")
The poll on the War of 1812’s burnt buildings wouldn’t register my answers. I didn’t have that problem with any other recent question. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2026, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3071 "2026-09-15T03:13:56Z")
Same. I wonder what’s up with that. I’ll see if i can find anything weird about it. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3072 "2026-09-15T03:39:27Z")
My bad. I set it to show results only after voting, but there’s a bug in Discourse where it won’t who the current tally unless you leave the thread and come back to 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:** [September 15, 2026, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3073 "2026-09-15T05:32:05Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > In the case of “coupon,” however, wouldn’t the yod that got dropped have been between the C and the O? I don’t understand what you mean. Regardless of the spelling, there’s just one vowel phoneme between the /k/ and the /p/, and the yod, if not dropped, appears before it (that is, it’s /kupɑn/ or /kjupɑn/). It’s not meaningful for a yod to appear between the “o” and the “u”, if that’s what you mean, because those are not two separate sounds; it’s just a weird way to spell the /u/ phoneme, like in “soup” and “group”. Interestingly, it seems that this word is an exception to the usual rule that US English drops yods where British English does not. “Coupon” is sometimes pronounced with the yod in US English but (based on what I’m reading) is never pronounced with the yod in British English, the reverse of the usual situation. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3074 "2026-09-15T09:51:58Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I don’t understand what you mean. I mean that all the examples you gave (“tune”, “duty”, “student”, “avenue”), as well as all the words I can think of that everybody pronunces with a “yu” (“cute,” “putrid,” “fury,” “abuse”) are spelled with just a U, not an OU. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3075 "2026-09-15T11:15:16Z")
Good point, but often pronunciation will outrank spelling. That is, many folks will pronounce something to conform to an expected _sound_ pattern, regardless of spelling. Language is first and foremost a spoken/heard phenomenon Consider, for example, “-ks” for “-sk” in some varieties of Black English. Occasionally we do the opposite – change how we say something to conform to spelling, like enunciating the “t” in “often” – but this is much rarer. Still, your point is well taken. “Coupon” was borrowed from French, but much later than those “-u-” words – and the original French just has the “oo” sound (from _couper_, to cut). And, there are English words starting with the k- sound (coot, coop) that could have set the sound template for “coupon.” It is odd that this didn’t happen, for many speakers. For them, it was overriden by the sound template in words like “cue,” “rescue,” “cute,” “accuse,” “barbecue,” etc. (that also start with the k- sound). ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3076 "2026-09-15T11:37:18Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > but there’s a bug in Discourse How is that your bad ?! ---
**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:** [September 15, 2026, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3077 "2026-09-15T18:04:00Z")
If I’m seeing a needle coming at me, I don’t trust myself not to instinctively pull away; even a couple millimeters of movement at the wrong time can mess things up badly. So I never watch the initial stick. After the needle’s in, I don’t mind watching what’s going on. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3078 "2026-09-15T18:08:19Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > If I’m seeing a needle coming at me, I don’t trust myself not to instinctively pull away; even a couple millimeters of movement at the wrong time can mess things up badly. So I never watch the initial stick. After the needle’s in, I don’t mind watching what’s going on This, basically. I look away from the actual stick to make sure that I won’t flinch. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2026, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3079 "2026-09-16T02:57:06Z")
In 1969 there was a comedy, [_If It’s Tuesday This Must be Belgium_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064471/reference/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_if%20it%27s%20tues) about American tourists on a eighteen-day, nine-country bus tour of Europe. Before they departed they had to be inoculated and there was a close-up scene of a syringe approaching then penetrating an arm. I saw it on an airliner back in the day when the in-flight movie was on film and worked it’s way from the back to the front of the plane passing through a projector in each row. I got to see that moment in my row, then a few moments later, the next row, then the row after that, and the row after that… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3080 "2026-09-16T13:55:22Z")
I picked “months” on the phone update, because mine is so old I can’t get enough memory free for the damn update. The Apple Store couldn’t help, so I just ignore it. So far, no problems, but I’ll soon have to throw out this percectly functional device in order to get one with more memory, needed only for updating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=153) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=155)