# Eight'll get you Ten Mini-rants for October **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 1, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254 "2018-10-01T12:16:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/1 "2018-10-01T12:16:42Z")
Zippers. Who decided that both male and female clothing now has to have identical zippers? I have exactly one item of clothing now that has the male zipper (zipper tab on the right side). It’s a pain zipping up the rest of the zippered clothing I have because everything now has female zipper (zipper tab on the left side). Seriously, I can’t be the only person on the planet that remembers different zippers for males and females. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/2 "2018-10-01T12:20:44Z")
I actually think you are. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/3 "2018-10-01T14:21:03Z")
My zippers are right-hand zippers; I do have one pair of trousers with a left-handed button-down fly and it turns out - it doesn’t match any blouses because the blouses are also “male-style”! Mom finds it offensive. I find it offensive that my tabs are supposed to give a shit about what’s behind them 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/4 "2018-10-01T14:27:03Z")
Weird; every item of clothing I own (with a zipper) has the zipper on the right side. Pants, jackets, and coats, all of ‘em. Male here. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/5 "2018-10-01T15:29:18Z")
I don’t have a minirant for this post; I simply think it’s just to give props to **Monty** for the elegant reasoning that went into the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/6 "2018-10-01T16:58:39Z")
Male zipper tabs are on the right side because most of us “dress to the left,” so we’re less likely to catch our wieners in it. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/7 "2018-10-01T17:49:36Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Male zipper tabs are on the right side because most of us “dress to the left,” so we’re less likely to catch our wieners in it. I don’t think so - I’d assume they are on the right to match the way buttons work. Also, it means that you use your left (generally less agile) hand to hold the fly back, and your dominant right hand to pull up the zipper, a more dexterous activity. Potentially sucks for the lefties. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/8 "2018-10-01T19:07:37Z")
I don’t understand. What are right side and left side zippers? Every zipper I’ve ever owned went straight up and down. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/9 "2018-10-01T19:12:06Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I don’t understand. What are right side and left side zippers? Every zipper I’ve ever owned went straight up and down. Flap over zipper opens to the right ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/10 "2018-10-01T19:46:50Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Flap over zipper opens to the right Oh. thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/11 "2018-10-01T21:11:41Z")
I’m staying with my parents for the week in the leadup to Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend. Last night my brother and his wife stayed over as well, because they’ve just moved out of their rental and are supposed to take possession of their new home today. This morning at breakfast my brother apologized for me being relegated to the couch last night and promised that they’d be out of our hair now. “Hey, you don’t have the keys yet!” I say. It’s past closing at their lawyer’s office now. They don’t have the keys yet. I’m an ass. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/12 "2018-10-01T23:06:22Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I actually think you are. 😃 Drat. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I don’t have a minirant for this post; I simply think it’s just to give props to **Monty** for the elegant reasoning that went into the thread title. Thanks. I try to make the title linguistically relevant (“greatest” for August, “bug” for June). I was wondering who would be the first to cotton to this one. Kudos! > [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Male zipper tabs are on the right side because most of us “dress to the left,” so we’re less likely to catch our wieners in it. A few years ago, I took my then girfriend now wife with me to Camp Walker in Daegu. I went to the tailor concession to get a new suit. awhile the the tailor was taking my measurements, he asked, “And how do you dress, sir?” I responded, “To the right.” My girlfriend asked us what we were talking about and when I explained it to her in Korean, she said that couldn’t be true. The tailor told her I was exactly right (heh). Hmm, maybe that explains a few zipper incidents I’ve had over the years. Really, though, it’s the jacket zippers that cause me problems now. I just cannot get used to the opposite way. And don’t get me started on dress shirts here not having pockets. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/13 "2018-10-01T23:42:32Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I don’t have a minirant for this post; I simply think it’s just to give props to **Monty** for the elegant reasoning that went into the thread title. > [@Monty](#): > > Thanks. I try to make the title linguistically relevant (“greatest” for August, “bug” for June). I was wondering who would be the first to cotton to this one. Kudos! I got it too, but that’s because my Dad’s birthday is the 8[SUP]th[/SUP] and, even though I always remember October, I’ve tried to wish him Happy Birthday on the 10[SUP]th[/SUP] any number of times because damnit, his birthday is 10/8 and October is the 8[SUP]th[/SUP] month and … Yeah, what can I say. It annoys the ever-living hell out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/14 "2018-10-01T23:44:32Z")
One of my favorite cars won’t start. :mad: I suspect a fuel pump. Need to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/15 "2018-10-02T00:24:32Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I got it too, but that’s because my Dad’s birthday is the 8[SUP]th[/SUP] and, even though I always remember October, I’ve tried to wish him Happy Birthday on the 10[SUP]th[/SUP] any number of times because damnit, his birthday is 10/8 and October is the 8[SUP]th[/SUP] month and … > > Yeah, what can I say. It annoys the ever-living hell out of me. Here’s a calendrical issue that annoys the ever-living hell out of me. Here in China, all the Chinese, ISTM, use the Gregorian month names for the lunar calendar. For example, last Monday was Mid-Autumn Festival. Everyone I encountered told me it’s “August 15th of the lunar calendar”. No, it’s not! It’s the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. “August of the lunar calendar” is nonsense. This year, the 8th lunar month has 29 days; August has 31. Plus, the lunar calendar has leap months. What are you going to call that, a month of February 29s"? More nonsense because the leap month doesn’t happen right after the 2nd lunar month. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/16 "2018-10-02T00:50:35Z")
Got timed out while editing (and got a phone call :)). The next lunar leap month will follow the 4th lunar month in 2020. The first 4th lunar month will have 30 days; the 2nd fourth month (yep, they just repeat the month number for the intercalary/leap month and it’s not always the same month repeated!) will have 29, so “April 31 through April 59”? Complete and utter rubbish. Stop it! ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/17 "2018-10-02T01:53:42Z")
We were told (by my very smart mother!) that zippers and buttons were on different sides, because men dressed themselves while women were dressed by servants, so to make it easier for them the buttons were reversed. (Maybe it’s the other way around.) My doctor told me that drinking orange juice every day contributes a lot of calories, so I stopped. So now I’m ready for this head cold to be over, the first one I’ve had in three years. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/18 "2018-10-02T08:23:04Z")
If your doctor didn’t tell you to eat oranges instead, your doctor gave you half the information. But throwing oranges at them is illegal. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/19 "2018-10-02T10:08:35Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > I’m staying with my parents for the week in the leadup to Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend … I hate how early Canadian Thanksgiving comes. Thanksgiving is supposed to include sitting around a warm fire when it’s briskly cold outside, ideally with a risk of snow, maybe drinking something like a hot rum and cider. Canadian Thanksgiving was always too early, but with global warming it’s getting ridiculous. In my area it will be 21°C (70° F) this Thanksgiving weekend. Yay for Thanksgiving – let’s light a cozy fire, have hot drinks, then put on our bathing suits and go for a swim! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254/20 "2018-10-02T12:45:54Z")
Want some of our temps? No snow, but it’s 5ºC at 1500. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eightll-get-you-ten-mini-rants-for-october/822254.md?page=2)