# Ever been shocked at what some people don't know? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416 "2012-03-10T22:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/201 "2012-03-13T17:17:11Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Same here. I’ve used Word for like fifteen years and I’ve never had occasion to use those features. I’ve only ever seen the collaboration features a small handful of times. Hell, I’ve used it for about twenty years _and_ scored a perfect 100% on my temp agency’s Word proficiency exam (though this was in 2003-4, so maybe it wasn’t that widely used at the time), and I’ve never used it nor even seen it (to the best of my recollection.) ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/202 "2012-03-13T17:23:09Z")
[The Scene] A college, 100-level history class. Think: the kind of class that covers protozoa in the original primordial ooze to Reconstruction; the type of class history professors hate to teach and that students hate to take. 40-50 students of all majors, sitting in rows and paying various levels of attention. Professor is lecturing about Mesopotamia and how they domesticated animals. * * * Student [blonde, 20 something, looking INCREDIBLY confused, raises hand and is called on by Professor]: “So, like, Mesopotamians invented chickens?” The class falls silent; Professor stares in stunned silence at the girl. She continues. Student [now growing somewhat confidant in her position, taking an almost haughty and exhasperated tone, unable to believe no one understands her relatively simplistic question]: “Ok. Like. There were no chickens, right? Then the Mesopotamians made chickens. And now we have chickens.” The absolute best part about that story? She was studying to be a teacher. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/203 "2012-03-13T17:23:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Hell, I’ve used it for about twenty years _and_ scored a perfect 100% on my temp agency’s Word proficiency exam (though this was in 2003-4, so maybe it wasn’t that widely used at the time), and I’ve never used it nor even seen it (to the best of my recollection.) MS-Word, like many other “mature” pieces of software, is designed to be everything to everybody. I used it for 20 years before I had any need for the collaborative functions, but I’ve been using the indexing and footnoting features since they were first introduced. I know people who learned “word art” in lesson #1, yet I never use it. If someone uses Word daily and doesn’t know what key takes them to the next word or to the end of the line, I’m surprised. If they don’t know how to do citations, that doesn’t surprise me at all. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/204 "2012-03-13T17:36:52Z")
We were throwing a baby shower for a co-worker who was pregnant with twins. As I was paying for twin-themed decorations at the local party supply store, the cashier asked me if they were identical. “They are a boy and a girl.” “Yea, but are they identical?” I was speechless. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b782af/32.png) [@Why\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_Child)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/205 "2012-03-13T17:54:47Z")
About 2 years ago, my boyfriend’s (then)roommate told me that he loved dodos because they were so funny. 😕 I told him that dodos are extinct. He said, adamantly and loudly, that he had just seen a special on them on Discovery channel, and that the way they landed in the water was hilarious. :eek: I told him again, they are extinct… and were flightless. He never would believe me. The only thing I can figure is that given the connotations of the two words, he had confused dodos with loons. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/206 "2012-03-13T17:56:20Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/207 "2012-03-13T18:03:04Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > so, this is a story about you being smug. That’s about all I got from that story, too - if it says, “Cedar plank,” why would you have to ask the waitress what kind of wood it was? It’s cedar! 😕 > [@kferr](#): > > I’ve seen the same thing in several Brits I know. Maybe you guys are forgetting the 51st and 52nd states, Canada and Mexico. 🙂 > [@Doug\_K](#): > > My wife and I had a similar experience wanting to buy some dowels. Stopped a clerk, asked him where they were and he had no idea what we were talking about, even when we described them. We managed to find them ourselves about 15 minutes later. I wanted to take a 3/4 inch dowel and find the guy so I could yell “THIS (whack) IS (whack) WHAT (whack) A (whack) DOWEL (whack) IS (whack)!” Heh - I’m picturing that now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/208 "2012-03-13T18:08:32Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Student [blonde, 20 something, looking INCREDIBLY confused, raises hand and is called on by Professor]: “So, like, Mesopotamians invented chickens?” > > The class falls silent; Professor stares in stunned silence at the girl. She continues. > > Student [now growing somewhat confidant in her position, taking an almost haughty and exhasperated tone, unable to believe no one understands her relatively simplistic question]: “Ok. Like. There were no chickens, right? Then the Mesopotamians made chickens. And now we have chickens.” I guess she was stupid, but other people have referred to breeding domestic animals slowly from wild animals as ‘inventing’ them, to emphasize that these people created what they wanted from the tools they had. Domesticating an animal into a new species is inventing, but we don’t call it that because it’s an animal. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/209 "2012-03-13T18:10:34Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I guess she was stupid, but other people have referred to breeding domestic animals slowly from wild animals as ‘inventing’ them, to emphasize that these people created what they wanted from the tools they had. Domesticating an animal into a new species is inventing, but we don’t call it that because it’s an animal. Yeah, I’m with the student on that one. She was trying to put it her own words. Not a bad goal, even if it sounds kinda stupid. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/210 "2012-03-13T18:13:37Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I guess she was stupid, but other people have referred to breeding domestic animals slowly from wild animals as ‘inventing’ them, to emphasize that these people created what they wanted from the tools they had. Domesticating an animal into a new species is inventing, but we don’t call it that because it’s an animal. > [@StusBlues](#): > > Yeah, I’m with the student on that one. She was trying to put it her own words. Not a bad goal, even if it sounds kinda stupid. No, no, she later explained her position further after class, because she was still confused. She literally thought the Mesopotamians pulled a god or something and made chickens from nothing. She literally (not figuratively) meant: there were no chickens, Mesopotamians made chickens, and then there were chickens. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/211 "2012-03-13T18:18:06Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > No, no, she later explained her position further after class, because she was still confused. She literally thought the Mesopotamians pulled a god or something and made chickens from nothing. She literally (not figuratively) meant: there were no chickens, Mesopotamians made chickens, and then there were chickens. This wasn’t Bob Jones University, I am assuming? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/212 "2012-03-13T18:18:43Z")
> [@Why\_Child](#): > > About 2 years ago, my boyfriend’s (then)roommate told me that he loved dodos because they were so funny. 😕 > I told him that dodos are extinct. He said, adamantly and loudly, that he had just seen a special on them on Discovery channel, and that the way they landed in the water was hilarious. :eek: > I told him again, they are extinct… and were flightless. He never would believe me. The only thing I can figure is that given the connotations of the two words, he had confused dodos with loons. Probably puffins. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/213 "2012-03-13T18:28:26Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Probably puffins. Flamingos maybe? ---
**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:** [March 13, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/214 "2012-03-13T18:31:03Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > We were throwing a baby shower for a co-worker who was pregnant with twins. As I was paying for twin-themed decorations at the local party supply store, the cashier asked me if they were identical. > > “They are a boy and a girl.” “Yea, but are they identical?” > > I was speechless. Did he / she really say “yea” (the old-fashioned word that rhymes with hay), or is that a typo for “yeah”? Because I would have been tempted to respond, “verily? Nay, forsooth” and escaped in a cloud of confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/215 "2012-03-13T18:52:31Z")
> [@eldowan](#): > > One day I went to eat at a seafood place by the mall, in TX. On the menu was a dish: fish served on a cedar plank… My first thought whenever I hear of that is that it sounds awfully unhygenic serving food on a piece of wood. If you’d asked me, I probably would have thought it was a trick question and answered, “plastic imitation cedar”. I was well into adulthood, at least my thirties or maybe even forties, when I found out that the Jews’ perception of Jesus was different than Christians’, that they didn’t consider him the son of God and all that. In my defence, I’ve never been into religion and it’s never been a topic of discussion among my friends, but I do consider myself fairly well read and aware of things generally and felt a bit foolish for it. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/216 "2012-03-13T19:00:22Z")
I remember once I was at a bar with my friend. A transvestite started talking to my friend. It was a short exchange. (less than five minutes I’d say.) After she/he turned around and walked away my friends turns and says to me: “Man! What was up with the adams apple on that girl?” I wish I could say he was wooshing me. He was not. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/217 "2012-03-13T19:01:44Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Flamingos maybe? I vote grebes. I had a homeschooled coworker who believed that there were only 2 countries in the world that had any nuclear weapons–the US and Russia. They each had a single missile, capable of doomsday. When I showed him some info on wikipedia regarding the nuclear club of other countries, and how many nukes and types of nukes there are, he refused to believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/218 "2012-03-13T19:04:41Z")
> [@Esox\_Lucius](#): > > My first thought whenever I hear of that is that it sounds awfully unhygenic serving food on a piece of wood. Fun fact: Unless the material is actually sterilized, wood is _more_ hygienic than plastic. Some of the chemical components of wood are not particularly beneficial to micro-organisms. That’s in fact the reason for the tree to make them. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/219 "2012-03-13T19:23:28Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > My wife and I had a similar experience wanting to buy some dowels. Stopped a clerk, asked him where they were and he had no idea what we were talking about, even when we described them. We managed to find them ourselves about 15 minutes later. I wanted to take a 3/4 inch dowel and find the guy so I could yell “THIS (whack) IS (whack) WHAT (whack) A (whack) DOWEL (whack) IS (whack)!” I disapprove. A 3/4 inch dowel is NOT going to get through that level of ignorance. You’re going to need at least a full inch. And preferably you’re going to need an old fashioned nun to administer the lesson, one of the old girls who have beaten idiots every day for YEARS. You gotta train for that sorta thing. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/220 "2012-03-13T19:24:40Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > We were throwing a baby shower for a co-worker who was pregnant with twins. As I was paying for twin-themed decorations at the local party supply store, the cashier asked me if they were identical. > > “They are a boy and a girl.” “Yea, but are they identical?” > > I was speechless. This is one of those rare times where the stupid person is actually right (unbeknownst to them). Male-female monozygotic twins are possible, although extremely rare. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=12)