# 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:** 13
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/241 "2012-03-14T03:47:45Z")
Oh, I recall one Intro to Astronomy class, the sort that is actually restricted to non-science majors. Astronomy for Poets, you know? And my friend, who always speaks her mind, could not understand why the moon causes tides. She just didn’t understand the concept. So she stood up, was called upon, and asked: “So what you’re saying is that the water in the ocean actually moves _up and down_, other than the waves?” Turns out that she was a Minnesotan and had never been exposed to the concept of tides. Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/242 "2012-03-14T03:53:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s interesting. I don’t ever recall seeing the asterisk for multiplication in high school or college (1989-1998). I only have one math-related book at hand, one on probability published in 2000, and it uses the dot notation for multiplication, too. I don’t believe the \* (asterisk) for multiplication is now, or ever was, accepted as proper mathematical notation, anywhere. It came into use for multiplication in programming languages, and is nearly universal now among all the many programming languages. You’ll see it everywhere in computer programming books, but never in math books that I know of. It has become somewhat common “colloquially” to use \* this way, since so many more people today are at least a little bit computer literate. Related thing: In algebra, expressions with multiple layers of parentheses are supposed to use (…) and [square brackets] and {curly braces} for the different layers, as in: a \* {b \* [c + (d - e) \* g] - h} \* k but in computer languages, this is written with parentheses only: a \* (b \* (c + (d - e) \* g) - h) \* k and it has become more common to see that done in math classes too. (And yes, they should use the centered dot or no symbol at all for the multiplication too, but I didn’t want to bother looking the magic code to enter a centered dot.) ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheField](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@LilyoftheField](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheField)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/243 "2012-03-14T03:57:28Z")
> [@Why\_Child](#): > > I never thought I’d say this, but what pretty feet the boobies have! > If he hadn’t wound up getting so mad about it, it would be easier. He just kept arguing. I finally had to ask him “Do you want me to get the dictionary?,” and it turned out he did not. > Besides, he’s a man. I’m sure he would’ve remembered “boobies”. :rolleyes: (Because they have such pretty feet, of course. ) I’m betting on gooney birds… ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/244 "2012-03-14T04:02:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Flamingos maybe? Dodos? Loons? Flamingos? Puffins? I’m going to guess albatrosses, a.k.a. gooney birds, or possibly [booby birds](http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/boobies.html) ETA: Oh, I see someone beat me to gooneys. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/245 "2012-03-14T04:12:19Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > The campaign was shot down, mostly because the other 4 people on the team were arguing over “St. Petersburg”. Only two people had heard of the city in Florida, and only one had heard of the one in Russia. None of the people on the team realized that there were two cities with that name. I only learned fairly recently that there are two major Mediterranean coastal cities named Tripoli. (According to the Wikipedia disambiguarion page, there is also a Tripoli in Greece, and also in Iowa.) ---
**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 14, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/246 "2012-03-14T04:25:37Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > \ > > You have a point. I still maintain that we’re gonna need an old-fashioned nun to administer the lesson. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/247 "2012-03-14T04:26:02Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And furthermore, what is “toilet water” (or “terlet water”) anyway, as used a few posts above? “American” for Eau de Toilette, a weaker version of perfume. Probably for more everyday use. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/248 "2012-03-14T04:32:36Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:197, topic:615416”] Then I asked them: What document guarantees us the right to say what we wish and read what we wish? In two out of the four classes, _not one single student_ could come up with an answer. I would have happily accepted the first amendment, the Bill of Rights, or the Constitution as answers. In the other two classes, there was a pause and some discussion before someone came up with it. That’s mind-blowing to me. [/QUOTE] Not a snark, but maybe because they’re smart enough to know that there is no document that does what you say it does. The smarter ones must have conversed and came up with what they thought you must be talking about. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/249 "2012-03-14T04:50:53Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Not a snark, but maybe because they’re smart enough to know that there is no document that does what you say it does. The smarter ones must have conversed and came up with what they thought you must be talking about. Seems to me that it takes some serious pedantry to say that the bill of rights doesn’t qualify as a document which “guarantees us the right to say what we wish and read what we wish?” ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/250 "2012-03-14T05:02:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by **BobArrgh** > “You need to manage your network in St. Petersburg? No problem. Oh, you mean St. Petersburg, Russia? Still no problem!” > > Another was, “You need to track your shipments to San Jose? No problem. Wait. San Jose, Costa Rica? Still no problem!” > > The campaign was shot down, mostly because the other 4 people on the team were arguing over “St. Petersburg”. Only two people had heard of the city in Florida, and only one had heard of the one in Russia. None of the people on the team realized that there were two cities with that name. The Straight Dope is fulfilling it’s mission today, because I can’t say I’ve ever heard of St. Petersburg, Florida, or San Jose, Costa Rica. I also never knew that notions means sewing things, that there are two Tripolis, that you could have identical twins with different genders, or that albatrosses were also called Gooney Birds. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/251 "2012-03-14T05:37:36Z")
> [@keeganst94](#): > > The Straight Dope is fulfilling it’s mission today, because I can’t say I’ve ever heard of St. Petersburg, Florida, or San Jose, Costa Rica. I also never knew that notions means sewing things, that there are two Tripolis, that you could have identical twins with different genders, or that albatrosses were also called Gooney Birds. its sorry. I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I knew all those things except the double tripoli. I know a billion things like those. It hasn’t made me a better person though, except at crossword puzzles. I thought chickens were invented in Indonesia though. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/252 "2012-03-14T07:17:17Z")
> [@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. Hey, the “identical twins of different genders” trope is one of my pet peeves; the Enyd Blyton series and The Iron Mask are almost the only times I can recall seeing twins in a book (much less visual media) where: - their being twins isn’t used as a source of confusion every three lines, - and they’re not “identical except for the plumbing”. That sort of movies doesn’t even qualify for popcorn, popcorn wilts in their presence… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/253 "2012-03-14T07:26:28Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Related thing: In algebra, expressions with multiple layers of parentheses are supposed to use (…) and [square brackets] and {curly braces} for the different layers, as in: > a \* {b \* [c + (d - e) \* g] - h} \* k > but in computer languages, this is written with parentheses only: > a \* (b \* (c + (d - e) \* g) - h) \* k > and it has become more common to see that done in math classes too. > (And yes, they should use the centered dot or no symbol at all for the multiplication too, but I didn’t want to bother looking the magic code to enter a centered dot.) Heh, apparently my American teachers were just too computerized… I’d been thinking about this when I went home last night but forgot to post. We were used to the “different kinds of brackets” notations, but our American teachers used only parenthesis, which is sort of confusing if you’re used to layered brackets. One of the Koreans asked whether it was OK to use different kinds of brackets and had to explain it slowly before the teacher said no. We didn’t use square brackets, which were reserved for other uses; we used a sort of square braces (like the brackets but with a ‘beak’ like the curly braces have). ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/254 "2012-03-14T07:52:59Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > OK, now this is really weird. I hit the wrong button on the XBOX controller tonight, and we ended up watching a 2008 movie in which Klinefelter’s Syndrome guest starred as an Important Plot Device. :dubious: OoooOOOOOOooooo. :eek: Gotta love serendipity! ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/255 "2012-03-14T07:55:57Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Ok. Like. There were no chickens, right? Then the Mesopotamians made chickens. And now we have chickens." This is worded oddly but does make sense. \ ---
**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 14, 2012, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/256 "2012-03-14T08:09:39Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Well, color me stupid! I’ve been around a few years longer than you, and this is the first I’ve ever heard what “notions” are (although I’ve seen the word used a few times in stores, where it couldn’t possibly have meant “ideas”). > > ETA: And furthermore, what is “toilet water” (or “terlet water”) anyway, as used a few posts above? I’ve always known what notions are, in the sewing context, as soon as I was old enough to sew, about eight or so. But my mother and grandmother both sewed quite a bit. I do remember being puzzled that the word notions had two meanings. Toilet water is like perfume, but weaker. There’s definitions of what is perfume and what is cologne and what is toilet water. This is why a scent might cost $10 for a big bottle of it, but $90 for a tiny bottle. The big bottle is toilet water, and is quite weak. The tiny bottle is perfume, and should be used very sparingly. At any rate, “toilet” in this case means “the act of dressing and/or grooming oneself”, not “potty”. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/257 "2012-03-14T09:05:10Z")
> [@grude](#): > > This is worded oddly but does make sense. > > \ Humans _developed_ domestic animals like chickens but _invent_ may be the wrong word – early breeding was probably mostly inadvertant. The big problem here, however, is that chickens did _not_ originate in Mesopotomia: > [@](#): > > The history of chickens (Gallus domesticus) is a bit of a puzzle. They were first domesticated from a wild form called red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), a bird that still runs wild in most of southeast Asia, likely hybridized with the grey junglefowl (G. sonneratii. That occurred probably about 8,000 years ago. Recent research suggests there may have been multiple origins in distinct areas of South and Southeast Asia, including North and South China, Thailand, Burma and India. The earliest attested chickens in the West, according to Wikipedia, seem to be in Egypt’s 18th dynasty. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/258 "2012-03-14T09:12:39Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > At any rate, “toilet” in this case means “the act of dressing and/or grooming oneself”, not “potty”. In that case, “toilet” would be pronounced “twa-LAY” I assume. 😛 ---
**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 14, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/259 "2012-03-14T10:02:04Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Toilet water is like perfume, but weaker. \ Yeah for some reason we use the french expression in the UK: “eau de toilette”. Can’t believe I read “toilet water” and didn’t make the association… ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/260 "2012-03-14T14:39:41Z")
After any natural disaster, such as a blizzard, earthquake, etc., a neighbor’s mother would say, “I knew it! Ever since man walked on the moon, things haven’t been right!” One wonders why she thought they happened prior to 1969. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=14)