# 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:** 19
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/361 "2012-03-16T15:51:25Z")
FWIW us Canucks are content to say the War of 1812 was a draw (status quo), though _yays, we burnt the White House, don’t we rock, at least a little?!_ Also, Laura [Secord](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_secord)is awesome (as is [Laura Secord](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Secord_Chocolates)…!) We appreciate it when Americans are willing to acknowledge that it wasn’t a “win” for them, because it makes us look better 😉 I once had to explain to a coworker - a chemist with a Master’s degree, from India - what _a multiplier_ was; as in, take this data, apply the appropriate multiplier (from a given list) and report the result. She didn’t know the term and even when I explained it to her, I had to go through the math step-by-step to finally just say “take this, times this, report what you get.” I don’t know why, but she couldn’t wrap her head around the term. Her English was otherwise very good, so I don’t think it was a language issue, though I guess it must have been. It was weird. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/362 "2012-03-16T15:56:41Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > FWIW us Canucks are content to say the War of 1812 was a draw (status quo), though _yays, we burnt the White House, don’t we rock, at least a little?!_ Burning The White House does, indeed, rock as hard as anything has ever rocked in the whole entire history of things rocking. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/363 "2012-03-16T16:03:28Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I’ve said it before, but when I lived in the US, every time I was asked if we celebrated Thanksgiving in the UK, I replied “yes, we give thanks that we got rid of those fucking pilgrims”. The feast of giving thanks, or harvest festival, is celebrated outside the US - on the first Sunday of October, not November, in Church, without turkey, and without the whole family together lunacy. A relativly minor festival, but it’s called “Harvest thanksgiving” literally (Erntedankfest) in my language. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/364 "2012-03-16T16:32:15Z")
My mother once innocently asked my father “what did they power the wireless with before electricity”. “Gas, of course”, he said from behind his newspaper. It took her twenty years to discover he was pulling her leg. She wasn’t happy on finding out 🙂 Evermore we joshed her with stuff about maybe the pilot light’s gone out when reception was poor. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/365 "2012-03-16T16:35:01Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > The feast of giving thanks, or harvest festival, is celebrated outside the US - on the first Sunday of October, not November, in Church, without turkey, and without the whole family together lunacy. A relativly minor festival, but it’s called “Harvest thanksgiving” literally (Erntedankfest) in my language. We call that Harvest Festival. Involved giving a food gift to the neady of the Parish generally. ---
**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 16, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/366 "2012-03-16T18:58:49Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I’m in the same boat. I stopped contributing to it about 15 years ago, transferred a 401K into it about 10 years ago, and have been investing with it ever since. This is the year I can start withdrawing from it without penalty, and I have no idea how to compute my basis, or where to find the numbers necessary to do so. I thought I only had to keep records for three years. Could you request the necessary information from the IRS? (I’m assuming that you need your taxation information.) ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/367 "2012-03-16T20:43:27Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Could you request the necessary information from the IRS? (I’m assuming that you need your taxation information.) Sure, I can request it; I guess I’ll find out whether they feel obliged to respond. But they must have it somewhere, or I wouldn’t have to worry about getting it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/368 "2012-03-16T23:31:49Z")
There was a guy in a college class of mine(around 1980) who thought that Nazis and Communists were the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/369 "2012-03-16T23:36:34Z")
> [@Jasper\_Kent](#): > > There was a guy in a college class of mine(around 1980) who thought that Nazis and Communists were the same thing. They were both against us, and you’re either with us or against us. So he was sort of right, wasn’t he? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/370 "2012-03-17T01:39:39Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > They were both against us, and you’re either with us or against us. So he was sort of right, wasn’t he? > > 😉 Sort of depends who you asked at the time: Communists said that Fascists were just Capitalists with the kid gloves taken off, Fascists said that Communists were Capitalists who took progressivism all the way, and Capitalists said that Fascists and Communists were equal and opposite varieties of Totalitarianism. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/371 "2012-03-17T01:57:17Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I know what you’re thinking, but it ain’t so! _It’s macaws all the way down!_ The macaws are coming from _inside the house!_ ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/372 "2012-03-17T01:59:56Z")
How do you get a straight-edged macaw if you don’t already have one? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/373 "2012-03-17T02:27:16Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I’m in the same boat. I stopped contributing to it about 15 years ago, transferred a 401K into it about 10 years ago, and have been investing with it ever since. This is the year I can start withdrawing from it without penalty, and I have no idea how to compute my basis, or where to find the numbers necessary to do so. I thought I only had to keep records for three years. I started a thread on this once. No on replied. It seems like taxable investments for folks who manage their own finances are a nightmare, especially if you’re reinvesting dividends. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/374 "2012-03-17T02:29:18Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Could you request the necessary information from the IRS? (I’m assuming that you need your taxation information.) In my case, the IRS didn’t have the info, but my old financial institution did, even though I’d transferred my IRA away from them long ago. I give 'em high marks for professionalism for being willing to send me the info, at no charge, even though I’m no longer a customer. It certainly improves the odds of my doing business with them again, or recommending them to anyone else! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/375 "2012-03-17T02:49:51Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > FWIW us Canucks are content to say the War of 1812 was a draw (status quo), though _yays, we burnt the White House, don’t we rock, at least a little?!_ I demand that you say “soory” right now! ---
**Author:** ![Misaheun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@Misaheun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misaheun)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/376 "2012-03-17T03:06:01Z")
I’ve come across an absurd number of Americans who have never heard of Illinois, and think that Chicago is a state (one of them labeled Indiana as such). As a lover of geography, I hate them. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/377 "2012-03-17T03:18:29Z")
One night at the convention center where I’m a chef, we were serving a barbecue buffet. A guest sent one of the waitstaff back to the kitchen to ask if there were any tomatoes in the barbecue sauce. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/378 "2012-03-17T03:25:22Z")
Apparently the NHS has ‘devastated’ the UK, and [caused the collapse of the British empire](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/9671217.stm). I think it’s a testament to democracy in the US that you allow imbeciles to be considered for high office. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/379 "2012-03-17T03:26:36Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > One night at the convention center where I’m a chef, we were serving a barbecue buffet. A guest sent one of the waitstaff back to the kitchen to ask if there were any tomatoes in the barbecue sauce. I don’t understand why this is shocking. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/380 "2012-03-17T04:02:06Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I don’t understand why this is shocking. Well, considering that tomato sauce is the primary component of most (American) barbecue sauces, this was only slightly less “shocking” than somebody asking if there were any tomatoes in the ketchup. Especially coming from a person whose reason for asking was a tomato allergy (something I neglected to mention). I assume (assuming is bad, I know, but the thread _is_ basically about those things we _assume_ everybody knows) people with food allergies are in the habit of checking ingredient labels, and would think somebody with a tomato allergy would have noticed a pattern in the labels on bottles of barbecue sauce at some point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=20)