# 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:** 33
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/641 "2012-03-28T20:19:40Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > In general, you have to be _extremely goddamned specific_ when asking the waitstaff what’s in the food. Went to a Korean spa the other day with my girlfriends, including the token vegan. After much discussion with the staff, she ordered the Vegetarian Plate, resigned to the fact that, due to the language barrier, there would likely be some fish sauce or broth of dead beast somewhere in it. She ended up chomping into what looked for all the world like a raw fetal bird in one of her salads. She was, as you can imagine, quite upset. Of course, it wasn’t a raw fetal bird. It was a raw fetal squid. Apparently “no meat, no fish - VEGETABLES ONLY!” Vegetarian Plate means something else in Korean. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/642 "2012-03-28T20:30:45Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Went to a Korean spa the other day with my girlfriends, including the token vegan. After much discussion with the staff, she ordered the Vegetarian Plate, resigned to the fact that, due to the language barrier, there would likely be some fish sauce or broth of dead beast somewhere in it. I remember sitting in a fast food Chinese place once, and another customer insisting that he not get any type of pork in his meal. The women at the counter just didn’t get it. “You get fried rice! Only some pork!” ---
**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 28, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/643 "2012-03-28T20:34:50Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Being from Germany, I’m as clueless as your boyfriend. Having heard of Girl Scout cookies several times, I’ve always assumed they were homemade cookies sold by girl scouts at their neighborhood’s doors for charity. What am I missing? That under US health and safety laws, that would probably be illegal. I’ve heard that even private bake sales by churches and such are coming under fire. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/644 "2012-03-28T20:35:56Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I remember sitting in a fast food Chinese place once, and another customer insisting that he not get any type of pork in his meal. The women at the counter just didn’t get it. “You get fried rice! Only some pork!” “But I don’t LIKE pork!” ---
**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 28, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/645 "2012-03-28T20:38:13Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > “But I don’t LIKE pork!” I’ll have your pork. I love it. I’m having pork pork pork pork pork pork pork baked beans pork pork pork and pork! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/646 "2012-03-28T21:23:57Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > A Canadian friend of mine once claimed that the English language is more related to the language of the Saxons than that of the Angles, so the proper term should be Saxophones instead. 😛 [cheapshot]But around here, it’s the _franco_phones that go wah-wah-wahhhhh[/cheapshot] yes, I know that that is usually a trombone sound. I don’t care, I’m making the bad joke anyways. I’m allowed - I’m bilingual! ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/647 "2012-03-28T22:20:18Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > … I’m having pork pork pork pork pork pork pork baked beans pork pork pork and pork! i see, i see. chicken it is. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/648 "2012-03-28T22:49:29Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Being from Germany, I’m as clueless as your boyfriend. Having heard of Girl Scout cookies several times, I’ve always assumed they were homemade cookies sold by girl scouts at their neighborhood’s doors for charity. What am I missing? It probably started out that way decades ago but now they’re mass processed by the millions and boxed up like you would buy in a store except they’re mainly available only one time a year and sold to raise money for the Girl Scouts. The marketing is brilliant because people go nuts for them even though they are just like any other mass produced cookie. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/649 "2012-03-29T00:09:57Z")
A friend of mine did not know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Specifically, she toasted the bread, put on the cheese, and then asked why it wasn’t melting. Words fail. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/650 "2012-03-29T00:50:17Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > [cheapshot]But around here, it’s the _franco_phones that go wah-wah-wahhhhh[/cheapshot] Why would you even say that if you know it’s a cheap shot? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/651 "2012-03-29T01:16:43Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > Why would you even say that if you know it’s a cheap shot? Because it was a bad joke and it made me chuckle and I was trying to be funny? (As explained in the smaller text you conveniently chopped off when quoting me). Unless I’m being whoosed by you pretending to whine about it (in which case, :D)… …if I really must explain it… I read the word _saxophone_, I thought of the wah-wah-wahhh sound that cartoons play after a bad joke or pun and I substituted another term that was part of the initial conversation that led to the saxophone joke in the first place. Don’t take it so personally - it really was just a cheap joke for an easy laugh, inspired by nothing at all other than the saxophone joke. Lighten up. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/652 "2012-03-29T03:23:19Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Well, bless his heart… but weep for his school’s oppriorities. I always wonder if college football players are learning enough to get good jobs outside of the sports world\*/. Well, that’s how I meant it. Like the southern version of “God bless him, he needs it.” Or when an adult says something naiive, and you respond, “You’re adorable.” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/653 "2012-03-29T04:08:16Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I remember sitting in a fast food Chinese place once, and another customer insisting that he not get any type of pork in his meal. The women at the counter just didn’t get it. “You get fried rice! Only some pork!” The first time I ever tried Thai food, I asked for it to be mild. Very mild. Very, very mild, as mild as possible. The waiter grinned at me and said, “Okay! You want that spicy?” I almost bolted, but gathered my courage and stayed. DAMN, that was hot! But…good! Now I’m a regular there! ---
**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 29, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/654 "2012-03-29T04:29:03Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > The first time I ever tried Thai food, I asked for it to be mild. Very mild. Very, very mild, as mild as possible. > > The waiter grinned at me and said, “Okay! You want that spicy?” I’ve usually had the opposite problem. I’ve started using codes like “Thai spicy” and “pet pet” and ordering Thai basil chicken with a fried egg on top to get them to understand that I know what I’m asking for when I want it “very spicy.” Mind you, I don’t prefer every Thai dish blazing hot, but there are a couple, like the aforementioned basil chicken (gai pad grapow, or whatever the hell the preferred spelling is), that I want blisteringly hot. ---
**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 29, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/655 "2012-03-29T13:51:21Z")
I heard on the radio this morning (CBC) that someone has located the engines from the Apollo 11, Saturn V rocket on the floor of the Atlantic ocean. The announcer then said “Four days after liftoff Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the moon.” Anyone even vaguely familiar with the moon landings can see the problem with that statement. Even if it was prepared for her, I don’t know how you could even read that without correcting the glaring error. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/656 "2012-03-29T13:56:36Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > The announcer then said “Four days after liftoff Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the moon.” Wow. It should have read “Four days after liftoff Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, and Mr. Gorski got a blowjob.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/657 "2012-03-29T13:58:44Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I read the word _saxophone_, I thought of the wah-wah-wahhh sound that cartoons play after a bad joke or pun and I substituted another term that was part of the initial conversation that led to the saxophone joke in the first place. Except that’s a trombone, not a saxophone. Unless you’re thinking of Benny Hill. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/658 "2012-03-29T14:01:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > The announcer then said “Four days after liftoff Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the moon.” > > Anyone even vaguely familiar with the moon landings can see the problem with that statement. Even if it was prepared for her, I don’t know how you could even read that without correcting the glaring error. I guess it depends on your definition of “vaguely.” Being “vaguely familiar with the moon landings” to me means someone would know when they happened and who was involved, but knowing the details of how the mission was executed starts to move beyond “vaguely.” I can see someone being told the names of everyone who flew on the mission, and then mistakenly assuming all three of them actually set foot on the moon; that’s not all that shocking to me. ---
**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 29, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/659 "2012-03-29T15:16:42Z")
Agreed: It wasn’t glaring to me. If I thought of the moon landings, I’d have thought of a rocket ship taking off from the earth and landing on the moon (with all the astronauts aboard), then taking off from the moon and returning to earth. It’s certainly possible to read or hear quite a bit about the moon landings (such as the [Straight](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1758/was-the-apollo-moon-landing-a-hoax) [Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/820/did-astronaut-neil-armstrong-muff-his-historic-one-small-step-line) columns about it) without learning otherwise. Upon looking it up on Wikipedia, I realize it wasn’t quite like that, which is something I may well have known at one time but it didn’t stick in my mind. ---
**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 29, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/660 "2012-03-29T15:19:51Z")
Yikes! Well, it jumped right out at me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=32) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=34)