# Fer mented thinking **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 8, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fer-mented-thinking/649663 "2013-02-08T02:14:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fer-mented-thinking/649663/1 "2013-02-08T02:14:56Z")
So I find myself in an Applebee’s in Tewksbury, Massachusetts for reasons that don’t much bear explaining, and in the waiting area is a mural about wonderful Tewksbury, with a quaint town ID sign prominent in the foreground reading: **ENTERING inc. 1734** [small line of type here] **TEWKSBURY** The small line of type, which may or may not appear on the real town ID signs, reads: _Fermenting social media leaders since the 1960s_ Besides suspecting that they meant “Fomenting” - maybe - I have no idea what this bizarre sentence means. According to the Scottish Wiki, the most famous person to come from Tewksbury is Helen Keller’s tutor Annie Sullivan, and not a notable social media or other “leader” of any type. Or why they would be fermented there, or fermented anywhere. It made for a weird and puzzled drive home. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fer-mented-thinking/649663/2 "2013-02-08T03:17:46Z")
Just don’t look in the cellar. Or ask how their vinaigrette dressing is made. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2013, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fer-mented-thinking/649663/3 "2013-02-08T10:02:12Z")
According to the [dictionary,](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ferment?s=t) “ferment” is a synonym for “foment,” and can also mean “to cause agitation or excitement in.” ---
**Author:** ![Snerky\_Snerk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Snerky\_Snerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snerky_Snerk)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fer-mented-thinking/649663/4 "2013-02-08T11:22:56Z")
> - that seems to explain it. A ‘joke’ that only 2 or 3 people would get. Twitter people are odd. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fer-mented-thinking/649663/5 "2013-02-08T16:34:34Z")
> [@Snerky\_Snerk](#): > > - that seems to explain it. A ‘joke’ that only 2 or 3 people would get. > > Twitter people are odd. Thanks very much for the find. Marketing people who twit are odder than most twits. ---
**Author:** ![smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smoke)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fer-mented-thinking/649663/6 "2013-02-08T17:17:22Z")
Ah, sweet, sweet, Tewksbury! The land of pizza shops and strip malls. Up through the early-mid 90s, there were only two stop lights on all on Main St. It’s truly bizarre to see it mentioned ANYWHERE online. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fer-mented-thinking/649663/7 "2013-02-09T04:15:21Z")
> [@smoke](#): > > Ah, sweet, sweet, Tewksbury! The land of pizza shops and strip malls. Up through the early-mid 90s, there were only two stop lights on all on Main St. It’s truly bizarre to see it mentioned ANYWHERE online. What do you mean? Tewksbury has America’s FIRST public-health museum, on the grounds of the glamorous Tewksbury State Hospital. It’s worth a day-trip from Dracut, for sure.