# Got a Question You Ponder? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 2001, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185 "2001-09-27T20:57:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/1 "2001-09-27T20:57:14Z")
Here’s mine: _What did they call a word, before the word “word” was invented?_ ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/2 "2001-09-27T23:14:47Z")
Why? I often wonder this. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/3 "2001-09-27T23:17:48Z")
Here’s a question I had wondered about for years. I finally found the answer, but I’ll throw it out here anyway: How to you distinguish, in terminology, people who live in Nigeria from people who live in Niger? The answer is that people who live in Nigeria are Nigerians, while people who live in Niger are Nigeriens. ---
**Author:** ![atypicalcarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@atypicalcarl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atypicalcarl)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/4 "2001-09-27T23:49:22Z")
If there is a god, does he _really_ know where he came from? ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/5 "2001-09-27T23:55:49Z")
Why is it called a “combination” lock? The numbers have to be in the correct sequence, so shouldn’t it be called a “permutation” lock? ---
**Author:** ![saepiroth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@saepiroth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saepiroth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/6 "2001-09-28T00:49:32Z")
that last one ruptured my brain, because i was just thinking about that! reason: my math class (honors Algebra II) just finished work on combinations and permutations. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/7 "2001-09-28T03:03:41Z")
**That ol’ mod thang again…** I’m pondering whether this is a poll, general debate…shucky-durn, looks like it’d fit best into **MPSIMS**. (I sort out my dresser drawers the same way.) Veb ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/8 "2001-09-28T04:25:05Z")
This has been bugging me for _ages_ … Okay, you know how you think to yourself? And it comes out in words in your head? And people who speak English think in English and people who speak French think in French? Do people who have been deaf all their lives think in sign language? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/9 "2001-09-28T04:37:40Z")
What do newborn babies dream of? They obviously dream but have virtually no context. Heck, they can only focus on things about 6 inches in front of their face. For example, they don’t dream about driving a Ferrari through the hills a Maui with the top down, a sunny day, a hot love muffin in the next seat, and planning how to spend the $100 million they won in the lottery. No smart ass answers about boobs either like the last time I posted this question (like that is such an original thought). ---
**Author:** ![Mirth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Mirth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/10 "2001-09-28T06:06:20Z")
Here’s a question I like to ponder on… What if extinction is really the rapture? ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/11 "2001-09-28T10:05:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kayeby \* > \*\*This has been bugging me for _ages_ … > > Okay, you know how you think to yourself? And it comes out in words in your head? And people who speak English think in English and people who speak French think in French? Do people who have been deaf all their lives think in sign language? \*\* hmmm… well, i was raised in an english atmosphere but am now being marinated in chinese, so i think in a combo of both. this is highly useful if i can’t think of the word in one language but can in the other. I can’t speak for deaf people, though, as i don’t know any, but my hypothesis is yes, they do use sign language, or maybe symbols or made-up languages. i really don’t know. anyone want to answer? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/12 "2001-09-28T10:59:26Z")
Shouldn’t ‘monosyllabic’ be shorter? ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/13 "2001-09-28T11:02:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GuanoLad \* > \*\*Shouldn’t ‘monosyllabic’ be shorter? \*\* for that matter, shouldn’t “phonics” be spelled “fonix”? ---
**Author:** ![ThunderBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThunderBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThunderBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/14 "2001-09-28T11:09:19Z")
And along that line, why isn’t there a shorter way of writing the word “Abbreviation”? ---
**Author:** ![atypicalcarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@atypicalcarl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atypicalcarl)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/15 "2001-09-28T11:14:15Z")
Still further along those lines… Why isn’t onomatopoeia spelled the way it sounds? ---
**Author:** ![whatisnaughty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bc79bd/32.png) [@whatisnaughty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatisnaughty)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/16 "2001-09-28T12:11:17Z")
Well, I have lots of question, but Kayeby, I have to agree, that is something I have always pondered. So, anyone know? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ROADKILLGOURMET](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@ROADKILLGOURMET](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ROADKILLGOURMET)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/17 "2001-09-28T12:26:07Z")
Hi Kayeby; English isn’t my mother language, but i use it exclusively for work and i can tell you that most of the time i’m thinking in English too… When i spend some time abroad (like in the states), i completely stop thinking in my mother language. It’s just more convenient than making up phrases in your head and then have to translate them before you speak them. Know what i mean ? Like when i’m talking to a french speaking person i think in french too. Hope this helps … Brgds, A ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/18 "2001-09-28T13:09:19Z")
How did the “tradition” of one athlete touching or patting another’s butt after a good play come into being? ---
**Author:** ![walor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@walor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/walor)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/19 "2001-09-28T13:49:34Z")
Do the people in Tipperary realise that they’re a long way away? Why do clairvoyants have door bells? What does occasional furniture do for the rest of the time? ---
**Author:** ![walor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@walor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/walor)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185/20 "2001-09-28T13:51:04Z")
Where’s everything gone? I only typed _‘format C:’_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-question-you-ponder/84185.md?page=2)