# Have you met someone who didn't know a really well-known pop or historical reference?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 22, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658 "2013-03-22T17:57:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 16
### Author:  [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/301 "2013-04-06T16:26:39Z")
I’m very savvy on internet memes and what not and while I’ve heard the words Harlem and shake used together, I still have no idea what it is nor do I really care to find out!
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2013, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/302 "2013-04-07T01:53:03Z")
It’s a dance, and apparently there are YouTube videos, but I’ve not cared enough yet to look at one. They say it’s replaced Gangnam style.
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/303 "2013-04-07T02:36:36Z")
Oh, good lord. [It takes 30 seconds to watch a fucking Harlem Shake video.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELbeouceGQM) And yes, they’re stupid and pointless. If you’ve seen one, you’ve pretty much seen them all.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/304 "2013-04-07T02:40:09Z")
Thanks. Now I’ve seen the Harlem Shake.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/305 "2013-04-07T03:31:15Z")
> [@Tangent](#):
>
> Oh, good lord. [It takes 30 seconds to watch a fucking Harlem Shake video.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELbeouceGQM) And yes, they’re stupid and pointless. If you’ve seen one, you’ve pretty much seen them all.
I (still) don’t get it.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/306 "2013-04-07T12:56:52Z")
> [@Leaffan](#):
>
> I (still) don’t get it.
There’s nothing to get. It’s just a stupid thing, there really is no more to it than that.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/307 "2013-04-07T17:11:38Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#):
>
> There’s nothing to get. It’s just a stupid thing, there really is no more to it than that.
But where are all the black people in that? I saw some weird moves but very little actual shaking. This is bullshit.
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### Author:  [@Snow\_Pea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snow_Pea)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/308 "2013-04-07T18:35:24Z")
> [@For You](#):
>
> I have made some good money selling stuff I found lying around in the quarry.
Wut? 😕
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### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2013, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/309 "2013-04-08T07:36:58Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#):
>
> But where are all the black people in that? I saw some weird moves but very little actual shaking. This is bullshit.
The name of the song they’re dancing to is called the Harlem Shake (By Baauer, I believe). FWIW I too was surprised to discover the videos weren’t a bunch of amusing flash mobs in part of New York City.
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### Author:  [@gunnergoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunnergoz)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/310 "2013-04-09T04:39:58Z")
When my new Ukrainian bride got to the USA, it turned out that she did not know who John Wayne was, along with a lot of other famous US actors of the 40’s through the 1980’s. After the late 80’s, many of the West’s movie stars became known in the former Soviet countries as they opened up to the West after the collapse of the USSR.
Oddly enough, though, she’d seen and loved Gone With the Wind - that was a film that was approved by the Communists and was what Hollywood was generally known for over in the Soviet countries for many years.
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### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/311 "2013-04-09T16:14:37Z")
When Stepdaughter was about 16, we were eating Thanksgiving dinner and the subject got around to music and Paul McCartney’s name came up. SWMBO jokingly said something along the lines of how he was in a little garage band before he was in Wings.
And Stepdaughter said, “Who’s Paul McCartney?”
She got educated.
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### Author:  [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/312 "2013-04-09T16:24:52Z")
> [@Clothahump](#):
>
> When Stepdaughter was about 16, we were eating Thanksgiving dinner and the subject got around to music and Paul McCartney’s name came up. SWMBO jokingly said something along the lines of how he was in a little garage band before he was in Wings.
>
> And Stepdaughter said, “Who’s Paul McCartney?”
>
> She got educated.
I find this a lot more likely these days than “Paul McCartney was in a band?” either before or after Wings. I’d expect a preponderance of kids today (especially those with only a passing interest in music) to have heard of the Beatles but not know who any of the members were.
When John Lennon died, I had no idea who he was–but I was ten years old at the time.
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### Author:  [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/313 "2013-04-09T16:30:37Z")
Too late to edit: That said, I did know a guy a few years ago - ca. 20 years old at the time (2005) - who had no idea who Keith Richards was. Granted, he was a little young, but we were working in a bookstore together and Keef was on several magazine covers that week. Also, the guy was a huge zombie fan, and I’d think Keef would be a stunning exemplar thereof.
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### Author:  [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/314 "2013-04-09T17:00:43Z")
> [@Shakes](#):
>
> One time I had a layover in some airport (Can’t remember which) I’m sitting at a table with some lady I don’t know. Playing on the TV is Buggs Bunny and Yo Sammity Sam. This lady couldn’t stop laughing to save her life. At one point she asked me if I knew who that was. (I told her)
>
> Granted, this lady was a foreigner of some sort but damn, where on the planet can you learn to speak good English and not ever hear of Buggs Bunny?
Man, it would be so awesome to have JUST DISCOVERED the Warner Bros. cartoons!
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/315 "2013-04-09T17:12:06Z")
One fine day, when I was in high school, I was talking to one of my classmates about Through the Looking-Glass. He hadn’t read it. He had barely heard of it. I mentioned Jabberwocky, and he was nonplused, so I start quoting it: " 'Twas brillig and the slithy toves did…" He looked at me as if I was frothing at the mouth and about to become violent at any moment. Reassurances that it was just a nonsense poem did not keep him from scurrying away.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/316 "2013-04-10T00:22:32Z")
> [@StusBlues](#):
>
> When John Lennon died, I had no idea who he was–but I was ten years old at the time.
Me too. I did know The Beatles, as I had watched _Help_ and _A Hard Day’s Night_, but didn’t know which was who or what their full names were.
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### Author:  [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/317 "2013-04-10T00:31:33Z")
Some of these posts are comparing apples and oranges.
Some things people should know - for instance, a girl in my class learned I lived in Berlin for many years and asked, “How far is Germany from Europe?” Sadly, only half the class laughed and the other half also wanted to know how far Germany was from Europe. For me, this is basic geography.
Now if I had asked who the Chancellor of Germany was, well - that is simply a matter of not being interested or well-versed in foreign politics. Not everybody is.
Similarly, I know of very few sport figures and probably could sit next to some really famous Hall Of Fame athlete and not have a clue. But then again, I don’t give a damn and still wouldn’t be impressed if I knew who that person was sitting next to me.
My parents knew all of the big-bands and every musician…but I could probably name one or two at best, and yes, this was all way before my time.
Oddly, even at my age, I do know who KeSha is and loathe her.
A second breakfast is actually fairly common in Germany, so even without LOTR, I would have known what that is.
Was never into the Van Halen whatever, and when I first moved to California, my biggest fear was that everyone was going to be as stupid and vapid as David Lee Roth - luckily, that was not true.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/318 "2013-04-10T00:38:59Z")
> [@StusBlues](#):
>
> When John Lennon died, I had no idea who he was–but I was ten years old at the time.
It works the other way too. Sometimes I’ll see posts here “OMG! xxxxx had died!” and I have absolutely no idea who you young’ns are talking about.
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/319 "2013-04-10T01:36:41Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#):
>
> . . . I mentioned Jabberwocky, and he was nonplused, so I start quoting it: " 'Twas brillig and the slithy toves did…" He looked at me as if I was frothing at the mouth and about to become violent at any moment. . . .
Well, let’s face it, we Wonderland fans are a bit mimsy at the best of times!
I have heard it averred (no cite available) that these are the second-most quoted books in the English language, following the Bible. Delightful, if true…
(Locally, the third-most quoted is Bored of the Rings.)
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-met-someone-who-didnt-know-a-really-well-known-pop-or-historical-reference/653658/320 "2013-04-10T02:24:19Z")
> [@Trinopus](#):
>
> I have heard it averred (no cite available) that these are the second-most quoted books in the English language, following the Bible. Delightful, if
I’m sure that Shakespeare beats it.
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