# Hit the 57! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2000, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845 "2000-01-18T13:48:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/1 "2000-01-18T13:48:00Z")
My wife and I and second son had a bite to eat at Red Robin yesterday evening and I was trying to get the ketchup out of the bottle and onto the french fries. My usual method is to shake the bottle first and then pour, but it wasn’t working. Both my wife and son started telling me to “Hit the 57!”. Apparently I was supposed to hold the bottle at 45 degrees and hit it smartly just where the neck begins to taper – there is a small “57” embossed in the glass at that point. (Can you guess the brand of ketchup?) Well – it worked! **Don’t** give me a lecture on the physics involved (can you spell _thixotropic_) but do the teeming millions have other sure-fire methods for transferring ketchup from bottle to plate? Enquiring minds want to know. * * * “To do her justice, I can’t see that she could have found anything nastier to say if she’d thought it out with both hands for a fortnight.” Dorothy L. Sayers _Busman’s Honeymoon_ ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/2 "2000-01-18T13:56:00Z")
## The quickest and most sure-fire way would be to smash the bottle on your plate. But not everybody likes French Fries with splinters. Coldfire * * * “You know how complex women are” - Neil Peart, Rush (1993) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/3 "2000-01-18T14:15:00Z")
I do not know why it works, but I was taught about “hitting the 57” about a year ago and damned if it don’t work everytime. Perhaps this is a topic Unca Cecil can enlighten us on, surely there are some fantastic physics involved. For SDMBers I recommend it highly. * * * “Solos Dios basta” ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/4 "2000-01-18T14:20:00Z")
Atreal’s fiancee thrilled us with this skill during our most recent get-together. She can not only professionally smack the 57 to get the ketchup out, but the back of Atreal’s head as well when inappropriate comments are made. * * * You are now leaving a “Smiley-free zone”! A public service message brought to you by G.R.O.S.S. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/5 "2000-01-18T14:34:00Z")
## DUH. All women can do THAT, Chief 😉 Coldfire * * * “You know how complex women are” - Neil Peart, Rush (1993) ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/6 "2000-01-18T14:47:00Z")
Coldfire, I can’t believe you had the audacity to post a smilie in a response to the Chief after his little tirade the other day. Methinks you might be getting 57 smacks upside the head from him soon. * * * That it is unwise to be heedless ourselves while we are giving advice to others, I will show in a few lines. – Phædrus – ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/7 "2000-01-18T14:49:00Z")
What can I say Unc, I live on the edge… 😉 🙂 😃 😛 :I ## Etc. Coldfire * * * “You know how complex women are” - Neil Peart, Rush (1993) ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/8 "2000-01-18T15:10:00Z")
All I know is this… after sitting at a table with a group of friends shortly after talking about this method of getting ketchup out of the bottle, one of my friends at the table starts pouring ketchup and it’s coming out really fast. We all start yelling “quick, take your finger off the 57!” Hey, at the time it was funnier than hell. _wiping a tear from my eye just thinking about it_ ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/9 "2000-01-18T15:53:00Z")
IIRC, the physics of this is detailed in one of Richard Feynman’s books. This is a pretty hazy memory, but I _think_ that’s where I read about it. And yes, it does work. I’ve been doing it that way ever since. ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/10 "2000-01-18T16:04:00Z")
Coldfire – Smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack and smack! But really, I’m over it. C’est la vie. I’ve vented. * * * You are now leaving a “Smiley-free zone”! A public service message brought to you by G.R.O.S.S. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/11 "2000-01-18T16:08:00Z")
You know what the worst part is ? I _actually_ counted those damn smacks 😉 ## (Yeah. There are REALLY 57 smacks there.) Coldfire * * * “You know how complex women are” - Neil Peart, Rush (1993) ---
**Author:** ![longjohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@longjohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longjohn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/12 "2000-01-18T16:14:00Z")
The peerless Ogden Nash had this to say on the subject: You shake and shake and shake the bottle, None comes out, And then the lot’ll. ---
**Author:** ![Frankie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Frankie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankie)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/13 "2000-01-18T17:24:00Z")
Works like a charm…Everytime. I learned this trick from a waitress about 15 years ago and it has worked almost immediately everytime! Its one of those little things I like to impress my friends with! * * * -Frankie Lack of charisma can be fatal ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/14 "2000-01-18T17:47:00Z")
Yep, it works, and IIRC Cecil did do an article on it. Although I don’t think I read it online, I am pretty sure I read it in a book at one time or another. I was taught by a waitress as well. * * * If your head is wax, don’t walk in the sun. -Benjamin Franklin ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/15 "2000-01-19T06:06:00Z")
(It also works with other brands of catsup, so it’s not a numerological thing) Perhaps it causes an air bubble to shimmy up there, breaking the suction-seal, like when you pour water out of a bottle carefully? ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/16 "2000-01-19T06:12:00Z")
I have one word to say: colloid. Anyway, one night, while eating dinner out with my cousin, she really embarassed me by **sticking a knife into the bottle** to get the ketchup out! Oh my, the horror, the horror. Needless to say, we don’t dine out together that often anymore 😉 * * * “It is now proved beyond doubt that smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.” ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/17 "2000-01-18T19:33:00Z")
I used to use a knife until people told me it was really gross, now I just use my tongue. Zette * * * Love is like popsicles…you get too much you get too high. Not enough and you’re gonna die… [Click here for some GOOD news for a change](http://www.binghamtonpress.com/binghamtonnews/local/Sanews5.html)[Zettecity](http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/zettecity/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/18 "2000-01-18T19:54:00Z")
LOL Zette. Then again there’s always the “Positive Pressure” technique: Put a straw down to the bottom and blow! :⚠If you do decide to try this at home, please use goggles kids:: * * * “It is now proved beyond doubt that smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.” ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/19 "2000-01-18T20:06:00Z")
Ahhh yes, reminds me of an old Jerry Clower tape where he’s talking about eating dinner at the Ledbetter’s house. Marcel Ledbetter cuts his biscuit in half and then uses the same knife for getting butter. _WHAAAAACCK_ Grandma Ledbetter hits Marcel upside the head… "Marcel, you know better than to stick your knife in the butter, before you done licked all the crumbs off it first! Enright3 ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-the-57/12845/20 "2000-01-18T20:36:00Z")
Here in about a year, restaurants are just gonna hafta get into the 21st century, and start putting their catsup (‘ketchup,’ whatever) in plastic containers, SQUEEZABLE plastic containers! ‘Thixotropic’ principles aside, the problem with that red stuff in glass bottles is not getting the red stuff out, it’s getting air IN! Coaxing practically anything out of a closed rigid container, under the normal ambient conditions, requires that you find a way to DISPLACE that thing with some other thing, in this case AIR. The butter-knife down the neck thing does that, by opening a free channel for air to enter the bottle. Tapping the ‘57’ label does the same thing, by displacing the red stuff to one side of the restrictive neck of the bottle and allowing the air to enter. Drilling a hole in the base of the bottle would accomplish the desired result too, but I don’t recommend it for the viewers at home… ## Only the SDMB folks could create this sort of mountain out of such a small, silly molehill. I don’t know why fortune smiles on some and lets the rest go free… T