# I agree with Opal **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 3, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161 "2009-11-03T14:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/1 "2009-11-03T14:33:37Z")
A list _should_ have three or more items, otherwise it’s not a proper list. The lonely 1 and 2 look pathetic compared to better endowed itemizations. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/2 "2009-11-03T14:40:58Z")
1. May be you’re right. 2. Who cares? 3. Bye Malleus, Incus, Stapes! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/3 "2009-11-03T14:56:31Z")
In graduate school, there’s a whole subgenre of comedy known as comps humor – jokes people made to alleviate their anxiety about the ordeal known as comprehensive exams. (When I was a girl, you had to take all four – two two-hour exams and two four-hour exams that comprehensively cover all elements of four different subjects – within two weeks. There was oodles of anxiety. I understand nowadays they’re not bunched like that – sissies.) Anyway, someone suggested that all you needed to know for comps was that any question had one of three possible answers: 1. Yes 2. No 3. Who the hell cares? Make of this response what you will. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/4 "2009-11-03T15:00:14Z")
Panache’s Corollary to Opal’s Law: A medley must contain three or more songs. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/5 "2009-11-03T15:24:54Z")
1. I agree. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/6 "2009-11-03T15:40:57Z")
1. I need two items at the store. 2. I have a bad memory. 3. I write them down on paper, and that is my shopping \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/7 "2009-11-03T15:47:17Z")
1. Don’t think that you’re going to get us to turn your name into a meme. b. I think we’re doing just fine as we are. On the Gripping Hand: jokes about the forms rather than the substance get sort of old after a while. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/8 "2009-11-03T16:09:22Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > 1. Don’t think that you’re going to get us to turn your name into a meme. It already is a meme. Just one that’s particularly bad at replicating itself. (no offence!) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/9 "2009-11-03T16:16:14Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > 1. I need two items at the store. > 2. I have a bad memory. > 3. I write them down on paper, and that is my shopping \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ? Thing. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/10 "2009-11-03T19:53:16Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > 1. I need two items at the store. > 2. I have a bad memory. > 3. I write them down on paper, and that is my shopping \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ? You can’t come up with the word for this? You really DO have a bad memory. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/11 "2009-11-03T21:59:32Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > 1. I need two items at the store. > 2. I have a bad memory. > 3. I write them down on paper, and that is my shopping \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ? Listette? Mini-list? Liszt? ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/12 "2009-11-03T22:30:31Z")
It’s just that we human beings like the numbers 3 and 5. A list looks odd when it only have 2 or 4 items. Strangely, at least me for me, list with 6 items or more don’t look strange regardless of how many items there are. I guess it is because our brain process stuff in chunks of 3s and 5s, and occasionally 7s. As it stands, we need a filler for item #5. I opt for “profit!” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/13 "2009-11-03T23:08:25Z")
I can usually stave off the problem by starting with: 1. Make a list. If I can’t come up with a third item, I add: 1. Cross off 1. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-agree-with-opal/516161/14 "2009-11-03T23:46:12Z")
Good strategy, although it only works for steps.