# "I get a 1000 hugs from 10,000 lightning bugs..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071 "2010-03-28T01:11:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/1 "2010-03-28T01:11:30Z")
How the fuck does that work, [OwlCity](http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/o/owl_city/fireflies.html)? That’s 1/10 of a hug per lightning bug, dumbass. How does that work? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/2 "2010-03-28T01:35:51Z")
I wouldn’t snark on their math before you take a look at your grammar there, buddy boy. Just sayin’. Also, he might get a thousand hugs from each lightning bug. Which might take a while. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/3 "2010-03-28T02:07:29Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I wouldn’t snark on their math before you take a look at your grammar there, buddy boy. Just sayin’. > > Also, he might get a thousand hugs from each lightning bug. Which might take a while. Where is the mistake in my grammar? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/4 "2010-03-28T02:29:27Z")
Grammar’s impeccable, as far as I can tell. Your observation, OTOH, needs work. 10,000 lightning bugs form a sort of swarm, and as a swarm can collectively surround a human and deliver a “hug” that a single bug can’t. This fellow, apparently, received 1000 such embraces. The lightning bugs, they dig him. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/5 "2010-03-28T02:31:53Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Grammar’s impeccable, as far as I can tell. Your observation, OTOH, needs work. 10,000 lightning bugs form a sort of swarm, and as a swarm can collectively surround a human and deliver a “hug” that a single bug can’t. This fellow, apparently, received 1000 such embraces. > > The lightning bugs, they dig him. Ah! That does make sense. The lightning bugs are acting as a _collective_! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/6 "2010-03-28T12:21:31Z")
Nobody else is ooged out by using an article with Arabic numbers? It just always gives me some sort of willies. Kind of like being hug-attacked by a bunch of insects, now that I think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/7 "2010-03-28T15:57:21Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > How the fuck does that work, [OwlCity](http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/o/owl_city/fireflies.html)? That’s 1/10 of a hug per lightning bug, dumbass. How does that work? I always assumed that the lightning bugs are so tiny it takes 10 of them to equal one hug. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/8 "2010-03-28T16:36:35Z")
If you want to complain about current pop lyrics how about “boys keep coming up to us because they know we got swagger, but we kick them to the curve unless they look like Mick Jagger”. Wow, someone needs to introduce that poor girl to google image search. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/9 "2010-03-28T16:42:16Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > Where is the mistake in my grammar? “A 1000” looks wrong to me. Surely it’s “a thousand” or “1,000”. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/10 "2010-03-28T16:45:03Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Nobody else is ooged out by using an article with Arabic numbers? It just always gives me some sort of willies. > > Kind of like being hug-attacked by a bunch of insects, now that I think about it. > [@jjimm](#): > > “A 1000” looks wrong to me. Surely it’s “a thousand” or “1,000”. Yes, you are both correct. I suppose I used numbers because I was making a point about mathematics. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/11 "2010-03-28T16:51:40Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > If you want to complain about current pop lyrics how about “boys keep coming up to us because they know we got swagger, but we kick them to the curve unless they look like Mick Jagger”. Wow, someone needs to introduce that poor girl to google image search. Maybe she got advice from the guy who wrote this little gem for Train’s _Hey, Soul Sister_: > [@](#): > > I’m so obsessed > my heart is bound to beat right out my untrimmed chest Besides, who else rhymes with “swagger?”. Merle Haggard? Officer Taggert from Beverly Hills Cop? The poor girl needed to finish a rhyme. You don’t expect her to change a whole verse, do you?😉 ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/12 "2010-03-29T17:47:30Z")
I don’t give a shit how many of them hugged him, I hate that song and all their other music that my sister ruined my ipod with. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/13 "2010-03-29T17:56:12Z")
Wouldn’t it also be possible that he was passed by a swarm of 10,000 lightning bugs, out of which only 1000 deigned to give him a hug? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/14 "2010-03-29T18:00:06Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > If you want to complain about current pop lyrics how about “boys keep coming up to us because they know we got swagger, but we kick them to the curve unless they look like Mick Jagger”. Wow, someone needs to introduce that poor girl to google image search. Kick them to the _kerb_, surely? ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/15 "2010-03-29T18:42:27Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > The poor girl needed to finish a rhyme. You don’t expect her to change a whole verse, do you?😉 “Quick, what rhymes with ‘tock’? Block, cock, sock…clock! Perfect, writing it down.” I’m pretty sure she just writes the first half of the verse and fills in the rest with whatever she thinks of first. My personal favorite stupid lyrics: > [@Dashboard Confessional](#): > > Hope dangles on a string; Like slow spinning redemption WTF? > [@Sugar Ray](#): > > Every morning there’s a halo hanging from the corner of **my girlfriend’s** four post bed; I know it’s not mine but I’ll see if I can use it for the weekend or a **one night stand** ; Couldn’t understand how to work it out You could try not cheatin on her, Mark. It’s a start. Country music’s the worst for using “filler” words, like Lonestars “Them danged 'ole hills” or Montgomery Gentry’s “there’s a sign there on that big ol’ rusty tractor.” It’s like they go “OK, we’ve got what we want to say, but we’re short by 3 syllables. Any ideas?” “Eh, just repeat a word or toss in old once or twice. It’s work out.” “Good idea” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/16 "2010-03-29T19:14:27Z")
Rap ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/17 "2010-03-29T19:20:54Z")
> [@may\_be\_ignorant](#): > > I don’t give a shit how many of them hugged him, I hate that song and all their other music that my sister ruined my ipod with. [nitpick] Owl City is a “he,” not a “they.” [/nitpick] Personally I like his stuff, but agree that he’s overplayed as all get out. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/18 "2010-03-29T19:41:21Z")
I’ve heard **of** , but never heard, Owl City. But if the lyric in the OP is representative of his/their music, I would rather stab myself in the ear than hear such twee crap. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/19 "2010-03-29T20:11:29Z")
_Post about how Owl City are a frail Postal Service rip off._ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071/20 "2010-03-29T20:41:19Z")
God, I hate that song. It’s twee. It’s so twee it’s practically incapacitated. Plus the Auto-Tune. My GOD, the Auto-Tune! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-a-1000-hugs-from-10-000-lightning-bugs/534071.md?page=2)