# I need 40 people to answer a question for my stats class **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2000, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059 "2000-04-16T18:39:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/1 "2000-04-16T18:39:00Z")
My stupid statistics class is making me ask 50 people: How did you choose your pet’s name? I’m serious. I don’t know what we’re doing with the information, but I need the data by Tuesday. I got ten family and friends to answer this for me, but I still need 40 people. So I need help! Here are your choices: A) Named after a friend/family member B) " " " fictional character C) Thought a generic name was cute (like Princess or whatever) D) Play on words or inside joke (I think “long story” falls under this, too) E) Other Thanks in advance! PS–I’ll start. I once adopted a dog I named Dioge (prounounced like D-O-G. Haha! Get it!? I thought it was really cute. * * * “I need the biggest seed bell you have. . . no, that’s too big.”–Hans Moleman ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/2 "2000-04-16T18:42:00Z")
B - all Disney characters (Simba, Nala, Minnie) ---
**Author:** ![meek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@meek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meek)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/3 "2000-04-16T18:44:00Z")
Two tom cats. “Ruckus” & “Havoc” I think that’s a “D” or an “E” * * * Take care. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/4 "2000-04-16T18:45:00Z")
Two dogs-Dog =Basil Bitch =Sybil from Fawlty Towers. Both Border collies both completely potty and both very intelligent. They know their walk times from the programmes on t.v. ---
**Author:** ![Squee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Squee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/5 "2000-04-16T18:51:00Z")
My cat’s name is **Evil** … simply because she is (or used to be- she has mellowed a bit). She used to attack my friends when they came in the house. * * * “Penises don’t belong in the mouth, girls and boys. You’ve got the wrong hole there. Just like you wouldn’t shove pizza up your nose.” -From the **Brother Jed** flyer- ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/6 "2000-04-16T18:52:00Z")
Biscuit, falls under (D). ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/7 "2000-04-16T18:52:00Z")
Well, I’ll happily start out by screwing up your statistical survey. See, I’m a single respondant with multiple pets. So…current pet: B. (Gorgeous, friendly black/brindle dog named Baskerville.) But previous pets…ah, now we get into real statistical chaos! 1. Peruvian (VERY long-haired guinea pig): D (named Endust because he resembled nothing more than a large mop)–relatively simple. 2. Abyssinian guinea pig, but somewhat undersized: B and D (Hamlet after the depressed Dane but also a pun on “little pig”, “Ham-let”, get it?) Good luck. I LOATHED my stats classes, so my sincere sympathy goes out to you. Veb ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/8 "2000-04-16T18:57:00Z")
My dog’s name is Teddy. We didn’t name him. We inherited him from my great-grandma, when she moved to an assisted-living facility. My cat, on the other hand, has a very unique name. His name is Sovtek. My husband named him. My husband is a musician, and one of his amps is made by a company called Sovtek. The amp is black and white. So is the cat. The amp gets screechy from time to time. So does the cat. But the amp really likes my husband, and he just can’t seem to get rid of the damn thing. Same with the cat. ## So, that is how my cat got his name. Cristi, Slayer of Peeps I made my husband join a bridge club. He jumps next Tuesday. (title & sig courtesy of UncleBeer and WallyM7!) ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/9 "2000-04-16T19:06:00Z")
Cat - named Cozy because she looked so cozy as a kitten. Cat - named I-YA (karate yell). Long story? My 14-year old daughter hated to yell in karate class. She named the cat I-YA to prove that she could say the word, she just didn’t want to in class. Hamster - named Mouse, by two-year-old son who insisted that the new family member was a mouse. After repeated explanations by patient older siblings failed to change his mind, we all gave in and decreed the newcomer must be Mouse, the Hamster. Guinea Pig - named Pig. Imaginative group aren’t we? Guinea Pig - named Wrinkles (had fluffy hair) Guinea Pig - named Browine (brown) Guinea Pig - named Graw Wolf (gray) Guinea Pig - named Yogurt (white) I know these are dull, really. Guinea Pig - named Inigo (after Inigo Montoya in Princess Bride) Guinea Pig - named Pig Newton (um, after the cookie) Guinea Pig - named Road Kill by husband sick of rodent pets Hope these help. I found statistics challenging as well. * * * inconceivable? i don’t think that word means what you think it does ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/10 "2000-04-16T19:11:00Z")
Well, I don’t know whether my answer would fall under option C or D. Since it _is_ somewhat of a long story, I copied my reply from [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/004462.html). > [@](#): > > My cat was a gift from my sisters on my 23rd birthday. The night they brought her over to me, we were going out to dinner. When we left, she tried desperately to follow me out the door, and cried and cried. She cried so loudly that we could hear her high pitched mews from outside the building. > > In the car on the way to dinner we all discussed what to name her. Growing up, we’d had a purebred (runt of the litter though) dachshund named Tiger VonRegit (Regit being Tiger spelled backwards). One of my sisters jokingly said we should name her Mew because of the obnoxious wailing sound she was making, and then as a way to name her after Tiger, call her Mew VonWem. > > But I wasn’t satisfied that the name Mew really was dignified enough for her, and wanted to give her a more regal name. So I decided to give her the “middle” name Ubasti… Ubasti (sometimes also referred to as Bast), was the Goddess of cats in ancient Egypt. If you don’t get 40 replies here by your Tuesday deadline, perhaps you could check out the link above for some of your answers. Good luck! * * * [ul][li]“Shayna… [one of] the most despised posters on this board.” As declared by WallyM7. (And if you want to know who the others are, [click here](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/007220.html). I’m in very good company!)[/li][li]“Mom, he’s a neo Nazi! He’s a doctor also? Well…” - an original WallyM7 sig.[/li]“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/11 "2000-04-16T19:13:00Z")
two cats. Option D for both. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/12 "2000-04-16T19:16:00Z")
Dog 1 - B (Valen) Dog 2 - E (Keri) Dog 3 - D (Sophie) Cat 1 - A (Chris) Cat 2 - C (Applet) * * * Why is there a picture of my brain on this milk carton? * * * “Black holes were created when God divided by 0” ~100% Genuine Wally Sig. (made in Canada. No beavers were harmed in the making of this sig.) ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/13 "2000-04-16T19:17:00Z")
E- my cats are named Hal and Andy, named after the initials of the vet and nurse that delivered them, respectively (HAL and AND were their initials) ---
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/14 "2000-04-16T19:18:00Z")
B) Sharik (Bulgov’s book Heart of a Dog) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Sip\_n\_Fly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/91b2a8/32.png) [@The\_Sip\_n\_Fly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Sip_n_Fly)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/15 "2000-04-16T19:20:00Z")
great leaders i have two cats Che and Lenin, my goldfish is named Churchill * * * “I shot the sherrif, I shot the deputy too. No, it wasn’t in self defense. They both looked at me cockeyed so I capped 'em. Then I shot the mayor, then the firechief, decapitated the librarian, impaled the dog catcher, used a spoon to remove the groundskeepers eyes and sent the leader of the local KKK in full KKK uniform to downtown Manhattan. Then I made sweet love to the sexy 18 yr old intern, and it was all good.” ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/16 "2000-04-16T19:21:00Z")
I have a cat named Molly – simply because she looks like a Molly. I guess that would be an “E”. * * * “There are more things you don’t know than there are things that I do know. I despair of the imbalance.” – Dr. Morgenes, _The Dragonbone Chair_ ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/17 "2000-04-16T19:33:00Z")
Typically, my pets are either named after fictional characters from books, or they’re named after a musician I admire. My last three cats have been named Simon, Garfunkel, and Elton. Oddly enough, my male pets are usually named after a musician, my female pets are named after literary characters or mythological figures. For instance, I’ve had two female cats, one named Akasha (Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles) and one named Circe (mythological figure), and my ferret is named Viola (Shakespeare’s the Twelfth Night). The two pet birds I’ve had, on the other hand, were given rather odd names meant to be humorous. My parakeet was named Crunchy Bird (just Crunch for short), after a joke I had heard soon before I got the bird, and the cockatiel I used to own was named Buzzard, for no particular reason. Anyway, I really don’t follow any pattern in naming my pets, I usually just pick something that I like that seems to fit the animal, but the names just tend to fall into the above categories, but not because I set out to pick those sorts of names. (The only reason my cat Garfunkel was given that name was because I had already had my cat Simon, and it just seemed cool, and it fit him. He looked like a Garfunkel.) I do avoid cutesy names like Fluffy and Snowball and such like the plague. I hate cutesy. ---
**Author:** ![mega\_the\_roo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mega\_the\_roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mega_the_roo)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/18 "2000-04-16T19:39:00Z")
Cats - Çebeaux, Mandarin, Mouse and Spunky = D, C, D, C Newts - Gingrich, Jerriko, Maria, Anscot and Darryl - B, C, C, C, C Fish - Roofus, Wendall, Jake and Sam = C, C, C, C Geckos - Kirby and Kirby’s friend = C, D Dog - Raz = B Hamsters - Taffy and Smidgen = C, D Gerbil - Frisky = C Turtle - Leonardo = B * * * “Organs gross me out. That’s _organs_, not orgasms.” -the wallster ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/19 "2000-04-16T19:40:00Z")
B. Our cat is named Scully. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059/20 "2000-04-16T19:46:00Z")
Cats - Spooky ©, Mulligan (D), Bayonette (D) Dog - Bazi (D) * * * Drink up, dear. I made it just for you. _sig by_ **WallyM7** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-40-people-to-answer-a-question-for-my-stats-class/16059.md?page=2)