# Ignorance fights back: Facts that you refuse to remember **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693 "2014-09-27T02:23:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/41 "2014-09-29T17:48:06Z")
oxycodone vs hydrocodone. One is an effective pain reliever for me , the other does nothing. I can never remember which is which. Maybe if I had surgery more often… ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/42 "2014-09-29T19:02:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Sunni and Shia. This. There are usually three elements at play here that I have a hard time remembering (country, which is the majority, and which is in power). For each country, you need something like this. In (country), the (Sunni/Shia) are the majority and the (Sunni/Shia) are the minority. (Despite/because of) the fact that the (Sunni/shia) are the (minority/majority) they are able to rule the country and lord it over the other faction. Be cause the (Sunni/Shia) are in power for (country), they are usually more supportive of (second country with similar sided power) over (country over opposite sided power). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/43 "2014-09-29T19:10:11Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I keep my hands labelled! You don’t need to, they’re already labeled. Open them wide, with the thumbs sticking out, and the one that seems to have the thumb make an L with your index finger is your Left hand. I am grateful that I have no \*need \*to distinguish the Guelphs from the Ghibellines, except when navigating southern Ontario and possibly not even then. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/44 "2014-09-29T19:25:20Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > You don’t need to, they’re already labeled. Open them wide, with the thumbs sticking out, and the one that seems to have the thumb make an L with your index finger is your Left hand. But … When you do that you’ll notice there are 5 fingers on that hand. Five being the number of letters in the word “right”. So that hand is reminding you both that it’s the left with the ell-shape and that it’s the right hand with the counting up to five letters. Now we’re confused again !!! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/45 "2014-09-29T19:26:32Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > You don’t need to, they’re already labeled. Open them wide, with the thumbs sticking out, and the one that seems to have the thumb make an L with your index finger is your Left hand. Palm up or palm down? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/46 "2014-09-29T19:52:26Z")
Which side is the palm? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/47 "2014-09-29T19:56:36Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Which side is the palm? Left. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/48 "2014-09-29T21:05:34Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Left. But what if I’m facing South? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/49 "2014-09-29T22:36:45Z")
^^ Then your toilet flushes backwards. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Thirty days has September > All the rest I don’t remember Oddly enough, I went through my entire schooling career never having been taught that poem, so I never know how many days are in a month either. Luckily, they make these things called “calendars” these days, even if our esteemed doctor can’t spell the word. > [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Just remember that a sous chef is the guy who works under the head chef. > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Envision a capital D on its side. > > Now envision a capital B on its side. > > I’ll leave the rest up to you. 🙂 > mmm Oh, those are both quite brilliant. 🙂 > [@Shakes](#): > > Who vs whom. Alright, I’ll return the favor: re-write the sentence to use he/him, which is usually easier for native speakers to do intuitively: You went to the store with whom? = You went to the store with him? Who called you? = He called you? etc. etc. etc. I accept payments in cash. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/50 "2014-09-29T22:56:31Z")
I take exactly 5 roads to get to school every day, but is some were to ask me right now what those roads are, I would only know 1.5. The .5 is because I know that one road eventually becomes Colerain Avenue. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/51 "2014-09-29T23:54:18Z")
Names. of people and roads. If I have to give directions, I have to do it by landmarks, the names of the roads just don’t stick in my head. Same as people. I have 30 people sitting outside my office and after several years I can now remember most of their names. If you say the name of someone I’ll know who they are straight away, but i have a mental disconnect between what they look like and what their name is. I’ll remember a name and remember a face, but struggle to keep the two linked. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/52 "2014-09-30T02:48:00Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > It seems that traditionally it was taught in the USA that a Dromedary was one thing and a (Bactrian) Camel another, but even in the past they are in the same family scientifically speaking. If it _were_ the case that a dromedary wasn’t a camel, you would have the following mnemonic, which Ogden Nash only wished he could have written: The one-hump camel Don’t exeest. The two-hump camel– There’s a beast! And I’m sure you’ll all Agree there damn well Better not be no Three-hump camel! ---
**Author:** ![CraterLayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/87869e/32.png) [@CraterLayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CraterLayer)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/53 "2014-09-30T20:48:57Z")
Logarithms - I was always good at math, Algebra, Geometry, and Trig were easy, but I hit a brick wall when it came to logs. I didn’t then, nor still now, have any clue what they are or what they do. And don’t want to. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/54 "2014-09-30T21:45:13Z")
If I am introduced to two people at the same time, I will forever mix them up. In fact, forget “people;” if I learn two \*facts \*at the same time, they get merged in my brain. I refer to the phenomenon as robandjohning, since I first figured out that I do this when I was introduced to - you guessed it - a Rob and a John at the same time. They were roommates, and buddies with the crowd I hung with at the time. So we’d just say “Hey, let’s go to Robandjohn’s place” and I simply never figured out who was who. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/55 "2014-09-30T22:23:42Z")
I come from a family of fair geniuses in math who have absolutely no sense of direction. I tell people the reason we grew up in Boston is that our ancestors got off the Mayflower and never found their way anyway else. I get lost in the town I’ve lived in for thirty years! ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/56 "2014-09-30T23:46:30Z")
> [@CraterLayer](#): > > Logarithms - I was always good at math, Algebra, Geometry, and Trig were easy, but I hit a brick wall when it came to logs. I didn’t then, nor still now, have any clue what they are or what they do. And don’t want to. “A log is an exponent”. I was told this in college algebra and it seems to have stuck with me with regards to the use of it. You know that probably doesn’t help you much…:smack: ---
**Author:** ![CraterLayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/87869e/32.png) [@CraterLayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CraterLayer)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/57 "2014-10-01T00:35:04Z")
“A log is an exponent” I’m laughing so hard at this statement - maybe that was my problem in High School. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693/58 "2014-10-01T00:35:28Z")
I refuse to remember whether the proper spelling is ‘accommodate’ or ‘accomodate.’ Also, anything involving liquid measurement: quarts, pints, ounces, hogsheads. It just goes in one ear and out the other. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignorance-fights-back-facts-that-you-refuse-to-remember/699693.md?page=2)