# I'm sorry Dex, but we were having fun. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 26, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533 "2004-08-26T01:41:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/41 "2004-08-27T00:32:49Z")
You were thinking he had to be from Ecuador or Somalia? ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/42 "2004-08-27T00:39:33Z")
> [@trandallt](#): > > So he says he’s Polish but his name is **nonpolar**? Is you is or is you ain’t gettin’ played? Maybe he means he’s been depolarized. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/43 "2004-08-27T01:28:28Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > **roger thornhill** , I’ve noted all of your jokes turn out to be about Bill Clinton. Have you seen a therapist about this? It’s a little obsessive. Are you Gennifer Flowers? **Marley** , you’re not playing Kathy Bates to my James Caan, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/44 "2004-08-27T01:51:07Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Why not? He knows all about their beer, down to specific localities where specific brands are made. Who the heck would care about Czech beer unless they lived there? An American getting snotty about Czech beer? Thats as absurd as, say, **nonpolar** being made a mod… ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/45 "2004-08-27T02:27:15Z")
> [@nonpolar](#): > > And now, I’ m open to all the Polish jokes ☹ In 1939, when the Nazis invaded, the Poles charged the Wermacht’s tanks with honest to god horse cavalry. Very few of them survived to tell the tale. It’s hard to joke about courage of that magnitude. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/46 "2004-08-27T02:49:46Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > **Marley** , you’re not playing Kathy Bates to my James Caan, are you? [Shatner]CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!!![/Shatner] Err, no, sorry. I’m straight, taken, and never really developed a taste for hacking people’s limbs off. > [@Weirddave](#): > > In 1939, when the Nazis invaded, the Poles charged the Wermacht’s tanks with honest to god horse cavalry. Very few of them survived to tell the tale. It’s hard to joke about courage of that magnitude. Poland is one of the apparently dozens of countries I have ancestors from, so let me just say that if you can’t find humor in attacking tanks with horses, I feel sorry for you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/47 "2004-08-27T03:07:20Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Poland is one of the apparently dozens of countries I have ancestors from, so let me just say that if you can’t find humor in attacking tanks with horses, I feel sorry for you. 😉 I don’t think the horses found it amusing. Okay, so I’m a horse owner who’s humor-impaired on certain topics. Including this beating a dead horse cliche – can’t you all just give it a rest? Must you go on flogging that weary metaphor till it drops in harness and expires? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/48 "2004-08-27T03:12:24Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > I don’t think the horses found it amusing. > > Okay, so I’m a horse owner who’s humor-impaired on certain topics. Including this beating a dead horse cliche – can’t you all just give it a rest? Must you go on flogging that weary metaphor till it drops in harness and expires? :mad: Well what about the racial tension amongst you people? I have nothing against horses of different colors, but I wouldn’t want my donkey to mate with one. ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/49 "2004-08-27T03:17:21Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > In 1939, when the Nazis invaded, the Poles charged the Wermacht’s tanks with honest to god horse cavalry. Didn’t happen. It’s a well debunked myth. I’ll find some links when I get home if nobody beats me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/50 "2004-08-27T03:18:47Z")
> [@Gest](#): > > Didn’t happen. It’s a well debunked myth. I’ll find some links when I get home if nobody beats me to it. In that case, is it OK to laugh about it again? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/51 "2004-08-27T03:21:29Z")
Everything is OK to laugh about but it stems from nazi propaganda playing on racist ideas of Polack stupidity. They wanted people to laugh. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/52 "2004-08-27T04:12:48Z")
> [@Gest](#): > > Didn’t happen. It’s a well debunked myth. I’ll find some links when I get home if nobody beats me to it. [Myth](http://www.panzerworld.net/polishcav.html). [More](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Polish_September_Campaign). ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/53 "2004-08-27T04:26:18Z")
> [@Gest](#): > > Everything is OK to laugh about but it stems from nazi propaganda playing on racist ideas of Polack stupidity. They wanted people to laugh. And yet now it appeals to the kind of people who venerate hopeless courage, making the Polish people who were said to have made the charge into heroes of the highest sort. The American tendancy to root for the underdog and glorify the lost cause turned a racial slur into an inspirational story of courage. It’s fascinating how legends can mutate across time and culture. ---
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/54 "2004-08-27T04:53:15Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > In 1939, when the Nazis invaded, the Poles charged the Wermacht’s tanks with honest to god horse cavalry. Very few of them survived to tell the tale. It’s hard to joke about courage of that magnitude. Poland at that time was a big producer of vodka ,maybe they drank to much? ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/55 "2004-08-27T04:55:39Z")
Poles drink to everything. Indeed, there is much they drink to. GD&R 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/56 "2004-08-27T05:15:58Z")
Yeah! you right, I drink bottle of vodka a day ,that is way my posts are almost always about sex,penises . So it is not my fault you see, that God damn fire water got me. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/57 "2004-08-27T05:38:39Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > [Myth](http://www.panzerworld.net/polishcav.html). > > [More](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Polish_September_Campaign). I sorta disagree, and so do your cites. Certainly, the shorthand that I employeed (and as it is generally stated)“Charging tanks with cavalry” is rooted in the myth, but the fact that Polish cavalry troopers did fight against vastly superior German units-as did Polish infantry, armored, and other units, is certainly true. Take the incident which seems to be the basis for the myth, a cavalry unit suprised by an armored unit. They didn’t surrender, they fought. And died. As they must have know would happen. Warsaw didn’t fall until Sept. 27, finally surcombing to overwealing forces, fucking France, by comparison, with an army larger than Germany’s, barely lasted 40. ---
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/58 "2004-08-27T07:13:26Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > . Warsaw didn’t fall until Sept. 27, finally surcombing to overwealing forces, fucking France, by comparison, with an army larger than Germany’s, barely lasted 40. Don’t forget about British Expeditionary Army based in France,with 200.000 soldiers ,excellent planes ,artillery and tanks, on first sight of German tanks run scared back to England. I personally, from thay moment lost all respect for British Armed Forces. English soldiers and generals were very good 500 years ago when they fought that “witch” 😉 Joan D’Arc in France. ---
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/59 "2004-08-27T07:19:09Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **Nonpolar** , may I be the first here to hoist a brew in your honor. > **Na zdrowie!** > 😃 Na zdrowie and sto lat to you! ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533/60 "2004-08-27T07:34:23Z")
So it was just the hots you had for the Romanian then :D. I was 50% right 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-sorry-dex-but-we-were-having-fun/261533.md?page=4)