# It frightens me that people don't know these things **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207 "2003-06-25T03:02:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/161 "2003-06-28T06:47:38Z")
**Fretful** , that actually IS scary. I STILL have no idea what this Jack Chick stuff is. Do I want to know? ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/162 "2003-06-28T12:34:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by minor7flat5 \* > \*\*… > > Several years ago I found out that my mom, a sharp individual and an attentive driver, did not know the purpose of the broad white line that you see painted across the lane in front of you while stopped at a light. It’s not that she was going around causing mayhem; simply that when she moved to a new state and had to take a driving test for her license, she lost points because her wheels crossed the “Stop line.” \*\* From my personal observation not a single person who learned to drive in Massachussetts knows what this line is for. I was appalled when I moved here from NY. EVERYBODY routinely ignores the line, even where it hasn’t been worn away. ---
**Author:** ![Parallax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Parallax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parallax)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/163 "2003-06-28T12:41:40Z")
You haven’t seen me drive - otherwise you would have observed a person who learned to drive in Massachusetts who knows what the line is for. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spudo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Spudo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spudo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/164 "2003-06-28T13:07:16Z")
I’ve had this conversation more than once. Them: Hey, who did we fight in World War I? Me: Germany Them: No, World War ONE Me: Yeah, Germany Them:… so who did we fight in World War II? Me: Germany ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/165 "2003-06-28T14:07:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sengkelat \* > … but then my first ever job was as a squid wrangler at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory … And I would just like to say that, “The Squid Wranglers” would be a fine band name. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Davebear \* > … Sharks are primarily cartilaginous, while most other fish have calcified bones, and are sometimes referred to as “bony fish”, to distinguish them from sharks. And, none of them have beaks … [snide voice] What about the parrot fish? [/snide voice] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > … I STILL have no idea what this Jack Chick stuff is. Do I want to know? Only if you’re a masochist. ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/166 "2003-06-28T14:36:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > **What about the parrot fish?** Nah! They’re just called that because of their bright plumage. > [@](#): > > \*\*Only if you’re a masochist. \*\* …with a beak. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/167 "2003-06-28T16:17:16Z")
Look! He’s run down the thermocline and joined the school invisible. If you hadn’t nailed him to the coral he’d be pushing up the anemones! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/168 "2003-06-28T16:51:49Z")
**Zenster** , I knew someone would go down that path. 🙂 It’s the Norwegian Blue, a peculaiar breed of parrotfish. He’s not dead, he’s resting. ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/169 "2003-06-28T18:03:52Z")
[Hijack] I used to find what I now know to be Jack Chick tracts in the restrooms in the park and my mom would tell me to" throw that dirty thing in the trash". They looked cheaply made and the drawings were crude, very different from the christian comic books like ‘The Cross and the Switchblade’ that was sold in the magazine aisle of the grocery stores…those looked like regular comic books, colorful and properly printed and they cost 75 cents. I thought those JC tracts were scary and bad. I was right![/Hijack] As an OB/GYN RN, I find much scary ignorance about people and their bodies. Explaining that I’m going to massage a newly delivered mom’s fundus gets me the following: “What’s that?” Fundus, top of your uterus. “Uterus?” Womb? Baby’s hangout lo these last 40 weeks? “Why massage it?” So it’ll shrink down and you won’t bleed. “Shrink? How big did it get?” Bigger than that baby over there. “Didn’t the baby grow in my stomach?” No, your stomach was busy with all the food you ate. One of the nurses would joke that if the mom had to be c-sectioned for breech that it was daddy’s fault for putting the baby in wrong. I once had to reassurre a tearful daddy that no, it wasn’t his fault, no, he didn’t cause his wife to have a surgery, no the baby just ended up that way, yes, I know he wasn’t careless or selfish… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/170 "2003-06-28T20:04:07Z")
**Cyn** , I didn’t know what a fundus was until just now but for the rest of that post… Damn. I’m so frightened I’m at a loss for a humorous agglomeration. ---
**Author:** ![TheFunkySpaceCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@TheFunkySpaceCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFunkySpaceCowboy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/171 "2003-06-29T00:06:59Z")
What people don’t know about Alaska often astounds and frightens me. 1)\*\* People don’ t know that Alaska is part of the US \*\* - While I was living in Anchorage I have heard tourists ask if stores “take American money” , while travelling in the lower 48 (slang for the 48 contiguous states) I’ve had people ask me if I needed a passport to visit the US and if they would need one to visit Alaska. 1. \*\* The size and location of the state \*\* I’ve met many people, including one very well educated young woman I know didn’t realize that Alaska is mucho larger than Texas, though she did know Alaska was part of the US and even that Juneau is the capital so I cut her some slack. 2. \*\* Basic knowledge of climate in general \*\* I’ve also met a fair number of people who didn’t understand the bit about extreme northern and southern regions of the planet getting wild seasonal flucuations in daylight hours. I can’t even begin to keep track of how many times I’ve been asked “does it really stay dark all winter and light all summer up there?” More than once I’ve met people who were shocked and amazed to learn that it isn’t snowing in Alaska all year round. 3. \*\* That Alaska has earthquakes \*\* It really suprises me that most people outside of the state have never heard of the '64 earthquake, it’s only the largest US earthquake (9.2) ever recorded. In fact the four largest earthquakes in US history took place in Alaska, but most people seem to think that all seismic activity in the US happens in California. There’s a whole lot more but those four are the ones I’ve encountered the most and are the things that I consider to be very basic bits of knowledge most American adults should know. Everything on that list I knew ('cept the bit about the '64 quake being the largest, I knew AK had earthquakes though) before my family moved up there 11 years ago, and I was only 14! Ack. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/172 "2003-06-29T00:59:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DanBlather \* > \*\* > > Easter is not the same day as Passover, Good Friday is the same day as passover.\*\* I’m not sure this is the case, and I’m sure someone who understands both dating systems will enlighten. Easter is tied to a particular day of the week, so Good Friday always falls on Good Friday. I had understood that Passover wasn’t quite the same–it isn’t tied to a particular day of the week (or is it?) so Passover won’t always fall on Friday. Or so I had gathered. And in fact, I recall at least one of the gospels mentioning that Passover happened to fall on the Sabbath that year, though I can’t find the passage right now. In addition, there are several ways of determining the date of Easter that don’t neccesarily line up with Passover. Eventually the Roman Catholic Church adopted a particular one, but I have no idea how close it is to the method for determining the date of Passover. It seems to me that I notice Passover generally within a few days of Easter, but I’m not sure if that’s always the case, and I also seem to recall that some Orthodox churches use a different method from Roman Catholic ones and it doesn’t fall on the same date. > [@](#): > > \*\*Good Friday does not just “happen” to be at the same time as Passover, the Last Supper was a Passover meal. > > Likewise, it appears to me that the disciples dod not just “happen” to be together on Pentecost, they presumably were celebrating Shavout. > > The disciples were not hiding from Jews - they WERE Jews. \*\* Quite true. The connection between Passover/Easter and Pentecost/Shavout is quite intimate–it’s not like the Hannukah/Christmas business at all. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/173 "2003-06-29T01:02:29Z")
**TheFunkySpaceCowboy** as I was reading this thread I was thinking of a friend of mine that set up a ski trip to Alaska for her ski club. Three members brought passports to the airport (no not for ID, for immigration into Alaska) and one guy was real ticked off that he could not find the currency conversion from US to whatever Alaskans use for money. On a similar vein, so many people don’t know that **NEW** Mexico is a state that the license plates on the cars read New Mexico USA A great bar bet here in the US is to bet someone that they cannot name all 50 states in five minutes or less. Most people can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/174 "2003-06-29T01:18:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheFunkySpaceCowboy \* > … 2) \*\* The size and location of the state \*\* I’ve met many people, including one very well educated young woman I know didn’t realize that Alaska is mucho larger than Texas, though she did know Alaska was part of the US and even that Juneau is the capital so I cut her some slack … When Lyndon Johnson was running for president, Texans had gotten so full of them selves that it became popular to say: “If Texas keeps bragging so much, Alaska is going to cut itself in two and make Texas the third largest state.” > [@](#): > > … 4) \*\* That Alaska has earthquakes \*\* It really suprises me that most people outside of the state have never heard of the '64 earthquake, it’s only the largest US earthquake (9.2) ever recorded. In fact the four largest earthquakes in US history took place in Alaska, but most people seem to think that all seismic activity in the US happens in California … In view of the fact that San Francisco has more people living in it than all of Alaska, there tends to be greater word of mouth coverage about our earthquakes than you esquimaux get. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/175 "2003-06-29T02:01:59Z")
In one of my graduate Communication classes, we were all sharing presentations about projects. One student’s project involved a prostate cancer screening program focused on African-American men. During the Q&A period after the presentation, one male fellow student asked why the program was focused only on men. He turned very red as the fairly obvious answer dawned on him. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/176 "2003-06-29T02:05:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*When Lyndon Johnson was running for president, Texans had gotten so full of them selves that it became popular to say: > > "If Texas keeps bragging so much, Alaska is going to cut itself in two and make Texas the third largest state."In view of the fact that San Francisco has more people living in it than all of Alaska, there tends to be greater word of mouth coverage about our earthquakes than you esquimaux get. \*\* Now WAIT a minute there, cowboy! Don’t you dare quote LBJ…the man picked up his beagles by the ears, lest we forget. Texas isn’t the largest state? Please say it isn’t so. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/177 "2003-06-29T02:29:42Z")
CadburyAngel… the Oregon FoodSafe test sounds almost as retardedly (is that back-formation too?) as the Florida one… I’m assuming they aren’t the same, since that would be a state thing, right…? Anyway, its quite disgusting how many people don’t know that hoi polloi already contains an article and doesn’t need to be prefaced with “the”… and if any of you think that’s a little over the top, even Car and Driver addressed it once… Incidentally, any number of Britons believe there are 52 states. As a matter of fact, the UK edition of Trivial Pursuit we had when I was 10 or so actually thought so too… Of course, this is NOTHING compared to the relative ignorance of Americans when it comes to the UK… The belief that Wimbledon has a “t”, for instance. Or the number of times that fellow high school students asked what language was spoken there when I moved here. On a slightly different note, I’m not sure how it is in other states, but in Florida a driver making a U-turn at a green turn lane light has right of way over drivers making a right turn into the same lane. I would wager that fewer than 1 in 5 of FL drivers are aware of this… and its nearly gotten me killed a half-dozen times… that’s pretty frightening. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Blink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Slow\_Blink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Blink)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/178 "2003-06-29T03:27:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*It frightens me that people don’t know these things \* I think what I’ve learned is when someone expects others to know something, its only because they know it. But you can bet someone else will be just as frightened by something you don’t know. So the point is…never assume someone knows everything you know no matter how basic the fact seems to be. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/179 "2003-06-29T03:33:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Slow Blink \* > \*\*I think what I’ve learned is when someone expects others > to know something, its only because they know it. But you > can bet someone else will be just as frightened by something > you don’t know. So the point is…never assume someone > knows everything you know no matter how basic the fact > seems to be. \*\* Sure you’re from Texas, **Slow Blink**? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207/180 "2003-06-29T04:05:55Z")
The first couple years in university, I had a friend, Polina, from Russia. She told me various things people would say when they found out where she was from. My favourite was, “Oh, you’re from Russia? So you guys speak German over there, right?” And he wasn’t joking. Others didn’t know that the Cyrillic alphabet was _really_ an alphabet that you could write with and use for a language. They just thought it looked neat. Oooookay… Once she was reading a book (in Russian) and I asked her what it was. She said it was Dr. Zhivago. I said, “oh cool!” and she was glad she met someone who had even heard of the title! And we won’t even mention how happy she was that I knew “Ivan” is “ee-vahn” and not “eye-van”. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-frightens-me-that-people-dont-know-these-things/184207.md?page=10)