I can’t believe alot of you didn’t know about the beaks. Did you ever watch a discovey program or dissect a squid in biology lab?
I know a guy who didn’ know what the magazine “The New Yorker” is. I was like, ummm, ok. I mean somewhere everyone has seen something about that mag, or am I just so cool? I wonder…
I found it amazing howmany people in a college class I took didn’t know what a WASP is. I was again amazed as I raised my hand to tell them. Seriously people, I’m stupid, but I’ve really come across some dummies in my time. A popular magazine and a group of people, how could you not know…
I was shocked when no one in my class freshman year of college knew what a Chick tract was. I had made reference to them in a discussion and then had to spend 20 minutes explaining what I meant!
These were people from all over! I don’t consider this stupidity, but I thought it weird that 20 different 18-20 year olds in an art school had all missed out on the joy of Jack T Chick.
I only learned about Chick Tracts here on the SDMB, but then I don’t know any devoutly religious peeps, so. Only had a vague impression about puppy teeth and squid beaks, but do know that horses have baby teeth.
The other day I was at work and an M.S. and Ph.D. were conferring outside of my cube on how to convert from farenheit to centigrade. I wouldn’t expect everyone to know this off the tops of their heads, but these were two people with advanced degrees in the sciences…
I mentioned to a friend of mine that he was “trying to lull me into complacency.” He asked me what the hell I was talking about.
Back in 2000, when there were alot of news stories about whether or not 2000 was a leap year, my gf turned to me and asked “What’s all this leap year stuff”. Thinking that she needed an explanation on why 2000 was an exception to the normal exception rule (the details of which I already forgot), I started explaining it. She stopped me and said, “No. What is a leap year. I’ve never heard of this leap year stuff before”
I just kinda blinked at her while trying to wrap my brain around the concept of a 31 year old not ever hearing about leap years. She got a little peeved and said “It’s okay not to know!”. Unfortunatly, I said the first thing that came to mind, which was “Well, yeah. It’s okay not to know… If you’re SEVEN!”
(I guess there’s a reason we’re not together anymore. I can be such an asshole.)
I have also heard that there is not much witnessing in the Northeast especially when it comes to the activities of mobsters. “No, I din’t see Jimmy the Squid give ANYBODY a severe beaking!”
About five years ago, I was preparing for a visit to Mama tlw, and I mentioned to her that I’d sent my laptop in for a repair and I was concerned that it might not be ready before I left for the trip. She said: “Well, why can’t you bring your regular computer? What’s a laptop do differently, anyway?”
Then the capper…
“Is it made so you can use the web thing on the airplane?”
Oh, Mama.
I’m glad to say that Mama is no longer a luddite and, is, in fact, the owner of a brand new 17" Powerbook.
I’ve mentioned this here before, but my mother didn’t realize that the motor in a car turned the tires. When pressed on how she thought the car was propelled forward, she didn’t have an answer.
She has also been semi-web-savvy for the past few years (Ebay user, etc) but still doesn’t know what browser she uses. (IE)
It should be common sense not to FEED or PROVOKE an alligator!
I live in the south and I hear of stupid people doing these things every week. Hello? McFly!
Another one chiming in who’d never heard of Chick Tracks until I joined the SDMB. I thought it was some crude girlie magazine you guys were talking about.
Funny thing, I’m a Christian, and I’m a little embarressed about them.
No harm, no foul, Scout1222. I can only suppose you’ve never bitten into an ant that was trying to carry off your sandwich at a picnic. They have a very distinctive and unpleasant flavor, which explains the continuing survival of their species.
Look, let’s make one thing perfectly clear. You didn’t spoil the movie for him. What you did spoil for him was history.
My favorite used bookstore stocks Bibles in their “Fiction” section. Welcome aboard(s), Chefguy. Gotta like that name.
Technically, this is known as the “Legal Limit Line.” It applies for all intersections, stop, yield or regulated. It is what law enforcement officers use to determine whether you have run a red light. When approaching a crosswalk striped intersection, it is the first line you encounter.
First off, welcome aboard(s), Iamb Fake. Second, you are absolutely right about the electoral college. This topic has been debated here. I believe there was an excellent mathematical analysis (you can’t spell analysis without A-N-A-L) of the electoral college in Omni magazine. I settled my mind about how important this odd institution is.
Welcome aboard(s), buncombe, thanks for sharing your pain. (And believe me, that was painful!)
And finally, a BIG thank you for the important agglomerations being performed by Thea Logica in this thread. They alone are worth the price of admission.
My daughter (yes dear, I’m telling this story again) once informed us at a dinner table full of guests, including my boss, that she had learned what the difference was between an octopus and a squid. All eyes turned her way and she announced: “Squids have more testicles”. Thought I was going to have to Heimlich the boss.
I find it disturbing when people think that Buddhists consider the Buddha a deity in the same manner as the Judeo-Christian God and worship him. I don’t expect everyone to be an expert on all world religions, but knowing the basics of the third largest in the world would fall into the catagory of “most educated people should know this.”
One of my pet peeves on three lane highways (ie, three lanes each way) is people who drive in the middle lane, all the time, and they don’t pull over for people who are going faster.
I recently discovered why some people might be doing this. Or rather, I recently discovered that some of them don’t have an important piece of information that might make them reconsider doing this.
Trucks (at least in Ontario) can’t drive in the third (fast) lane. Now, I’m not sure of the why’s and the wherefore’s of this, but I see the signs on almost every overpass on our highways that illustrate that trucks aren’t allowed to be in that lane.
This means that if a truck encounters a slower moving car in the middle lane, there’s very little the trucker can do about it. I mean, he could move into the slow lane to go around, but that’s pretty risky, especially if you’re near an exit/entrance ramp where people might not be up to speed yet (another pet peeve).
But, I recently found out that a number of people don’t know that trucks can’t drive in the third lane - apparently they haven’t seen the signs on the overpasses. They did kind of wonder why the trucks were always driving up their ass while they were driving in the middle lane …
I was taught that that was the distinction between “the greater vehicle” and “the lesser vehicle”; one considers Buddha a deity and the other doesn’t.
But a bit of googling is giving me the impression that my high school World Civ teacher may have led me astray.
Regardless, being worshipped “in the same manner as the Judeo-Christian God” is a bit of a stretch.
Someone once argued with me that sharks aren’t fish. I have no idea what she thought they were.
(As far as squid beaks, I knew they existed, but then my first ever job was as a squid wrangler at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, so I don’t think I’m part of a representative sample)
