# Laughing at someone's cluelessness then having a brief, horrible moment in which you doubt yourself **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 23, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708 "2016-08-23T01:59:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/1 "2016-08-23T01:59:49Z")
I was watching an episode of Judge Judy (I know, I know) today and the plaintiff was complaining that the defendant was bullying her online. The P stated that the D had posted unkind memes featuring her. But here’s the thing. The defendant pronounced it me-me. She did it twice. Gawd, what an ignoramus I shouted inwardly. _Me-me!_ I had a good mental laugh over that. She even said it twice. But then I noticed that nobody in the audience (gallery?) so much as smiled. Neither did Judge Judy, nor Bird, the bailiff. I immediately wondered if it was I who was ignorant. Had _I_ been pronouncing me-me wrong all these years. Were other folks snickering at me behind my back whenever I said “_meme_”? So of course I did the Google and reassured myself. But I was sweating for a moment. Ever have a similar experience? mmm ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/2 "2016-08-23T03:52:06Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I was watching an episode of Judge Judy (I know, I know) today and the plaintiff was complaining that the defendant was bullying her online. The P stated that the D had posted unkind memes featuring her. > > But here’s the thing. The defendant pronounced it me-me. She did it twice. > > Gawd, what an ignoramus I shouted inwardly. _Me-me!_ I had a good mental laugh over that. She even said it twice. > > But then I noticed that nobody in the audience (gallery?) so much as smiled. Neither did Judge Judy, nor Bird, the bailiff. > > I immediately wondered if it was I who was ignorant. Had _I_ been pronouncing me-me wrong all these years. Were other folks snickering at me behind my back whenever I said “_meme_”? > > So of course I did the Google and reassured myself. But I was sweating for a moment. > > Ever have a similar experience? > mmm I have had those moments as well. I didn’t feel the need to google the me-me thing ( I was watching too!) but sometimes when I use a GREAT word but I have only ever seen it written, not heard it. ---
**Author:** ![ashtayk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@ashtayk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashtayk)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/3 "2016-08-24T15:47:01Z")
Along the same lines it was “mascarpone” for me. I would routinely find presenters on food network pronounce it to rhyme with phone. After many such instances, this had me doubting myself. I always pronounced it ending in “ay”. It was a relief when I finally took the trouble to google it [How to pronounce MASCARPONE in English](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/mascarpone) ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/4 "2016-08-24T16:41:53Z")
I don’t post anything on this board until I have googled it to confirm that I’m not making a fool out of myself. A large portion of the posts I type out get quietly deleted without ever being posted. [At this moment, I am strongly resisting the urge to google whether “google” or “Google” is correct. I am going to post this and let the chips fall where they may.] ---
**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 24, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/5 "2016-08-24T18:09:26Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I don’t post anything on this board until I have googled it to confirm that I’m not making a fool out of myself. > > A large portion of the posts I type out get quietly deleted without ever being posted. > > [At this moment, I am strongly resisting the urge to google whether “google” or “Google” is correct. I am going to post this and let the chips fall where they may.] It’s Google, knucklehead. 😃 The company is Google, so the verb form that was created would (or should) be capitalized. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/6 "2016-08-24T19:19:42Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > [At this moment, I am strongly resisting the urge to google whether “google” or “Google” is correct. I am going to post this and let the chips fall where they may.] > [@Chefguy](#): > > It’s Google, knucklehead. 😃 > > The company is Google, so the verb form that was created would (or should) be capitalized. Ha! You’ve been chefguyed! ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/7 "2016-08-24T19:32:15Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It’s Google, knucklehead. 😃 > > The company is Google, so the verb form that was created would (or should) be capitalized. I disagree. When a capitalized noun gets verbed, the verb is not capitalized. Cite: [https://www.quora.com/If-youre-googling-something-should-Google-be-capitalized](https://www.quora.com/If-youre-googling-something-should-Google-be-capitalized) ---
**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 25, 2016, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/8 "2016-08-25T01:43:55Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > I disagree. When a capitalized noun gets verbed, the verb is not capitalized. > > Cite: [https://www.quora.com/If-youre-googling-something-should-Google-be-capitalized](https://www.quora.com/If-youre-googling-something-should-Google-be-capitalized) Well, slap my mama. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/9 "2016-08-25T02:24:48Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I was watching an episode of Judge Judy (I know, I know) today and the plaintiff was complaining that the defendant was bullying her online. The P stated that the D had posted unkind memes featuring her. > > But here’s the thing. The defendant pronounced it me-me. She did it twice. > > Gawd, what an ignoramus I shouted inwardly. _Me-me!_ I had a good mental laugh over that. She even said it twice. > > But then I noticed that nobody in the audience (gallery?) so much as smiled. Neither did Judge Judy, nor Bird, the bailiff. > > I immediately wondered if it was I who was ignorant. Had _I_ been pronouncing me-me wrong all these years. Were other folks snickering at me behind my back whenever I said “_meme_”? > > So of course I did the Google and reassured myself. But I was sweating for a moment. > > Ever have a similar experience? > mmm This might be a _slight_ hijiack. But I’ve done audience work for judge judy. I guarantee you that nobody is paying attention to the cases to have noticed. Everyone is doing their damnedest to stay awake. It’s a loooong day of tedious petty cases and if you pay attention you will get outraged with them, yourself, everybody, humanity. Often leading to an outburst, then dismissal without pay. All $50ish. Which, if you are reduced to doing judge shows for a living, is good money for Hollywood dregs. But then again, the vast majority Hollywood dregs doing audience work probably wouldn’t know the difference even if they heard it. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/10 "2016-08-25T03:03:25Z")
I’ll shoot my mouth off with confidence, then double think what I just said and add that I could be wrong. If I really doubt what I said, I’ll stop and check it myself. So yeah, I do it all the damn time. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/11 "2016-08-25T04:14:21Z")
All the time. Even when a point is in argument but I am 99% sure, I have doubts. > [@ashtayk](#): > > Along the same lines it was “mascarpone” for me. I would routinely find presenters on food network pronounce it to rhyme with phone. After many such instances, this had me doubting myself. I always pronounced it ending in “ay”. > > It was a relief when I finally took the trouble to google it [How to pronounce MASCARPONE in English](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/mascarpone) Well if you want to be technical, the last syllable is more of an “eh” than an “ay” in Italian, though yours is “more correct.” I really thought you’d be talking about how all the TV chefs pronounce it “maRRRscapone.” Like 3/4 of them do so. > [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I don’t post anything on this board until I have googled it to confirm that I’m not making a fool out of myself. > > A large portion of the posts I type out get quietly deleted without ever being posted. > > [At this moment, I am strongly resisting the urge to google whether “google” or “Google” is correct. I am going to post this and let the chips fall where they may.] Your browser will autocorrect it to capital, and Google (and Xerox, and Kleenex, et al.) are often interested in not letting it become generic lower case, but the more descriptivist account is that lower case is fine. Basically, religious wars have been fought on more solid terms than “google” vs. “Google.” ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/12 "2016-08-25T04:47:25Z")
This happened to me earlier in the present election cycle. Trump said something like wind turbines are un-American because they kill a lot of eagles. I guffawed and nearly jettisoned some partially chewed pretzels. Then I gOoGlEd it. Dadgum it! Seems those confounded contraptions really do slap a few flag birds into the promised land. Mind you, Trump is still a wholesale jackass idiot. But eagle thing… Had to choke down some crow. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/13 "2016-08-25T17:29:15Z")
Honestly, this happens to me almost every week in my line of work. Someone asks one of those tax questions that is of the “not even wrong” variety, but suddenly I’m like “Wait… what if this is a loophole I just haven’t heard of?” There are such loopholes now and then, like the a court ruling on medical deduction for wigs. Cosmetic and non-deductible, right? Ah, but they were allowed for cancer patients because hair loss is a symptom of the chemo, and so the wig is a “treatment for a medical condition.” So now someone comes in to claim their special, sovereign-citizen, total-nonsense, heard-it-from-my-barber tax deduction and there’s just enough doubt in my mind that I waste an hour trying to prove that something doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/14 "2016-08-25T19:45:54Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > This happened to me earlier in the present election cycle. Trump said something like wind turbines are un-American because they kill a lot of eagles. I guffawed and nearly jettisoned some partially chewed pretzels. Then I gOoGlEd it. Dadgum it! Seems those confounded contraptions really do slap a few flag birds into the promised land. Mind you, Trump is still a wholesale jackass idiot. But eagle thing… Had to choke down some crow. Half of the posts I draft never see the light of day because I can’t confirm that something or other I’m trying to say is as true as I thought it was when I started writing. I learn as much from trying to write bulletproof posts as I learn from reading other’s posts. As for the wind turbines, there are tons of data demonstrating that wind turbines are killing machines for most larger birds, not just eagles. This has been a green-on-green squabble for years. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/15 "2016-08-25T19:49:15Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Well, slap my mama. Boom…you just got maggied! ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/16 "2016-08-27T02:44:14Z")
Today. I was reading some previous documentation in a patient’s chart and read the previous nurse’s teaching that insulin is produced by the spleen. I burst out laughing then had a horrible moment thinking “am I wrong???” but no, a few seconds later my good sense reasserted itself :smack: and I regained my confidence in the pancreas as the source of insulin. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/17 "2016-08-27T02:52:11Z")
“Me-me”? Seriously? :smack: Hahahahahahaha! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/18 "2016-08-27T07:17:25Z")
> [@ashtayk](#): > > Along the same lines it was “mascarpone” for me. I would routinely find presenters on food network pronounce it to rhyme with phone. After many such instances, this had me doubting myself. I always pronounced it ending in “ay”. I give pronunciation of Italian food a pass. Manigot, Capicola as gabagool,…who knows? Wait, mascarpone is Italian, right?! :eek: googles… ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/19 "2016-08-27T07:26:56Z")
Quick, say “Provolone.” ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/20 "2016-08-27T08:23:51Z")
This is the part of schadenfreude where you check your facts to make sure that your joy is justified. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708.md?page=2)