# Little facts people get wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575 "2016-10-15T02:48:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [October 17, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/81 "2016-10-17T01:24:41Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Makes me crazy when people claim this is some kind of test of optimism. My response is always “If you are filling the glass, it’s half full. If you are pouring or drinking out of it, it’s half empty.” > … Which they can then spin into a secret test of whether you’re more giving-oriented or more taking-oriented. Idjits love their pop-psych gotchas. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/82 "2016-10-17T01:44:56Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > “Is the glass half empty or is it half full?” Neither, it’s both. The hidden fact in that false dilemma is the glass is irrelevant as it’s too damn big. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Makes me crazy when people claim this is some kind of test of optimism. My response is always “If you are filling the glass, it’s half full. If you are pouring or drinking out of it, it’s half empty.” As I interpret it, it’s neither a false dilemma nor a test. but a metaphor—that has become a cliche—for the way some people tend to focus on what they have while others tend to focus on what they lack. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/83 "2016-10-17T02:30:27Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Tow the line. It’s toe the line. This is so common I predict “tow the line” will eventually replace the original. It better represents what people mean in most figurative usages and “toe” is a rare verb. Moreover, “toeing the line” can be interpreted as testing boundaries instead of conforming to them. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/84 "2016-10-17T02:54:04Z")
One _defuses_ a tense situation. One does not _diffuse_ it. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/85 "2016-10-17T03:00:34Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > One _defuses_ a tense situation. One does not _diffuse_ it. Same w/ bombs (if you do it right), as Tripler will tell you. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/86 "2016-10-17T03:12:04Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > One _defuses_ a tense situation. One does not _diffuse_ it. And crowds are asked to disperse, not disburse. Also, “penultimate,” does not mean “better than ultimate.” “Enormity” does not mean “enormous.” And “casualty” does not mean “a cavalier attitude”; “casualness” sort of does, but personally, I’d go with “disdainful,” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Navy\_draftee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ec9cab/32.png) [@Navy\_draftee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Navy_draftee)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/87 "2016-10-17T03:17:22Z")
People say…“I could care less” …when they truly COULDN’T care less. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/88 "2016-10-17T04:38:29Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > As I interpret it, it’s neither a false dilemma nor a test. I’ve had people tell me they were asked it during pre-employment psych tests which I find bazaar. Is that question really a useful tool? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/89 "2016-10-17T04:47:03Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I’ve had people tell me they were asked it during pre-employment psych tests which I find bazaar. Is that question really a useful tool? And especially, is it a useful tool in [a Middle East street market](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazaar)? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/90 "2016-10-17T05:38:23Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Makes me crazy when people claim this is some kind of test of optimism. My response is always “If you are filling the glass, it’s half full. If you are pouring or drinking out of it, it’s half empty.” “Erm… The glass is _refillable_” also nicely derails this over-used philosophical challenge. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/91 "2016-10-17T06:41:28Z")
[“and” instead of “an”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=124327) (still annoying the crap out of me) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/92 "2016-10-17T08:41:09Z")
Eating chocolate has the same effect on the brain as cocaine. The fact that there are alternative versions of this, such as “…same effect on the brain as being in love” tells you all you need to know. Neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin are involved in a plethora of actions / behaviours right down to basic body movement. If you just look at neurotransmitters you can find all kinds of spurious “X is just like Y” comparisons, and that’s the basis of this one. I’m aware at least one prominent neuroscientist recently repeated this claim in an interview, and I hope he reads this post and feels suitably ashamed. * * * Also, while we’re talking neuroscience / psychology: the idea that if someone does something a lot, they’re “addicted” (usually used because the person saying it disapproves of a particular pursuit). Addiction defined that broadly is largely meaningless as there are lots of things we must, or want to, repeat many times in our lives. Medically speaking, addiction is where a person seeks a stimulus compulsively to the detriment of the rest of their life. One difference, for example, is whether a person can go without X for some time if they have to. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/93 "2016-10-17T09:13:28Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Algae, larvae, antennae, vertebrae: all plural, and all properly pronounced with a long E sound for the last syllable! If you’re a Latin purist, those are pronounced with what English speakers think is a long I. The plurals that end with a long E are those that end with -i, such as alumni, abaci, radii, and stewardi. chances are 100% that someone’s going to followup with a complaint about virii ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/94 "2016-10-17T09:30:04Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I always notice that - it seems to be a feature of Black Engkish Vernacular, like “here go” for “here is” - but I see nothing wrong with it. There’s no reason that “stay” cannot describe the action of occupying a dwelling just as accurately as “live”. Indeed, it’s the standard idiom in Scottish English and Ondian English. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/95 "2016-10-17T10:21:56Z")
“Margarine is only one molecule different from plastic.” Yeah, so is nearly everything else. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/96 "2016-10-17T11:22:10Z")
“Car for sell.” ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/97 "2016-10-17T12:24:33Z")
“I could care less” No, you _couldn’t_ care less. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/98 "2016-10-17T12:40:36Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > “Car for sell.” The old college newspaper want ads: “Car for sale, runs good.” ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/99 "2016-10-17T12:57:49Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > How about “loose” when you mean “lose”? Or “breaks” instead of “brakes”? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575/100 "2016-10-17T13:08:36Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > If you’re a Latin purist, those are pronounced with what English speakers think is a long I. The plurals that end with a long E are those that end with -i, such as alumni, abaci, radii, and stewardi. > > chances are 100% that someone’s going to followup with a complaint about virii The words have a Latin background, but they’re English now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-facts-people-get-wrong/768575.md?page=6)