# Memo to my flatmate **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 22, 2001, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734 "2001-11-22T06:02:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/1 "2001-11-22T06:02:11Z")
(Apologies in advance for this, but this little idiosyncrasy of hers is really starting to get on my nerves.) Dear Flatmate: The world will not come to an end, and you will not go broke and wind up homeless and hanging round Benburb Street, if you do not get **every last sub-atomic particle of washing-up liquid** out of the bottle before throwing said bottle away. The point at which you can get only **one drop** of liquid out of the bottle for every **eight hours** you have left the bottle standing upside-down is the point at which it is time to throw the bottle away. There is a brand new bottle of washing-up liquid right there by the sink. It is the same brand and same scent as the old bottle and it is already opened. **There is no need to go rummaging through the rubbish for the one I threw away _BECAUSE IT WAS FRIGGING EMPTY!!!_** Freak. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/2 "2001-11-22T06:14:30Z")
Uh, I compulsively use the last of it, too. But why depend on gravity when you rinse the bottle into the sink? It just takes a second. Very odd. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/3 "2001-11-22T06:15:34Z")
…when you **can** rinse the bottle… Anyway, have you asked her? ---
**Author:** ![freckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47c2d/32.png) [@freckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckles)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/4 "2001-11-22T13:54:17Z")
Would it not be worse if she didn’t wash up at all? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/5 "2001-11-22T15:40:01Z")
What is “washing-up liquid” ? I mean I understand it’s soap of some sort… is it hand soap? dish soap? laundry soap? anal-mite soap? ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/6 "2001-11-22T15:53:26Z")
Dish soap. Are you saying you’re unfamiliar with the term “washing up”? If so, what term should I use when talking to American people? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/7 "2001-11-22T15:57:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hibernicus \* > \*\*Dish soap. > > Are you saying you’re unfamiliar with the term “washing up”? If so, what term should I use when talking to American people? \*\* “Dishwashing liquid” But of course, in America everyone has a dishwasher to do the dishes. Or a maid. No, really. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/8 "2001-11-22T18:11:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hibernicus \* > \*\*Dish soap. > > Are you saying you’re unfamiliar with the term “washing up”? If so, what term should I use when talking to American people? \*\* Yes I’m unfamiliar with the term “washing up” used in that sense. I have heard “he’s washing up for dinner” (washing his hands and getting ready for dinner) for example… but never heard it used as a reference to dishwashing. In America it’s usually called “washing the dishes” or “doing the dishes” (and no, we don’t all have dishwashing machines or maids… man I would kill for a maid!) ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/9 "2001-11-22T18:15:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by freckles \* > \*\*Would it not be worse if she didn’t wash up at all? 😕 \*\* Actually, she rarely does that either. I overlook it firstly because I use more dishes than she does (due to the fact that she rarely ever eats anything more than toast, usually with some bizarre spread like Gnutella or this Paté-in-a-tube thing, at least I think that’s what it is, I’m too scared of it to investigate further), and secondly because she’s a lot more of a compulsive cleaner in other respects than I am, so I reckon it’s a fair compromise - she does most of the hoovering/mopping etc., I do most of the dishes. But still you’ve got to admit there’s something a bit … _not right_ about someone who’ll dig through a rubbish bin just to save .00005 ml of washing-up liquid. Oh, and thanks for the suggestion Larry. I’ll point it out to her next time this happens. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/10 "2001-11-22T19:09:23Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by jr8 \* \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hibernicus \* > \*\* > > But of course, in America everyone has a dishwasher to do the dishes. Or a maid. > > No, really. \*\* Well, MAIDS don’t 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/11 "2001-11-22T19:37:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hibernicus \* > Dish soap. > > Are you saying you’re unfamiliar with the term “washing up”? If so, what term should I use when talking to American people? If you’re talking to **ruadh** you can use “washing up” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/12 "2001-11-23T08:54:03Z")
Might I suggest what I do with things like shampoo? When you get down to the end of the bottle and you buy a new one, turn the old one upside down and let it sit overnight opening-to-opening, and what’s left from the old bottle will drain into the new bottle. Problem solved. Esprix ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/13 "2001-11-23T10:15:30Z")
what a joyous occasion it is to see how the Irish language has affected and Ex-Pat 'murrikin. Whats even better is to hear her say “Bollocks” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-to-my-flatmate/94734/14 "2001-11-23T16:05:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > man I would kill for a maid! Fuck, I’d kill for a dishwashing machine. And don’t think I won’t. _Podkayne brandishes a dirty carving knife_