# Misinterpreted thread titles **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 17, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360 "2023-01-17T17:58:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/401 "2026-05-03T13:20:28Z")
As the OP, no it isn’t cryptic, and no, it shouldn’t be zoo bomb threats. “Bomb threat” is the action being performed on the subject “zoos”. Nobody is doing a zoo to a bomb threat. Coming up with a different example, people shoot fireworks, they don’t firework shoots. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2026, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/402 "2026-05-03T13:22:54Z")
I’ve never seen “bomb threat” used as a verb before. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/403 "2026-05-03T13:35:17Z")
If I had said “Hot new trend? Prank call zoos”, would you have thought it should be “zoo prank calls”? It is the exact same construction. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2026, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/404 "2026-05-03T13:51:44Z")
When you invent a new compound verb phrase, you might expect some people to miss it until it catches on and is all over the internet. Hot new trend: bomb-threatening zoos. Hot new trend: bomb threating zoos. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/405 "2026-05-03T15:34:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > When you invent a new compound verb phrase, you might expect some people to miss it until it catches on and is all over the internet. I wasn’t being controversial, it never for a moment occurred to me that would consider what I believed a straightforward phrase to be “cryptic”. It seems to be a clear and straightforward construction to me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/406 "2026-05-03T16:03:35Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’ve never seen “bomb threat” used as a verb before. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > When you invent a new compound verb phrase, you might expect some people to miss it until it catches on and is all over the internet. > > Hot new trend: bomb-threatening zoos. > Hot new trend: bomb threating zoos. Verbing weirds language. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/407 "2026-05-03T16:17:05Z")
Yep. Especially if you use the infinitive form of your shiny new verb. ETA: I don’t doubt @Darren_Garrison didn’t think he was over-clevering his headline. But he did over-clever it. It’s very hard to write good heads and ledes that don’t assume some context the reader won’t have until later. After all, the author’s head is full of that context: "Of _course_ it means [whatever]. How could it not? ---
**Author:** ![RollOutTheBarrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rolloutthebarrel/32/1649_2.png) [@RollOutTheBarrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RollOutTheBarrel)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/408 "2026-05-04T23:18:09Z")
[Rudy Giuliani in critical condition in Florida hospital [Now in the BBQ Pit]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rudy-giuliani-in-critical-condition-in-florida-hospital-now-in-the-bbq-pit/1029768) sounds like Giuliani got moved from the hospital to a bbq pit, where he is currently roasting. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2026, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/409 "2026-05-04T23:38:39Z")
Sounds like a good plan to me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/410 "2026-05-05T00:02:18Z")
> [@RollOutTheBarrel](#): > > [Rudy Giuliani in critical condition in Florida hospital [Now in the BBQ Pit]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rudy-giuliani-in-critical-condition-in-florida-hospital-now-in-the-bbq-pit/1029768) sounds like Giuliani got moved from the hospital to a bbq pit, where he is currently roasting. Oh, he will be, soon enough, not to worry. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2026, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/411 "2026-05-15T12:32:14Z")
[Is the simplest model the best model?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-simplest-model-the-best-model/1030077) Nah, I think that Anna Nichole Smith was probably the “simplest” model that I know of, and I don’t think she was the best. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/412 "2026-05-19T16:28:50Z")
[An important note about AIs and personal information](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-important-note-about-ais-and-personal-information/1029974) This time I did not read it as the plural of “Als” and that we shouldn’t share information about Weird Al and Fat Albert. I read it as “Ais” as in the former Native American tribe populating Central Florida. There is a lagoon around here called the Indian River. I think it should be renamed the Ais Lagoon, because it isn’t a river, and in addition to the Native American versus Indian thing, it would more precisely specify the tribe, and it did used to be called the Ais River, so changing it to the Ais Lagoon seems better all around. Except that Ais looks like it is an acronym so people would wonder “What does AIS stand for anyway”? And now with this novel misreading of mine they might think “Why are they renaming the lagoon after AI?” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/413 "2026-05-19T23:30:18Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > This time I did not read it as the plural of “Als” and that we shouldn’t share information about Weird Al and Fat Albert. No, the discussion about Als and personal information is in the [interesting random facts thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4666). ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/414 "2026-05-26T18:16:09Z")
[Theory: Trump wants to lose the midterm elections](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theory-trump-wants-to-lose-the-midterm-elections/1030365) I interpreted this as Trump wants to _eliminate_ midterm elections, which would be totally on-brand. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/415 "2026-05-26T18:52:39Z")
Ixnay on the otesvay ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/416 "2026-05-27T17:55:43Z")
[MacArthur Park](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macarthur-park/1030414/10) I keep thinking this is going to be about the actual park in Los Angeles for which the song is named. Like maybe advise for visiting there or something. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/417 "2026-05-28T02:00:08Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Like maybe advise for visiting there or something. Don’t forget to bring a cake. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/418 "2026-05-28T17:21:24Z")
[Gorilla shot to save young boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorilla-shot-to-save-young-boy/756046) For some reason my brain refused to parse that correctly, and I kept reading “gorilla shot” as an intravenous injection that had something to do with gorillas. Like a boy was injected with a drug normally given to gorillas in order to save him. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/419 "2026-05-28T17:43:26Z")
Is gorilla shot bigger than bird shot? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/420 "2026-05-28T18:18:09Z")
[Smokers: How did you find your favorite brand?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokers-how-did-you-find-your-favorite-brand/1030439) As someone who loves smoking meats and just smoked a pork butt and a beef brisket over the Memorial weekend, this thread is right in my wheelhouse! Before I bought my Weber Smoky Mountain bullet-style smoker, I did plenty of research online, and I may have asked for advice here on the SDMB as well… Oh, wait, what? It’s a thread about cigarettes?!? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360.md?page=22)