# 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:** 23
**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:** [July 12, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/441 "2026-07-12T16:50:02Z")
I had the same thought when I saw it. The region of the country where all the fungus come from. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2026, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/442 "2026-07-14T16:34:04Z")
[The Bugaloos and their web of lies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bugaloos-and-their-web-of-lies/1031659/11) I thought the thread was about the [Bugaloo Movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boogaloo_movement). You mean the Bugaloos was an old kid’s show? Oh. Carry on. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/443 "2026-07-14T18:24:30Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I thought the thread was about the [Bugaloo Movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boogaloo_movement). I haven’t opened that thread, and that’s exactly what I assumed it was about. ---
**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:** [July 23, 2026, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/444 "2026-07-23T13:08:47Z")
[Does the Lincoln Tunnel really carry 1850 buses into NY in four hours?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-lincoln-tunnel-really-carry-1850-buses-into-ny-in-four-hours/1031863) The things must be maintained and buffed up quite rigorously to have lasted 176 years-didn’t know the CoNY was into vintage transportation. Four hours sounds about right tho for what are likely rather underpowered conveyances. Wait-did they even _have_ buses back then? ---
**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:** [July 23, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/445 "2026-07-23T13:13:42Z")
I had the same reaction to that title. ---
**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:** [July 23, 2026, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/446 "2026-07-23T14:41:52Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Wait-did they even _have_ buses back then? Yes - in fact, it’s the origin of the word “bus.” [Horse-drawn omnibus - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse-drawn_omnibus) ---
**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:** [July 30, 2026, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/447 "2026-07-30T00:48:39Z")
[Luxuries you don’t enjoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/luxuries-you-dont-enjoy/1032008) Thought it would be about luxuries that you would _LIKE_ to indulge in, but cannot due to either life in general preventing it (busy schedules or whatnot) or cost (like I’d sure as heck would enjoy flying my own private jet all over creation, but that ain’t exactly cheap). ---
**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:** [July 30, 2026, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/448 "2026-07-30T14:16:32Z")
ISTM that most people in that thread are also misinterpreting it. The typical post amounts to “I don’t like small luxury X because I can’t afford it. So I make do with cheaper substitute Y”. ISTM: Whether you can afford it or not is NOT the point of the thread. The correct reading of the OP is “What luxuries could you sorta-regularly indulge in, but would rather not? And why not?” ---
**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:** [August 2, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/449 "2026-08-02T23:26:17Z")
I posted this in a thread I misunderstood the title of: > [@Pussy is dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pussy-is-dead/1032102/3): > > I originally expected the thread was about the actress who played Pussy Galore. But I just looked her up and Honor Blackman died in 2020 at age 94. Funny, I had thought that character was from a much later Bond film than Goldfinger in 1964. And therefore that the actress was much younger. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2026, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/450 "2026-08-11T21:30:35Z")
Time to play the guessing game, again! [Does your city have a “character”?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-city-have-a-character/1032299) A. It has a rather weird local personality that is always on the nooz there and that everyone is familiar with (even as half the population rolls their eyes at their antics). A classic example would be New York’s Crazy Eddie. B. The city itself has a ‘vibe’ that is unique and all its own. San Francisco for example. I’m guessing it is B but I could easily see a thread being started with A’s premise. [drum roll as the envelope is opened] Wow, for once I am wrong, as it is in fact A, huh. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2026, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/451 "2026-08-12T09:54:23Z")
I had the same thought about ambiguity, but to me the “a” in the title almost had to mean they meant a person, not a vibe. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/452 "2026-08-12T13:37:12Z")
“A” character would imply a vibe, an aura, an _élan vital_, unique and all its own, but I guess not, shrug. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/453 "2026-08-12T14:45:43Z")
I suppose that demonstrates the point that it’s totally ambiguous. Some group of folks, including you, read it primarily one way, while a different group of folks, including me, read it opposite. I’m always saddened, but entertained, by the number of OPs where the poster is oblivious to any idea but the one fixed in their head. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/454 "2026-08-12T14:50:29Z")
I interpreted it to mean the general character of a town. I didn’t consider that it could be a person. “A” character of a place has a slightly different vibe than a place having “character”. “A” character implies that it has a distinctive character that is different from other places. “Character” can mean quirkiness that other places might or might not share. Obviously it’s not a stark dichotomy but just a slight difference of implication between the two. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2026, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/455 "2026-08-12T15:57:18Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > a vibe, an aura, an _élan vital_, unique and all its own What the French might call a certain…I don’t know what. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/456 "2026-08-12T16:27:13Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m always saddened, but entertained, by the number of OPs where the poster is oblivious to any idea but the one fixed in their head. I would have phrased it as _Does your town have any colorful “characters”?_ (as no reason a big city like NYC couldn’t have more than one). Making it plural and adding the adjective would totally eliminate the ambiguity. Edit: **enipla** [apparently just skimmed the title and read it my way](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-city-have-a-character/1032299/40), heh. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2026, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/457 "2026-08-13T14:37:52Z")
I thought of “interesting individual” first, and thought that might be an interesting thread to read, but then decided that it almost certainly just meant zeitgeist instead, and so didn’t bother. Thanks, off to read it now! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/458 "2026-08-15T03:17:13Z")
I thought that [first fictional crush](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342) was going to be about the first crush that existed in fiction, like maybe Gilgamesh and Ishtar, rather than _your_ first crush on a fictional character. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/459 "2026-08-17T13:39:53Z")
**[Watch strap glue?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watch-strap-glue/1032373)** Why do I need to watch it-- is it going to do tricks? ---
**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:** [August 19, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360/460 "2026-08-19T13:41:38Z")
[All things Instant Pot](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-instant-pot/1032413/3) Who wouldn’t want an instantaneous doobie on demand? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinterpreted-thread-titles/978360.md?page=24)