# Most embarrassing admission of ignorance? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 10, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164 "2004-08-10T07:26:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pammipoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@Pammipoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pammipoo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/21 "2004-08-10T23:31:11Z")
Back when I was in high schol, I once asked who won the Civil War. I was also convinced that Alaska was an islan, because it’s always seperate on maps. I’ve yet to live either down. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/22 "2004-08-10T23:47:15Z")
> [@The Devil's Grandmother](#): > > psst, Gravity, the duck eats the bigs numbers. Shows what you know. It’s an alligator. Speaking of alligators, it wasn’t until college that I was embarrassed to learn that alligators and crocodiles are not the same thing. I always thought they were two names for the same animal. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/23 "2004-08-10T23:58:26Z")
Back in 1991, I was at a very cute guy’s house making mix tapes, and said that it was really cool how the CD player could read the music right through the colors on the top of the CD. :o I’m still turning pink, thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/24 "2004-08-11T00:54:22Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Shows what you know. It’s an alligator. HA! You’re both wrong, it’s Pacman. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/25 "2004-08-11T01:04:17Z")
No no no! It’s a shark. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/26 "2004-08-11T01:14:08Z")
When I was a Freshman in high school, I was thinking of taking some college classes over the summer. This required taking a placement test. I then had to explain to my Geometry and English teachers that despite being in advanced classes and on the honor roll I needed some extra help because: I didn’t know a thing about A) fractions or B) parts of speach. Even now, six years after high school and despite 3 years of math and Latin and 4 years of english, I still don’t know fractions and I get confused about any part of speech that isn’t a noun. Somehow though, I aced the placement test and went on to do well on my SAT’s. When I was in 5th grade, my teacher was running an experiment to see how well we remembered things. She had one student stand up in front of class for 30 seconds and then leave the room. We had to tell our teacher what the girl was wearing. One student said a plaid skirt. I asked what plaid was. Everyone laughed at me. When I was 16, a cute boy from work was driving me home. He asked me if I liked Cake (the band). I said yes. My favorite was strawberry. He was really nice about it though. He only laughed a little. In my defense, I don’t like that kind of music. Once, my mother was commenting on some horses in a movie. She said she hoped they weren’t really hurt during filming. I told her not to worry, I was sure the horses had stunt doubles. I was 13 when I said that. I was 15 before I understood why she laughed. My god, I could go on forever. I’m constantly making myself look like an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/27 "2004-08-11T01:35:17Z")
I’d been living in Hong Kong for several years before I realised that Beijing and Peking weren’t different places. I was pleased that only one person witnessed my query when having to enter a password at a university 10 years ago: “Why aren’t the letters appearing on the screen? I’m only getting asterisks.” ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/28 "2004-08-11T02:36:21Z")
Once, when I was about ten or eleven, I was riding with my mom in her car when out of the blue I asked her how it was that the first man and woman figured out how to have sex and if they just noticed one day that the penis fits inside the vagina. She just gave me an odd look and kept on driving but then, a minute or two later, I asked her “What’s the man supposed to do when he sticks his penis in the woman? Pee?” My mom lost it and almost crashed the car. Thank god she’s seemingly forgotten about it in the intervening decade. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/29 "2004-08-11T02:49:12Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > ::sigh:: > > I had a long protracted argument with my little sister when I was a mere lad of \ 35 about “truffles”. > > I insisted that the fancy chocolates bearing that word on their wrappers were made with mushrooms. You mean they _aren’t_? :eek: Only today, while talking about music with my dad, I learned that there is a difference between Beck and Jeff Beck. Kinda embarassing to be instructed on pop culture by your 65 year old father. However, he used to think that Sonny Bono and Bono from U2 were the same person, so he’s not going to push his luck. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/30 "2004-08-11T05:04:37Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > No no no! It’s a shark. You are \*so \* wrong. Alligators or sharks would have visible teeth. I’d be willing to believe it might be a Pacman, if I wasn’t so old I remember \< and \> from the pre-Pacman era. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/31 "2004-08-11T05:23:58Z")
I’ve probably got thousands of’em if I think about it a bit. The most recent was a pronunciation error. While I’ve absorbed the concept thoroughly, I’d never discussed it conversationally. So when I attempted to resolve a dispute concerning interpretation of data, I invoked Occam’s Razor (the simplest solution wins for the moment) as “Awk-ams” Razor, and was quickly corrected by a staff geophysicist who told me it was “Oh-cams” Razor. I had to yield; I’d never actually heard anyone else say it out loud. We live and we learn. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/32 "2004-08-11T06:31:42Z")
> [@Ringo](#): > > While I’ve absorbed the concept thoroughly, I’d never discussed it conversationally. So when I attempted to resolve a dispute concerning interpretation of data, I invoked Occam’s Razor (the simplest solution wins for the moment) as “Awk-ams” Razor, and was quickly corrected by a staff geophysicist who told me it was “Oh-cams” Razor. I had to yield; I’d never actually heard anyone else say it out loud. I’ve always heard it pronounced as “Awk-ams.” ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/33 "2004-08-11T06:31:55Z")
In college, for some reason, someone was explaining to me what went into a Molotov Cocktail. After listening, I answered “and then you drink that? really?” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/34 "2004-08-11T12:06:37Z")
> [@Ringo](#): > > I invoked Occam’s Razor (the simplest solution wins for the moment) as “Awk-ams” Razor, and was quickly corrected by a staff geophysicist who told me it was “Oh-cams” Razor. I had to yield; I’d never actually heard anyone else say it out loud. > > We live and we learn. Jeez, what’s with you ignorant people? 😃 It’s not “Awk-ams” or “Oh-cams”. It’s “OCK-ams”. That first syllable rhymes with “clock”. I’ll think of some major brainfart of mine, soon. ---
**Author:** ![Kegg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kegg)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/35 "2004-08-11T12:10:29Z")
AESIRON- Some times they do, but it’s usualy $10 extra * * * Spelling and grammer subject to change without notice. ---
**Author:** ![Sami41](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c57346/32.png) [@Sami41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sami41)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/36 "2004-08-11T13:00:30Z")
About 6 months ago I realized that William Penn and William Tell were different people. Some guy shot an apple of his kid’s head, then founded Pennsylvania, and then had an entire Overture written for him. Coulda been the same guy. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/37 "2004-08-11T15:02:55Z")
In high school I once had a very lovely conversation with my (then) boyfriend about car racing. Him: “You know most people go to car races just to see wrecks.” Me: “Rex who?” I kept it up for about 15 minutes, honestly wondering who the heck this Rex guy was that was famous at car races. He finally decided I was kidding around and thought it was hilarious. I played along. But I still didn’t get it; I only got it much later, long after the conversation was over, after much deliberation. He talked about it for years and even wrote “Rex who?” in my yearbook Senior year. Unless he reads this he will continue to believe I was joking. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/38 "2004-08-11T15:29:19Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You mean they _aren’t_? :eek: > > Only today, while talking about music with my dad, I learned that there is a difference between Beck and Jeff Beck. Kinda embarassing to be instructed on pop culture by your 65 year old father. However, he used to think that Sonny Bono and Bono from U2 were the same person, so he’s not going to push his luck. I hope you also know about Jerry Lee Lewis. _G_ ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/39 "2004-08-11T16:45:50Z")
Thought of another one. There are times when I’m very slow on the technological up-keep. When I was a junior in high school (say, four years ago), a friend of mine wanted to copy some CDs that I had. I said OK and he later said, “I’m almost through burning them.” I thought he meant really burning them. With fire. I had to have it explained to me that burning was another word for copying. They all looked at me like I was insane, totally confused as to why I had been angry. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164/40 "2004-08-11T16:55:10Z")
> [@Sami41](#): > > About 6 months ago I realized that William Penn and William Tell were different people. > > Some guy shot an apple of his kid’s head, then founded Pennsylvania, and then had an entire Overture written for him. > > Coulda been the same guy. It took me a second to realize you were talking about William Penn there. I had to reread it once or twice to finally understand you weren’t talking about William Tell and Penn Jillette. I’m an idiot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarrassing-admission-of-ignorance/259164.md?page=3)