# Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 23, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668 "2007-08-23T18:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/1 "2007-08-23T18:02:02Z")
It occurs to me I haven’t really been true to the precise letter and spirit of the forum title in a long time. So: When I’m looking something up in Wikipedia, I try to minimize keystrokes to avoid error, and pick something shorter that will lead in a click or two to my target. Interested in Mary-Louise Parker… but no idea if she was “Mary Louise Parker,” “Mary-Louise Parker,” or some other variant, and besides, that was 16 or 17 keystrokes. But “Weeds” is only 4, plus one click to get to her (maybe two if I hit the disambiguation hurdle). ---
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/2 "2007-08-23T18:03:28Z")
okay, that was almost TO MPSIMS… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/3 "2007-08-23T18:07:51Z")
Every now and then when not much else is going on and I’m too lazy to flick on the TV I will try to go into enough of a meditative state to remember whether my first breath was an inhale or an exhale. After thinking about that for a while I will either turn on the TV or take a nap. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/4 "2007-08-31T20:15:55Z")
Cars that are out of control do not careen all over the road ,they career all over the road. Careening was beaching a ship on its side in times past so that the crew could remove marine growth from the hull which slowed the ship down. People are not pressurised into doing things ,they are pressured into doing things . Pressurising is a specific term for filling a closed container with gas at a certain pressure. Similar language mangling ,burgularising a property when in fact you burgle a property (not you personally of course ) I suspect that when language errors become widespread enough then they cease being errors. And now my opinions on very serious subjects. Wooden stakes do not kill vampires,they are there to pin them to the ground and stop them getting up and walking around. Staking an undead whos already walking around will just tickle them. Also vampires dont fly its just a bit of confusion with the bats of the same name. Holding a horseshoe or piece of scrap iron will not keep witches or Elves away from you . If you take the sentence E’s and W’s dont like cold iron and update it to “cold steel” it gives a whole new meaning to the sentence. Zombie plague?Wear chain mail,steel helmet and toughened clear visor ,carry a weapon and then go out and hunt the bastards down. Aussies call Brits Pommies because the exiled convicts apparently had Prisoner of Her Majesty on their uniforms,thats never sounded right to me . Read somewhere recently that its more likely to be rhyming slang ,Pomegranets/emigrants. Which does sound more likelyto me. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/5 "2007-09-01T02:43:40Z")
[QUOTE=Lust4Life] Zombie plague?Wear chain mail,steel helmet [/QUOTE] Not according to The Zombie Survival Guide! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/6 "2007-09-01T03:10:59Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] “Weeds” is only 4 [/QUOTE] You must spell it differently from how you spell it. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/7 "2007-09-01T04:58:24Z")
[QUOTE=Lust4Life] Cars that are out of control do not careen all over the road ,they career all over the road. [/QUOTE] Today’s Mundane and Pointless Nitpick is brought to you by…[a dictionary!](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/careen) > [@](#): > > Main Entry: 1ca·reen > Pronunciation: k&-'rEn > Function: verb > Etymology: from carine side of a ship, from Middle French, submerged part of a hull, from Latin carina hull, half of a nutshell; perhaps akin to Greek karyon nut > transitive verb > 1 : to put (a ship or boat) on a beach especially in order to clean, caulk, or repair the hull > 2 : to cause to heel over > intransitive verb > 1 a : to careen a boat b : to undergo this process > 2 : to heel over > 3 : to sway from side to side : LURCH \ > Main Entry: 1ca·reer > Pronunciation: k&-'rir > Function: noun > Etymology: Middle French carriere, from Old Occitan carriera street, from Medieval Latin carraria road for vehicles, from Latin carrus car > 1 a : speed in a course \ b : COURSE, PASSAGE > 2 : ENCOUNTER, CHARGE > 3 : a field for or pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement especially in public, professional, or business life \ > 4 : a profession for which one trains and which is undertaken as a permanent calling \ \ Cars that are out of control go careening down the road if they are swaying and lurching from side to side. But if they are merely racing straight ahead down the road out of control, they they are careering down the road. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/8 "2007-09-01T05:28:52Z")
Sometimes it occurs to me that for every object in existence, there was someone who had to design it, prototype it then manufacture or process it. Down to the very keys on this particular keyboard, or the screws that hold my desk together, the coffee mug I’m drinking from and the coffee in it, the filament it the light bulb (let alone the bulb and the fixture it’s in); The wick in this candle… and so on, and so on. My puny mind staggers. I also think celery salt is a highly under-rated seasoning. And why does something have to exist rather than nothing. Wouldn’t nothing have been easier? Oregano goes great on sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/9 "2007-09-01T05:58:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Cars that are out of control do not careen all over the road ,they career all over the road. > [@](#): > > Cars that are out of control go careening down the road if they are swaying and lurching from side to side. But if they are merely racing straight ahead down the road out of control, they they are careering down the road. A car that is careering is going at its full speed. There’s nothing to imply it’s out of control - an ambulance or a race car would be careered intentionally. A car that is careening is one that is turning so sharply that its wheels come off the ground (therefore being tilted off balance like a ship being careened). In most cases that would imply it is at least partially out of control (unless the car was being driven by a stunt driver - a person to whom careening is a career). A car is most likely to careen if it is already careering. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2007, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/10 "2007-09-01T09:45:11Z")
It’s 4:45am here now. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/11 "2007-09-01T09:55:23Z")
Gosh **Bricker** , I’m not sure how I feel about your new title, but i suppose it’s fair. Soon it will read: **Bricker** BSAB I mean really, do we even need to be advised when there’s bullshit about? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/12 "2007-09-01T10:52:32Z")
Mary-Louise Parker is flippin hot. That’s all I’ve got for now. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/13 "2007-09-01T11:25:48Z")
When you look at a city at night, every little dot of light is a life happening. You are looking at suicides and first kisses, bankrupcies and jackpots, diapers and Depends. Some of them are people like you, looking out their windows and wondering about the story of your little dot of light. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/14 "2007-09-01T12:19:13Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] I try to minimize keystrokes to avoid error, and pick something shorter that will lead in a click or two to my target. [/QUOTE] I hear ya, but it doesn’t work the same for me. Interested in Mary-Louise Parker, I type in WEEDS. The first line on the page says, > [@](#): > > This article is about the TV series. For the film, see Weeds (film). I never realized there was a film, so I click on it. Oh, I remember. It was a Nick Nolte movie. hehe. So I go to IMDB to remind myself what the movie was about only to stumble upon a blurb about The Charlie Foundation and its goal to raise awareness about ketogenic diets in the treatment of childhood epilepsy. Which is what I’m reading more about now. Sarah who? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/15 "2007-09-01T13:16:50Z")
It’s Father’s day in New Zealand, later we’re taking my dad on a picnic. I got him car seat covers. I love my dad. ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/16 "2007-09-01T14:17:43Z")
I kept getting woozy after meals yesterday, and thought I was having a low blood pressure thing. Then I realised I hadn’t drunk any water all day (by then it was 5 in the afternoon), so I drank some and instantly felt better. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/17 "2007-09-01T14:33:13Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] Today’s Mundane and Pointless Nitpick is brought to you by…[a dictionary!](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/careen) Cars that are out of control go careening down the road if they are swaying and lurching from side to side. But if they are merely racing straight ahead down the road out of control, they they are careering down the road. 😛 [/QUOTE] Damn you to heck and back,I did think about trying to wriggle out of it with the “when errors become widespread they are no longer errors” but I’m not hard faced enough to try it on. Are you completely sure that when these cars are careening down the road there isn’t a team of people removing any marine growth that there might happen to be on the bodywork? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/18 "2007-09-01T14:45:27Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo] When you look at a city at night, every little dot of light is a life happening. You are looking at suicides and first kisses, bankrupcies and jackpots, diapers and Depends. Some of them are people like you, looking out their windows and wondering about the story of your little dot of light. [/QUOTE] That almost seems like an XKCD comic. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/19 "2007-09-01T15:00:32Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] Mary-Louise Parker is flippin hot. That’s all I’ve got for now. [/QUOTE] [BFP](http://www.ncarts.edu/pressreleases/Tips2005/Dec2005/mlparker03.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668/20 "2007-09-01T19:56:03Z")
My 6 year old nephew just taught me the Polish for ‘fuck’. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-pointless-stuff-i-must-share/416668.md?page=2)