# My ignorance was just exposed. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 13, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795 "2008-06-13T12:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/41 "2008-06-14T03:10:18Z")
[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] > [@](#): > > Renee > ? > > I can’t even find a definition of boareders, what are you talking about? I’m guessing “boarders” 😕 [/QUOTE] And _I’m_ guessing “borders.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/42 "2008-06-14T03:49:51Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] And _I’m_ guessing “borders.” 😃 [/QUOTE] But how would building it without borders make it shaped like an airplane? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/43 "2008-06-14T05:26:56Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] OMG, I woulda guessed Sydney, Melbourne, or Perth. ☹ [/QUOTE] Canberra was purpose built to be the capital, as neither Sydney nor Melbourne would agree to the other’s being the capital. A ‘neutral’ capital was so important to negate inter-colonial rivalry in the run-up to federation that the Australian constitution specifically states: > [@section 125](#): > > The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/44 "2008-06-14T06:08:21Z")
[QUOTE=bbs2k] Nobody I’ve asked has ever even heard of the Isle of Man. [/QUOTE] Seriously? I’m sure I’m not the best example, since two of my LJ friends are Manx, but even with my horrible geographical knowledge\* I’ve know the Isle of Man has existed as long as I can remember. Until I was 11 I thought it was in the Channel, not the Irish Sea, but I knew it was over there somewhere. \*Example: I still can’t name all the countries in Africa. In my defense, my education never included African geography. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/45 "2008-06-14T07:23:26Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] Canberra was purpose built to be the capital, as neither Sydney nor Melbourne would agree to the other’s being the capital. A ‘neutral’ capital was so important to negate inter-colonial rivalry in the run-up to federation that the Australian constitution specifically states: . . . [/QUOTE] This is, of course, quite similar to the establishment of Washington, DC (and the U.S. Constitution’s provision for a federal district, now the District of Columbia), which was a planned city established on the swampy banks of the Potomac River to balance out the interests of the northern and the southern states and avoid putting the capital in any of the already established cities. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Them](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/46 "2008-06-14T07:33:20Z")
The Isle of Man is also known amongst certain people as the producer of Angels, Nobles, Cats, and Dogs. For some reason, I’m pretty good at geography, for an amateur. Quick, US Dopers: What are the 1½ state capitals that are called “name of state+City”? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/47 "2008-06-14T07:52:03Z")
Capital Cities tend to be centrally located in the country, so as to be evenly accessible and relatively unbiased in their proximity. If there isn’t already a city that fulfils these criteria, they often will build one, which tends to make them extremely boring in their design. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/48 "2008-06-14T07:54:41Z")
[QUOTE=The Them] The Isle of Man is also known amongst certain people as the producer of Angels, Nobles, Cats, and Dogs. For some reason, I’m pretty good at geography, for an amateur. Quick, US Dopers: What are the 1½ state capitals that are called “name of state+City”? [/QUOTE] Oklahoma City for sure, and…Carson City? Salt Lake City? Which half counts for half, the state or the city? Or does polis=city? ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/49 "2008-06-14T08:15:16Z")
[QUOTE=The Them] The Isle of Man is also known amongst certain people as the producer of Angels, Nobles, Cats, and Dogs. For some reason, I’m pretty good at geography, for an amateur. Quick, US Dopers: What are the 1½ state capitals that are called “name of state+City”? [/QUOTE] Oklahoma City and Indianapolis? ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/50 "2008-06-14T08:20:09Z")
[QUOTE=Sonnenstrahl] That’s pretty awesome. Whenever I tell people I’m studying history, they want to know the dates of battles or when someone famous was born (or the names of the wives of Henry VIII… _sigh_). I have no such awesome way to explain to them what history really is without sounding super pedantic. [/QUOTE] It may not be awesome, but I’ve always defined history as “what happened”. The study of history, then, has two main components: knowing what happened, and figuring out what happened. The first is the one everyone immediately thinks of; the second is the bulk of it and by far the more interesting part. After all, everyone knows what year Columbus sailed the ocean blue, but few of them could tell you why they’re so sure about it. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/51 "2008-06-14T14:29:49Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] I’m actually more surprised when the largest/most famous city _is_ the capital, such as Boston. Brasilia’s recognition problem is compounded by the fact it’s a planned city, and as such doesn’t really have any character or distinguishing features (compared to others.) [/QUOTE] Actually, the fact that it’s a (mid-20th century) planned city _is_ its distinguishing feature, and it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/52 "2008-06-14T21:27:09Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] But how would building it without borders make it shaped like an airplane? 😕 [/QUOTE] I think **whatami** was trying to say that the original borders of the city have the shape of an airplane. Look at the picture in **Bosstone** ’s link. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/53 "2008-06-15T02:32:40Z")
[QUOTE=The Them] Quick, US Dopers: What are the 1½ state capitals that are called “name of state+City”? [/QUOTE] Indianapolis? ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/54 "2008-06-15T02:48:22Z")
[QUOTE=lobotomyboy63] Strange innit, the gaps in our knowledge? I might have gotten it right b/c I like to look at maps…or I might have gone the way you did. Weird one: there’s a country in South America that has two capitals. 1. Name the country. 2) Name the capitals. 1) Bolivia; 2) Sucre & La Paz [/QUOTE] I was close. I knew Bolivia and of course knew La Paz, but I couldn’t remember the traditional capital-Sucre. Cool ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/55 "2008-06-15T12:12:58Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] And _I’m_ guessing “borders.” 😃 [/QUOTE] I don’t want to talk about it… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/56 "2008-06-15T12:36:46Z")
[QUOTE=bbs2k] Nobody I’ve asked has ever even heard of the Isle of Man. [/QUOTE] I have. In fact I was there 2 weeks ago for a week staying with a friend in Peel. I’ve know of it since I was in grade school… and I am American. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/57 "2008-06-15T18:15:10Z")
[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] I don’t want to talk about it… :smack: [/QUOTE] Don’t beat yourself up. In recent years I’m constantly finding myself typing out the wrong spelling of some homophone, like “their” instead of “they’re.” I usually catch myself, but I never used to do that. Just getting old, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/58 "2008-06-15T18:38:01Z")
I suspect more people know about Manx cats than know about the Isle of Man. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/59 "2008-06-15T19:04:30Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] I suspect more people know about Manx cats than know about the Isle of Man. [/QUOTE] And the TT. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795/60 "2008-06-15T19:23:46Z")
So what’s the first country you hit when you travel due west from the closest part of the USA? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ignorance-was-just-exposed/452795.md?page=4)