# My little girl--I'm so proud! And so will you be. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140 "2010-10-23T22:28:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/1 "2010-10-23T22:28:52Z")
My 10yo daughter is studying ancient Egyptian history, and was reading a chapter about the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb. She came to me to ask me what a picture caption meant when it said > [@](#): > > Howard Carter leans over King Tutankhamen’s mummy. When people present at the opening of the tomb began to drop dead, including the person paying for the dig, rumors began that Tut had placed a mummy’s curse on those who had disturbed him. Mind you, this is a history book aimed at the junior-high level from the Oxford freaking University Press and I think they could have done better with that caption. People began to drop dead? Really? Anyway she didn’t see how there could really be a curse, so we looked it up. We found that the rumors started with the death of Lord Carnarvon from blood poisoning, and we found out how many people who were present at various events died in the next 10 years. We also found that the other three people most involved with the dig lived fairly long lives. She decided that it was pretty obvious that there was no curse, and put it in her report. It’s a proud moment for a mother. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/2 "2010-10-23T22:43:20Z")
Good on her! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/3 "2010-10-23T22:46:23Z")
Wow, you really must have raised her with the right kind of skeptical mind. Did the history book clarify about the cause of deaths…perhaps in the main text? ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/4 "2010-10-23T23:26:55Z")
I foresee a brilliant future for her as a SDSAB member. Too bad the gig doesn’t pay enough to keep you in a _nice_ nursing home, though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/5 "2010-10-23T23:52:39Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Did the history book clarify about the cause of deaths…perhaps in the main text? Not a word. The rest of the chapter is entirely a good and detailed description of the tomb dig and contents. I never knew that there was a wreath of flowers inside the sarcophagus, on the coffin’s crown. They threw it away. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/6 "2010-10-24T00:05:19Z")
I got one of them bright kids, too! Great, isn’t it? Makes a parent right proud, it does! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/7 "2010-10-24T00:13:03Z")
Go **dangergirl** , go! (And you too, **dangermom**!) ---
**Author:** ![MarkF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MarkF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkF)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/8 "2010-10-24T01:16:41Z")
That’s very cool **dangermom** , good on both of you. In an odd parallel, when _I_ was 10 years old, I visited the Tutankhamun exhibition when it came to London in 1972. It is returning all these years [later](http://golondon.about.com/od/novembernonannualevents/p/tutankhamun.htm). I hope it’s as good. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/9 "2010-10-24T01:27:01Z")
Yeah, that’s a pretty lame caption for a serious history book. **Dangergirl** is one sharp cookie, just like her mom! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/10 "2010-10-24T01:52:29Z")
I’m pretty sure that they think using the term “rumors” implies that it isn’t true. It is a limited amount of space. Still, I could understand kids not getting that, especially with the rest of the wording, so I am definitely proud of your daughter. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/11 "2010-10-24T02:10:55Z")
> [@MarkF](#): > > In an odd parallel, when _I_ was 10 years old, I visited the Tutankhamun exhibition when it came to London in 1972. It is returning all these years [later](http://golondon.about.com/od/novembernonannualevents/p/tutankhamun.htm). I hope it’s as good. 🙂 We got to go see it in San Francisco in February. It was very good, but a bit sparse–I understand that a lot of the most valuable things are no longer allowed out of Egypt. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/12 "2010-10-24T04:29:05Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m pretty sure that they think using the term “rumors” implies that it isn’t true. It is a limited amount of space. Still, I could understand kids not getting that, especially with the rest of the wording, so I am definitely proud of your daughter. Well, what they proved was that the book’s statement that ‘people present at the opening of the tomb began to drop dead’ was false or at least misleading - never mind the question of whether curses exist. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/13 "2010-10-24T04:30:59Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > I never knew that there was a wreath of flowers inside the sarcophagus, on the coffin’s crown. They threw it away. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/14 "2010-10-24T06:42:35Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > Well, what they proved was that the book’s statement that ‘people present at the opening of the tomb began to drop dead’ was false or at least misleading - never mind the question of whether curses exist. Good point. I was concentrating on the wrong part. Drop dead does imply immediate death, when it was really a bunch of different deaths that were connected by a false rumor. I’m just saying I get what they were trying to say. But, you are right, that is not good enough in this context. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/15 "2010-10-24T06:53:46Z")
I picture bodies crumpled in the antechamber, a stone door just barely shifted… ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/16 "2010-10-24T13:54:13Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Good point. I was concentrating on the wrong part. Drop dead does imply immediate death, when it was really a bunch of different deaths that were connected by a false rumor. > > I’m just saying I get what they were trying to say. But, you are right, that is not good enough in this context. Yes, that really is the part I object to most. Lord Carnarvon cannot be said to have dropped dead, and the caption makes it sound like a bunch of people just died all of a sudden as soon as the tomb was opened. ---
**Author:** ![Waxwinged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@Waxwinged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waxwinged)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/17 "2010-10-24T16:00:34Z")
The kid’s got common sense. Congratulations. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dukette71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@dukette71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dukette71)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/18 "2010-10-24T16:43:07Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > My 10yo daughter is studying ancient Egyptian history, and was reading a chapter about the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb. She came to me to ask me what a picture caption meant when it said > Mind you, this is a history book aimed at the junior-high level from the Oxford freaking University Press and I think they could have done better with that caption. People began to drop dead? Really? > > Anyway she didn’t see how there could really be a curse, so we looked it up. We found that the rumors started with the death of Lord Carnarvon from blood poisoning, and we found out how many people who were present at various events died in the next 10 years. We also found that the other three people most involved with the dig lived fairly long lives. > > She decided that it was pretty obvious that there was no curse, and put it in her report. It’s a proud moment for a mother. 😛 good work Dangermom!!! The force is strong with this one. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/19 "2010-10-24T16:50:50Z")
Tis a Doper fer shure.😃 ---
**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:** [October 25, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140/20 "2010-10-25T02:56:16Z")
Not just a skeptic, but also a good writer in the bud (the sentence is either credulous or else it’s badly constructed, as you point out). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-little-girl-im-so-proud-and-so-will-you-be/558140.md?page=2)