# Oh, so THAT'S what that button's for! Your "Duh" techno moments **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 22, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600 "2011-08-22T01:41:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/41 "2011-08-25T03:41:14Z")
**Rick,** I don’t know enough about the mechanics to comment on your explanations. All I know is that from my personal experience, if I start my Acura in winter in Saskatchewan with the Recirculation button pressed on, the interior of the car quickly gets very humid, with moisture building up on the windows. I never use the Recirculation button for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/42 "2011-08-25T03:59:14Z")
> [@Hedda\_Rosa](#): > > Yep. Unlike my friends I read the manual almost cover-to-cover. And then surfed some Prius forums. Me = geek. On behalf of the tech writer(s) who wrote that manual, thank you! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/43 "2011-08-25T04:11:12Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > If there is any single button that is standard on every car that’s been made in the last 25 years, it would have to be that one with the big red triangle in the middle of the dash. How can someone not know what that button does? Well for one thing, in my last three cars (two of them from the same manufacturer), that “standard button” has been in different places and looked different. For another, it’s probably the least-used button in the entire vehicle – many folks will go their entire driving lives never having to turn on the hazard lights, and even if you do, it’s probably a twice-a-decade sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/44 "2011-08-25T04:20:28Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > OK, this one wasn’t me, but it’s so funny I have to share. > > One morning as I’m pulling into the parking lot at work I see this woman standing next to her car, and the car’s hazard lights are flashing. I park and grab my laptop bag and am heading towards the door but she flags me down. As I’m walking towards her car I notice that she is frantically flipping through her owner’s manual. She tells me that she turned her hazard lights on somehow and she can’t figure out how to turn them off. > > As I lean into the car I say something like “Well, there should be a button somewhere with a big red triangle on it… yep there it is” and push the button to turn her hazard lights off. She was so grateful for my help, but all I could think was “WTF?” If there is any single button that is standard on every car that’s been made in the last 25 years, it would have to be that one with the big red triangle in the middle of the dash. How can someone not know what that button does? I’ve never owned a car with the hazard light turn off button being a red triangle one in the middle of the dash. Every car I’ve ever owned as long as I can remember had a button thing on the top of the steering column which you have to push up or down (depending on the car) and then in and up (or down) to turn off. That includes the two field vehicles (chevies) from my current company and my previous employer. Both are 2001s so maybe this lady has only driven hazard-lights-on-the-steering-column cars? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/45 "2011-08-25T04:42:36Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > That includes the two field vehicles (chevies) from my current company and my previous employer. Both are 2001s so maybe this lady has only driven hazard-lights-on-the-steering-column cars? It’s possible. My 2000 Chevy has the hazard light button on the steering column. I’ve rented a few late-model cars recently that had the hazard button on the dash (a Buick sedan and a Chevy Silverado pickup); but had I not rented them and noticed the button’s different location nowadays, I’d look for the button on the steering column. Don’t get me started on what happened when my left foot looked for the hi-beam switch button on the floor of the driver’s side in one car I was driving years ago, and it wasn’t there. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/46 "2011-08-25T10:57:20Z")
Not really a d’oh moment, but I had just bought myself a brand new 95 golf and drove it off the lot, and then decided to stop and top off the gas tank. I had to get out the manual and quickly find out which side the damned fill was on. I have had cars with it on the left, the right, in the front and under the back license plate … and I forgot to look when I first got in. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/47 "2011-08-25T11:17:04Z")
> [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](#): > > : I’ll turn on the home theater system, and there will be no sound at all coming out of the speakers… > > The I’ll take a close look at the receiver display, and I’ll notice that the A/B button, which changes from the 5.1 speakers to the (nonexistent) aux speakers, is set to B. I’ll sheepishly switch it back to A, and usually, my wife will laugh and call me a dumbass. Snap! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/48 "2011-08-25T12:51:51Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > **Rick,** I don’t know enough about the mechanics to comment on your explanations. All I know is that from my personal experience, if I start my Acura in winter in Saskatchewan with the Recirculation button pressed on, the interior of the car quickly gets very humid, with moisture building up on the windows. I never use the Recirculation button for that reason. This is why on many cars when you are in defrost the system will not allow recirculation. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/49 "2011-08-25T13:04:28Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Not really a d’oh moment, but I had just bought myself a brand new 95 golf and drove it off the lot, and then decided to stop and top off the gas tank. I had to get out the manual and quickly find out which side the damned fill was on. I have had cars with it on the left, the right, in the front and under the back license plate … and I forgot to look when I first got in. :smack: Maybe not on the 95 model but if you look at your gas guage, there will be a little arrow beside the picture of the fuel pump. If it points left, it is on the left, right it is on the right. Worked in every rental car I have ever gotten but it could just be late model years. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/50 "2011-08-25T14:02:21Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Not really a d’oh moment, but I had just bought myself a brand new 95 golf and drove it off the lot, and then decided to stop and top off the gas tank. I had to get out the manual and quickly find out which side the damned fill was on. I have had cars with it on the left, the right, in the front and under the back license plate … and I forgot to look when I first got in. :smack: God I hate that. I travel and must rent a lot of cars and it bugs the shiite out of me that I can’t just _assume_ the damned gas tank is on one side or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/51 "2011-08-25T14:43:23Z")
Most of the people I encounter trying to open plastic packages (ketchup packets, drink pouches and such) have no clue that they are designed to be open via the perforations/ridges or some other slit. . ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/52 "2011-08-25T14:50:00Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Eventually we both realized she has heated seats and the passenger side was “on”. Dealership never mentioned it, and I was her first passenger. I had something like that happen when I borrowed a friend’s car. The driver’s side seat was hot enough I knew there had to be a heater and couldn’t find a switch anywhere on the dash. I looked in the car’s manual, and it told me where it should be on the dash, but said it was optional. On the spot on the dash was nothing. I had to take it to the dealer, who showed me that the switch was on the side of the seat, not where the manual said it wasn’t. I must have bumped the switch from “pleasantly toasty” to “ass scald” position. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/53 "2011-08-25T14:53:12Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Ya know the two hooks on a vacuum cleaner that you wind the cord around? The top one could be turned around, and I always wondered why, as I patiently unwound the cord, one loop at a time… You just made me feel sooooo dumb! All these years!!! ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/54 "2011-08-25T15:07:54Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > Maybe not on the 95 model but if you look at your gas guage, there will be a little arrow beside the picture of the fuel pump. If it points left, it is on the left, right it is on the right. Worked in every rental car I have ever gotten but it could just be late model years. For the first 6 months or so of owning my first car, I thought that was some sort of indicator that would light up if you left the gas cover open. It really helped when I discovered it was actually an arrow to the correct side! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/55 "2011-08-25T17:56:29Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Ya know the two hooks on a vacuum cleaner that you wind the cord around? The top one could be turned around, and I always wondered why, as I patiently unwound the cord, one loop at a time… !!! ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/56 "2011-08-25T19:03:43Z")
> [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](#): > > … > The I’ll take a close look at the receiver display, and I’ll notice that the A/B button, which changes from the 5.1 speakers to the (nonexistent) aux speakers, is set to B. I’ll sheepishly switch it back to A, and usually, my wife will laugh and call me a dumbass. Oh my god, same here, except it is the DVD power. My inputs go inline through the DVD so I can record shows, and everything only works when the DVD is powered on. Once or twice a year, the power will go out from a storm or something, and all of a sudden nothing works. Given the high degree of cursing and stomping, fighting the urge to just break all of the equipment and start over, you’d think I’d remember to turn on the DVD player? No! :mad: Even worse when the dog sits on the remote and changes some obscure surround-sound alternate input channel setting. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/57 "2011-08-25T19:39:10Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… Thank you Let me fourth (fifth?) that. > [@Rick](#): > > This is why on many cars when you are in defrost the system will not allow recirculation. Yeah - on my Corolla, the recirculation button pops out if you have it depressed when you turn it to defrost. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/58 "2011-08-25T19:52:01Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Ya know the two hooks on a vacuum cleaner that you wind the cord around? The top one could be turned around, and I always wondered why, as I patiently unwound the cord, one loop at a time… On a somewhat similar note: when I first got an iPod and some Sony earbuds, I hated the way the earbud cords would get tangled into knots so easily. It was several months before I noticed the little slider on the cord that prevents tangling. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/59 "2011-08-25T21:00:33Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Ya know the two hooks on a vacuum cleaner that you wind the cord around? The top one could be turned around, and I always wondered why, as I patiently unwound the cord, one loop at a time… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600/60 "2011-08-26T03:44:03Z")
My DOH moment was finding an undocumented feature in our cars. We had introduced 6 disc CD players integrated into the radio. To get out the CDs you would select a CD (1-6) and push eject. For all 6 it was lather rinse repeat. Then one day I was reading about another brand of car where if you held down the eject button for 10 seconds it would eject all 6 discs one after the other. This got me thinking so I went and tried it on my car. No shit it worked! Checked the owner’s manual no mention of this. I wrote a question about this for the national quarterly technician quiz to get the word out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-that-buttons-for-your-duh-techno-moments/593600.md?page=4)