# Painful confession time: Things you \*ought\* to know but \*don't\* **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836 "2010-04-30T06:12:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/1 "2010-04-30T06:12:48Z")
No peeking at Wikipedia 'til you confess! Being in the field I am, and the part of the world I’m in, and the relevance of recent events, I really ought to be able to tell you all about the [1997 Asian Financial Crisis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_financial_crisis), but offhand I just have the vague recollection that Thailand torpedoed its own currency somehow, “hot money” bailed out of the region, and northeast Asia wasn’t affected so badly because its markets weren’t as open as its neighbors to the south. Trust me, I ought to know a _lot_ more than that. (ETA: And now, I have no excuse not to know it – jumping over to Wikipedia toot suite!) How about you? I’ll be especially interested to see any doctors, lawyers or indian chiefs in this thread – I promise I won’t tell! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chickie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chickie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickie)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/2 "2010-04-30T06:59:18Z")
Hrmmm, dunno about profession-wise, but I just had to ask the boyfriend what a “marmoset” was. His answer: “isn’t it like a marmot?” So I guess neither one of us knew 😛 ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/3 "2010-04-30T07:48:15Z")
I’m about to become an English teacher, and this means I really should have read quite a few classic novels that I just haven’t yet. Also some movies that I should see. On the other hand, if you want to make the other education students really jealous, there’s nothing like whining that you need to _read books_ and _watch movies_ to get them going 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/4 "2010-04-30T08:09:01Z")
Ditto. Fifty-two years old an unlikely ever to get caught up up my Regency novels. Also I am unclear as to what exactly the “audio-lingual” method is. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/5 "2010-04-30T08:38:43Z")
**flodnak** , solution to your problem is to assign your unread books to your students. Then you don’t have to read them, just read the reports later (which you’d do anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/6 "2010-04-30T09:03:34Z")
I don’t know how to unhook a bra with one hand. I don’t know how to drive stick. I don’t know how to tie a tie. I don’t know how to replace a tire, and I am only 50% sure I know how to check the oil. Long story short, I need to turn in my Man Card. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/7 "2010-04-30T12:57:39Z")
I’m an editor, but I’m still confused by the terms \*i.e. \*and _e.g._ ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/8 "2010-04-30T13:09:48Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > **flodnak** , solution to your problem is to assign your unread books to your students. Then you don’t have to read them, just read the reports later (which you’d do anyway). A cunning plan, the only drawback of which is that it does assume that the students will themselves actually read the set books before writing their reports. This is by no means certain. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/9 "2010-04-30T13:20:01Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > I don’t know how to unhook a bra with one hand. I don’t know how to do this, either. Nor do I know how to unhook a bra without turning the band around so the hooks are in the front. Turning the band around is how my mom taught me to do it when I started wearing a bra, and I never learned anything else. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/10 "2010-04-30T13:31:25Z")
I have completed my coursework on a PhD in SE European History, but I really don’t have a handle on the master narrative of the region. I also don’t really know how to change my own oil. I could probably figure it out, but I’ve never been under there to actually do it. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/11 "2010-04-30T14:37:39Z")
Significant figures still boggle me. If _mg_ = (1500 kg)(9.8 m/s^2), _θ_ = π/6, and _μ_ = 0.453, I have no idea how many figures my solution should have. It’s even worse when I have to find uncertainty. Edit: I would’ve gotten an A in my Chemistry course if not for those blasted sig figs. ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/12 "2010-04-30T15:37:00Z")
Lawyer here: I just don’t get _Marbury v. Madison_. This case is absolutely fundamental. It is the very first case in almost every single Constitutional Law textbook. Something about writs of mandamus… or appointments to the Supreme court. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/13 "2010-04-30T15:51:01Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > I’m an editor, but I’m still confused by the terms \*i.e. \*and _e.g._ I’m an editor and I can never be bothered to recite the “ei” vs. “ie” rule, so I just let spellcheck catch it or worse… _leave the typo in_. I know, I should have my pedantic Ms. Smartypants card revoked. On that same note, I can also not be bothered to learn when to use “whom” and when to use “who.” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/14 "2010-04-30T16:32:40Z")
I have a shit memory for world history. As a concerned citizen, I should know more about the factors that influenced, say, World Wars I and II, as well as what the hell is going on in the Middle East right now. It’s not that I haven’t tried. It just goes in one ear and out the other. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/15 "2010-04-30T16:52:51Z")
I am 39 years old, have lived in the Los Angeles area all my life, and do not know how to drive. ---
**Author:** ![Arglefraster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@Arglefraster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arglefraster)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/16 "2010-04-30T16:52:51Z")
I do technical support for Windows based system. Put me in front of a Mac and I turn into my technologically inept father. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/17 "2010-04-30T16:54:59Z")
How a fax works. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/18 "2010-04-30T17:12:00Z")
I’m an engineer, and I don’t know what half the acronyms I use every day really stand for. For example, I know what a DAR is, it’s a evaluation process used for trade studies, but I couldn’t tell you what the letters stand for without looking it up. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/19 "2010-04-30T17:16:01Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I have a shit memory for world history. As a concerned citizen, I should know more about the factors that influenced, say, World Wars I and II, as well as what the hell is going on in the Middle East right now. It’s not that I haven’t tried. It just goes in one ear and out the other. Same for me. I’ve read biographies, news, watched a lot of documentaries, and the facts fall away like deciduous leaves in October. Very frustrating. On the other hand, I’m constantly surprised while watching The Tudors 😃 “Didn’t see that coming” lol. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/20 "2010-04-30T17:28:06Z")
Tampons. I insert them, but they never go right. And then I doubt myself, since nothing, not even a speculum, has been in my vajayjay. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836.md?page=2)