# Palin the intellectual says she always wanted a son named Zamboni **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 22, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139 "2008-10-22T22:39:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/21 "2008-10-23T10:03:50Z")
The derision of the names Track and Trig I understand, but what is wrong with Bristol, Willow (the name of our favorite TV lesbian Wiccan), and Piper as names. And yes, the Zamboni comment is clearly meant to be a joke. Speaking of TV lesbian Wiccans, the People Mag site just told me something else- Woohoo, Alyson & Alexis are expecting! [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20234874,00.html](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20234874,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/22 "2008-10-23T10:21:39Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Is Home Economics really taught any more? I had the idea the radical feminists caused it to be dropped way back when? No, it’s very much alive. I took Home Ec in junior high school in the mid '90s. I think they changed the class name to “Home and Careers” a few years later, but I have little doubt that the useless course\* is still going. The useless teacher\*\* is probably still there too. \*I’m sure not all Home Ec classes are useless, but this one was. \*\*No apologies forthcoming here. I figure Palin probably won’t have any more kids, but I think she should consider Gort as a name if she does. It works on its own and it could be short for GoreTex. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/23 "2008-10-23T11:22:32Z")
Ideally, Home Ec should be about budgeting, not gender roles. Also, mathematics should be about logical arguments, not rote memorization, and history should be about testing the veracity of sources, not indoctrination. ---
**Author:** ![Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/24 "2008-10-23T13:08:02Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No, it’s very much alive. I took Home Ec in junior high school in the mid '90s. I think they changed the class name to “Home and Careers” a few years later, but I have little doubt that the useless course\* is still going. The useless teacher\*\* is probably still there too. > > \*I’m sure not all Home Ec classes are useless, but this one was. > \*\*No apologies forthcoming here. > > I figure Palin probably won’t have any more kids, but I think she should consider Gort as a name if she does. It works on its own and it could be short for GoreTex. In my school district - FACE: Family and Consumer Education. I don’t think my son got much out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/25 "2008-10-23T15:40:38Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > The derision of the names Track and Trig I understand, but what is wrong with Bristol, Willow (the name of our favorite TV lesbian Wiccan), and Piper as names. Honestly, I kind of like “Willow” and “Piper”. “Bristol” strikes me as a bit odd, and always makes me picture the kid throwing a tantrum (“doing the Bristol Stomp” ;)). I can’t imagine how someone would pick “Track” and “Trig” as names, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/26 "2008-10-23T15:48:31Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > “Tardlauncher, Tardlauncher, > Launch me a tard, > Loft me a dunce, > Shoot him out hard! > Tardlauncher, Tardlauncher, > Shoot me a shmuck > And launch out a perfect tard!” Oh honey. I think I love you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/27 "2008-10-23T15:59:14Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No, it’s very much alive. I took Home Ec in junior high school in the mid '90s. I think they changed the class name to “Home and Careers” a few years later, but I have little doubt that the useless course\* is still going. The useless teacher\*\* is probably still there too. > > \*I’m sure not all Home Ec classes are useless, but this one was. > \*\*No apologies forthcoming here. > > I figure Palin probably won’t have any more kids, but I think she should consider Gort as a name if she does. It works on its own and it could be short for GoreTex. One could actually major in Home Ec when I attended Texas Tech, unless my memory has totally failed me, which it may well have done. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/28 "2008-10-23T16:16:44Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > “Tardlauncher, Tardlauncher, > Launch me a tard, > Loft me a dunce, > Shoot him out hard! > Tardlauncher, Tardlauncher, > Shoot me a shmuck > And launch out a perfect tard!” That’s good, but what’s been running through my head is more to the tune of “I’m a Girl-watcher…” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/29 "2008-10-23T16:40:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Alicia in New York City asks, Do you think about having more children? > SP: No-o-o-o. We got our starting five. That’s the final five. > > Alicia also wondered if you had any more unique names up your sleeve. > SP: We did. We never got to get our Zamboni in. I always wanted a son named Zamboni. > TP: I don’t think that would have flied. The Zamboni thing is almost certainly a joke, but…“flied”? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/30 "2008-10-23T16:51:07Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The Zamboni thing is almost certainly a joke And if you didn’t know better, having one kid named after a body of water, another named after a kind of math, a third named after an athletic competition, and a fourth named after a bird might strike you as ludicrous. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/31 "2008-10-23T17:07:07Z")
Hey, I’m _trying_ to give her the benefit of the doubt here. It’s awfully hard sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/32 "2008-10-23T18:05:29Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > And if you didn’t know better, having one kid named after **a body of water** , another named after a kind of math, a third named after an athletic competition, and a fourth named after a bird might strike you as ludicrous. Willow? ---
**Author:** ![Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicolas_Bourbaki)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/33 "2008-10-23T18:32:49Z")
Bristol Bay. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19adc/32.png) [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Am_The_Lorax)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/34 "2008-10-23T20:12:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Is Home Economics really taught any more? I had the idea the radical feminists caused it to be dropped way back when? I’m 25, and when I was in middle/high school, it was called “Home and Careers”. We learned muffin baking, sewing, ironing, grocery budgeting; you know, careers in the home. The only plus was boys had to do it, too. And girls got to take shop, which was “Technology”. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/35 "2008-10-23T20:26:12Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > I was hoping that she would keep the trigonometric trend up: Trig, Sine, Cosine, Tangent,… Sine and Cosine are the twins, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Stranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Time\_Stranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Stranger)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/36 "2008-10-23T20:26:43Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > One could actually major in Home Ec when I attended Texas Tech, unless my memory has totally failed me, which it may well have done. The majors have usually been changed to being under Family & Consumer Sciences (I know at the University of Georgia it is it’s own college); it encompasses a large variety of things, including Family Financial Planning, Dietetics, Housing, Textiles, Interior Design and more. While not all of them are heavy hitters in the academic world, it’s not really a joke designation. (Er… Why yes, I do work in FACS). ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/37 "2008-10-23T20:46:11Z")
Thinking about it now, Home Ec has the worst, most undeserved bad rap of any High School course. (Maybe second to Gym in that department, but at least Gym has the distinction of Building Character.) It _should_ be a course on all the things around the home you’re pretty much expected to know how to do as an adult: Budgeting (mathematics), grocery shopping (mathematics and applied psychology), simple cooking and baking (culture, chemistry, and more math), simple home repair (like Shop, only practical), and domestic disputes (psychology and legal concepts, including what ‘abuse’ and ‘family assault’ really are under the law). No, I didn’t take it in school. I’m a _boy_. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/38 "2008-10-23T21:35:29Z")
I actually like the name Zamboni, but then I always wanted to have twins named Bismark and Pierre after the capitals of North and South Dakota. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/39 "2008-10-23T21:50:06Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > Nah, it’s gotta be school subjects. Trig, Track, Band, Homec, SATprep, and so forth. I’m with you. Except I think Calc and Poli Sci are next. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139/40 "2008-10-23T22:23:54Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I figure Palin probably won’t have any more kids, but I think she should consider Gort as a name if she does. It works on its own and it could be short for GoreTex. Er…I don’t think she’d want her kid to share a name with the Gore family. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-the-intellectual-says-she-always-wanted-a-son-named-zamboni/469139.md?page=3)