# Partially right is totally wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701 "2013-12-06T20:00:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/81 "2013-12-07T21:54:06Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > This is why more people need to play [Mastermind](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastermind_(board_game)). Actually, this is why more people need to switch to decaf. Or Martinis. Or lay off the gin, regardless of what you mix it with. One or another of those. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/82 "2013-12-07T21:54:45Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Whatever their official designation, Top Gun had jets and that means Air Force. Umm, no. Both movies are about U.S. Navy jet pilot training. [TOPGUN](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOPGUN) is the official name of the Navy’s Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, not just a catchy title. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/83 "2013-12-07T22:23:22Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > I’m looking for a film from the late 70’s early 80’s about this tall handsome Air Force pilot who at the end comes into his girlfriend’s office in full dress uniform and literally sweeps her off her feet and carries her out as the others in the office cheer. > > Any idea what I may be thinking of or who this actor is? You may have described an actual movie. I kinda sorta don’t quite remember a movie like that from that time. It can’t be ‘Top Gun’, because, although that’s how that particular flic ended (If we substitute Navy for Air Force), that was somewhere around the mid to late '80s, so by **Czarcasm** ’s criteria, I must be totally wrong, but since your time period is earlier than that and I can’t remember a movie that fits, you must be totally wrong, so “Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line”! Ha Ha Ha!!! ETA: again, I see I’m behind. I suck. ---
**Author:** ![Nisslbody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Nisslbody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nisslbody)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/84 "2013-12-07T22:26:21Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Your giggling aside, in my opinion “partially right” is _not_ right enough. When it comes to law, construction and most sciences, being partially right is not something most settle for. In things as simple as recipes, being partially right can be the difference between using baking powder or baking soda(“I knew it was baking _something_, so at least I was half right!”). In science, there is no “partially right”. There is only observed data, and failure can be as enlightening as success. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/85 "2013-12-07T23:32:57Z")
Oh, WHY don’t other people behave exactly as I want? This must be their problem, not mine. (For those playing at home, that was sarcasm. Sarcasm.) ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/86 "2013-12-07T23:35:48Z")
I’ve done plenty of crosswords where I was certain I had enough correct answers to provide two letters in another clue (such as M & T in OP’s example) but then it turned out one was actually wrong and I was really looking for a word that started with another letter. Of course, I’m not infallible like czargasm. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/87 "2013-12-08T07:50:02Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Now, it could be that Czarcasm just the one person on the entire planet who is always 100% precise with their questions, but I’m going to answer in a way that would benefit the other 7 billion. Or, it’s vanity on your part. If, in some other life, I ask “How much property tax do I owe on the capital gains on my W-2 if I own a house?” I’m asking a specific question. I’m not asking the question you think I should ask… well, you’re welcome to add a quick note that I’m an idiot after you answer the specific question asked. As far as I’m concerned, people who give actual answers to specific questions are entitled to add any amount of politics, religion, education, analysis or personal opinion, after they’ve answered the actual question, and on those terms I’ll be grateful for whatever I get. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/88 "2013-12-08T12:29:28Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Umm, no. Both movies are about U.S. Navy jet pilot training. [TOPGUN](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOPGUN) is the official name of the Navy’s Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, not just a catchy title. Sigh. I know it’s Navy. I meant that to the average moviegoer/forum respondent, a movie with jets is about the Air Force. Whatever it is officially doesn’t much matter to the memory of the average person. Jets = Air Force. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/89 "2013-12-08T14:55:27Z")
Melbourne, dracoi’s point is that there isn’t a simple answer to that question. He (or is dracoi she?) would have to ask you a number of other questions to understand what you really want to know. It’s not a matter of “politics, religion, education, analysis or personal opinion,” it’s because the question is difficult on a technical level. If you want the correct answer, you will have to give much more detail. Look, I understand Czarcasm’s original point. Too many people post a reply without thinking through the question of whether their reply makes any sense and whether it’s adding anything to the thread. They are wasting our time and annoying everyone. On the other hand, try to understand our frustration with an OP that is not well-phrased or which contains mistakes. Sometimes we have no alternative after the replies which assume the OP is correct in its details have been posted and which aren’t the desired replies but to then try some replies which assume that there is some vagueness or mistake in the conditions of the question. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/90 "2013-12-08T15:30:39Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Sigh. I know it’s Navy. I meant that to the average moviegoer/forum respondent, a movie with jets is about the Air Force. Whatever it is officially doesn’t much matter to the memory of the average person. Jets = Air Force. Exactly… Jets = Air Force Gun = Assault Rifle/AK47 Biting Dog = Pit Bull I knew that the movie was about Navy Pilots, and I knew Tom Cruise is short (although camera angles can do wonders to cover that up), and I knew the scene was in a factory instead of an office. What I didn’t realize was that I was confusing two different but similar movies… which makes my example work even better. Partially wrong is often very helpful because even when we think we remember things clearly often we don’t. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/91 "2013-12-08T15:37:54Z")
I don’t know how much the OP is paying for each proposed answer s/he gets, but it strikes me that neither of her/his examples does the OP much credit. In the first one, I s/he posits an answer that satisfies some of the conditions _and explicitly outlines which criteria it does not meet_-sounds like a courteous and non-demanding response to me, even if not ultimately useful. The crossword is tougher, and I can see how a good speller might not understand how a poor one could make a good faith effort without having counted letters first. But for a crossword enthusiast, rejecting wrong answers, again, usually isn’t that taxing. The OP wants, essentially, for people to verify their suggestions themselves before bothering him/her with them, and s/he’s willing to miss out on correct suggestions from those who aren’t willing to take the trouble. That’s reasonable, but the OP would do well to make that clear at the beginnings of threads in which s/he is offering up the honor of accepting our help ---
**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:** [December 8, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/92 "2013-12-08T17:39:56Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Sigh. I know it’s Navy. I meant that to the average moviegoer/forum respondent, a movie with jets is about the Air Force. Whatever it is officially doesn’t much matter to the memory of the average person. Jets = Air Force. Sorry, I didn’t realize you were expressing the outlook of the average person. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/93 "2013-12-08T17:42:59Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Sigh. I know it’s Navy. I meant that to the average moviegoer/forum respondent, a movie with jets is about the Air Force. Whatever it is officially doesn’t much matter to the memory of the average person. Jets = Air Force. “What was that movie with the jets?” “Top Gun? An Officer and a Gentleman? Firefox? Iron Eagle?” “No, it was older.” “Jet Pilot? Strategic Air Command? The Starfighters?” “No, it wasn’t any of those either.” “Do you remember anything else about the movie?” “Well, the jets fought another gang called the sharks.” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/94 "2013-12-08T18:20:44Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > “What was that movie with the jets?” > “Top Gun? An Officer and a Gentleman? Firefox? Iron Eagle?” > “No, it was older.” > “Jet Pilot? Strategic Air Command? The Starfighters?” > “No, it wasn’t any of those either.” > “Do you remember anything else about the movie?” > “Well, the jets fought another gang called the sharks.” Bravo. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/95 "2013-12-09T20:16:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > “What was that movie with the jets?” > “Top Gun? An Officer and a Gentleman? Firefox? Iron Eagle?” > “No, it was older.” > “Jet Pilot? Strategic Air Command? The Starfighters?” > “No, it wasn’t any of those either.” > “Do you remember anything else about the movie?” > “Well, the jets fought another gang called the sharks.” This deserves a :golfclap:. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/96 "2013-12-11T03:32:56Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Once my roommate and I lost a cat. We didn’t have a picture but we put up ads that said “Lost: Beautiful long-haired black and white female cat” along with our phone number. > > So a guy calls and says he thinks he has our cat. We go over to retrieve her–and it’s a shorthaired tricolor MALE. > > We took him anyway because he was cute and we figured the guy who found him was never going to get it right and knew fuckall about cats. If it really was a tricolor male, you had one of the rarest cats known. How’s that for close, no cigar? In cats, color is coded on the X chromosome; each X can carry a max of 2 colors, hence, a cat requires two X’s to be a tri-color. 2 X’s almost always = female \* - - info good as of 1973, know of no updates. At that time, there had been (IIRC) a total of 3 tri-color (Calico and Tortoiseshell) males which were fertile. None threw tri-color males If you still have him, ask the vet about cats and color chromosomes - I’d love to hear the explanation. Note that I DID SAY XX ALMOST always = female; there are some weird chromosome structures running around, as we are learning as we delve into the world of trans-sexuality. But yes, the OP is correct that these boards are starting to look like 100’s of little HANDY’s have taken root - people who know next to nothing are cluttering GQ to the point that an hour spent on google is now a break-even on asking that forum. I’d much rather have one response which is correct than 3 pages of WRONG compounded by absolute certainty on the part of the WRONG poster. As for the cat and it’s colors - yes, dilutes can do some strange things - if a cat displays both the full and the dilute of a given color, you could count them as different colors quite easily. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/97 "2013-12-11T03:54:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Another very good example are radio contests where the hosts says something like, “The fifteenth caller who can name the song we just played _and_ the band who played it will win today’s mystery prize!”. I have been on the phone, song and band on the tip of my tongue, been put on hold and listened(the radio using their own feed as on hold music) as some **collars** would give _either_ the band or the song. Now, these people are on hold just like I am, so the latter ones have heard the original instructions _and_ the operator telling callers that they needed both to win…but they stay on the line any way to give _their_ partial answer. _Why?_ Do they think someone is going to say, “That’s not right, but we’re still going to give you the prize.”? Callers. Your entire topic is now invalid. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/98 "2013-12-11T07:24:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You: “I’m trying to remember that cocktail with an Italian name. It starts with a “m” and ends with “ini”. It’s made out of gin and vermouth and there’s an olive in it. Any ideas?” > > Me (thinking): “Well, he can’t be talking about a Martini. That’s an American not an Italian name. And I don’t want to waste his time by suggesting an answer that doesn’t match every one of his specifications.” > > Me: “Sorry, Czarcasm, I can’t help you.” Now that you mention it… wasn’t the Martini Enfield a British rifle? So the drink can’t be Italian can it? And there is a Martini on this board who is a Kiwi, so now I’m thinking that Martini is either a british-ism or kiwi slang. I’d better shut the fark up. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2013, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/99 "2013-12-11T07:42:01Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > If it really was a tricolor male, you had one of the rarest cats known. > > How’s that for close, no cigar? > > In cats, color is coded on the X chromosome; each X can carry a max of 2 colors, hence, a cat requires two X’s to be a tri-color. 2 X’s almost always = female \* > > - > - info good as of 1973, know of no updates. At that time, there had been (IIRC) a total of 3 tri-color (Calico and Tortoiseshell) males which were fertile. None threw tri-color males > > If you still have him, ask the vet about cats and color chromosomes - I’d love to hear the explanation. > > Note that I DID SAY XX ALMOST always = female; there are some weird chromosome structures running around, as we are learning as we delve into the world of trans-sexuality. > > But yes, the OP is correct that these boards are starting to look like 100’s of little HANDY’s have taken root - people who know next to nothing are cluttering GQ to the point that an hour spent on google is now a break-even on asking that forum. I’d much rather have one response which is correct than 3 pages of WRONG compounded by absolute certainty on the part of the WRONG poster. > > As for the cat and it’s colors - yes, dilutes can do some strange things - if a cat displays both the full and the dilute of a given color, you could count them as different colors quite easily. Yes; people told us he was rare. Opinions differed, though, as he had a little patch of tiger tail on the end of his tail. Otherwise white with black and orange. A charllie chaplin mustache. He was a great cat. We were told he was probably sterile, which made us feel like idiots for having him fixed. On the other hand, why take chances? (To get back to the thread, that would have been 100% wrong.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/100 "2013-12-11T07:59:10Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > Now that you mention it… > > wasn’t the Martini Enfield a British rifle? So the drink can’t be Italian can it? > > And there is a Martini on this board who is a Kiwi, so now I’m thinking that Martini is either a british-ism or kiwi slang. I’d better shut the fark up. The origin of the name isn’t clear. It may, despite my joke, be Italian as one possible origin is the cocktail was named after Martini vermouth. But there’s also evidence the cocktail might have been named after the town of Martinez, California. Others claim it was invented by a New York bartender named Martini or a New York judge named Martine. Early references refer to the cocktail as Martini, Martina, Martine, Martigny, Martineau, and Martinez. (The cocktail itself appears to have originated in America which strengthens the claims to it having an American name.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701.md?page=6)