# 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:** 4\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/101 "2013-12-11T16:12:18Z")
I’ve re-read your original post Czarcasm, The answer is clearly Silly Putty. It came in a two piece container (for three total) and when rolled (assembled if you will) bounced like a Superball. If you ask for assistance, sometimes you are going to get some completely off the wall responses, especially with crosswords. That’s just the fallibility of human nature in action. We all endure the idiots in life who can’t or don’t know when to STFU, whether in a cafe or a meeting. Sometimes, to paraphrase Pogo, “We have met the idiots, and he is us”. Avoiding the fuzzy answers are next to impossible, but seriously, if you ask out loud for help publicly you are going to have to expect that some dross is inevitable. Oh, BTW, there is a massive difference between baking and recipes, the Air force and Naval Aviation, details matter, and the Martini of the Martini Enfield rifle was Hungarian born and Swiss by nature. so there. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/102 "2013-12-11T16:39:29Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > I’ve re-read your original post Czarcasm, > The answer is clearly Silly Putty. It came in a two piece container (for three total) and when rolled (assembled if you will) bounced like a Superball. The question implies that when the 3 or 4 pieces were assembled the product would then bounce. Since the three pieces originally available were the original Silly Putty glob and the two pieces of the outer plastic egg, I don’t think those three pieces could be assembled in such a way that it would bounce when dropped. _But_: It was only implied that all the pieces that came in the package must be part of the assembly, in the vaguest sense of the term pulling the putty apart them slapping it back together _might_ be considered “assembly”, and for all I know there might actually be a way to assemble the plastic egg with the putty in such a way that it might actually bounce in some small way. But I’ll still deny that anything you assemble from that conglomeration will [will bounce like a Superball.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0_PjJBC8gU) 😃 ---
**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 16, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/103 "2013-12-16T14:55:32Z")
[A new thread reminded me of this one.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=710532) > [@](#): > > I don’t get why there is even still a market for tank-based water heaters. On-demand heaters use less energy, take up almost no space, are less expensive and never run out. Why on earth would someone who needs a new water heater buy the tank kind? The OP has mangled three of her four points. Tankless water heaters do use less energy, that’s true. But they take up just as much space as tank heaters because of the extra construction they need, are twice as expensive as tank heaters, and they won’t be able to keep up with the hot water needs of a house if you’re trying to use a lot at once. Everyone has tried to help the OP realize her mistake, but she’s never come back. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701/104 "2013-12-16T15:37:46Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > 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. That happens, sure. But it’s a public message board. And as you point out posters often get details of their query wrong. The other thing to remember is that this OP (content) doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The OP (poster) has a history here of being too literal or nannying. I, and I’m sure others in this thread, filter his OP through that history. [See this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=710267) for examples: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16924540&postcount=10](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16924540&postcount=10) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16926223&postcount=18](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16926223&postcount=18) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16929285&postcount=26](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16929285&postcount=26) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16931173&postcount=36](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16931173&postcount=36) He’s not technically wrong (not getting to moderate your own threads aside) but this type of thing happens in a huge majority of threads without the OP getting in a snit about the “rules” set down by the original post. And it often leads to very interesting side conversations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/partially-right-is-totally-wrong/675701.md?page=5)