# Pitting UltraVires **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 22, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734 "2018-09-22T16:05:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**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:** [July 18, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/481 "2021-07-18T16:20:25Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > I actually am attending school at the University of Michigan. Although currently remote. > > (((From Texas))) My beloved alma mater. Ann Arbor is one of the best things about Michigan. It’s where we kids used to flee to escape the bigoted small towns we grew up in. Hope you get a chance to see it someday. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/482 "2021-07-18T17:33:11Z")
I was there for Fall 20/Winter 21 semesters. I’m currently working at one of the legal clinics, but remote from Texas because I prefer heat in the day time to a chill at night. But rest assured, I have seen Ann Arbor. ---
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/483 "2021-07-19T13:38:46Z")
I’m going to buy a tub of Cool Whip and eat it straight out of the tub just to spite all you haters. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2021, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/484 "2021-07-19T13:40:37Z")
For added spite, be sure to pronounce it “Cool Hwip”. ---
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/485 "2021-07-19T13:43:42Z")
Really? I’ve always pronounced it “coo-ip.” I’ll have to think Stewie Griffin. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/486 "2021-07-19T13:53:02Z")
Hwill Hweaton likes to eat it straight out of the tub. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/487 "2021-07-19T18:01:06Z")
I eat it straight out of the tub while IN the tub, watching Telly-Tubbies. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/488 "2021-07-19T18:59:25Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I eat it straight out of the tub while IN the tub, watching Telly-Tubbies.   Eating too much of it will make you tubby. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/489 "2021-07-20T17:03:28Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Hwill Hweaton likes to eat it straight out of the tub. Will Wheaton aside, I came to terms with the fact that, generally speaking, English language words beginning with “Wh-” are correctly pronounced as though they begin with “Hw-” nearly sixty years ago. I simply don’t _get_ why Seth MacFarlane (or anyone else) seems to have an issue with it. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/490 "2021-07-20T18:04:58Z")
Not totally getting what you’re saying. In my experience, words that start with ‘wh’ are almost always pronounced, in modern American English at least, as if they simply started with a ‘w.’ ‘Witch’ and ‘which’ are homophones. The ‘hw’ pronunciation feels very old-timey. I imagine that’s what MacFarlane (and others) are making fun of. Perhaps your mileage varies on this one? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/491 "2021-07-20T18:05:50Z")
I believe the appropriate answer is “lighten up Francis” It’s a joke. MacFarlane is paid to be funny, not seriously take up issues. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/492 "2021-07-20T18:13:19Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Will Wheaton aside, I came to terms with the fact that, generally speaking, English language words beginning with “Wh-” are correctly pronounced as though they begin with “Hw-” nearly sixty years ago. > > I simply don’t _get_ why Seth MacFarlane (or anyone else) seems to have an issue with it. 1. Part of the joke is that Stewie _doesn’t_ pronounce most “wh” words as “hw”. And “Will” isn’t even a “wh” word. It’s a significant part of the bit that he pronounces “will” in isolation as “wil” and “wheat” in isolation as “weet”, but he pronounces “Will Wheaton” as “hwil hweeton”. 2. A big part of the joke is that Stewie is an infant who should be pre-verbal yet speaks in an affected, and comically exaggerated, pseudo-British “Atlantic accent”, which is mostly extinct in the real world. 3. Finally, the fact that other people talk differently has been a prime source of humor pretty much literally since the beginning of recorded history. N.B.: I personally found the bit moderately amusing the first time. But the humor for me was much more Stewie’s personal idiosyncrasies and his interaction with Brian, than any humor inherent in dialectical differences. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/493 "2021-07-20T18:29:49Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > A big part of the joke is that Stewie is an infant who should be pre-verbal yet speaks in an affected, and comically exaggerated, pseudo-British “Atlantic accent”, which is mostly extinct in the real world. I once watched a _Family Guy_ episode on DVD where Seth McFarlane said on the commentary track that he based Stewie’s voice and accent on a portrayal of Henry Higgins in _My Fair Lady_. (I can’t remember if he said which actor and if it was a stage performance or otherwise.) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/494 "2021-07-21T04:22:05Z")
He said it was Rex Harrison. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/495 "2021-07-21T19:45:23Z")
In today’s edition of “Posts I drafted in ATMB but decided was too spicy”: > [@How should the Pit be changed, if at all?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-pit-be-changed-if-at-all/946859/139): > > You mean you didn’t personally speak with all 7.85 billion people in the world to see if they ever posted on SDMB and were driven away? Please do your research before making claims in the future. If you think asking someone making the claim that A leads to B whether we actually see B more frequently when A is true is unreasonable, I really don’t know what your standard of proof is. Whether you already agree with the statement being made or not? Whether you like the guy or not? Whether it’s a Wednesday after tea time? No wonder you buy into so much conservative nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/496 "2021-07-21T19:59:18Z")
Here’s my experience with UV from the Juneteenth thread. UV: I’m going to put all y’all on blast for picking a made-up date to celebrate the end of slavery. You should use MY date. Me: Yours is a made-up date too. The real date is XXXX. UV: My made-up date is better than the real date because reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/497 "2021-09-04T00:48:19Z")
Just to give credit where credit is due, as a counterpoint to this thread I’m finding Ultravires legal insights in the Texas abortion law threads to be very helpful, even though he is largely arguing against the side his ideology favors. This is very refreshing and so kudos to him. I won’t link to the actual thread because I don’t want his pit thread linked to his good behavior, but if you want to check them out, they are the Texas Law is unenforceable and Texas Abortion Case threads in GD ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/498 "2021-09-04T02:21:15Z")
May I suggest you throw him a mention in the ‘This poster makes my day thread’? Sounds like a good match. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/499 "2021-09-04T12:03:36Z")
I didn’t even know there was such a thread. I would put UV and Martin\_Hyde there lately. I’ll see if I can find it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734/500 "2021-09-04T16:31:31Z")
I agree. It was a nice change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-ultravires/821734.md?page=26)