# Please identify this object **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2017, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952 "2017-01-12T11:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ToughLife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@ToughLife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToughLife)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/1 "2017-01-12T11:43:45Z")
Is this an accessory for smoking something , probably illegal, and how to use it ? [![](https://i.imgur.com/0dgSTLj.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/0dgSTLj.jpg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/eTeauJ9.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/eTeauJ9.jpg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/uHWpucb.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/uHWpucb.jpg) Thanks ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/2 "2017-01-12T11:47:04Z")
You sure it’s not for drinking Absinthe? Looks like the thing used to hold the sugar cube maybe? Just a thought! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/3 "2017-01-12T11:59:20Z")
Ditto what \*\*elbows \*\*said about a spoon for pouring absinthe over sugar. If you really can draw air through the stem then it could be something like an opium pipe or crack pipe but I don’t know what the point of the perforations all the way through would be. ---
**Author:** ![ToughLife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@ToughLife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToughLife)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/4 "2017-01-12T12:10:06Z")
yes, it is possible to draw/blow air through… ---
**Author:** ![beandog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beandog/32/7604_2.png) [@beandog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beandog)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/5 "2017-01-12T13:10:48Z")
It’s probably a straw (or bombilla) for drinking yerbe mate tea. [Mate (drink) - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage)) ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/6 "2017-01-12T13:13:01Z")
Looks like a kids bubble blower for blowing a large amount of bubbles at one time. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/7 "2017-01-12T16:06:08Z")
I second [a bombilla](https://www.google.com/search?q=bombilla&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHZL_enUS723US723&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=950&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi3wJiP_rzRAhVmrlQKHTx5BREQ_AUIBygC#safe=off&tbm=isch&q=bombilla+para+mate). ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/8 "2017-01-12T16:08:15Z")
> [@beandog](#): > > It’s probably a straw (or bombilla) for drinking yerbe mate tea. [Mate (drink) - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage)) That was my first thought. It certainly looks like one. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/9 "2017-01-12T18:26:21Z")
Is that a Flintstones Kids ruler … _really?_ … yeesh … ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/10 "2017-01-12T18:34:24Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > That was my first thought. It certainly looks like one. Not only looks like one, it **definitely** is one. > [@watchwolf49](#): > > Is that a Flintstones Kids ruler … _really?_ … yeesh … Thus the OP’s concern about the object being used for illegal activities. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/11 "2017-01-12T18:58:20Z")
Yes, looks like the thing my dad had for drinking mate (tea), from Argentina I think. Filters out the tiny leaf bits at the bottom of the cup. ---
**Author:** ![ToughLife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@ToughLife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToughLife)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/12 "2017-01-12T19:37:46Z")
Thanks to all. This board never fails to deliver. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/13 "2017-01-12T23:01:44Z")
Yes, but what about the Flintstones Ruler? Don’t leave us hanging. What’s the rest of the story???!?!11?? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/14 "2017-01-12T23:01:49Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Filters out the tiny leaf bits at the bottom of the cup. It also filters out the large leaf bits and any bits where ever they are … Its not unheard of to buy or find actual leaves uncut. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/15 "2017-01-12T23:54:57Z")
Damn, I was hoping for another 20 page gridball-esque wild speculations. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/16 "2017-01-13T02:35:30Z")
It’s a bombilla for drinking mate. I have one in my desk drawer right now, at work. Traditionally mate was served in a guampa made of an ox horn. See photo [here](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/115/285032021_4d73fe8bd1_b.jpg). Alternatively, a guampa can be made of carved wood, like this one [here](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Guampa_and_bombilla.jpg). I have one of those. I bought mine in Paraguay. A curious thing about metal bombillas is they are used to drink very hot tea, and metal being a good conductor of heat, the tip gets so hot it burns your lips when you sip. I suppose if you drank mate a lot you’d develop calluses. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/17 "2017-01-13T05:32:07Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > It also filters out the large leaf bits and any bits where ever they are … Its not unheard of to buy or find actual leaves uncut. Yes. The few times I remember him using it… it was basically tea without the teabag. Mix a quantity of dried leaves and boiling water, let steep, then suck it up. He called it “mah-tay” (mate) years later I heard it called yerba mate (which is what, Spanish for “herbal tea”?) ---
**Author:** ![ToughLife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@ToughLife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToughLife)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/18 "2017-01-13T09:22:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Yes, but what about the Flintstones Ruler? Don’t leave us hanging. > > What’s the rest of the story???!?!11?? 🙂 Actually it was Flintstones ruler that required identification, I just put a bombilla next to it for size comparison… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/19 "2017-01-13T16:20:43Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Yes, but what about the Flintstones Ruler? Don’t leave us hanging. > > What’s the rest of the story???!?!11?? :)≈ > > > [@ToughLife](#): > > > > Actually it was Flintstones ruler that required identification, > > I just put a bombilla next to it for size comparison… :smack: I see no evidence this is a Flintstones Ruler. No Pebbles man-bun (I think they’re calling it)? Tennis balls not made out of rocks? We have the scale, courtesy of the bombilla, but I am not convinced OP has been answered. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952/20 "2017-01-14T00:59:20Z")
Well, it’s a lenticular picture on the ruler, so the balls and such move when you tilt it. The characters are not Flintstones, but I don’t recognize them. The ruler has only centimeters, which makes me think it is not for the American market. I’ll continue to research this – I think we’re closing in on the OP’s question. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-object/776952.md?page=2)