# Questions that make you go "huh?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 8, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240 "2004-10-08T18:34:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/1 "2004-10-08T18:34:52Z")
Has you ever come off as an idiot because you couldn’t answer a question, when in fact the question itself made no sense? Share! My contribution: Me: I play guitar. Dumbass kid: What kind of guitar? Me: Lead, rhythm, whatever. DAK: Do you play basic guitar? Me: Wha? DAK: Basic guitar. Do you play it? Me: Uh… Do you mean bass guitar? DAK: No, not bass. Basic. Me: I don’t know what that is. DAK: You must not be very good then. That was decades ago. I still have no idea what he was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/2 "2004-10-08T18:45:51Z")
I was made to look computer-stupid once. I was sorting out a friend’s computer (she was female and I was attracted to her so I had to seem like I knew what I was doing, which I was). Someone else was also trying to fix it. He asked me the question… “Have you checked the eye en eye file?” “The what?” “The eye en eye file” “Er, what’s an eye en eye file?” After he showed me the file… “Ohhhh the _inny_ file!” (windows.ini and system.ini) ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/3 "2004-10-08T19:03:41Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I was made to look computer-stupid once. . . . “Ohhhh the _inny_ file!” > > (windows.ini and system.ini) Errr . . . so do you also call executables “exie files”? (notepad.exe etc.) (Is “inny files” what true geeks call them? I’ve always called them “eye en eye files” in my head; never heard it pronounced as far as I can recall.) ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/4 "2004-10-08T19:07:02Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > Errr . . . so do you also call executables “exie files”? (notepad.exe etc.) > > (Is “inny files” what true geeks call them? I’ve always called them “eye en eye files” in my head; never heard it pronounced as far as I can recall.) I called them eye en eye files, too, until I got into IT and was quickly set aright. But I still can’t bring myself to say “exxie”. It’s either E-X-E or executable. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/5 "2004-10-08T19:10:02Z")
There’s nothing wrong with ‘eye en eye’, it just threw me at the time. It didn’t ‘click’ that he was abreviating. I thought he was saying an actual word, like eyeneye. And yes, I do say ‘exxie’ or ‘exy’. But I never say ‘skuzzy’ ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/6 "2004-10-08T19:23:37Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > But I still can’t bring myself to say “exxie”. It’s either E-X-E or executable. I always thought of them as X (“eks”) files. But then again, I’m a Mac user. ---
**Author:** ![confessorknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@confessorknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/confessorknight)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/7 "2004-10-08T22:10:36Z")
Oddly I was under the impression it was fairly universal to refer to them as “exec” files. Don’t know why I thought that. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/8 "2004-10-08T22:27:09Z")
They’ve always been “ecks-ee” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/9 "2004-10-09T01:59:57Z")
I’ve always called them “I-N-I” and “E-X-E” files, and I \*\*am \*\* a true geek. Or so I’ve been told. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/10 "2004-10-09T03:37:36Z")
Back in Biloxi, I stopped at this pretentious little sandwich shop for lunch. Me: “I’d like that sandwich and an iced Chai.” Cashier: “Hot or iced?” Me: “…an iced Chai.” Cashier: “Hot or iced?” Me: “…Iced.” I don’t know if the girl was trying to be clever or successfully being stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/11 "2004-10-09T07:13:14Z")
The one that our parish secretary (and I imagine every other Catholic parish secretary in the world) gets every year at Christmas: _What time is midnight mass?_ I assume the questioner actually means to ask - is there a mass at midnight? ---
**Author:** ![Catsmeow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Catsmeow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catsmeow)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/12 "2004-10-09T07:29:01Z")
My sister is a constant source of amusement. She has actually asked “how long is a 12” ruler?" and “I know Thanksgiving is sometime this weekend but what day is it on?” She had always wanted a Honda CRX so she decided to call adverts for used ones. During the conversation with one seller, she asked the question “have you had it since you got it?” My poor sis. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/13 "2004-10-09T08:55:19Z")
> [@Catsmeow](#): > > she asked the question “have you had it since you got it?” Nice. Before the days of caller ID my ex-girlfriends mother once told her “you don’t have to answer the phone… unless I’m calling” ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/14 "2004-10-09T13:53:07Z")
Ha, my sister got a flat tire. Being a newly licensed teen, she wasn’t too sure about what to do (although my father had discussed it with her) so she drove home, which wasn’t too far. She went into the house and told Dad what had happened, and my father asked if the tire was completely flat. Her response? (I swear it’s true.) “Only on the bottom.” And she was not joking. I think I’m gonna call her up and harass her about that some more 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/15 "2004-10-09T14:33:07Z")
I’m the front desk person in my office. People constantly ask me “Do you have a bathroom.” What do they think, I hold it for eight hours? Sometimes I say “no” just to see their reactions. Well, the DMV right across the street has very nice bathrooms. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/16 "2004-10-09T16:28:36Z")
**Catsmeow** your sis reminds me of a question I asked once… “Halal. Is that where the animal has to be alive before they kill it?” ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/17 "2004-10-09T16:44:21Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > Ha, my sister got a flat tire. Being a newly licensed teen, she wasn’t too sure about what to do (although my father had discussed it with her) so she drove home, which wasn’t too far. She went into the house and told Dad what had happened, and my father asked if the tire was completely flat. > > Her response? (I swear it’s true.) > > “Only on the bottom.” > > And she was not joking. > > I think I’m gonna call her up and harass her about that some more 😉 You should have told her to just spin the tire until the falt part was on top. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/18 "2004-10-09T17:39:45Z")
I had a friend in my hometown who I kept around solely for the entertainment value. Well, I say that now because she’s an ex-friend who mooched off of me for years, and I owed her for a phone bill, then I paid her the money it a month before it was due (I came into some unexpected cash, so paid my bills. Easy.) The next month came up, and she began writing me harrassing letters/e-mails while I was on vacation here in Seattle, saying I still owed her the money for the bill. When I reminded her that I had already paid her the month before, she wailed, “But that money is _GONE_! I need it _NOW_!” True story. She’s since gone around spreading rumours to people that I don’t pay my bills or pay back money I’ve borrowed. _cuts the cord_ Bubye, lady! These are some of her classic lines: “That’s just an old _wise_ tale.” “The dog won’t settle down until she goes through her whole _rigor mortis_.” (“Rigamorale”, perhaps?) “Never _lick_ a gift horse in the mouth.” (Sage advice, that: I credit all of my good fortune and accomplishments to never licking any horses, gift or otherwise, in the mouth) And of course, there’s the time we drove to a Tim Horton’s drive-thru. The truck ahead of us finished ordering, but the line was quite slow, and so he could only pull up halfway. She pulls her little car up as far as she could, but we couldn’t quite reach the little speaker. The speaker spluttered out a polite, feminine voice: “May I take your order, please?” Well, we could do nothing about this but wait. It asked one more time, then the girl must have realised the situation and stopped asking. Fine. The line begins to move again, and we pull up to the little speaker, finally. The speaker sputters to life again: “May I take your order, please?” My friend looks suddenly confused, turns to look at me, as if for advice. I said, “What’s wrong? Did you forget our order?” Again, the speaker talks: “May I take your order, please?” My friend suddenly shakes her head as if to clear it, then gives the speaker our order. When she was finished, and we began pulling up, I asked her what had happened back there. She says - get this - “I didn’t know if they were talking to me!” My husband had a pretty good one once. We were observing his father’s open car trunk, which had a sticker on the inside that instructed how to use the emergency lever, in case someone got stuck inside the trunk. My husband says, thinking he’s being funny, “Well, better not store any dead bodies in there, or they’d get away.” Sure, it was funny, just not the way he’d intended! ---
**Author:** ![pyrrthon1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@pyrrthon1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pyrrthon1)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/19 "2004-10-09T20:02:02Z")
> [@Suburban Plankton](#): > > I’ve always called them “I-N-I” and “E-X-E” files, and I \*\*am \*\* a true geek. > Or so I’ve been told. I call them “init” files and “exec” files ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240/20 "2004-10-09T21:12:12Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I was made to look computer-stupid once. I was sorting out a friend’s computer (she was female and I was attracted to her so I had to seem like I knew what I was doing, which I was). Someone else was also trying to fix it. He asked me the question… > > “Have you checked the eye en eye file?” > > “The what?” > > “The eye en eye file” > > “Er, what’s an eye en eye file?” > > After he showed me the file… > > “Ohhhh the _inny_ file!” > > (windows.ini and system.ini) Ah. A Rastafarian computer tech. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-that-make-you-go-huh/268240.md?page=2)