# Questions You've Always Been Wanting To Ask **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2001, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877 "2001-05-19T02:56:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/101 "2001-05-31T04:06:48Z")
chikki, 1 and 2 are taller gears, meaning the engine turns faster to do the same work. The engine turning faster produces more power, which is needed at low speeds. As the vehicle speeds up, it switches to shorter gears which lower the speed of the engine. A vehicle is geared, generally, to keep it in it’s power band at any given speed. Hence the different, lower gears. You can use them to slow yourself when going downhill to not heat your brakes, or for towing, etc. This is highly simplified. –Tim ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/102 "2001-05-31T04:39:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Superdude \* > \*\*Why are some people overly religious (I’m an agnostic bordering on Atheism)? If you were to travel back to ancient Greece or Rome or Egypt, the worshippers would be able to quote you chapter and verse, and show you signs that the gods that they believed in existed. It seems to me that we’re (meaning ALL religions, not to single out any one in particular) caught up in a late 20th-early 21st century mythology, and few people realize it (I realize the tone of this, but it’s not intended as anti-religion or an attempt to start a debate). It appears to me that religion defies conventional logic. > [/ducking to avoid the flying objects and lightning bolts] \*\* OK, here’s my take. And no flames, either. If you are living under the assumption that there is nothing beyond what you perceive with your five senses . . . nothing whatsoever at all . . . then logically, you must conclude that there is nothing supernatural out there: no gods, goddesses, God, GOD, whatever. Athiests win. But, if you believe that there may be something out there that cannot be regularly accessed by the five senses, right down to telepathy, ESP, auras, spirits, etc., then you’ve opened the door to the possibility that there may be powers out there beyond your comprehension. Because after all, if you admit that there is something out there that you don’t have complete understanding of, how far of a jump is it to the idea of a spiritual power? If you accept that, then it is only a matter of what details rock your boat, be it God on his throne for real, or the use of a symbol for God as a visualization tool for getting in touch with this spiritual plane (in other words, I’m saying that we construct god to give our limited minds the ability to parse a spiritual realm that we could not otherwise access). Or, to go further, you may simply believe the God and stories you were brought up with, because it gives comfort in times of crisis, it’s what you’re used to, and, if you believe in the existence of a spiritual being and act morally, than it doesn’t much matter HOW you do it (Jesus, Moses, yoga, tai chi, Buddhism), so long as you do it and walk the talk. It all goes into the same pot. Easy, no? Just don’t ask me to explain Ted Kennedy. Such things are beyond the powers of mortal man. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/103 "2001-05-31T10:13:53Z")
Originally posted by Jet Jaguar > [@](#): > > **What does “Deus Ex” and/or “Deus Ex Machina” mean? From it’s usage, I believe it’s some sort of literary device, but I really don’t know.** > [@](#): > > Hey, Jet Jaguar…I love this phrase. Latin for “god from the machine.” Innit neat? > You’re right on about it being a literary phrase. I remember my first introduction to it being in high school English class, studying Greek theater. In that case, it referred to the practice of having one of the gods descend from the skies (by means of a stage pully system) to sort out the resolution of the play. Minus the god figures, it refers to any plot resolution that relies on crazy improbably chance or coincidence at the last minute. Not disagreeing, but I’ve also heard the term “Deus Ex” used to refer to what might be called “Star Trek-isms.” This is when a seemingly insoluble problem is solved by the the show’s Mad Scientist/Engineering Chief/Technical Dude creating some kind of mysterious ultra-high-tech gizmo to solve the problem. ---
**Author:** ![gadgetgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@gadgetgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gadgetgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/104 "2001-05-31T11:02:27Z")
Ammonia or urine WILL NOT cure a jellyfish sting. Vinegar will discharge some of the venom. I guess you could drink a bunch of vinegar then pee on the sting…if you really wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![mongrel\_8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@mongrel\_8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mongrel_8)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2001, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/105 "2001-06-06T22:08:58Z")
I have one that I have wondered about for a long time. Who is this Cecil Adams guy that everyone keeps talking about? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![frock75](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ad7895/32.png) [@frock75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frock75)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/106 "2001-06-07T00:37:54Z")
Do the little rainbow stickers on the back of people’s cars signify a secret gay club or what? Excuse my insensitivity, but I would realy like to know. Also, is Jamie Lee Curtis really a hermaphrodite? More than a few people I’ve spoken to accept this as fact. What’s the deal? ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/107 "2001-06-07T02:49:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by frock75 \* > **Also, is Jamie Lee Curtis really a hermaphrodite? More than a few people I’ve spoken to accept this as fact. What’s the deal?** [Snopes is your friend](http://www.snopes2.com) “According to an oft-repeated whisper, Jamie Lee Curtis is an intersexual (the preferred medical term for persons of ambiguous gender, replacing ‘hermaphrodite’).” “No one but Ms. Curtis, her parents, and her doctors has the definitive answer to this one, and none of them is talking. Curtis has repeatedly declined deigning to provide a response to this rumor, and her physicians – even if they had something to say and wanted to say it – are bound by doctor-patient confidentiality strictures.” ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/108 "2001-06-07T03:56:12Z")
Which part of Florida is the panhandle? The part that sticks out over the water or the part that sticks out under Texas? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/109 "2001-06-07T04:17:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ladyfoxfyre \* > \*\*I live way out in the middle of nowhere, on a large ranch in Colorado. All of my friends, when they make fun of how far from civilization I am, say thatI live “Way out in B.F.E.”. I am lost, what does B.F.E. mean??? \*\* Aurora. My question – for the past sevral years, I’ve been spotting lots of bumper stickers reading simply “TOWANDA!” Towanda, Pennsylvania? Uhhhh … it’s not like Wall Drug or anything like that. What’s the deal? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/110 "2001-06-07T04:17:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by frock75 \* > **Also, is Jamie Lee Curtis really a hermaphrodite? More than a few people I’ve spoken to accept this as fact. What’s the deal?** Refer to your [GQ thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=73402) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/111 "2001-06-07T04:51:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PlanMan \* > \*\*All the comments about men “shaking” after we pee reminds me of a graffitto I saw (eons ago) in a college restroom - over the urinals: > “If you shake it more than 3 times, you’re masturbating” > Not profound, but this _was_ the early 70’s (pre-disco, so culturally, the very late 60’s) \*\* _ **3 times!!!** _ I thought it was _ **4** _ times, I guess all this time I’ve been playing with it and didn’t know it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/112 "2001-06-07T05:16:52Z")
> [@](#): > > My question – for the past sevral years, I’ve been spotting lots of bumper stickers reading simply “TOWANDA!” Towanda, Pennsylvania? Uhhhh … it’s not like Wall Drug or anything like that. What’s the deal? \*\* I believe it is a reference to the warm, romantic and very funny book/movie “Fried Green Tomatos” (the full title of the book is “Fried Green Tomatos at the Whistle Stop Cafe.”) IIRC, “Towanda” is the name of a mythical Female Avenger. In the book, for example, frustrated menopausal housewife Evelyn Couch (played by Kathy Bates in the movie,) fantasizes about Towanda doing things like using a cattle prod on child molesters, force-feeding fashion models and saving the world in various large, small, and occasionally violent ways. “Towanda!” becomes a kind of battle cry for the Evelyn Couch character as she comes out of her depression and learns to take charge of her life. I would put it almost in the same category as a Tarzan yell as a way of saying “Look out, world, here I come!” I, for one, associate “Towanda!” with lesbians in particular as well as with women in general, because the romantic leads in “Fried Green Tomatos” are both women. This is explicitly stated in the book, less so in the movie. (I, for one, find it impossible to believe that anyone could think the characters in the movie are not lovers, but several straight women have told me that they missed that fact entirely. I guess that’s how lesbians managed to hide in plain sight for so many years.) Sorry if I’m a little fuzzy on the details – it’s been a few years since I read the book, and my dog ate my VCR tape of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/113 "2001-06-07T05:27:23Z")
In pig latin, people have a habit of saying (excuse my spelling) “ix-nay on the upid-stay”. Now, I can tell the latter word is stupid, but “Nix on the stupid” sounds weird… Is that what it means? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/114 "2001-06-07T05:37:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \* > \*\*In pig latin, people have a habit of saying (excuse my spelling) “ix-nay on the upid-stay”. Now, I can tell the latter word is stupid, but “Nix on the stupid” sounds weird… Is that what it means? \*\* Yes. It’s like saying, “stop doing stupid stuff.” Haj ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/115 "2001-06-07T05:43:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Lao \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by frock75 \* > > **Also, is Jamie Lee Curtis really a hermaphrodite? More than a few people I’ve spoken to accept this as fact. What’s the deal?** > > Refer to your [GQ thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=73402) \*\* Refer also to your [MPSIMS thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=73403) frock, it is apparent that you are very interested in Jamie Lee’s status. But could you please restrict yourself to posting about it in one thread at a time? Believe me, you will get a more than adequate response that way, and it’s less frustrating for those of us who routinely read a large percentage of the new postings on several of the boards. Thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/116 "2001-06-07T06:17:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*In pig latin, people have a habit of saying (excuse my spelling) “ix-nay on the upid-stay”. Now, I can tell the latter word is stupid, but “Nix on the stupid” sounds weird… Is that what it means? \*\* Yes. It’s like saying, “stop doing stupid stuff.” Haj \*\* [/QUOTE] Hmmm. Well, since I seem to be putting my $.02 in an awful lot on this thread, let me say that I always thought of it as meaning, “Don’t say the word ‘stupid’ (in front of this other person).” I know it’s kind of a limited scenario, but I see the exchange at the water cooler going something like this: John Doe (Pontificating to Mary Smith): “…well, I for one, think that anyone who’d buy an S.U.V. with _these_ gas prices must be _stupid!_” (I hope this is coherent. It’s getting kind of late.) Unbeknownst to John Doe, Richard Roe, proud owner of a new Eddie Bauer Edition behemoth, ambles up to join the conversation. Jane Doe (Hissing to John Doe while sneaking a guilty sidelong glance at Richard Roe, whom John has not yet noticed): “Ix-nay on the upid-stay!” ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/117 "2001-06-07T06:41:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biggirl \* > \*\*Which part of Florida is the panhandle? The part that sticks out over the water or the part that sticks out under Texas? \*\* You’re joking, right? About Florida being under Texas… ---
**Author:** ![VitrolicBump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@VitrolicBump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VitrolicBump)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/118 "2001-06-07T06:41:33Z")
I saw this on another [board](http://www.placeboforum.com/vb/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=14972&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending)(sorry if you find anything offensive, it is not my fault). What exactly does the word “ickle” mean? Have I been living under a rock all this time? I can only guess that it means “little”.😕 ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/119 "2001-06-07T14:53:20Z")
Yes, Gadget Girl, ammonia DOES work on jellyfish stings. I speak from experience. Urine probably works, too, but I’ve never had to resort to it. Nobody wants to touch Kennedy/Thurmond? I understood they’re both pork barrel kings, as are all the other name senators and representatives. National issues are cute, but to build the long terms necessary to become a famous congressman, and hopefully a famous governor or president, you have to keep your voter base happy, and few things work like giveaways. ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2001, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877/120 "2001-06-07T15:00:44Z")
Yes, Gadget Girl, ammonia DOES work on jellyfish stings. I speak from experience. Urine probably works, too, but I’ve never had to resort to it. Nobody wants to touch Kennedy/Thurmond? I understood they’re both pork barrel kings, as are all the other name senators and representatives. National issues are cute, but to build the long terms necessary to become a famous congressman, and hopefully a famous governor or president, you have to keep your voter base happy, and few things work like giveaways. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-youve-always-been-wanting-to-ask/65877.md?page=7)