# Say something that is true to a person in 1985 that will make you sound like a crazy person **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2022, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283 "2022-07-20T20:59:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/261 "2022-08-16T01:50:21Z")
Ireland is peaceful. Germany is reunited. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/262 "2022-08-16T14:42:29Z")
Traditional big-catalog stores will lose out to a new competitor. The new competitor will have no brick and mortar stores, and people will happily purchase items from a picture on a (sort of) TV screen. Taxicabs will be replaced by drivers who will use their personal cars. (But - In the 1920’s these were called “jitneys” and were blamed for taking business away from streetcars.) ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/263 "2022-08-16T14:52:13Z")
I got a new car and it’s amazing! It has seven cupholders! ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/264 "2022-08-16T15:22:31Z")
Per seat! ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/265 "2022-08-17T00:32:24Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > The new competitor will have no brick and mortar stores, and people will happily purchase items from a picture on a (sort of) TV screen. Buying from a tv screen would not be all that ridiculous to someone in 1985. The Home Shopping Club began in 1982, and it was renamed as the [Home Shopping Network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSN) in 1985. OTOH, you’re going to have to explain what you mean by a “brick and mortar” store. (Cue Jack Nicholson: _Is there any other kind?_) ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/266 "2022-08-17T14:44:51Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > OTOH, you’re going to have to explain what you mean by a “brick and mortar” store. (Cue Jack Nicholson: _Is there any other kind?_) Brick and mortar: The customer goes into a building. The term was used regardless of the actual materials used in construction. The term brick and mortar would not be used for purchases made by home delivery (even though the delivery person would pick up the items from a building), purchases from a streetcorner vendor, or from purchases direct from a farmer. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/267 "2022-08-17T14:56:32Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Sears is gone > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > And if you’re surprised by that, wait until you decide to go to your local Sears or KMart. Sears still has brick and mortar locations, but they’re darn few. I think there are 5 in PA now. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/268 "2022-08-17T16:45:38Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > OTOH, you’re going to have to explain what you mean by a “brick and mortar” store. Sorry for being unclear. What I meant was that you’re going to have to explain _to the 1985 person_ what you mean by a “brick and mortar” store. I don’t think the term “brick and mortar” was common until the ubiquity of on-line shopping. Like the term “acoustic guitar” to someone in the early 1900s, they could probably figure out what the term _means_, but not why you are bothering to _call_ it that. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/269 "2022-08-17T18:14:50Z")
The 80’s remind me of my step daughter, her sky high hair, and her having to sand the hairspray off her curling iron at least once a week. Most people from then would be shocked to know that many women of all ages, shapes, sizes, colors, will shave all or portions of their heads. I did a half shave this year. I’m 63. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/270 "2022-08-17T23:14:40Z")
Pubic lice are a much less common problem because so many people remove their habitat ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/271 "2022-08-17T23:47:59Z")
My 61 year old Wife has pretty short hair. No longer than mine for sure. Her hair is salt and pepper. Mostly salt. Looks great with her purple mirrored (prescription of course) sunglasses. It’s da bomb. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/272 "2022-08-18T00:03:26Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Sears still has brick and mortar locations, but they’re darn few. I think there are 5 in PA now. Here in Mesa the K-Mart not only closed, the whole building was torn down. Talk about your scorched earth. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/273 "2022-08-18T01:16:29Z")
Did they salt the parking lot? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/274 "2022-08-18T08:37:37Z")
They might have – I didn’t sample the it – but they left no brick on top of another. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/275 "2022-08-18T10:48:16Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I never heard of the [Short-Fingered Vulgarian](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/03/how-donald-trump-became-the-short-fingered-vulgarian) until reading _Spy Magazine_ which started in 1986. And I had been online for several years before that and fairly well-read. > > I’d say that outside NYC he was far from generally known. Trump was a national news figure no later than 1983-1984 when he bought the New Jersey Generals football club. That’s when I—a midwesterner who wasn’t even interested in sports—started seeing regular coverage of him. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/276 "2022-08-18T10:54:06Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Three of the most popular superheroes are Iron Man, Thor, and Black Panther. Oh, definitely, and the most popular superhero team is the Avengers, not the X-Men or the Justice League, or even the Fantastic Four. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/277 "2022-08-18T11:53:40Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Oh, definitely, and the most popular superhero team is the Avengers, not the X-Men or the Justice League, or even the Fantastic Four. This certainly represents a changing of the guard since 1985, but I can’t see that it would make you sound crazy. Comic book superheroes being portrayed in live-action TV and cinema had already been done by then. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/278 "2022-08-18T12:18:45Z")
The extent to which comics are taken seriously by adults might make you sound crazy; but I can’t remember to what extent that shift had already taken effect in 1985. It would certainly have made you sound crazy in, say, 1970. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/279 "2022-08-18T14:00:09Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > This certainly represents a changing of the guard since 1985, but I can’t see that it would make you sound crazy. Comic book superheroes being portrayed in live-action TV and cinema had already been done by then. What would sound crazy is that it would be those superheroes. When Marvel began the MCU they had given away the movie rights to their most popular characters. Nobody in 1985 would believe that the there would be nine incredibly successful movies either starring or featuring Iron Man, or that a Black Panther movie would be nominated for Best Picture. If you told them how popular Spider-Man is they’d believe you. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283/280 "2022-08-18T14:10:33Z")
Watching strangers (in another country, even) play computer games in real time or recorded will be a popular form of entertainment. Dinosaurs had feathers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-something-that-is-true-to-a-person-in-1985-that-will-make-you-sound-like-a-crazy-person/968283.md?page=15)