Guinea pigs are NOT hamsters! Several times, I’ve shown people pictures of my guinea pigs, and heard “What cute hamsters!”. I picked one up at the pet store and a lady came over and did the same thing. Aaaaaargh!
On a related note, the person who named it the “Hampster Dance” instead of “Hamster Dance” should be eaten alive by hamsters.
Walla!
“Giving little children sugar, especially at night, makes them hyperactive.” Countless studies have shown that this is not true; it has no affect on them.
This.
And the brainiacs who think they know it all, but spell it viola!
I used to work with a lady named Hua La. [Okay, please resume]
Using “her” or “him” as a subject: “Her and I went to the beach today.”
Or worse: “Him and me went too.”
For all intensive purposes, Small Pox utterly decimated the Mayan peoples.
Apes=/=monkeys.
The difference is bigger than just tail vs no tail. Apes and monkeys are very different. Apes are more closely related to humans than they are to monkeys.
No. just people that wrongly use the term quantum leap.
I don’t believe WP is specifically prohibited by ANY treaty. It’s been used extensively by the United States as a weapon in Iraq.
Discussion of whether WP weapons should be banned is generally related to whether or not it constitutes a chemical weapon; in addition to being ferociously combustible, WP is hideously poisonous. A person unfortunate enough to be burned by WP can survive the burns and die of poisoning. Its current status, so far as I am aware, is that it is legal to use in its usual applications - smoke production, for the most part - but not if you’re intentionally poisoning people with it.
Both in real life and on the SDMB people often make some remark about how in historic times you’d be considered elderly at 30 (or some other fairly young age) and would surely be in the grave at 40.
Two problems with this. First, the ages given usually seem to be completely made up. Second, this is a misunderstanding of the average life expectancy. Until relatively recently the average life expectancy was low because of high infant and childhood mortality rates. Once a person survived childhood, it was hardly surprising if they made it to 40+. Heck, over 2,000 years ago Socrates lived to be 70, and would have lived even longer if not for the whole hemlock thing.
Myself versus me:
Myself is only used when you are the object of the sentence (“I cleaned myself”, “I helped myself”, etc. ) not when you’re embarrassed to say “me” (“Give those things to Debbie and myself”)
Three-Fifths of a Person:
The people wanted slaves counted as a “full person” in the census were the slave-owners of the South - because counting slaves as full people in apportioning power in the Congress would give the South a lot more power. Abolitionists in the North wanted slaves not counted at all. The crime was not counting slaves as only 3/5s of a person - the crime was giving slave-owning states extra votes in Congress due to the existence of people who were not allowed any human rights at all.
Are you complaining about the incorrect use of “decimated”, “intensive” or where the Mayas wiped out by something else?
edit: I assume it’s the latter.
Yeah - I’ve given talks about this: children who got past 5 or 6 would be quite likely to make it to adulthood; women who got past childbearing age, and men who were lucky enough to miss war could make it to 70 or 80.
Stuff I hear all the time:
“A microwave oven operates at 2.45 GHz. This is because a water molecule resonates at 2.45 GHz.” Nope. Wrong.
“Glass is really a liquid, not a solid. They’ve measured glass in old buildings and found the glass is thicker at the bottom, blaa blaa blaa…” Sorry, but glass is not a liquid.
“When it comes to electrocution, voltage doesn’t matter… only the current matters.” Not true; both are in-play.
“You’re not allowed to openly carry a loaded handgun in Ohio.” Wrong, for the most part.
“A shooter feels the same amount of recoil energy as the bullet’s kinetic energy. This is due to conservation of energy.” Wrong. Try again, but this time use conservation of momentum.
“Remember those big cars Detroit made back in the 1970? Those were full of heavy steel, and hence you were much better protected in an accident. Today’s cars are made from thin, lightweight steel, and therefore you’re not as well protected in an accident.” Factually wrong.
“Heat rises.” This is usually said as if it’s universally true. Fact is, heat only rises in a fluid, and only when the density of the fluid is inversely proportional to temperature.
And if you ask a bunch of people what most women die from, many will say “breast cancer.” Yet less than 4% of women die from breast cancer.
“Jesus was Immaculately Conceived.” No he wasn’t. Mary was. I’m not even Christian, and I know that.
OK, I gotta call you out on this one, if only for clarification. I’ve heard this many times, including from college professors, and I am fairly certain it’s true; I have seen examples of the thickening of the glass at the bases of old cathedral windows and other very old buildings, and so am inclined to go with the “exceedingly viscous fluid” explanation regarding the nature of glass. Please, elaborate… Are you saying that glass does not deform over time? Or that it does deform, but still isn’t a liquid? If it’s not a liquid, what is it, just a regular solid? Enquiring mind wants to know!
Wikipedia deals with the question fairly well: glass physics.
Alot! Yeeargh! Drives me bonkers for no good reason.
This is more of a local thing: Ballard, WA
I know we like the fact we live in a quaint little neighborhood (or used to at least) but Ballard hasn’t been a city since 1907.
Oh, god, yes, that too.
Affect is a verb. The one you’re looking for is effect, which is a noun (and a verb).
Actually, me is used when you are the object of a sentence. Myself is used when you are the subject of a sentence which involves a reflexive verb.
Er… what? Conceive means to become pregnant. Mary conceived. Jesus was conceived.