My WAG is that Vulcans look like white people simply because all the people who’ve been hired to play Vulcans are white. Note that the Vulcan characters all tend to speak with similar intonation- a sort of Received-English-cum-wildlife-documentary-narrator type accent.
A bit like Roman characters in English-language films (see Gladiator), they all sound like they’re from English public (private) schools, for no apparent reason.
I would guess that it’s pretty hard to find black actors who sound like that, though obviously not impossible.
On the other hand, Klingons all seem to be baritones with a different but more easily faked non-accent (you know, more guttural), and are generally physically imposing, and it’s not difficult to find large actors with deep voices, so there are plenty of black ones handy.
Humans occupy a wide range of latitudes, hence a wide range of solar radiation, and humans do not have much fur. I can’t immediately think of another species with those characteristics.
It’s not implausible that other species which occupy a wide range of latitude, and which do not have fur, so that their skin is exposed, will often or usually have a similar variation of skin color Vs. latitude.
We Rhymers never kid. We are entirely without senses of humor. My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas the Rhymer (yes that one) established that rule when he founded the tribe; he sacrificed our sense of humor in exchange for the power to defeat Merlin in single combat.
Not strictly true. If the cattle rustler was strung up as capital punishment, hanged is correct. If you just stapled his chaps to a tree for shits and giggles, the correct form would be hung.
I’ve heard numerous times from “reputable” sources that Hitler insisted the main fighting would be over by winter, and didn’t allow for the massive shipments of cold-weather gear. Also, a tie goes to the defender, and I’ve seen documentaries saying that the Germans were still on the move when the rains hit, which then started to freeze, making it a double whammy. Are you saying that’s not true?
I think there’s a middle ground there. They were not “unprepared,” but the Russian winter still hit 'em damn hard.
Either way, the Nazis fell victim to one of the classic blunders…
It bugs me when sportswriters (and others) use the term “All-American” to refer to a player that has been selected to an “All-America” team. You wouldn’t call an “All-City” player an “All-Citizen” (or some such) would you?
“All-American” is what Richie Cunningham and apple pie are.
However, it **is **conceivable that a superb athlete selected to an All-America team happens to also be as All-American as apple pie… but most probably aren’t. Say, for example, they were born and lived most of their life in another country. That’s not very All-American to me, yet they could still be selected to an All-America team.
Also, I think that some kids’ behaviour after eating a lot of sugary foods is partly based on what they think “should” happen, or what they expect to happen. Perhaps like the placebo effect? I know that when I was very young, my friends and I would expect to be hyper, and thinking back on it now I’m sure that if influenced any hyper behaviour I may have exhibited.
I’ve been kind of obsessively absorbing WWII history for the last couple years, and all the accounts I’ve come across so far disagree with you. IIRC, Hitler did not supply his troops with winter clothing because that would’ve implied that they’d still be fighting in the winter; he thought it was better for morale for everyone to believe that the war would be over before the end of summer. Which is perfectly in keeping with much of the other stupid mistakes the Germans made on that front. Of course, it was just a factor, and probably not the biggest; the scorched-earth retreat and the nearly infinite capacity for retreat were probably greater factors.
Dude. Seriously. When someone says “evolution is just a theory,” you can bet the farm that they are using the word incorrectly, and they believe that it means “hypothesis.” The intent behind that statement is utterly ignorant, even if they’re using a word which they don’t even know can actually be used correctly in nearly the same context.
It tends to be a psychological term. “Affect” being the outward appearance or state of a person to the observer. If a patient is, say, catatonic, they would show an “absence of affect.” It’s used a LOT this way, but admittedly it’s a bit of a niche market.
Using “literally” when someone really means “figuratively.”
Saying “I seen” instead of “I saw.” Sets my teeth on edge every time.
But lately, the one that drives me just batty, (and I seem to be seeing everywhere lately) is “regards” instead of “regard.” You give your regards to Broadway, but you write in regard to an issue. :smack:
