When I was a kid, and people talked about the nation’s flag, I always assumed there was a single instance, a Platonic flag, that was THE flag for that nation, and that all other flags were just copies.
Following this “logic” one might assume that “the” flag would be kept in a vault at the nation’s capital, or in some very important display. Nope. I figured that THE flag was the BIGGEST flag.
So, we’d be driving down the interstate and there’d be a truck stop with an ENORMOUS flag over it, and I’d say, “Wow, that MUST be THE flag!”
mom: “yes, honey, that’s the flag.”
me: “Yeah, but is it THE flag?”
rinse. repeat. I didn’t get it until I was 10 or 12. My mom didn’t get what I wasn’t getting until I was 20 or so. (I kept trying to tell her the story for fun but the subtlety at work escaped her for the longest time.
On a related note, I had a discman that had prominent buttons that were easily jostled, and I was constantly frustrated with unwanted power-off, track changes etc. I was constantly swearing that the thing needed some kind of a lock switch to isolate all the buttons.
After three years, I found the little switch on the side with the nice little padlock icon next to it. :smack:
In reverse order, Duct tape (not the shit sold near the registers at Home Depot) most assuredly does stick to ducts. Go to the back of the Home depot where they sell heating ducts, and look for a roll of Nashua 357 I think you could build ducts out of this stuff. Spendy but it really sticks.
Now about the name. A about a year ago, this came up and somebody had a link to Snopes. The Snopes link agreed with you that it was first called Duck tape. I wrote them a note, and they replied with a link to the Duck tape company That claimed that the tape was called that during WWII because it shed water like the back of a duck, and was used in waterproofing. At the time I thought that using a company named Duck tape to verify the origin of Duck / Duct tape was a little hinky, but I let it pass.
When I read Cardinal’s post I went to Snopes to find the link, but it is gone. I tried to search Duct tape, Duck tape, and went one by one through the areas. It just isn’t there. So I went to the Duck Tape Company’s site and their story is different also
[Bolding mine]
Talk about a WTF moment.
At this point, I think that the current story at the Duck Tape site is correct, based on what I know of the use of the product during the 1950s and 60s in the construction trade, but I cannot prove it.
I used to think “I Want You to Want Me” was by Culture Club. My wife corrected me a couple of years ago, and I argued with her until I actually looked it up. Duhhrrr.
Haardvark’s story makes me remember one from my young Catholic days:
During Mass, Catholics recite something called the Nicene Creed, which is basically a litany of things that they believe in. Part of it says, “We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church,” and as a kid I didn’t get the concept of “Church” with a big “C” and I thought that meant that we were only supposed to go to one church building. Like we had to be loyal to one particular parish. It disturbed me a little, because my father was an organist and we used to go to lots of different churches! Finally I worked up the nerve to ask my mom about it, and luckily she didn’t laugh too hard.
I always thought that song was by Bruce Springsteen, until I saw the video on vH1 Classic last summer. IMHO, it doesn’t sound much like Eddie Money’s voice, but it sounds a lot like the Boss to me.
Similarly, it took a good while for me to realize that “Hungry Heart” was not Billy Joel – rather it was Springsteen.
Lastly, that “100 Years” song by Five for Fighting. I just found out last week that it wasn’t the Dave Matthews Band. Dead ringer for DMB’s sound, IMHO.
I used to love the show “3rd Rock from the Sun” and never missed it but it wasn’t until I was watching the series finale that I realised the three male main characters are named Tom, Dick, and Harry.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I wondered for years what the Frenchmen were talking about when they were calling Arthur’s knights “canniggits.” Felt very stupid when I figured that one out.
I’m an adult and fairly well read, but it was only until the recent papal succession that I made the connection about the etymology of the verb “to pontificate”…
My first evening of serious wine tasting, and I’ve been placed at the table next to a very attractive single lady (deliberately by the hostess, I suspect). We’re chatting about the qualities of the wines, and naturally I’m trying to impress her with my perceptiveness, oneological experience and wit. I’m doing well I think until in the middle of this I come out with
“Oh, I much prefer a hermitage to a shiraz”.
Time stands still as she stares at me - in retrospect I suppose trying to see if I was joking - they she says slowly
" … but a hermitage IS a shiraz!". Crashed and burned … I never saw her again.
