# Sometimes my brain doesn't brain quite right **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 5, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727 "2025-08-05T16:14:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/22 "2025-08-06T00:59:56Z")
The Museum of Illusion has facilities in several cities (I have no idea how many; at least two). The URL pattern is always moi[cityname] dot com. Which is fine in Cleveland, but in St. Louis gives us moistlouis. There are things I don’t need to know about Louis, and that is one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/23 "2025-08-06T01:11:35Z")
I was shopping at Walmart a few days ago and thought I saw a sign that said “Irrational Foods”. It was not. It was “International Foods”. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/24 "2025-08-06T05:08:07Z")
I wanna shop for irrational foods! Pah-leeeese! ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/25 "2025-08-06T05:25:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Let’s not forget Pen Island. There was also a site back in the early days of the web called Experts Exchange. Except their domain name gave people the impression they were offering gender reassignment surgery. And this one, unlike Pen Island, wasn’t created as an intentional joke. IIRC they later added a hyphen to the domain name to clear up that confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/26 "2025-08-06T10:28:56Z")
Besides mis-construed Doper names, there may be others like mine. Is it Music-at, or Musi-cat? Actually, Jack, it’s both, and was deliberately chosen for the ambiguity (neither interpretation is wrong). But it does cause occasional puzzlement (as in puzzle-ment, not putz-lament). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/27 "2025-08-06T10:55:54Z")
Heck, a long time ago we had a thread “Doper names you misread / misunderstand”. What the OP describes is very very typical brain behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/28 "2025-08-06T11:11:54Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > For the longest time I thought it was Man Get Out instead of @Mangetout, French for eats all. Also the French name for [sugar peas/snap peas/snow peas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea#Sugar). Because you also eat the pod. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/29 "2025-08-06T15:42:44Z")
But what does Ben fold five **of**? ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/30 "2025-08-06T16:07:53Z")
I’ve always read puzzlegal as puzzle gal. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/31 "2025-08-06T16:13:17Z")
A long long time ago, we had a doper with the screen name [Sue Dunhym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sue_duhnym) She intended it to be read as “pseudonym” but I recall several people posting that they always read it as “Sue Done Him”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/32 "2025-08-06T16:17:48Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Besides mis-construed Doper names, there may be others like mine. Is it Music-at, or Musi-cat? What would “music-at” even mean? I’ve only ever seen it as Music + cat. As for saying it, I would think most naturally it flows as "Musi-cat,’ “Music-at” is like a stutter, and would never occur to me to say it that way. Is there a meaning of “-at” I’m missing? It sounds like there’s an intended secondary meaning that has flown over my head for decades (so perfect for this thread.) The only double meaning I’ve ever entertained is that of “cat” as the animal and “cat” as like a “jazz cat” or “cool cat.” ---
**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 6, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/33 "2025-08-06T16:22:39Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I wanna shop for irrational foods! Pah-leeeese! I would say the grocery’s full of them. Start with all those things that, in bold print all over the label, announce which nutrients they haven’t got in them. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Is there a meaning of “-at” I’m missing? Maybe “music at (this location)?” as in “where I am, there’s music”? I’ve been reading it as music-cat; presuming one or more of: the presence of both, a love of both, or a specific cat who likes and/or creates music. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/34 "2025-08-06T16:47:32Z")
I remember Sue Dunhym! She was fun. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/35 "2025-08-06T16:48:58Z")
Yeah, all of those interpretations are fine for Musicat. No super-deep meaning, just a light play on words, and yes, to a jazz musician, a cat is a player. And yes, where I am at, there is music. ---
**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 6, 2025, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/36 "2025-08-06T16:51:28Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > yes, to a jazz musician, a cat is a player. I didn’t even think of that one! I was thinking of those piano-playing felines. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/37 "2025-08-06T17:04:41Z")
I was going to suggest romanesco (or really, any sort of cabbage flower, but romanesco is the prettiest) as an irrational food, due to its irrational dimensionality. Frustratingly, though, I can’t seem to find any reference to what that dimensionality of romanesco is. ---
**Author:** ![knavette57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knavette57/32/3871_2.png) [@knavette57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knavette57)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/38 "2025-08-06T17:15:27Z")
I don’t know your age, but it could be related to eyeballs that are getting older. I have always been able to read like a torpedo, sometimes just glancing at an entire paragraph and being able to discern its meaning (can still do that), but I bc my eyesight is not as acute, I do often rearrange letters and get a different word. A good example: at first, I read “biopic” as “bi-opict” It is “bio - pic” short for “biographical movie” . I knew the meaning of the word, but somehow (maybe bc I am a fast reader), ran it altogether. I think it just aging eyes having to deal with the brain still running like a demon. Sometimes the new word is rather interesting, too. Such as puzzlegal. If she is an attorney IRL, it is even symbolic. Especially when I am driving and see a sign on the road, I create some interesting word combos. I should write them down, but never do. It can be very amusing. I am 67, btw. This has been occurring with me since I began the menopause transition, in my mid 40s. Estrogen deprivation has some odd effects on the female brain. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/39 "2025-08-06T17:21:57Z")
I’m not sure how much of that is female brain vs human brain. I’m 66. For sure as I’ve aged the number of “interesting” misunderstandings of signs and whatnot has surely grown. Between lesser acuity, slower mental processing, and maybe greater distractions, I mis-see signs lots. And do the whole-paragraph sorta skim that produces all sorts of interesting new not-words that aren’t really there. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/40 "2025-08-06T17:43:26Z")
> [@solost](#): > > A couple funny examples from the early days of the internet-- a website called Experts Exchange realized far too late that they should have added a hyphen to ‘expertsexchange [dot] com’. And an Italian company called Powergen Italia realized the same thing, too late-- ‘powergenitalia [dot] com’. If you get a really expert sex change, you may indeed wind up with power genitalia! ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727/41 "2025-08-06T17:52:24Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Everyone who has ever registered a domain name containing the word “therapist” has eventually regretted it. At least they didn’t claim to be an analyst and therapist, and then try to [condense the description on their business card](https://youtu.be/58EGw2zn07E?si=reWPgHyDISgmMUaW). Stranger [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-my-brain-doesnt-brain-quite-right/1021727.md?page=3)