# Stuff Sheldon Cooper is right about **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700 "2014-07-21T23:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/21 "2014-07-22T03:18:53Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Sheldon is right about: chili, birds, Penny’s tat, the “Check Engine” light, chili, “Alphas,” and chili. Also religion in general and specific. I seem to have had a brain freeze reading this since “tat” just wasn’t registering, so I decided the “w” had been inadvertently left out of “Penny’s tat”. :o ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/22 "2014-07-22T03:30:30Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Garfield has no reason to hate Mondays. He’s a cat. He doesn’t have a job. Uh, bad things happen to Garfield disproportionately on Mondays, including, but not limited to, pies being thrown into his face out of nowhere, getting caught up in window blinds, and diets being implemented. So I’d say he has darn good reason. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/23 "2014-07-22T03:32:36Z")
Everyone raves about this show and I’ve never seen a single episode. I think I should get Himself to download it for me. Hey, I might even learn something. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/24 "2014-07-22T04:26:41Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > No, he is not. String theory is his area of research but he can’t stand it because he doesn’t believe that it is the right path. He tried to defect from it but the university forced him to continue with that line of research rather than the ones he favors because of grant money and simply because that is what he was hired to do. That part of the show is oddly accurate about academia in ways that no other show ever has been. If that’s true, I haven’t seen that episode yet. Anyway, _[this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMSmJCKaaC0)_ is my cite. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/25 "2014-07-22T04:55:32Z")
Sheldon was a very strong supporter of String Theory until the last 4 or so episodes of season 7. His loss of faith in String Theory is one of the reasons he went on Walkabout at the end of Season 7. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/26 "2014-07-22T05:11:43Z")
Practical gifts are better than useless trinkets. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/27 "2014-07-22T05:25:23Z")
Zachary Quinto ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/28 "2014-07-22T06:43:31Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Uh, bad things happen to Garfield disproportionately on Mondays, including, but not limited to, pies being thrown into his face out of nowhere, getting caught up in window blinds, and diets being implemented. So I’d say he has darn good reason. And very often, spiders. We can’t forget spiders. We mustn’t . . . EVER . . . forget spiders. _(shudder)_ ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/29 "2014-07-22T06:48:06Z")
Trains and trolleys? Love’em! Flags? Damn right! String theory? Well…I believe it’s turtles all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/30 "2014-07-22T06:58:09Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > It’s clear that whatever Chinese he may know, he was taught by Howard, and that [he doesn’t know nearly as much as he thinks he knows.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXq7uhsT2e8) Howard doesn’t know Russian either. He tried to call Penny a “beautiful girl” in Russian once, and really mangled the pronunciation. (Cite: the year I lived in Moscow.) Also, the word he used for girl is a word that Russians use pretty much for a female child-- a literal girl. Even though in English “girl” can refer to a grown woman, even in contexts that are not offensive, I don’t recall it being used in Russian that way (caveat: I haven’t really spoken Russian since I was a kid, so it could have evolved a lot since then, particularly in the direction of Western usage; still, Howard mangled the pronunciation horribly). Regarding the “soup” tattoo: I think Sheldon is basing that on seeing the word on Chinese restaurant menus, not learning from Howard. If you Google “soup” and “courage,” there’s more than one sign for courage, but one of them does look like soup turned on its side, and missing a line; if Penny has that tattoo, sideways, and had some clothing covering one line, then they’re both right, sort of. Penny, because she got her tattoo sideways, and assuming she wants it to be understood by other people when she’s standing up, she goofed by not realizing that you can’t turn the characters around like English words, but she probably walked into the tattoo parlor with the right picture, and Sheldon, if the tattoo is visible mainly when she’s wearing a bathing suit, and it looks like “soup” in that case. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/31 "2014-07-22T11:45:52Z")
Trains are cool. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/32 "2014-07-22T12:26:00Z")
“Bitches be crazy”. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLI\_Q24RM\_Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLI_Q24RM_Q) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/33 "2014-07-22T12:52:28Z")
If you live in Pasadena, you really ought to have a plan in place in case of earthquakes. Not to mention a disaster preparedness kit in the house. If your mind is stuck in a loop while trying to figure out a problem, it’s helpful to switch to some non-mental physical task for awhile - like being a busboy. It rests and refreshes your brain. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/34 "2014-07-22T13:03:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Loop quantum gravity is a better scientific hypothesis than the string model. Do you mean String Theory? That isn’t even a real theory, IMHO. It’s more like a sci-fi concept, or maybe even a philosophy. But as a scientific theory, it’s pretty threadbare. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/35 "2014-07-22T13:11:01Z")
I can’t verify his claim about the tattoo on Penny’s butt but I’d love to give it a shot. He’s right about how the order in which sandwich ingredients are placed makes a difference in how it tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/36 "2014-07-22T13:11:14Z")
He’s right about the fundamentals of football. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/37 "2014-07-22T13:18:57Z")
His reviews of science fiction TV series are often spot-on. He’s right to hate _Babylon 5_ because “it fails as drama, science fiction, and it’s hopelessly derivative.” He’s also right that “_Heroes_ gradually lowered the quality season-by-season till we were grateful it ended.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/38 "2014-07-22T13:22:52Z")
He’s definitely right about flags; I’ve loved learning about 'em since I was a kid. Vexillology rules! ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/39 "2014-07-22T13:46:32Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Wait a minute. How do you know he’s right about Penny’s tat?:dubious: > > It’s clear that whatever Chinese he may know, he was taught by Howard, and that [he doesn’t know nearly as much as he thinks he knows.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXq7uhsT2e8) > > Since we’ve never seen the tattoo in question, I’m willing to give penny the benefit of the doubt as to its accurate rendering. That was my reaction too. We can’t necessarily know Sheldon’s right about what Penny’s Chinese tattoo says — indeed, it’s quite possible Sheldon doesn’t know the correct word for soup. He’s pretty clearly right in his analysis of Star Trek: The Motion Picture being worse than Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. His main point (as I recall) was that Star Trek 5 had specific failures whereas Star Trek 1 was an across the board disaster: art direction, costumes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700/40 "2014-07-22T13:55:19Z")
He’s right to worry about the visitors who arrive on the dancing tongue of Leonard’s subtropical girlfriend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-right-about/693700.md?page=3)