# Stuff Sheldon Cooper is wrong about **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752 "2014-07-22T17:06:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/1 "2014-07-22T17:06:39Z")
Obviously, that needs to read\*\* Stuff Sheldon Cooper is wrong about\*\*. The obvious counterpoint to [_Stuff Sheldon Cooper is right about_ thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17570115#post17570115). For starters… [ol] [li]Leslie Winkle solves a problem Sheldon had been struggling with by changing the equations on his whiteboard.[/li][li]Lost the Physics Bowl by blowing the final question and refusing to allow his teammate to provide the correct answer.[/li][li]Misidentified a cricket, thus losing a rare comic book to Wolowitz.[/li][li]A paper he delivered to Stephen Hawking had a mathematical error on the second page. Hawking called it “quite a boner.”[/li][li]Sheldon believed that he had figured out how to synthesize a new stable super-heavy element but in the end it’s revealed that he confused square centimeters with square meters.[/li][li]He thought that Tweetie Bird taught he taw a Romulan.[/li][li]Believes a Van Dyke is a goatee without a moustache.[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/2 "2014-07-22T17:24:21Z")
Coitus. He is very, very wrong about coitus. ---
**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, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/3 "2014-07-22T17:36:23Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Coitus. He is very, very wrong about coitus. He’s also wrong about how to pronounce _coitus_. It has three syllables, not two. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/4 "2014-07-22T17:41:04Z")
Much as he’d like to, Sheldon cannot make people’s heads explode, like in the movie _Scanners_. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/5 "2014-07-22T17:44:46Z")
Sandwich order. Cheese is not the moisture barrier against the lettuce, lettuce is the moisture barrier against the condiments on the bread. There’s no reason Sheldon’s turkey and roast beef with swiss and lettuce on wholewheat should have been soggy, aside from possible tampering by whoever made or delivered it. . ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/6 "2014-07-22T17:45:38Z")
When forced to work with Kripke on a fusion project, Kripke’s work is far better than his. He was wrong about magnetic monopoles (maybe Leonard’s fault). For a genius, he makes a lot of mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/7 "2014-07-22T17:49:01Z")
He could have had soup delivered. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/8 "2014-07-22T17:56:13Z")
Flags are not actually fun. ---
**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, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/9 "2014-07-22T17:56:50Z")
He thought he was doing a great job teaching his class - until he got home and saw the messages and tweets that his students had posted about him. Taking a train is _not_ better than taking a plane. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/10 "2014-07-22T17:57:49Z")
He claims to not be in his bedroom when operating his virtual presence device, but he is. ---
**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, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/11 "2014-07-22T18:17:33Z")
He frequently misuses the reflexive pronoun “myself,” when he should use either “me” or “I.” It’s a really common thing for Americans to do, but for someone who is always pointing out other people’s grammar errors, he should get this right. He also failed to correct Leonard when Leonard mispronounced the Czech name of St. Wenceslas. In Czech, it’s “Svaty Vaclav,” but a “c” in Czech is pronounced “ts,” so “Vaclav” is pronounced “VA-tslav.” Even if Sheldon didn’t know this from his knowledge of St. Vaclav, the Duke of Bohemia, he should have picked it up when Vaclav Havel was the president of Czechoslovakia, and then the Czech Republic. Havel held the position over both countries together for a total of 14 years (1989-2003), and was followed by another guy named Vaclav, Vaclav Klaus, who was in office until March of 2013. Given Sheldon’s proclivity for correcting the tiniest error anyone makes, I doubt that he knew the correct pronunciation, and just let it go; the only conclusion is that he somehow didn’t know, or didn’t make the connection. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/12 "2014-07-22T18:32:20Z")
Sheldon’s wrong about Babylon 5. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SVFFQYz_Awk/hqdefault.jpg "The Big Bang Theory (TBBT) vs. Babylon 5") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVFFQYz_Awk) ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/13 "2014-07-22T19:43:36Z")
_Star Trek V_ is \*\*\*BY FAR \*\*\*the worst of the Trek movies featuring the original cast. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/14 "2014-07-22T20:51:14Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > He frequently misuses the reflexive pronoun “myself,” when he should use either “me” or “I.” It’s a really common thing for Americans to do, but for someone who is always pointing out other people’s grammar errors, he should get this right. > > He also failed to correct Leonard when Leonard mispronounced the Czech name of St. Wenceslas. In Czech, it’s “Svaty Vaclav,” but a “c” in Czech is pronounced “ts,” so “Vaclav” is pronounced “VA-tslav.” Even if Sheldon didn’t know this from his knowledge of St. Vaclav, the Duke of Bohemia, he should have picked it up when Vaclav Havel was the president of Czechoslovakia, and then the Czech Republic. Havel held the position over both countries together for a total of 14 years (1989-2003), and was followed by another guy named Vaclav, Vaclav Klaus, who was in office until March of 2013. Given Sheldon’s proclivity for correcting the tiniest error anyone makes, I doubt that he knew the correct pronunciation, and just let it go; the only conclusion is that he somehow didn’t know, or didn’t make the connection. Now I know how _The Big Bang Theory_ should end; Sheldon’s ‘friends’ will start pointing out the errors that he’s failed to recognize and correct until he blows up like Nomad on that episode of _Star Trek_. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/15 "2014-07-22T21:09:28Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Now I know how _The Big Bang Theory_ should end; Sheldon’s ‘friends’ will start pointing out the errors that he’s failed to recognize and correct until he blows up like Nomad on that episode of _Star Trek_. Or his head blows up like in Scanners. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/16 "2014-07-22T21:10:38Z")
Sheldon: _Worst Renaissance Fair ever. It was rife with historical inaccuracies. For example, the tavern girl serving flagons of mead, now her costume was obviously Germanic, but in1487 the Bavarian purity laws or **Rhineheitsgebot** severely limited the availability of mead. At best they would have had some sort of spiced wine._ Wrong again, Sheldon. I believe [Rhineheitsgebot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot) only concerned itself with the ingredients and production of beer, not other alcoholic beverages. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/17 "2014-07-22T21:25:26Z")
He doesn’t know when his father died. In the pilot, he mentions the stair experiment he did at age 12 that injured his father. Last season, he said that his father died when he was 11. Neither of which explains the papers Missy brought to him to sign concerning his father’s estate. George Cooper Sr. clearly wasn’t rich enough to have an estate requiring 20 years to clear probate. There are also inconsistencies in what age he was when he started/finished various schools. Eidetic memory my foot. Also in the pilot he tells Leonard that that woman will never have sex with him. Also in the Physics Bowl episode, at the end Penny does a pop culture trivia quiz that both Sheldon and Leonard fail at miserably. ---
**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, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/18 "2014-07-22T21:45:53Z")
It’s not “wrong,” but he doesn’t know how to drive stick…from what I understand, kinda unusual for someone from Texas. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2014, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/19 "2014-07-22T22:17:41Z")
He doesn’t even know how to drive automatic, unless he’s learned that since the second season. And fresh eggs aren’t particularly necessary for making good breakfast, nor does lack of refrigeration of them while you’re buying other things at the supermarket matter to any nontrivial degree. Eggs aren’t nearly as perishable as most people think. ---
**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, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752/20 "2014-07-22T22:26:56Z")
Actually, if Sheldon has ever made pastry, or spongecake, he knows that the eggs need to be room temperature. Or, he has made some really bad pastry. FWIW, I tend to pick up my refrigerated things last, but not because I’m worried about them spoiling; rather, water condenses on them, and the packages get damp, plus the packages of anything they are touching. You put milk and eggs touching a cereal box near the beginning of the trip, you end up with a soggy cereal box. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-sheldon-cooper-is-wrong-about/693752.md?page=2)