# Stuff that took you too long to realize **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2012, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506 "2012-08-05T09:37:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/201 "2012-08-17T15:45:49Z")
When I was 12 years old, I started eating macaroni and cheese for lunch on the weekends. Pretty soon I started to develop fat deposits all over – on my thighs, in my stomach, on my chest, in my arms, etc. I figured eating macaroni and cheese made me fat. It wasn’t until I was 24 years old that it occurred to me that it’s standard procedure for a girl’s body to increase its fat content as she develops into a woman, and my increase in body fat was probably only minimally attributable to macaroni and cheese. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/202 "2012-08-17T20:08:29Z")
That everyone has a right to their own opinion of you, and the best response to a negative opinion is “It’s a good thing I don’t give a fuck about your opinion of me.” ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheField](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@LilyoftheField](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheField)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/203 "2012-08-17T21:51:14Z")
> [@Rich\_G7subs](#): > > The rhyme “Thirty days have September, April, June and November” works for me. yeah…this always works for me too - it’s just that I can never remember the last line, so it just becomes: "thirty days hath september, april, june and november all the rest have thirty one, except for february …son of a gun! ---
**Author:** ![Sanam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sanam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sanam)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/204 "2012-08-17T21:59:37Z")
That just because someone is being nice to you, doesn’t mean they mean you well. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/205 "2012-08-18T01:38:38Z")
That depression not only diminishes your mood and energy, it makes you _physically_ inept. I’ve been the classic book-smart klutz most of my life. Since I started taking antidepressants, I’m astonished at how my everyday problem-solving ability has increased. Especially for someone with self-esteem issues, depression is a huge factor in “failure syndrome”. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/206 "2012-08-18T23:50:33Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > It doesn’t matter - it’s just an easy way of remembering it. Ah. It wasn’t clear that you were just presenting it as a mnemonic and not as a fact. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/207 "2012-08-20T10:20:40Z")
OK, I been wrestling with this clockwise sun problem all weekend (fucker just _stuck_, y’know?) and I see where I went wrong. I took standing on the equator as a base of reference instead of the point where shit got freaky. You guys are right. The sun moves clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/208 "2012-08-20T10:37:38Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > That depression not only diminishes your mood and energy, it makes you _physically_ inept. I’ve been the classic book-smart klutz most of my life. Since I started taking antidepressants, I’m astonished at how my everyday problem-solving ability has increased. Especially for someone with self-esteem issues, depression is a huge factor in “failure syndrome”. It absolutely blows my mind how much depression affected me in ways I wasn’t even aware of. My self-confidence improved pretty much instantly. My productivity increased by about tenfold. I became more spontaneous and comfortable around other people. My divine revelation last night… ‘‘a google’’ meaning a 1 with so many zeros. Google. Google with its search page marker that just goes on indefinitely G000000000000. A google. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/209 "2012-08-20T10:51:27Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > My divine revelation last night… ‘‘a google’’ meaning a 1 with so many zeros. That’s a googol. Mine, “slipstream”. I’d heard the term slipstream, generally in the context of Formula 1 as a tactic that cars would get behind the leader for the advantage of slipstream. I’d never given it much thought but my mental image was always of something like the waste product of petrol making the tarmac more “slippy” and thus using less friction. It wasn’t until I was watching the open water swimming on the Olympics where a commentator mentioned slipstream that I thought “water resistance..air resistance..slipstream:smack:” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/210 "2012-08-20T11:08:30Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > That’s a googol. But there’s an obvious connection… right? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/211 "2012-08-20T11:18:37Z")
Sure, that’s why I only quoted that small snippet. I had no arguement with the rest of the post. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/212 "2012-08-20T13:23:37Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > But there’s an obvious connection… right? yes, according to the founders, one of their first checks came in with the name misspelled. They had a choice-change the name of the company or get the check rewritten. They really needed the money, so… ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/213 "2012-08-20T18:20:16Z")
When women want to talk to you, and in turn listen to them, the motivation is NOT that they have some vital information you need to use, but to give them the emotional and psychological satisfaction that they’re being payed attention to. :dubious: On a number of message boards, some members have seen my screenname for months or longer before they “get it”. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/214 "2012-08-21T07:01:34Z")
At the age of about seven I attended a YMCA summer day camp. Once when we were having hotdogs for lunch, I remember one of the teenaged counselors telling us how much he liked his dogs with everything on them, but I thought he was talking to us sort of as equals. I didn’t realize until many years later he was talking very much as an older person does talk to a little kid. The upside of this memory, in hindsight, is that I clearly had no conception that we, the little seven year old participants, were meant to be talked down to. As an adult, I find it hard to conceive how not to talk differently to such a young kid compared with how I’d talk to an adult. And on the other side of the coin I’m proud to say I’ve NEVER confused “Calgary” and “Calvary”. Just yesterday I heard a news announcer mentioning a “Calgary Chapel”, and, as always, it made me cringe. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/215 "2012-08-21T07:21:21Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > At the age of about seven I attended a YMCA summer day camp. Once when we were having hotdogs for lunch, I remember one of the teenaged counselors telling us how much he liked his dogs with everything on them, but I thought he was talking to us sort of as equals. I didn’t realize until many years later he was talking very much as an older person does talk to a little kid. The upside of this memory, in hindsight, is that I clearly had no conception that we, the little seven year old participants, were meant to be talked down to. As an adult, I find it hard to conceive how not to talk differently to such a young kid compared with how I’d talk to an adult. There was an interview with the creators of The Simpsons I remember reading where they detailed the inspiration behind Comic Book Guy, anyway they were talking about how they tried to make a true to life stereotype based on the comic book store owners everyone of a certain age remembers. One thing mentioned was how bizarre it is that so many of them talked to their pre-pubescent customers as equals rather than lessers. They brought this oddity into the character of CBG on the show. \*This post is not meant to slander comic book store owners.😛 ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/216 "2012-08-21T07:38:26Z")
That Germans call a penalty kick an “Elfmeter” because the penalty spot is eleven (_elf_) meters from the goal. “Hahaha an ‘eleven meter’ what a stupid. . .ohhhhhhhh.” ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/217 "2012-08-21T14:26:45Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > And on the other side of the coin I’m proud to say I’ve NEVER confused “Calgary” and “Calvary”. Just yesterday I heard a news announcer mentioning a “Calgary Chapel”, and, as always, it made me cringe. I’ve never had a problem with Calgary and Calvary, but when I was a kid I always had to stop and think really hard about when to say Calvary and when to say cavalry. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/218 "2012-08-21T14:36:46Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > I’ve never had a problem with Calgary and Calvary, but when I was a kid I always had to stop and think really hard about when to say Calvary and when to say cavalry. If there was a cavalry base at Calgary couldn’t there be a Calgary cavalry Calvary chapel? ---
**Author:** ![InsomniaMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@InsomniaMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InsomniaMama)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/219 "2012-08-21T16:23:10Z")
I didn’t know cavalry and Calvary were two different things until I was about 40. I only knew the horsie one. And I thought it was an odd choice for church names. Calgary never factored into my confusion. I’m fairly clear on Canadian cities. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/220 "2012-08-21T20:32:03Z")
> [@grude](#): > > There was an interview with the creators of The Simpsons I remember reading where they detailed the inspiration behind Comic Book Guy, anyway they were talking about how they tried to make a true to life stereotype based on the comic book store owners everyone of a certain age remembers. > > One thing mentioned was how bizarre it is that so many of them talked to their pre-pubescent customers as equals rather than lessers. They brought this oddity into the character of CBG on the show. > \*This post is not meant to slander comic book store owners.😛 I remember a quote from Matt Groening in TV Guide: I cannot tell you how many times people have come up to me and said “I know who you based Comic Book Guy on. The comic book store owner down the street.” I tell them “No, it’s every comic book store owner in America.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506.md?page=12)