# 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:** 14
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/261 "2012-09-02T15:51:44Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > So, just point in the correct direction or mimic, please. But the person pointing or mimicking is facing you so the proper direction would be opposite. You’d have to turn around and use a mirror, or the other person would. Hmmmm . . . or would you both have to use mirrors while standing back to back? Especially when trying to figure out how to turn off kitchen taps/faucets? In New Zealand and Australia, of course, where the sun and moon appear to travel in the other direction (as does water going down a drain), it still does when you face the other direction because you’re upside down. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/262 "2012-09-02T16:05:21Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > .. appear to travel in the other direction (as does water going down a drain), … [Not true:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect) > [@](#): > > In contrast to the above, water rotation in home bathrooms under normal circumstances is not related to the Coriolis effect or to the rotation of the earth, and no consistent difference in rotation direction between toilets in the northern and southern hemispheres can be observed. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/263 "2012-09-02T18:44:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > [Not true:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect) I suspect you’ve been whooshed…(I see no mention of being upside down in New zealand in your link) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/264 "2012-09-02T21:24:14Z")
We were watching "James May’s “Things You Need to Know About Weather” this weekend, and I learned about the Coriolis Effect (weather rotates in different directions depending on whether it is north or south of the equator), and I think that is where the misconception about water going down drains in Australia came from. My theory, anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/265 "2012-09-03T00:30:22Z")
Marriage isn’t supposed to be about your happiness or your spouse’s happiness and it has nothing to do with romance at least long-term. It is all about societal stability and hopefully raising children with two parents that are willing to play the game. The rules of marriage are there just to ensure that you stay together as long as you follow them. It doesn’t matter if you agree with them or not even if you, as an individual, would be better off with another lifestyle. The goal of it is to ‘surrender’ to your marriage so that you as a person no longer exists but you also don’t create any conflicts for the rest of the world. A few people find ways to be happy within that model but most don’t. It is an antiquated institution and even more enslaving for husbands than wives today. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/266 "2012-09-03T00:51:43Z")
Hey, **Shag** ’, better change your password. I think **Der Trihs** logged in under your username. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/267 "2012-09-03T00:59:26Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Marriage isn’t supposed to be about your happiness or your spouse’s happiness and it has nothing to do with romance at least long-term. It is all about societal stability and hopefully raising children with two parents that are willing to play the game. The rules of marriage are there just to ensure that you stay together as long as you follow them. It doesn’t matter if you agree with them or not even if you, as an individual, would be better off with another lifestyle. > > The goal of it is to ‘surrender’ to your marriage so that you as a person no longer exists but you also don’t create any conflicts for the rest of the world. A few people find ways to be happy within that model but most don’t. It is an antiquated institution and even more enslaving for husbands than wives today. I hate to say it, but this is pretty much how I’ve felt for over 10 years. Marriage is not always sugerpops and laughter. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/268 "2012-09-03T01:57:26Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I’m 58. I never realised this until I was trying to remove a pump from an IV pole and a patient’s parent helped me out with this mnemonic. Also 58; I’d never heard the “righty-tightie” phrase, much to the amazement of my wife and kids. But they paid for their mockery-- I got to tell them about assembling hang-gliders on the edge of a cliff in Switzerland so my older relatives could use them to step off into space. And we had to be really careful… Because half of them were designed the opposite way! (I think it’s because they were made in Britain-- do they make screws “righty-loosey?”) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/269 "2012-09-03T02:13:04Z")
Shagnasty, you say that as if it’s a bad thing! Seriously, through most of your post, I thought you were stating a neutral fact, or even something you approved of. It wasn’t until the end that I realized you don’t like this state of affairs. Well, to each his own, but I personally am grateful for the “sacrifices” of marriage – that is, the giving up of several (but not all) self-serving behaviors which might make you “happy” in certain ways, but not (in my experience) in others – and the latter ways tend to be more healthy and helpful. Artist Jenny Holzer once said, “Protect me from what I want”…well, marriage (and, especially, parenthood) can be one way to help make that happen (though it shouldn’t be the only reason to get hitched, obviously – and it’s not a panacea – you can’t run away from the person you are – but it CAN be a big component in the refocusing process.) ---
**Author:** ![Junkman209](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/junkman209/32/5522_2.png) [@Junkman209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junkman209)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/270 "2012-09-03T02:34:10Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > If I stick my hand out to hold, say, a doorknob, the part of the hand (and the knob) I can see is the top of it. Ergo, if I say I’m turning my hand to the right, I mean that I’m turning the top of my hand to the right. It isn’t really relevant that the hidden part of my hand is moving to the left. Unless, of course, you are a young child trying to understand clockwise/counterclockwise and the only part of the doorknob you can see in the lower side. ---
**Author:** ![Junkman209](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/junkman209/32/5522_2.png) [@Junkman209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junkman209)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/271 "2012-09-03T03:06:48Z")
> [@Junkman209](#): > > Unless, of course, you are a young child trying to understand clockwise/counterclockwise and the only part of the doorknob you can see **IS** the lower side. Missed the edit window. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/272 "2012-09-03T12:40:00Z")
Billy Joel’s song… “Piano Man”. A song I have been listening to most of my life, but have never actually owned the album. Oh wait I think my dad had the Billy Joel’s greatest hits double album set on one casette tape. Maybe. But I never had access to lyrics sheets. I just knew the words. I just found out this week (the husband was singing karaoke and the screens across the bar show the lyrics) that the piano sounds like a “carnival”. I always thought it was “power-mower”, and I am not sure if it is a result of my poor hearing, my dad’s bad singing, or what. “Power-mower” never made a lot of sense either. Maybe this should be in a mondogreens thread, but this one will do. As long as the microphone still smells like a beer, I am ok. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/273 "2012-09-03T19:53:41Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > I’ve always disliked it, too, for using “left” and “right” for something that’s twisting in a circle: for every part that moves “righty”, there’s a part moving an equal amount “lefty.” > > It’s almost as bad as that moronic poem about the months, whose cadence and rhyme works with pretty much any combination: “Thirty days hath December, May, July, and November.” The only way to remember it is to already know the answer you need. Clock motions start from 12:00. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/274 "2012-09-04T04:34:01Z")
Here’s the way “righty = clockwise” was explained to me in an older thread. If you’re facing forward and moving in that direction and always turning to the right, you’re going clockwise. It works, but it sounds contrived to me. How many people are actually taught that? ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/275 "2012-09-04T05:10:54Z")
Hmm masking tape is supposed to be removable? It never seemed that way to me, the adhesive isn’t like Post-It notes. Also, it’s not removable after a few years. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/276 "2012-09-04T05:23:46Z")
> [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](#): > > \ > I just found out this week (the husband was singing karaoke and the screens across the bar show the lyrics) that the piano sounds like a “carnival”.\ I know it is carnival, but I prefer my version - carnivore. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/277 "2012-09-04T05:26:48Z")
To **AaronX** : You’re supposed to remove it after a few hours, days at most. How well it comes off depends on the quality of the tape but also on the surface: a porous surface will be more likely to keep some of the glue. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/278 "2012-09-04T06:15:30Z")
> [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](#): > > Billy Joel’s song.. “Piano Man”. A song I have been listening to most of my life, but have never actually owned the album. Oh wait I think my dad had the Billy Joel’s greatest hits double album set on one casette tape. Maybe. But I never had access to lyrics sheets. I just knew the words. > > I just found out this week (the husband was singing karaoke and the screens across the bar show the lyrics) that the piano sounds like a “carnival”. > > I always thought it was “power-mower”, and I am not sure if it is a result of my poor hearing, my dad’s bad singing, or what. “Power-mower” never made a lot of sense either. Maybe this should be in a mondogreens thread, but this one will do. > > As long as the microphone still smells like a beer, I am ok. Hahaha! Thanks for the laugh! I’ll never be able to hear the song again without thinking of this! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/279 "2012-09-04T06:17:26Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Also 58; I’d never heard the “righty-tightie” phrase, much to the amazement of my wife and kids. But they paid for their mockery-- I got to tell them about assembling hang-gliders on the edge of a cliff in Switzerland so my older relatives could use them to step off into space. > > And we had to be really careful… Because half of them were designed the opposite way! (I think it’s because they were made in Britain-- do they make screws “righty-loosey?”) No, British screws are righty-tighty by default - left-hand threads are only for special purposes (e.g. left-side bicycle pedal crank, so it doesn’t unscrew itself while you’re riding). ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/280 "2012-09-04T07:49:11Z")
> [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](#): > > mondogreens ‘[Mondogreens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondo_film)’ would be really shocking lettuce, I think; the more common spelling is ‘[mondegreens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen)’, a word which itself comes from a mondegreen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506.md?page=15)