# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/141 "2012-08-11T10:03:46Z")
I just realized tonight that the name of First Dog is the President’s initials, although according to Wikipedia, Bo “received his current name from President Obama’s daughters, in part after their cousins’ cat and Michelle Obama’s father’s nickname Diddley; the dog is a namesake of deceased singer Bo Diddley.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/142 "2012-08-11T16:52:52Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > It took me quite awhile to realize the couple of guys are playing Beethoven’s 5th on the pop machine and the weird old man is supposed to be Beethoven. Huh?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/143 "2012-08-11T17:33:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Huh?😕 +1 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/144 "2012-08-11T17:52:35Z")
Lemme tell y’all, I put up with a lot of shit for many years because of something I was too late to realize. And a big part of that realization was: It’s something you’re just not permitted even to talk much about, lest you get a lot of shit for it. Yes, even on SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/145 "2012-08-11T18:08:20Z")
We have a tuxedo cat named Stokie. (He is not relevant to this discussion, as we caught him under a porch in another part of town.) There’s a stray cat who likes to hang out on our porch and around our property who we call Fake Stokie, as he is also tuxedo but has white legs and sometimes I have a little mini-heart attack when I see him because I think Stokie got out. Driving around the neighborhood sometimes we’ll remark “Hey, there’s another Fake Stokie!” as we see tuxedo cats with varying white patterns on them. There must be at least seven or eight. Just last week I realized that that is probably not a coincidence - that there was one very randy Fake Stokie I. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/146 "2012-08-11T19:44:29Z")
Here’s one I just realized _yesterday_, regarding Pink Floyd’s _The Wall_ - after over thirty years and various formats (LP, cassette, CD, MP3) of listening to this thing, I happened to be looking at a lyrics site that had not just the song lyrics, but most of the back-chatter effects listed as well, and - the album is [circular](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_wall). Somehow I never picked up on it, but the last words (spoken over the closing theme) after the wall is torn down are “Isn’t this where . . .” and the album begins with " . . . we came in?" over the same melody. ---
**Author:** ![MobiusStripes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@MobiusStripes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MobiusStripes)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/147 "2012-08-11T20:40:07Z")
> [@benbo1](#): > > Same rule applies to current flow in coiled wire - if it’s wrapped clockwise, current goes away - counterclockwise, current coming toward you. And particle spin (up or down), though I"d understand if you didn’t often measure the spin of things like electrons at home. ---
**Author:** ![MobiusStripes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@MobiusStripes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MobiusStripes)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/148 "2012-08-11T20:44:40Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Sure, but I’d still think it was a poor way of communicating what they want, like using “less” rather than “fewer” for countable items. Although, if the knob were above my eye level, I might very well turn it the wrong direction if I didn’t stop to think about it. > > I suspect that using “right” or “left” for “think of the direction the top of the circular thing kinda moves, but not really” is cultural. It’d be interesting to know if other languages re-use “left” and “right” that way, or if they insist on actually using clockwise and widdershins or whatever. I certainly agree that left/right is confusing when talking about turning things. I was going to suggest that clockwise is only mildly better as from the opposite side of the knob, it’s going counter-clockwise. But if you look at the clock from the back, it moves ‘counter-clockwise’ too, so it’s actually self-consistent. That made my day very happy for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/149 "2012-08-11T21:33:43Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > This actually happened to me when I was about 7 years old. I was playing in the back yard, and my father was watering some plants. At one point he told me to turn off the water. He figured that I’d never done it before, so he said “Turn it to the right.” I looked at the damn thing and immediately understood that no matter how I moved the top, the bottom would move in the opposite direction. So I asked “Which part?” My father responded, impatiently, “Just turn it to the right.” And I asked “The top or the bottom?” At which point he came to me and shoved me out of the way, with “I’ll do it my goddamn self!” > > Yes, my father had zero parenting skills. It’s not the top or the bottom that you move one way or the other, i_t’s your hand_. Grab the knob and turn your hand to the right to tighten and to the left to loosen. Easy peasy. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/150 "2012-08-11T21:37:01Z")
> [@moejoe](#): > > It’s not the top or the bottom that you move one way or the other, i_t’s your hand_. Grab the knob and turn your hand to the right to tighten and to the left to loosen. Easy peasy. Which part of your hand? The top, or the bottom? ---
**Author:** ![InsomniaMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@InsomniaMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InsomniaMama)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/151 "2012-08-11T23:12:29Z")
> [@Why\_Child](#): > > " She smiled fondly and said, “Yeah, that was the best Christmas present I ever got.” It took me about 10 years to figure out that it wasn’t ME she was talking about. :o :smack: You are wrong. She was totally talking about you. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/152 "2012-08-12T00:11:38Z")
Having a happy marriage isn’t as great an indicator of success as being happily single is. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/153 "2012-08-12T00:26:01Z")
Oh here’s another one-HR is not actually there to help you. Not even a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/154 "2012-08-12T04:48:51Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Huh?😕 I’m the only one who’s seen the AM PM commercial? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/155 "2012-08-12T18:44:04Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > I’m the only one who’s seen the AM PM commercial? [This one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Uw99YrzTw8)? Possibly. Seems [ampm](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampm) is a regional convenience store (I’d never heard of them), and without context, impossible to figure from the cryptic reference. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/156 "2012-08-13T01:08:29Z")
Many moons ago, I was visiting a friend who was a projectionist in a theatre with 70mm projectors. For those of us who do not know, the sound on 70mm movie prints is on the film magnetically, as opposed to optically printed on the film (welcome to the bad old days…). Now, magnetic sound is notorious for being different on each print, and needs the various levels adjusted for each movie. Thus they send out test tone strips, and the projectionist and the theatre tech get to earn their checks setting up things to sound correct. What was the rolls of film on the shelf? PINK NOISE “The Wall”. I thought he was making a comment about the movie… ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/157 "2012-08-13T06:47:05Z")
How about: no matter how much you want something (in fact the more you want it), don’t let the salespeople know how eager you are. Also, the little tabs on the bottom of cups of pudding/jelly are for you to break off, so you can drop the pudding onto a plate. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/158 "2012-08-13T13:45:01Z")
Oh I thought of a good one. Most people think USB plugs look the same from both sides. They aren’t. One side has real holes and on the other, the holes are blocked. If you remember which side your USB ports face, you’ll get it right every time. Most ports and devices take the side with the holes as “up”, except the front ports of Dell desktops, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/159 "2012-08-13T20:23:24Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Oh I thought of a good one. Most people think USB plugs look the same from both sides. They aren’t. One side has real holes and on the other, the holes are blocked. If you remember which side your USB ports face, you’ll get it right every time. Most ports and devices take the side with the holes as “up”, except the front ports of Dell desktops, for some reason. And generally, the “up” side has the USB icon on it. ---
**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 13, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/160 "2012-08-13T22:05:34Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Women want men to listen to them, not hear how awesome you are. But men selfishly want women to listen to them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506.md?page=9)