# Survey says.... half of Brits think Sherlock Holmes is real. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 4, 2008, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202 "2008-02-04T12:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ro\_Carter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Ro\_Carter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ro_Carter)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/1 "2008-02-04T12:17:58Z")
Next time I hear a Brit going on about “dumb Americans” I can at least have the happy glow of knowing we are not alone. [From here](http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080204/wl_uk_afp/britainpeoplehistoryoffbeat_080204001239) . Basically, the news article is about a survey recently done where a quarter of the respondents thought that Winston Churchill was a myth, 47 percent thought Richard the Lionheart was made up, and over half thought Sherlock Holmes was real. Brits, I am not attacking you, ok? I know that every country has its morons, and that survey must have gotten hold of a good portion of them for those kind of results. I am also sure that if you did a similar survey in the U.S. you’d get similarly stupid results. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/2 "2008-02-04T12:44:36Z")
yeah but who’s this Monty Python guy? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/3 "2008-02-04T12:48:09Z")
> [@](#): > > yeah but who’s this Monty Python guy? He’s the guy with the long nose and the two big bulgy eyes, one of which points in the wrong direction. He was Eye-gor in Young Frankenstein. (Actual opinion I heard back around 1975. In the US) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/4 "2008-02-04T12:54:24Z")
Is it a poll of Britons, or UKTV Gold viewers? If the latter, I’m surprised the percentages aren’t higher. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/5 "2008-02-04T13:09:45Z")
From the London Times, 1885: _“Yes Virginia, there is a Sherlock Holmes…”_ ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/6 "2008-02-04T13:13:01Z")
I must admit, my first thought was to wonder exactly what proportion of the people they surveyed were actually “British”. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/7 "2008-02-04T13:14:06Z")
I also think 10 Downing Street is a crossword puzzle clue. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/8 "2008-02-04T13:17:57Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] From the London Times, 1885: _“Yes Virginia, there is a Sherlock Holmes…”_ [/QUOTE] Wow. You were reading the London Times back in 1885? You must be really old. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/9 "2008-02-04T13:25:04Z")
Yes but it’s a survey of UKTV Gold viewers, it’s a bit like interviewing the Alabama Creationists Union\* as a cross section of Americans and being surprised that their answers were a little bizarre. \*I made this group up but apologise if it’s real. I still maintain that if they do exist they will likely be about as astute as UKTV Gold viewers. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/10 "2008-02-04T13:29:46Z")
Any person that thought Sherlock Holmes was real person, would just think that you were the typical ignorant American for saying he was fictional. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/11 "2008-02-04T13:42:37Z")
You mean, he’s _not_ real? ☹ :: sobs quietly in corner :: ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/12 "2008-02-04T13:47:05Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] You mean, he’s _not_ real? ☹ :: sobs quietly in corner :: [/QUOTE] Fictional characters are as real as we wish them to be. [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msherlock.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msherlock.html) > **[Sherlockian game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_speculation)** > > The Sherlockian game (also known as the Holmesian game, the Great Game or simply the Game; also as the Higher Criticism) is the pastime of attempting to resolve anomalies and clarify implied details about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson from the 56 short stories and four novels that make up the Sherlock Holmes canon by Arthur Conan Doyle. It treats Holmes and Watson as real people and uses aspects of the canonical stories combined with the history of the era of the tales' settings to construct Th... > **[The Angel of the Opera: Sherlock Holmes Meets the Phantom of the Opera:...](https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Opera-Sherlock-Holmes-Phantom/dp/1883402468)** > > The Angel of the Opera: Sherlock Holmes Meets the Phantom of the Opera \[Siciliano, Sam\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Angel of the Opera: Sherlock Holmes Meets the Phantom of the Opera -Sage Rat ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/13 "2008-02-04T13:57:04Z")
**Ro Carter** : Next you’ll be telling me the BNP is still a going concern over there. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/14 "2008-02-04T19:43:06Z")
You have to understand their answers in context, though: what they _meant_ to say was that Sherlock Holmes was based on a real life person, who did everything that the literary Sherlock Holmes did, and who was also named Sherlock Holmes. Makes a lot more sense that way, see? ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/15 "2008-02-04T20:56:48Z")
When I somehow become rich, I think I would like to set up a house-building and property company and I would, of course, register it at Companies House as “Sherlock Homes”. I would have offices in London and in Edinburgh, (only to start with, mind, 'cos my empire would soon go global, oh yes) and I would have free advertising from the sillier sorts of media because they would publicise it for me purely because of the name. And I would see about getting Gerry Rafferty to do a publicity/advertising song for it. Yeah, all right, I know it has probably been done already. ☹ Another great idea turned to dust. Woe is me. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/16 "2008-02-04T21:15:50Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] You have to understand their answers in context, though: what they _meant_ to say was that Sherlock Holmes was based on a real life person, who did everything that the literary Sherlock Holmes did, and who was also named Sherlock Holmes. Makes a lot more sense that way, see? [/QUOTE] Well, he was, to a great extent, only the chappie upon whom Holmes was based was the rather more prosaically named [Dr. Joseph Bell](http://news.scotsman.com/scottishmuseums/Detecting-signs-in-Holmes-from.2788045.jp). And now I wonder whether “Sherlock” was a invented name, or whether it existed before. Hey ho, a’ Googling I will go. 🙂 I also wonder how UKTV Gold can possibly think it has surveyed “a quarter of Brits”, although I suppose, to be fair, that was just Yahoo’s headline. ALSO, we all know that Winston Churchill was most certainly not real: he is merely a made-up name commonly used to describe the appearance of all newly born babies. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/17 "2008-02-04T22:01:35Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] You mean, he’s _not_ real? ☹ :: sobs quietly in corner :: [/QUOTE] Did you really think he’d share his cocaine with you? Or is it Watson you’ve truly got the hots for. Mama told you to marry a doctor, eh? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/18 "2008-02-04T22:04:06Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] Did you really think he’d share his cocaine with you? Or is it Watson you’ve truly got the hots for. Mama told you to marry a doctor, eh? 😛 [/QUOTE] I imagine Sherlock Holmes to be similar to Dr House - in which case I’d marry him in a heartbeat. If only he were Asian - my mother would be so happy. ---
**Author:** ![Ro\_Carter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Ro\_Carter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ro_Carter)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/19 "2008-02-04T22:18:41Z")
I’m getting the impression that UKTV Gold might not be the most academically rigorous institution over there… might I ask why? Is it a tabloid type station? [QUOTE=Celyn] I also wonder how UKTV Gold can possibly think it has surveyed “a quarter of Brits”, although I suppose, to be fair, that was just Yahoo’s headline. [/QUOTE] From what I recall, they weren’t claiming to have surveyed a quarter of the British population. The headline referred to the fact that a quarter of the people surveyed thought Winston Churchill was fictional. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202/20 "2008-02-04T22:20:13Z")
And a lot of the French think the sun revolves around the earth. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42xykzW27Q4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-says-half-of-brits-think-sherlock-holmes-is-real/436202.md?page=2)