# That's odd and why is my pocket on fire? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 20, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761 "2007-06-20T20:15:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/1 "2007-06-20T20:15:13Z")
I’m sitting at my desk this morning and I feel this hot sensation on my upper thigh. I thought it was nerves or something and scratch the area and think nothing of it. Then about 30 seconds later I get another burning feeling and I scratch again only to feel something hot. WTF? Then I realise, as I’m standing up, that the origin of the heat is coming from inside my pocket! A quick mental inventory of the contents of said pocket don’t reveal anything that could produce heat much less start my pants on fire. As I’m thinking what the hell could possibly be trying to kill me that’s also small enough to fit in my pocket I grab the wad of change that’s in there, practically turning my pocket inside out, and slam it on the desk. That’s when I see the culprit…a friggin AAA battery. In cahoots with the dozen or so pieces of change in my pocket, settled into place in such a manner as to short out the battery. That sucker was HOT. Too hot to hang onto. I’m guessing only a few seconds or so from bursting, or burning. NOW I remember how the battery got in there. I noticed my MP3 player’s battery was getting low and I dropped a spare in my pocket before I left for work. Change from the morning coffe purchase? Right into the same pocket. Change from the cafeteria at break time? Right into the pocket again. Surreptitiously creating a scenario in which the contents of my pants pocket soon had the upper hand. Folks, don’t mix batteries and change together. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/2 "2007-06-20T20:17:11Z")
That money was practically burning a hole in your pocket. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/3 "2007-06-20T20:44:32Z")
Firecrotch! ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/4 "2007-06-20T20:49:00Z")
Next time, try a 9V battery, much easier to short out and gets even hotter! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/5 "2007-06-20T20:49:34Z")
Before I even opened the thread I knew what it was about. I was wrong. I was thinking 9V. How does change wrap around both ends of a AAA? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/6 "2007-06-20T20:50:37Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Firecrotch! [/QUOTE] Hot pants! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/7 "2007-06-20T21:23:20Z")
I don’t believe the OP for a second. He’s a liar-liar, and his pants are _not_ on fire! ---
**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:** [June 20, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/8 "2007-06-20T21:26:31Z")
I had that happen once. It’s more than a warm feeling. It’s like touching the car lighter with your finger tip. I think it was my keys shorting it. I had two AA batteries in my pocket to exchange in a cassette player. I always wrap paper over the plus side now and hold it in place with a rubberband. I await the day when I see a women’s purse burning. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/9 "2007-06-20T21:37:03Z")
Is that a AAA battery in your pocket or are you just burning to see me? ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/10 "2007-06-20T21:39:11Z")
[QUOTE=Hypno-Toad] That money was practically burning a hole in your pocket. [/QUOTE] OK, I actually did laugh out loud at that. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/11 "2007-06-20T21:53:08Z")
I thought this sounded [familiar](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251412&highlight=battery+pocket). That’s two Dopers in three years. What is Congress doing to protect us from the menace of AA and AAA batteries? Have they fallen asleep at the wheel? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/12 "2007-06-20T22:21:18Z")
I was lecturing one day and dropped a metal laser pointer onto the floor and picked it up and stuffed it into my pocket. A few minutes later I was like “Uh. . . that hurts. . .” Laser pointer was mighty hot. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/13 "2007-06-20T22:58:59Z")
That happened to my husband, only it was his keys that did it. He said it was very alarming. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/14 "2007-06-20T23:09:54Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Is that a AAA battery in your pocket or are you just burning to see me? [/QUOTE] Comparing it to a AAA battery? Man, that’s _cold_. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/15 "2007-06-20T23:18:39Z")
It happened to [me too!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=356607) That’s yet another Doper! Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/16 "2007-06-20T23:37:50Z")
That happened to me too! ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/17 "2007-06-21T00:03:49Z")
Me too, 9 volt, 1973. Later, much much later, I found this feature to be utilized as a kind of handwarmer device in the .mil - two nine volts “plugged” into each other. I thought it looked like a good way to end up with battery electrolyte all over everything and never tried it. Novice Zippo owners suffer from admittedly only tangentially a semi-related malady when they overfill with fluid, can cause a very annoying rash in the nether regions. ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/18 "2007-06-21T00:29:40Z")
Not quite the good old “Tesla 69,” which requires two batteries, but pretty dran close. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/19 "2007-06-21T03:07:41Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] I don’t believe the OP for a second. He’s a liar-liar, and his pants are _not_ on fire! [/QUOTE] Wait, if he says his pants were on fire when they really _weren’t_, he is therefore lying, therefore, his pants must be on fire, which means that he’s _not_ lying, so there’s no need for his pants to be on fire… OP, if you keep this up you just may well develop a solution to the impending energy crisis. Infinite not-fire! ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761/20 "2007-06-21T03:29:11Z")
Um, I think I’m going to go empty out the change and extra batteries from the bottom of my purse, now… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-odd-and-why-is-my-pocket-on-fire/408761.md?page=2)