# The things old people believe

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-old-people-believe/142507>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 13, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-old-people-believe/142507 "2002-12-13T15:07:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-old-people-believe/142507/21 "2002-12-13T20:36:02Z")

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My grandfather used to tell my dad that if he ever got in a fight with a black guy, don’t hit him in the head, because their skulls are harder and thicker than ours, so he wouldn’t get hurt. He told him to go for the shins because that’s their weak spot.

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**Author:** ![Sunglasses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5fc32e/32.png) [@Sunglasses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunglasses)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-old-people-believe/142507/22 "2002-12-13T20:45:03Z")

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An elderly neighbor once told me that, if I put butter on my cat’s paws, she would “never stray from home”.

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**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-old-people-believe/142507/23 "2002-12-13T20:53:18Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ptr2void \*  
> \*\*\<Sam Waterston\>The robots will come and steal your medication for food!\</SW\> 😃 \*\*

Cause robots are made out of metal…and they’re strong.  
Ahhh the best SNL commercial ever.

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**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-old-people-believe/142507/24 "2002-12-13T21:02:28Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ezstrete \*  
> **Once it was said that the patent office should be shut down because there were no more things to invent.**

Hey, old dude :), this is an urban legend, and a false one at that.

The gist of the story is that the patent official who supposedly made that remark around the turn of the century (1900) was misquoted by a journalist. But because it made such a good story, it has been repeated ever since, especially as a cautionary tale about predicting the future.

A columnisit in _Scientific American_ researched this about five or so years ago. I’d provide a cite, but it wasn’t on the SA website.

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-old-people-believe/142507/25 "2002-12-13T21:03:12Z")

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The master covered the “cat breath stealing thing”

[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4\_081.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_081.html)

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