# There's clueless, then there's "how do you remember how to breathe" clueless **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 28, 2024, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938 "2024-09-28T08:44:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/181 "2024-10-05T11:33:58Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > But how many pounds does it cost? Ha Ha… my American wife never learned to draw the UK pound symbol, so when she writes notes to me about money, she writes things like “Please get 20 lbs from the ATM”. I tease her mercilessly about it… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/182 "2024-10-05T16:40:34Z")
I’m amused at the idea that it’s like a fishing boat; carry paddles on board as back-up in case the engine fails. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/183 "2024-10-05T16:50:51Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#): > > I don’t know why aviators don’t use post and starboard. Probably too many Air Force pilots were allowed to vote. It occurs to me that the critical work is being done by the pilots, who are generally always facing the direction of travel, so their left and right corresponding to the aircraft’s left and right is a pretty constant thing. The cabin crew need to report issues to the pilots, and they might be facing aft, which flips left/right for them, but if the engine to their right is observed to be spewing smoke, it’s the “LH ENGINE” procedures you want the pilots to follow. LHS or LH and RHS or RH are easily understood and make for good labels on indicator panels, buttons, switches, screens, etc. P and SB or PORT and STAR or whatever just take up more space. It’s just a convention that works well enough and doesn’t actually cause any significant confusion in practice. Everyone who needs to know the frame of reference, does, and that’s all that’s necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/184 "2024-10-05T18:00:04Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > \*But ya never know. I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to learn from Uncle Google about wacky inverted airliner antics. Any airplane at all can do a barrel roll completely safely and without even spilling the passengers’ drinks, so long as it starts with sufficient altitude. > [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > I believe it all stems from there’s 16 oz in a pound and 16 fluid ounces in a pint (standard for liquid measurement, especially in household uses), as opposed to meaning 16 fluid ounces of … whatever weighs one pound. The Imperial fluid ounce and the American fluid ounce are very close to each other, and both very close to the volume of one weight-ounce of water under standard gravity (though there are slight differences between all three). But there are 20 Imperial fluid ounces in an Imperial pint, and only 16 American ounces in an American pint (and both countries use the same Avudupois ounce for weight, and 16 of them to a pound). ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/185 "2024-10-05T19:30:37Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > “Please get 20 lbs from the ATM”. 20 pounds of pounds? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/186 "2024-10-05T19:32:12Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I belong to a brewery mug club. My pint is 20 ounces. How many pints can you pound? (Did I pound this into the ground yet? ) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/187 "2024-10-05T19:38:52Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > > [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > > > “Please get 20 lbs from the ATM”. > > 20 pounds of pounds? Let’s see: the only weight for a British bank note I found on the web was for the 5 pound note, 0.7 g, so let’s assume that the one pound note weighs around the same. There are about 454 grams in an English pound (weight), so 20 pounds of pounds make for a nice sum of 12,971 pounds. Not so bad. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/188 "2024-10-05T19:43:34Z")
Do British ATMs issue 1£ notes? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/189 "2024-10-05T19:46:13Z")
Good question, and I doubt it, so if we assume that the smallest unit drawn from a British ATM are five pound notes, 20 pounds of pounds are even at least 64,855 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/190 "2024-10-05T19:47:51Z")
Wow, that’s even more than dark matter, which is so massive that a single pound of it weighs over ten thousand pounds! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/191 "2024-10-05T19:50:38Z")
The Bank of England beats everything, even physics. ---
**Author:** ![Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/192 "2024-10-05T20:37:16Z")
Pound notes were withdrawn years ago, and ATMs don’t dispense fives, only tens and twenties. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2024, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/193 "2024-10-06T00:15:47Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > 20 pounds of pounds? Reminds me of _[The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXHcSBhfkx8)_ by Firesign Theatre. When asked why he’d risk his life on such a dangerous case for only a hundred pounds, their version of Sherlock Holmes tells Watson: > “I’d risk anyone’s life for a hundred pounds … _of dollars!”_ ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/194 "2024-10-06T04:17:15Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > the only weight for a British bank note I found on the web was for the 5 pound note, 0.7 g, so let’s assume that the one pound note weighs around the same No! Basic Aristotelian logic proves that a one-pound note must weigh one fifth as much as a five-pound note. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/195 "2024-10-06T08:44:14Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I always just say, “Ocupado” (in an obvious American accent) to at least add a little levity to the awkward situation. This is my usual response. In most European public bathrooms, the doors are equipped with red/green markers to indicate if they are occupied. I seems to be very lucky that I get many opportunities to say “Occupado”. > [@Seanette](#): > > One would think visible feet in the stall might have provided a clue, but maybe the clues are especially resistant to capture over there. A proper stall should have enough door so that it’s not possible to see feet, or any other part of the occupant. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > At the risk of hijacking the thread (more than it already is), does anybody know why they used to be used and/or why they aren’t anymore? My guess? Easier maintenance. The concrete bumpers accumulate trash, and in the case of snow removal, interfere with plowing. > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Ahead of her the facing space was empty and she could easily have driven through it to leave. > > She backed out. Backing out is the expected behavior. Pulling through is not and increases the accident risk, as it’s not possible for the person on the other side, who is pulling in, to see that someone is pulling through the parking space. Either way, if everyone drives slowly and carefully, there would be fewer accidents in parking lots. > [@bob\_2](#): > > I am surprised that no one mentioned the elevator (note the US terminology) button presser. It’s the same thing on the train. If someone presses the button, the button lights up. There is no need to press the button again. There’s really no need to press the button repeatedly. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I entirely forgot that there’s more than one size of pint. We went on a sightseeing tour in Canada and the tour guide mentioned that Canadians have to work harder than people in the US to make a gallon of maple syrup. Same reason. The Canadian gallon is 1.2 US gallons. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/196 "2024-10-06T10:34:47Z")
> [@Sandwich](#): > > and ATMs don’t dispense fives A few still do, but they are few and far between. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/197 "2024-10-06T12:51:23Z")
Japanese people knock on stall or restroom doors and the person inside knocks back. I suppose passing gas loudly would work as well. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/198 "2024-10-06T13:05:14Z")
I’m picturing a _Dueling Banjos_ type situation, but with knocking. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/199 "2024-10-06T13:35:30Z")
What’s the Japanese version of “Shave and a Haircut… Two Bits”? Now I’m picturing Tokyo businessmen knocking (and singing) “Gotta Catch 'Em All” “Po…ke…mon!” ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2024, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-clueless-then-theres-how-do-you-remember-how-to-breathe-clueless/1007938/200 "2024-10-12T02:37:06Z")
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