# Things NOT to say or ask in company. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 13, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371 "2009-03-13T22:10:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371/41 "2009-03-17T03:45:25Z")
I once turned a conversation a bit awkward with this: Dude: About half my high school were witches. Me: (having read critical Christian thinkers who didn’t buy the hysteria about the Satanists) There’s no way that many people in Orange County (CA) would be Satanists. That’s not true. Him: [stunned silence] I still don’t really regret it. I think it actually increased my tenability (is that a word) when I realized the speaker was probably slightly retarded. Is that right? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371/42 "2009-03-17T04:21:39Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > See? SEE??? You can’t even raise the topic in here without people getting distracted by it…lol. Tell me about it. I’m trying to resist the urge to explain cricket. ---
**Author:** ![Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicolas_Bourbaki)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371/43 "2009-03-17T08:15:23Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > Three pieces of wood, 1 of 1 meter, one of 2 meters and one of 3 > The two largest pieces of wood are placed diagonal between two walls > And where the two pieces cross the third piece of wood is placed so it just reaches the ground. The 1 meter piece reaches up with a straight angle to the floor. > > The question being, how far are the walls apart? > (The puzzle I write down on a napkin or what ever, not sure if explained is enough here) Okay, you’ve got to spill the beans on this one. Do you _really_ have to find the positive root of an eighth-degree polynomial? Because if so, you’re such a dick. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371/44 "2009-03-17T11:16:12Z")
I, for the love of Og, will never, NEVER, try to convince anyone, that the direction the water swirls as it’s going down the drain has fuck all to do with your geographic location on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371/45 "2009-03-17T12:14:38Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I’ve sworn a blood oath to never again ask an Englishman to explain the game of cricket. I think it depends on the Englishman. I answered cricket questions at a Vegas Dopefest and got a polite reception. The answers were **short** and **clear**! ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371/46 "2009-03-17T12:55:00Z")
On the bushcraft forum I post to you can guarantee a train-wreck by asking whether [Bear Grylls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Grylls) is better than [Ray Mears](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Mears_(author)). (Being nerds the answer is always Ray Mears, with Bear Grylls viewed as a travesty). ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371/47 "2009-03-17T13:07:11Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > No matter how big she looks never ask a woman when she is due. Dave Barry once said never to ask a woman if she’s pregnant unless you see an actual baby emerging from her body. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371/48 "2009-03-17T15:21:48Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I’ve actually done this. To someone who’s actually quite skinny. She was just wearing a loose summer dress that billowed outward a bit. > > :smack: I did some kind of reversal to that, and was actually annoyed when the woman who was _standing behind a counter and cash register, so only her head was showing_, got pissy with me. Her colleagues mentioned something about her baby shower and I said “Oh, you’e expecting? Congratulations!” and her response was as nasty-toned: “Yes, I"m expecting! This isn’t _fat_!” Sheesh, lady. All I can see is your head. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371/49 "2009-03-17T16:39:47Z")
I once unintentionally caused a ferocious debate among the homemakers in my office by asking at lunch, “Who here washes out and reuses Ziploc bags?” My intent was merely to find out how to do it and thereby save a buck, but most of the women chose to understand my remark as “Who is cheap/poor/low class enough to actually wash a plastic bag?”, and it started a hell of a brouhaha between the washers and the non-washers. I don’t think I ever really got my question answered. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371/50 "2009-03-17T17:57:39Z")
Dom or Sub? ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371/51 "2009-03-17T18:45:51Z")
> [@Telcontar](#): > > I’m guessing “yes.” I’m sure a Harrier or Osprey could easily take off from a treadmill. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-not-to-say-or-ask-in-company/489371.md?page=2)