# Things That Are Technically True But You Shouldn't Say Out Loud **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 28, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839 "2022-03-28T15:28:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/61 "2022-03-29T20:45:39Z")
“Aryan” was originally a linguistic term, denoting people who spoke Indo-European languages. By that standard, Louis Farrakhan is an Aryan. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/62 "2022-03-29T20:46:27Z")
(While in Texas) “Yes, Alaska is not only the biggest state in the Union, it is the last frontier of the rugged individual.” “Take away the bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes and all you have left is a dustbowl.” ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/63 "2022-03-29T21:01:22Z")
Your avatar says otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/64 "2022-03-29T21:09:01Z")
But how many legs would they have if you called their tail a leg? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/65 "2022-03-29T21:22:02Z")
_Things that are technically true but you shouldn’t say out loud (in a theatre)_ “Among the nominees for Best Actor: Denzel Washington for the Tragedy of **Macbeth** ” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/66 "2022-03-29T22:34:22Z")
You wanna know how lame Hollywood is? Steven Soderbergh got an Oscar for directing traffic! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/67 "2022-03-29T23:00:37Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > “Aryan” was originally a linguistic term, denoting people who spoke Indo-European languages. More precisely, Aryan is a branch of Indo-European, the one more usually now referred to as Indo-Iranian. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/68 "2022-03-29T23:28:46Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > But how many legs would they have if you called their tail a leg? How should I know? I’m not a biologist. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/69 "2022-03-29T23:37:54Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > “Aryan” was originally a linguistic term, denoting people who spoke Indo-European languages. No, the other way round. The term was applied to the eastern part of ancient Persia and to its inhabitants, and has the same root as Iran. Later philologists applied it to the language family. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/70 "2022-03-29T23:54:11Z")
Niggardly is of Scandinavian origin, and means cheap or miserly. The swastika is considered a good luck symbol in some cultures. Lots of people who became serial killers had served in the military. Your grandmother probably sucked your grandfather’s cock at least once. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/71 "2022-03-30T00:07:48Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > The swastika is considered a good luck symbol in some cultures. In fact, before 1920, it meant a lot of things in a lot of cultures but nothing that’s related to Nazism: > **[Swastika](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika)** > > The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures. In the West it is more widely recognized as a symbol of the German Nazi Party who appropriated it from Asian cultures starting in the early 20th century. The appropriation continues with its use by neo-Nazis around the world. It continues to be used as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism The word... ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/72 "2022-03-30T02:10:08Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Your grandmother probably sucked your grandfather’s cock at least once. Unless there’s a second way to read this, I don’t believe that fellatio was common until the last few decades: [Fifty Shades of Grey and How Sex Acts Go Mainstream: An 'Oral' History | TIME](https://time.com/3703209/fifty-shades-of-grey-oral-history/#:~:text=In%20the%20U.S.%2C%20a%20national,57.4%25%20of%20black%20women%20had). I mean, certainly in Roman times, in other nations, etc. it might have been common or expected but my understanding is that in the USA, previous to the 1970s, it probably wasn’t common or even thought about much by most straight couples. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/73 "2022-03-30T03:28:22Z")
Two thoughts when I read that article: 1. It was probably because of the access to running water and hygiene practices. Access to a daily shower will facilitate that a lot easier. 2. The article lost me when it got to the 1990s. Sure, like anything, it wasn’t talked about a lot and the network standards were more “refined” but as someone growing up in the 80s/90s it was definitely a well known and performed thing then. I can’t speak for earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/74 "2022-03-30T03:45:30Z")
That seems amazing if not absurd today, but from everything I’ve read oral was something only prostitutes ever did and even that was uncommon. I’ve seen speculation that our doughboys were introduced to it by French whores in WWI, but if so not that many persuaded the girl back home to emulate them. Paperback “sleaze” publications were the closest to over-the-counter porn until the 1970s and so they are the best stand-in for public opinion. (I collect vintage paperbacks. Though I don’t collect sleaze I’ve encountered many of them, often because they were written by major authors early in their careers.) The sex in them was so soft core as to be almost poetically allusive but mostly talked about intercourse. It wasn’t until several 1960s court cases shut down censorship that both written and visual porn went hard core and 1970 is pretty much a bright line. I’m convinced that the sudden availability of sexual acts changed what was acceptable more than any notions of free love. One major reason for this opinion is that lesbianism also made the transition at the same time. Earlier porn had men hating lesbians, considering it as much an aberration as it did male homosexuality. But all the early 1970s “porno chic” movies had lesbian scenes and after that they were essentially mandatory. Playboy, always anti-gay, followed Penthouse into showing pictorials in the 1970s. Yes, this is saying that men get ideas about what women “should” do in sex from porn. I’m not at all happy with that conclusion, and I think it can be overblown (no pun intended, really) at the extremes. It’s a feedback loop of producers offering varieties to consumers and then hyping the more popular ones which become even more popular, etc. Anal was also depicted in those same porno chic movies but never achieved the instant popularity of oral so any pure theory of influence fails at that point. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/75 "2022-03-30T03:58:04Z")
Fellatio went mainstream due to a specific movie that came out in 1972. (Hint: starring Linda Lovelace.) Even then it took a while before lots of women accepted it. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/76 "2022-03-30T04:30:07Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > You produce about six pounds of stool per week. I poo in a bag, so I could actually measure this if I wanted to [I can probably more easily come up with a volume rather than a weight] Hm, technically true - The classic Klinger from M_A_S\*H is now a Disney Princess [though more funny than unmentionable, though some over religious types might be really peeved that a transvestite is a Disney Princess is my rational for not wanting to say it out loud] ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/77 "2022-03-30T05:11:33Z")
You should never shout “_Theater!_” in a crowded firehouse. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2022, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/78 "2022-03-30T05:57:06Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > It was probably because of the access to running water and hygiene practices. Access to a daily shower will facilitate that a lot easier. I’d think more likely is that the Bible describes the purpose of sex as being specifically to make babies and expand the number of Jews/Christians. Wasting seed by spraying it in a butt, in a mouth, in an animal, on the floor, or in a same-gendered person was sinful and liable to be considered criminal. That said, your reason probably went a long way as well. ---
**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 30, 2022, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/79 "2022-03-30T06:07:24Z")
I think another thing to consider is sex until recently was gross. We get to take showers everyday. Our grandparents (or great grandparents) didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839/80 "2022-03-30T08:37:01Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > But how many legs would they have if you called their tail a leg? One of my favorite bits of Lincoln lore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-technically-true-but-you-shouldnt-say-out-loud/961839.md?page=5)