# Things that people get Very Wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958 "2012-07-12T02:18:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/41 "2012-07-12T23:32:20Z")
[Window Fan a.k.a. Box Fan.](http://www.walmart.com/ip/Holmes-Box-Fan-White/20604417) There may be a proper way to use them, but I’ve only seen them left in the window all day long. They blow into the room not out. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/42 "2012-07-13T00:36:02Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > A young woman I know, in her early 20s, told me a story about how she was in the south recently and she was shocked that there were still blatant Jim Crow laws in evidence. Specifically, she spoke of a bar she saw that had a large sign near the entrance that read: “No Colors”. Meh, if you live in a place without any gang activity, it’s hard to realize just how pervasive it is in some places. So making the leap that “No Colors” actually means “No Coloreds” isn’t that far. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/43 "2012-07-13T00:40:04Z")
Sister-in-Law. How do they get spaghetti to grow that straight? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/44 "2012-07-13T00:49:04Z")
One of my ex boyfriends, “If you put food up your butt, will poop really come out of your mouth?” ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/45 "2012-07-13T00:50:40Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Sister-in-Law. How do they get spaghetti to grow that straight? i’ve seen photos. it doesn’t grown straight but it does grow on trees. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/46 "2012-07-13T00:50:57Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Sister-in-Law. How do they get spaghetti to grow that straight? WOW. Thread winner. Right here. WTF. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/47 "2012-07-13T01:29:46Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Sister-in-Law. How do they get spaghetti to grow that straight? Aren’t Sister-in-Laws great…for entertainment? Mine thinks the 2012 Mayan prophecy and the zombie apocalypse are the same thing. And both are real. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/48 "2012-07-13T01:31:49Z")
> [@Batsinma\_Belfry](#): > > [Window Fan a.k.a. Box Fan.](http://www.walmart.com/ip/Holmes-Box-Fan-White/20604417) There may be a proper way to use them, but I’ve only seen them left in the window all day long. They blow into the room not out. They blow out if you turn them around. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/49 "2012-07-13T01:44:41Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > True, but if the room is warm and the air outside is cool, running a ceiling fan to continually circulate the air can help pull in the cooler outside air, thereby cooling the room. How can circulating air within a room pull in air from outside the room? The fan would have to be either pulling air in, or pushing air out, to have any such effect. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/50 "2012-07-13T01:48:22Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > They blow out if you turn them around. I hope that she was joking. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/51 "2012-07-13T02:11:16Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Sister-in-Law. How do they get spaghetti to grow that straight? Show her this documentary of the [1957 spaghetti harvest](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdQqh9jvB6w). It should explain things nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/52 "2012-07-13T02:14:44Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Meh, if you live in a place without any gang activity, it’s hard to realize just how pervasive it is in some places. > > So making the leap that “No Colors” actually means “No Coloreds” isn’t that far. Let’s see…I see a sign that says “No Colors” and I do not know what it means. Rather than believe it holds some meaning with which I am unfamiliar, I instead deduce that a retail establishment placed a large sign near their entrance, in 2012, to keep out the Negroes. Yeah, not a big leap at all. :rolleyes: mmm ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/53 "2012-07-13T02:21:45Z")
Did you see the picture I linked to? That picture shows the FRONT of the fan. Most normal people are going to assume the FRONT is the part they should be viewing. Especially since the back is where the motor is, is flat, and usually just has a cord sticking out with no pretty little manufacturer’s emblem. I don’t know about the newer ones, but the one we had, had the control knob closer to the front. Turning it around and securing it with the window, would not allow access to the knob. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/54 "2012-07-13T03:40:31Z")
My fifth-grade teacher insisted on pointing both classroom box fans straight up toward the ceiling. Because the cold air will then sink back down. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/55 "2012-07-13T03:56:34Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Sister-in-Law. How do they get spaghetti to grow that straight? Sure, the straight ones are cool. But I was always a lot more impressed by how they could get it to grow in corkscrews, bow ties and little wagon wheels! ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/56 "2012-07-13T04:28:53Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Sister-in-Law. How do they get spaghetti to grow that straight? Oh my! ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/57 "2012-07-13T04:36:07Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > One of my ex boyfriends, “If you put food up your butt, will poop really come out of your mouth?” Your ex was [Eric Cartman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUovlcnnAC0)?!? (I was in tears for that episode. Yeah, I like poopy jokes, so what?) ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/58 "2012-07-13T04:45:18Z")
My third grade teacher insisted pickles were a related plant to cucumbers, she thought they grew already “pickled” and were just put in a jar. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/59 "2012-07-13T04:46:20Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Yeah, not a big leap at all. :rolleyes: Apartheid in South Africa was way more racist than that and that only ended 20 years ago. It’s not _that_ big a leap to think remnants of it may still exist in the American south. According to your OP she assumed that it had long since stopped and yet there was a sign saying apparently the opposite. That’s strong evidence to back her conclusion up. I know I, as an ignorant tourist from the antipodes, would initially assume something similar if I saw the sign. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/60 "2012-07-13T05:39:16Z")
> [@grude](#): > > My third grade teacher insisted pickles were a related plant to cucumbers, she thought they grew already “pickled” and were just put in a jar. Well, there are varieties of cukes that are especially well suited for pickling, and the seeds are (or used to be) sold as “pickling cucumbers”. However, I’ve had my share of teachers who would pass on misinformation and insist it was correct, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958.md?page=4)