# Things you FINALLY figured out **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 5, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223 "2023-04-05T22:49:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/21 "2023-04-06T18:38:56Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I thought that gave the hitting team at a hugely unfair advantage (imagine the Yankees hitting a home run off of Barack Obama.) Not a huge advantage, as very few even make it to the plate. It would just be ball one. But that’s hilarious, that you thought that. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/22 "2023-04-06T23:50:10Z")
> [@NinthAcolyte](#): > > “Honey, I don’t think you’ll fit in that thing…” I’d be willing to lose fifty pounds to fit in a Miata. It’s kind of my dream car, which is weird because I’ve never even sat in one. So maybe my “thing I finally figured out” is that I really don’t want one, in the long run. See, my practical side says “A convertible would be fun, but how many days a year would you really drive with the top down?” We’re up in the Tundra, and though a friend says they drive great in snow and ice, I’d do better with a hardtop. And August gets too hot and sunny to want to spend much time uncovered then, too… so, maybe a removable (or retractable) hard top. Or a “Miata Equivalent”. Like a Toyota GR86, or a Honda Beat. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/23 "2023-04-07T00:24:05Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I’d be willing to lose fifty pounds to fit in a Miata. It’s kind of my dream car, which is weird because I’ve never even sat in one. My _actual_ dream car is a Triumph TR6. But those aren’t very reliable. I mean, I know the jokes about British cars are probably exaggerated, but no 40 year old car will ever be as reliable as a new one. So I got the Miata because it’s probably the closest thing to an old Triumph that’s actually modern and reliable. But I live in California, so the top is pretty much always down except for those couple of months that pass for winter here. ---
**Author:** ![NinthAcolyte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ninthacolyte/32/13676_2.png) [@NinthAcolyte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinthAcolyte)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/24 "2023-04-07T05:14:10Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I’d be willing to lose fifty pounds to fit in a Miata. It’s kind of my dream car, which is weird because I’ve never even sat in one. Regrettably, in my case it’s more a matter of verticality than of poundage. If I could shed six inches of height I’d do it in a heartbeat, and not just for reasons of automotive comfort! ---
**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:** [April 7, 2023, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/25 "2023-04-07T07:16:53Z")
There’s a rock formation on the West Coast of New Zealand called Punakaiki. I visited it as a child (and again a couple of decades later). It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I realised Punakaiki is just the Maori-fied word for Pancake. [![](https://media.audleytravel.com/-/media/images/home/australasia/new-zealand/places/hd-place-letterboxes/new-hd-place-letterboxes/pancake-rocks_punakaiki_istock-177349476_letterbox.jpg) ](https://media.audleytravel.com/-/media/images/home/australasia/new-zealand/places/hd-place-letterboxes/new-hd-place-letterboxes/pancake-rocks_punakaiki_istock-177349476_letterbox.jpg) There are only 15 letters in the Maori alphabet (plus combos like _ng_ and _wh_) so any adopted word from English has to be adjusted to fit the rules of Polynesian languages. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/26 "2023-04-07T07:54:31Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Not a huge advantage, as very few even make it to the plate. It would just be ball one. But that’s hilarious, that you thought that. Everybody’s laughing until all of a sudden J.B. Pritzker pitches a perfect game and the Cubs bring home the penant. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/27 "2023-04-07T09:11:38Z")
Tow Mater in the movie Cars is supposed to sound like “tomato”. Not immediately obvious to Australian me, who calls the fruit “Toe-mah-toe”. And by “not immediately obvious” I mean it took me ten years. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/28 "2023-04-07T09:41:50Z")
I was like 40 years old when I realized that the dish my mom would make when I was a kid that my parents called “S.O.S” was really called “shit on a shingle.” ---
**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:** [April 7, 2023, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/29 "2023-04-07T11:16:03Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > My _actual_ dream car is a Triumph TR6. But those aren’t very reliable. I mean, I know the jokes about British cars are probably exaggerated, My MG Midget was a really cool car, but at the same time it absolutely sucked. It needed a tuneup every few months and wouldn’t start without starter fluid anytime the temperature was below 50 F. If the weather included snow, it was a danger to drive, and at the time it was my daily driver. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/30 "2023-04-07T11:34:19Z")
When I was a child, my father reassured me about an insect (bee or wasp?) buzzing around by telling me not to worry because it had yellow stripes on black. But I should be careful if it had black stripes on yellow. I’m ashamed to remember how far into adulthood I was before the penny dropped. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2023, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/31 "2023-04-07T12:12:30Z")
Not me, but it sorta fits… I was at lunch with a group of co-workers and the topic of one person’s son came up. He had recently graduated high school and had been taking online classes but has decided to now attend a brick and mortar school. It was on that day that another co-worker learned that a brick and mortar school does not mean that you are learning how to build walls. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/32 "2023-04-07T13:30:10Z")
That the second row seats in our van has a lever that makes them fold completely flat. Found that several months ago. It’s a 2013 that we bought new… 😏 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/33 "2023-04-07T14:42:32Z")
I learned that my car has heated seats when my son borrowed it and left the driver’s seat on. The next time I drove it, the first thing I thought as it warmed up was “oh, no - I haven’t wet myself, have I?”. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/34 "2023-04-07T15:08:30Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > For a long time, having never actually seen one live, I thought the “first pitch” of a baseball game was the guest, celebrity, governor, actress, whoever, standing on the mound and throwing a pitch that was literally meant to be hit **as part of the game.** LOl. My dad threw the first pitch at an Indian’s game. Lesser known is the First Shot opening ceremony for the National Matches at Camp Perry. Usually some shaky old geez tries not to shoot an eagle. And one more trivia bit is that the National Matches are stopped if an eagle appears. They have eagle watchers with binoculars. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/35 "2023-04-07T15:09:37Z")
> [@NinthAcolyte](#): > > And it turned out that’s cuz she drove a _very_ cool vintage Mustang… When I was a college senior in 1969-1970, I rode to school (a Catholic women’s college) every day with my friend Mary Lou who lived down the street from me. She drove this car, a 1968 Mustang. It was also blue like the one in the picture. [![](https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/1968_ford_mustang_1968_ford_mustang_46618a59-be68-4635-9efb-1bc7a3964581-lkkurh-98622-09434.jpg?fit=940%2C627) ](https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/1968_ford_mustang_1968_ford_mustang_46618a59-be68-4635-9efb-1bc7a3964581-lkkurh-98622-09434.jpg?fit=940%2C627) Mary Lou was the quintessential nerd. She was witty, literate, plain, bookish, and didn’t dress well. (That was me, too.) Her family were also nerdy, intellectual, close-knit, great conversationalists, and absolutely delightful-- like a family in a British novel. Because Mary Lou was such a nerd, to me this Mustang was always _The Nerd Car._ I didn’t find out until decades later that it was a way cool, sexy, highly desirable babe magnet. 🤷🏽‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/36 "2023-04-07T15:10:24Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Not a huge advantage, as very few even make it to the plate. It would just be ball one. But that’s hilarious, that you thought that. They had to change to the First Pitch after too many politicians were keeling over trying the make the First Catch. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/37 "2023-04-07T15:16:33Z")
Creamed chipped beef on toast. The “S.O.S.” name came from military slang due to being served regularly to service members of the United States Armed Forces from World War I through Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/38 "2023-04-07T18:32:21Z")
I was in my 30s before I realized that the “F” in S.N.A.F.U. didn’t really stand for “fouled”. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/39 "2023-04-07T18:46:25Z")
I think I posted this way back when in the similar thread about movies. I had watched The Seven Samurai maybe a dozen times. In the scene where the samurai first arrive at the village and are trying to figure out where are the farmers are, I dismissed Toshiro Mifune’s giggling and carrying on as just scenery chewing and trying to get the audience’s attention directed towards himself. It finally dawned on me that he’s giggling because _he_ alone out of the samurai knows where are the villagers are and knows their motive. He’s a farmer himself! We don’t know this yet in the picture, because it’s revealed much later on. But the fact that I had seen this movie repeatedly should have clued me in a bit sooner. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223/40 "2023-04-07T18:54:28Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > When I was a child, my father reassured me about an insect (bee or wasp?) buzzing around by telling me not to worry because it had yellow stripes on black. But I should be careful if it had black stripes on yellow. > > I’m ashamed to remember how far into adulthood I was before the penny dropped. Funny. Makes me hear David Attenborough saying “Red next to black is a friend to Jack; red next to yellow can kill a fellow.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-finally-figured-out/982223.md?page=3)