# Things you know that it never occurred to you others wouldn't know... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2015, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696 "2015-11-05T11:07:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/101 "2015-11-06T12:26:57Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > [quote=Northern Piper[ > It’s not a brain malfunction. It’s usually shown by someone who is either left-handed or cross-dominant. Not having a strong dominant hand weakens the immediate identification between right and left which righties tend to have. > > (Speaking from experience as a cross-dominant.)[/quote] > Poppycock, I know my foot from my hand, and I know my ear from my nose, similarly I know my right from my left. Thank you for so casually dismissing my personal life experience. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [November 6, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/102 "2015-11-06T13:02:37Z")
When I was living in California I had one lady ask me if Texas (because I’m from Texas) had a coastline. People pronouncing Arkansas “R-Kansas”. Talking to two middle aged women. I mentioned something about the aurora borealis. Neither one of them had no clue what I was talking about. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2015, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/103 "2015-11-06T13:06:01Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Talking to two middle aged women. I mentioned something about the aurora borealis. Neither one of them had no clue what I was talking about. So, they both understood? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/104 "2015-11-06T13:08:35Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > I’ve been amazed at the number of smart, well-educated people who believe that in the real world dropped balls of the same size will fall at the same rate, regardless of their weight. > > They contend that Galileo proved this by dropping objects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. On Galileo’s experiment, see here: > **[Galileo's Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo%27s_Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa_experiment)** > > Between 1589 and 1592, the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei (then professor of mathematics at the University of Pisa) is said to have dropped "unequal weights of the same material" from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to demonstrate that their time of descent was independent of their mass, according to a biography by Galileo's pupil Vincenzo Viviani, composed in 1654 and published in 1717.: 19–21  The basic premise had already been demonstrated by Italian experimenters a few decades ear According to t... Most people think it was a _gedankenexperiment_ that a biographer mistakenly took for the real thing, although there are some who think he actually did it. In the real world, if you drop two balls of different weight but so heavy that drag is negligible, they _will_ fall at the same rate. Galileo’s reasoning is relevant to this. Why do you find this amazing? ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/105 "2015-11-06T14:07:29Z")
I didn’t realize that the word “eavestrough” was a regionalism until I tried to use it in the southwest and got blank looks. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/106 "2015-11-06T14:24:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@Xema](#): > > > > I’ve been amazed at the number of smart, well-educated people who believe that in the real world dropped balls of the same size will fall at the same rate, regardless of their weight. > > > > They contend that Galileo proved this by dropping objects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. > > On Galileo’s experiment, see here: > > [Galileo's Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo%27s_Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa_experiment) > > Most people think it was a _gedankenexperiment_ that a biographer mistakenly took for the real thing, although there are some who think he actually did it. > > In the real world, if you drop two balls of different weight but so heavy that drag is negligible, they _will_ fall at the same rate. Galileo’s reasoning is relevant to this. Why do you find this amazing? Re-read what **Xema** \*actually \*wrote, not what you skimmed and \*assumed \*he wrote. 🙂 I had to double-take it the first time to get the joke too. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/107 "2015-11-06T14:27:29Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > I didn’t realize that the word “eavestrough” was a regionalism until I tried to use it in the southwest and got blank looks. When sharing a regionalism it’s polite to tell the rest of the planet (i.e. us) what the crazy-assed word you’ve found actually means to the poor benighted locals who use it and where on Earth those goofs can be found. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/108 "2015-11-06T14:47:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > When sharing a regionalism it’s polite to tell the rest of the planet (i.e. us) what the crazy-assed word you’ve found actually means to the poor benighted locals who use it and where on Earth those goofs can be found. 🙂 I believe the muggles know them as “rain gutters” (the ones on the edges of roofs, not the ones on the edges of streets). It is nevertheless a common term in the [glorious motherland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada). ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/109 "2015-11-06T15:13:08Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > The first time I heard a quarter of was in New England somewhere and it confused me. I know what it means now, but it really makes no sense linguistically. A quarter of is 15 minutes, so how can a quarter of 6 mean 5 hours and three quarters? It makes some sense, you just have to go back to the [original primary meaning](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/of)of “of”. > [@](#): > > Old English of, unstressed form of æf (prep., adv.) **“away, away from,”** from Proto-Germanic \*af (cf. Old Norse af, Old Frisian af, of “of,” Dutch af “off, down,” German ab “off, **from** , down”), from PIE \*apo- “off, **away** ” (see apo- ). Primary sense in Old English still was “away,” but shifted in Middle English with use of the word to translate Latin de, ex, and especially Old French de, which had come to be the substitute for the genitive case. Bolding mine Sure, the word “away” could still mean before or after the hour, but if I said “it’s 15 minutes away from 8:00” I think most people would infer 7:45. I grew up hearing “quarter of”, “quarter 'till” and “quarter to”, but had to look up the reason why “of” makes sense. I had never given it a thought before. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/110 "2015-11-06T15:18:46Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/111 "2015-11-06T15:23:24Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > If it wasn’t for being force fed 40-year old media, I’d never have known Bob Seger died. Man was an icon. The floppy disk is an icon too, but it doesn’t mean I use them any more. Also he’s not quite dead yet, so you might want some accurate media. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/112 "2015-11-06T17:36:42Z")
This just in: Bob Seger is still not dead. But Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/113 "2015-11-06T17:44:45Z")
Having grown up in New England, I’ve always been amazed at how many people are unaware that typical lobsters originally have green shells that only turn red when they are cooked. In fact, that bit of knowledge is apparently so obscure that [live lobsters are usually red when appearing in cartoons.](https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrB8pEP5jxWhWAAPf0unIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTIyNTA2bGZ2BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAM2OTVkNzUyNjY1YjQwMWYyODQ0MjUzYzljZTg5OTA5YgRncG9zAzIEaXQDYmluZw--?.origin=&back=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3DHomer%2BSimpson%2Bpinchy%26fr%3Dyhs-mozilla-001%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26hsimp%3Dyhs-001%26hspart%3Dmozilla%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D2&w=640&h=430&imgurl=images.wikia.com%2Fsimpsons%2Fimages%2F8%2F8c%2FPinchy_on_the_beach.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsimpsons.wikia.com%2Fwiki%2FFile%3APinchy_on_the_beach.jpg&size=66.3KB&name=Image+-+%3Cb%3EPinchy%3C%2Fb%3E+on+the+beach.jpg+-+%3Cb%3ESimpsons%3C%2Fb%3E+Wiki&p=Homer+Simpson+pinchy&oid=695d752665b401f2844253c9ce89909b&fr2=piv-web&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&tt=Image+-+%3Cb%3EPinchy%3C%2Fb%3E+on+the+beach.jpg+-+%3Cb%3ESimpsons%3C%2Fb%3E+Wiki&b=0&ni=21&no=2&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11r4ha4qn&sigb=14eb76v6r&sigi=11toj8eqc&sigt=11thidvuk&sign=11thidvuk&.crumb=9/PtM2eEPiW&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&fr2=piv-web&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/114 "2015-11-06T19:35:05Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > It’s not a brain malfunction. It’s usually shown by someone who is either left-handed or cross-dominant. Not having a strong dominant hand weakens the immediate identification between right and left which righties tend to have. > > (Speaking from experience as a cross-dominant.) I’m neither left-handed nor cross-dominant, and I need to think before determining where is my right and where is my left (right is the on the side of the hand I use to write, so I need to figure out first which hand this is. I in fact briefly think about writing. As a child, I needed to actually mimic writing in the air to determine which hand was which). I commonly point to the right while saying “turn left after this building” when giving directions because I motioned automatically without thinking first. From previous threads on this board, this inability to automatically and immediately identify right and left or your right hand and your left hand is pretty common. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/115 "2015-11-06T19:38:57Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > People pronouncing Arkansas “R-Kansas”. Which makes utter sense, if you’ve only seen it written. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/116 "2015-11-06T19:41:39Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > Having grown up in New England, I’ve always been amazed at how many people are unaware that typical lobsters originally have green shells that only turn red when they are cooked. In fact, that bit of knowledge is apparently so obscure that [live lobsters are usually red when appearing in cartoons.](https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrB8pEP5jxWhWAAPf0unIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTIyNTA2bGZ2BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAM2OTVkNzUyNjY1YjQwMWYyODQ0MjUzYzljZTg5OTA5YgRncG9zAzIEaXQDYmluZw--?.origin=&back=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3DHomer%2BSimpson%2Bpinchy%26fr%3Dyhs-mozilla-001%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26hsimp%3Dyhs-001%26hspart%3Dmozilla%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D2&w=640&h=430&imgurl=images.wikia.com%2Fsimpsons%2Fimages%2F8%2F8c%2FPinchy_on_the_beach.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsimpsons.wikia.com%2Fwiki%2FFile%3APinchy_on_the_beach.jpg&size=66.3KB&name=Image+-+%3Cb%3EPinchy%3C%2Fb%3E+on+the+beach.jpg+-+%3Cb%3ESimpsons%3C%2Fb%3E+Wiki&p=Homer+Simpson+pinchy&oid=695d752665b401f2844253c9ce89909b&fr2=piv-web&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&tt=Image+-+%3Cb%3EPinchy%3C%2Fb%3E+on+the+beach.jpg+-+%3Cb%3ESimpsons%3C%2Fb%3E+Wiki&b=0&ni=21&no=2&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11r4ha4qn&sigb=14eb76v6r&sigi=11toj8eqc&sigt=11thidvuk&sign=11thidvuk&.crumb=9/PtM2eEPiW&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&fr2=piv-web&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla) Even at the Kittery Trading Post! [http://www.woodstogoods.com/store/images/maineLobsterMagnet.jpg](http://www.woodstogoods.com/store/images/maineLobsterMagnet.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/117 "2015-11-06T19:53:11Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > When sharing a regionalism it’s polite to tell the rest of the planet (i.e. us) what the crazy-assed word you’ve found actually means to the poor benighted locals who use it and where on Earth those goofs can be found. 🙂 I believe you call them gutters. In Canada we call them eavestroughs. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/118 "2015-11-06T19:55:24Z")
Regarding “hydro” (particularly BC hydro!) electricity is not the first thing that comes to mind. What I first think of is hydroponics and a certain plant that is grown with that method. Arkansas? I grew up in Pennsylvania but now live near Atlantic City, NJ. After moore than 30 years I still can’t get used to the R-Kansas Ave. that everyone refers to. Or the not-to-distant Fork-ed River. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/119 "2015-11-06T20:36:33Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > People pronouncing Arkansas “R-Kansas”. In Kansas, the Arkansas River and Arkansas City, KS are both pronounced R-Kansas. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/120 "2015-11-06T20:39:51Z")
A while ago, talking to an Irish cousin of mine, I mentioned going to Connecticut. She gasped and said, “Wait, Connecticut actually _exists_? It’s not just something they have in TV shows?!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696.md?page=7)