# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/141 "2015-11-07T15:32:17Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > Hitler was Austrian and Einstein was German, you’d think most adults would know this but many think the opposite - which isn’t too bad That surprises me, only because it implies that many people are aware of the existence of Austria. I would have thought most people thought they were both German. \* - My daughter used to have a “no kangaroos” t shirt, because every time she mentioned her Austrian heritage people would start taking about how they loved kangaroos or koalas. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/142 "2015-11-07T22:50:16Z")
> [@GoodOmens](#): > > I’m often surprised by how many people (to be fair, primarily my students) who think that humans have walked on Mars, or that people have visited other stars. > > Jimi Hendrix being the exception, of course. Your students and a congresswoman:[Meet Sheila Jackson Lee](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/13/the-constitution-is-400-years-old-and-more-pearls-from-sheila-jackson-lee.html) ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/143 "2015-11-08T00:25:16Z")
Ok guys, tell the truth, how many of you think that women urinate out of their vaginas? I was involved in a strange conversation with several men who all were surprised to hear women have 3 openings. ---
**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 8, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/144 "2015-11-08T00:42:11Z")
> [@dada2fish](#): > > Ok guys, tell the truth, how many of you think that women urinate out of their vaginas? > > I was involved in a strange conversation with several men who all were surprised to hear women have 3 openings. Well, I’ve done enough “research” now, but as a kid I wouldn’t have known. Ah, the stuff we can research on the internet is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/145 "2015-11-08T01:23:17Z")
> [@dada2fish](#): > > Ok guys, tell the truth, how many of you think that women urinate out of their vaginas? > > I was involved in a strange conversation with several men who all were surprised to hear women have 3 openings. Do you know how many WOMEN think that? (To be fair, without a hand mirror and possibly some contorting it isn’t possible to easily directly determine this.) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/146 "2015-11-08T01:42:24Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I know a woman who has to hold her hands up, palms facing away from her, then trace the “L” formed by her left fingers-thumb in order to know that it’s her left hand. A friend remembers which is her right hand because it’s the hand she uses to write with. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/147 "2015-11-08T03:04:40Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > . . .While I always knew that peanuts grew underground and that in Hawai’i **pineapples are grown in soil,** I really did believe that in nature they were epiphytes (grew on tree branches). Once in Puerto Rico, I saw a very pineapple looking plant growing high up on a tree and many pineapple relatives are epiphytes, so that wasn’t unreasonable, but wiki assures me that **pineapples grow in soil**. . . . Bolding mine. I realize that you know how pineapples grow, but the way this is worded, it almost sounds as though the fruit itself grows ‘in soil’ (i.e., underground). And I’m pretty sure that’s not what you meant to imply. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/148 "2015-11-08T05:17:37Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > If I’m in the Seattle area, I know directions. Mountains to the East (and some to the West, but they look different), water to the West. But that’s only because I’ve lived here awhile (I don’t know how newcomers deal with signs on the side streets that say "no parking North of here). > > If I’m in Casper WY or Las Vegas, NV, I have no idea which way is North. Go to Hawaii where mountains are in the center of the island, the ocean is the outside and they have word for those (cannot remember them). So they dont usually use north, south, east and west. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/149 "2015-11-08T05:18:58Z")
> [@dada2fish](#): > > Ok guys, tell the truth, how many of you think that women urinate out of their vaginas? > > I was involved in a strange conversation with several men who all were surprised to hear women have 3 openings. When we were kids we thought babies come out of a mothers butt. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/150 "2015-11-08T11:20:54Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > That surprises me, only because it implies that many people are aware of the existence of Austria. I would have thought most people thought they were both German. \* > > - My daughter used to have a “no kangaroos” t shirt, because every time she mentioned her Austrian heritage people would start taking about how they loved kangaroos or koalas. That’s a good point, many won’t know which country Einstein was from and guess a European country or America, but those who have a passing knowledge of European history (and live either in or near Europe) will often mix up the two. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/151 "2015-11-08T15:48:35Z")
Knowing one’s cardinal directions is easier in some places, and harder in others. For example, all the roads are pretty much on an E-W, N-S grid in central Indiana. That makes it easier to remember the directions since you’re reminded of them every time you go anywhere. Many places aren’t like that, however. The city I last worked in has its streets on a grid, but large parts of it are twisted so the streets run SW-NE and SE-NW. Outside of town, roads go every which way. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/152 "2015-11-08T18:50:41Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > Hitler was Austrian and Einstein was German, you’d think most adults would know this but many think the opposite - which isn’t too bad - but many have no idea where Einstein was from or what, _specifically_, he did. Einstein was born in the German Empire but his residency history is so complicated that I think I’d give most non-scientists a pass if they don’t know that. At various times he lived as a non-citizen in Italy and had citizenship in Germany, Switzerland, the U.S., and even (briefly) the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/153 "2015-11-08T19:09:53Z")
My sister in law prepared today’s Children’s Mass with the help of her 7yo daughter (the stuff that doesn’t come pre-packaged, such as picking songs). One of the things to prepare is find out which words may be good for the priest to ask for definitions. Today’s word was “widow”, selected because my niece had no idea what it meant. Out of a couple hundred children, only one boy happened to know it. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/154 "2015-11-08T20:30:19Z")
\*\*Things you know that it never occurred to you others wouldn’t know… \*\* The difference between burglary and robbery. I hear people constantly complaining about how their house got robbed. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/155 "2015-11-09T00:31:37Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Poppycock, I know my foot from my hand, and I know my ear from my nose, similarly I know my right from my left. But do you know your hat from your glove? ---
**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 9, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/156 "2015-11-09T00:34:06Z")
> [@bizzwire](#): > > But do you know your hat from your glove? How about a green field, from a cold steel rail? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/157 "2015-11-09T01:26:45Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Today’s word was “widow”… I was teaching DUI class one night, and we were discussing a movie in which two children had lost their parents to a DUI crash. One young man remarked that it was sad that those children were now bastards. The guy got eerily withdrawn and silent after others explained to him that the word he should have used was orphans and that bastards are children of unmarried parents. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/158 "2015-11-09T02:07:31Z")
I was speaking to a young woman who is a performing arts music student at a university. Now, I fully realize you may not be familiar with every composer, but you may have heard their names. She had never even _ **heard** _ of Gilbert and Sullivan.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/159 "2015-11-09T04:25:21Z")
I’m always puzzled at people - non-Southerners, almost always - who don’t realize that _y’all_ is a contraction of _you all_, and thus plural. I usually notice it in writers - I’m looking at you, Christopher Moore - who are writing Southern characters and have them say “How y’all doing?” to a single person. Drives me nuts. > [@dada2fish](#): > > Ok guys, tell the truth, how many of you think that women urinate out of their vaginas? > > I was involved in a strange conversation with several men who all were surprised to hear women have 3 openings. Come on, you have to know a woman pretty intimately to know this. I’ve been with my wife for ten years, and I’ve never seen her pee - she’s very shy about it. In any case, most men, in my experience, call the whole female genital area, from the mons pubis to the anus, “the vagina”. (Or, y’know, another word…) **Brother Cadfael** - so all I have to do to get you to send me some real maple syrup is to disparage it? Okay. Ahem, “Real Vermont maple syrup is actually a deadly poison.” Convince me otherwise. Send me, oh, a gallon or so - for a thorough test, you understand - and I’ll dare the challenge. For science. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696/160 "2015-11-09T04:43:08Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I’m always puzzled at people - non-Southerners, almost always - who don’t realize that _y’all_ is a contraction of _you all_, and thus plural. > > . I live in the south. I have been called y’all by native Southerners more times than I can remember. It never made me _feel_ plural. I have been told by several (over)educated Southern people that the true plural form of y’all is “all y’all.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-that-it-never-occurred-to-you-others-wouldnt-know/736696.md?page=9)