# Things you think you know, but you do not
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [May 28, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166 "2024-05-28T01:35:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 7
### Author:  [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/121 "2024-09-25T18:29:51Z")
I used to picture Mata Hari as an extraordinarily beauttiful woman. I saw a picture of her and I’d say she was average at best. Either she had a lot of charisma, she knew how to use use makeup or men are horny.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/122 "2024-09-25T20:09:35Z")
> [@furryman](#):
>
> I saw a picture of her and I’d say she was average at best.
“Average at best”? OK, if you say so:
[ ](https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/c7/d2/c7d22962-7a06-4e4a-8382-ec9f76a79cf5/sep2017_i34_prologue.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/123 "2024-09-27T13:14:36Z")
You also have to consider the beauty standards of that era. Mata Hari’s voluptuous figure perfectly matched the late 19th and early 20th-century ideal, where curves were a symbol of beauty and femininity. But it wasn’t just her body that captivated; it was the grace with which she carried herself, transforming movement into art. This unique blend of sensuality and refined elegance amplified her allure.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/124 "2024-09-27T19:14:04Z")
> [@Tibby](#):
>
> But it wasn’t just her body that captivated; it was the grace with which she carried herself, transforming movement into art.
Good points.
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2024, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/125 "2024-09-28T10:43:40Z")
Pretty face and graceful figure, but not voluptuous. Margaretha was so self-conscious about her tiny breasts that she would never go topless, even when she went bottomless. She wore those conchos to give the semblance of some curvature.
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### Author:  [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/126 "2024-09-28T17:36:13Z")
Although she did eventually [go topless.](https://strangeremains.com/2015/07/23/the-heads-of-these-5-people-were-stolen-from-their-graves/?amp=1)
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### Author:  [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2024, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/127 "2024-10-05T21:30:02Z")
The earliest known version of the song is a German version originally printed in 1796 that goes as follows:
> “Ringel ringel reihen,
> Wir sind der Kinder dreien,
> sitzen unter’m Hollerbusch
> Und machen alle Husch husch husch!”
>
> Here is a translation of this verse into English:
>
> “A ring, a ring, a round dance,
> We are the children three,
> we sit under the elderbush,
> and all go hush, hush, hush!”
There are many versions: In England, children would dance and sing to:
_A ring a ring of roses,_
_A pocket full of posies._
_Atishoo, atishoo,_
_We all fall down._
Much hilarity ensued as the children collapsed onto the floor.
When it crossed the Atlantic, the words got changed but the rhythm remained.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2024, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/128 "2024-10-05T22:07:53Z")
> [@bob\_2](#):
>
> The earliest known version of the song is a German version originally printed in 1796 that goes as follows:
(Johnny Carson Voice) “I did not know that.”
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### Author:  [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/129 "2024-10-06T13:38:58Z")
Did you know that you just did Dana Carvey’s version of Johnny Carson’s voice?
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### Author:  [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/130 "2024-10-06T16:35:25Z")
> [@digs](#):
>
> Did you know that you just did Dana Carvey’s version of Johnny Carson’s voice
That is some weird, wacky stuff.
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### Author:  [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/131 "2024-10-06T16:43:02Z")
> [@furryman](#):
>
> Mata Hari … was average at best
I feel the same about Mae West.
But she was the biggest sex symbol of her generation.
I don’t get it.
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/132 "2024-10-06T17:25:46Z")
> [@chappachula](#):
>
> But she was the biggest sex symbol of her generation.
> I don’t get it.
Attitude. She had it in spades, she was utterly fearless and she knew how to court controversy to her benefit. “I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it.”
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/133 "2024-10-06T19:39:48Z")
> [@digs](#):
>
> Did you know that you just did Dana Carvey’s version of Johnny Carson’s voice?
🤭 🤪 😛
LOL
> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> Attitude. She had it in spades, she was utterly fearless and she knew how to court controversy to her benefit. “I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it.”
Not to mention her sexy “come hither” voice.
That is why Eartha Kitt had the perfect voice for Catwoman, even tho Julie Newmar had the body.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2024, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/134 "2024-10-06T19:53:57Z")
Was Mae West the first to say “Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?” -from the movie _Sextette_ 1977.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/135 "2024-10-06T19:56:43Z")
She is generally credited with being the first to use that line on screen.
[https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/08/20/glad-to-see/](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/08/20/glad-to-see/)
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/136 "2024-10-06T20:01:33Z")
Thanks.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2024, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-think-you-know-but-you-do-not/1002166/137 "2024-10-06T20:31:41Z")
Although another close analog from a few years previous:
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QKFsGPqtQio/hqdefault.jpg "Blazing Saddles "Is that a ten gallon hat"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKFsGPqtQio)
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