# Things you wish you had never learned **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 31, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309 "2008-05-31T23:33:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/21 "2008-06-01T17:25:57Z")
[QUOTE=Don’t fight the hypothetical] On second thought… Pork Rinds, mmmm… [/QUOTE] What? ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/22 "2008-06-02T00:59:08Z")
[QUOTE=Koxinga] What happened to the children of [Lidice, Czechoslovakia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidice#Lidice_today). [/QUOTE] Thanks for that. ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/23 "2008-06-02T01:00:49Z")
[QUOTE=Surok] And for the rest of existence, I will be wishing that I had not looked up ‘kerning’. I can see now that knowing this is going to be the bane of my life. A little like when you learn a new word, and then within 24 hours, you will come across it again, usually several times. But this is gonna be worse, because we are surrounded by letters. And I’m gonna do the kerning twitch. Thank you, SDMB, for derailing my life in new and unexpected ways. [/QUOTE] Great. Now I have to look it up. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/24 "2008-06-02T02:46:49Z")
[QUOTE=metronome] For my part, I wish my grandpa had never told me about some kind of seed that will work its way down into your skin and cause you terrible pain. (And once when I complained of aching nail beds, he asked if I’d played with any bamboo shoots lately. To this day, I have an irrational fear of bamboo. Thanks, grandpa! \>:o ) [/QUOTE] Hmm. Spanish needle grass, maybe? It’s discussed in the Little House books–it’s able to twist its way into flesh. For _my_ part, I could have done without learning how to ice, behead, pith, and castrate a frog in order to squeeze the good stuff out of its testicles to make baby frogs. The females get an injection of human chorionic gonadotropin, have the eggs squeezed out of them, and go home. The males aren’t so lucky. Their legs straighten out as you cut their heads off. The kitchen shears in the lab were kinda dull. You had to put your whole weight down on them and bounce a couple of times, to get through the spine. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/25 "2008-06-02T03:02:26Z")
I think I heard lately that the guy in Indonesia is doing well with a treatment based on vitamin C now (some doctor in the states heard about him and had a clever idea). And I’ve decided that I don’t want to think hard enough to come up with a good answer to the OP and unleash awfulness on my mind and upset tonight’s sleep pattern. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/26 "2008-06-02T03:16:44Z")
That despite the ridiculous amount of money, public outrage and yuppie/hippie smuggery involved in the creation of the [Davis Toad Tunnel](http://daviswiki.org/Toad_Tunnel), the air exchange isn’t really sufficient and… they asphyxiate halfway through. ☹ Poor toads. Someone smashed up their little hotel, too. ☹ ---
**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:** [June 2, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/27 "2008-06-02T03:57:33Z")
There’s nothing wrong with kerning, folks. It’s a little irritating to see bad graphic design, aka “look what button I found in Photoshop”, but seeing poor kerning is not a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/28 "2008-06-02T05:01:09Z")
The fighting technics that were developed by the British for the use of the Fairbairn-Sykes combat knife. Although the most effective hand to hand use of a knife in combat fighting ever developed by man, I now can’t get it out of my mind when confronted by a physical altercation wether I have a knife or not. I carry a Ka-bar knife with me every day, in favor of carring a hand gun due to the potential of using a gun when fear is present. I believe I have conquered that fear, but that slim chance that I will let fear ovecome me is everpresent. The use of my knife has not. I do not carry it in my pocket but in my bag, further extending the lag time before I am holding it in my hand. I have perfected the art of hand to hand combat but the speed and other advantages of ones opponent can never be underestimated. This is a lesson I have learned through experience and with my age become ever more a factor to be placed at the forefront of confrontation. Needles to say, avoiding any conrontation is always to avoided, and my skills as a man, and as a Christian have proven to be the first and foremost tool in avoiding confrontation but others actions and hate can never be discounted. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/29 "2008-06-02T05:52:36Z")
[Face zit guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Fkq2bnGtk&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/30 "2008-06-02T06:03:14Z")
[QUOTE=astro] [Face zit guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Fkq2bnGtk&feature=related) [/QUOTE] How could you? I will never eat again. ---
**Author:** ![nikenik2069](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/87869e/32.png) [@nikenik2069](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikenik2069)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/31 "2008-06-02T07:03:33Z")
I am scarred. scarred for life. I am never eating pork rinds again. I wish I could delete the memory from my mind the image of the 60 year old woman I work with talking about all she needs is a man in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. Eww. Then another woman the same age and her were both having a discussion on their preferences. I think my ears started to bleed. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/32 "2008-06-02T14:18:19Z")
Reading the mouseover, I thought “Font kerning” was some illicit sexual behaviour performed in a church. ---
**Author:** ![MovingTarget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@MovingTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovingTarget)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/33 "2008-06-02T15:04:03Z")
Man, half the crap I’ve stumbled across on the internet falls into this catagory. I’m not going to elaborate upon this as I don’t want to subject anyone else to these horrors. But lets just say I have a few images in my head that can/do keep me awake some nights. MT ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/34 "2008-06-02T15:12:58Z")
[Obudar](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WUw1axcg4A) Obudar-Sur-Glane ---
**Author:** ![metronome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@metronome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metronome)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/35 "2008-06-02T15:37:43Z")
[QUOTE=Sattua] Hmm. Spanish needle grass, maybe? It’s discussed in the Little House books–it’s able to twist its way into flesh. [/QUOTE] Must… resist… urge… to Google… (Might’ve been it, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Solfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Solfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solfy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/36 "2008-06-02T17:00:07Z")
I wish I had never seen the nature program where in a surinam toad was giving birth, if that’s what you want to call it. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/37 "2008-06-02T17:44:04Z")
I wish I’d never learned how to change the toner in the 2 printers we have in my section of the office, including the very cranky color printer. Or how to change the toner and troubleshoot misfed paper in the copy machine either. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/38 "2008-06-02T18:17:11Z")
[QUOTE=Koxinga] What happened to the children of [Lidice, Czechoslovakia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidice#Lidice_today). [/QUOTE] Son of a bitch! ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Cream\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ice\_Cream\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Cream_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/39 "2008-06-02T18:54:37Z")
I wish I had never learned that your tongue rests on the roof of your mouth. I might have learned that here. I can’t remember. Muahahaha! ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309/40 "2008-06-02T18:57:28Z")
Something refered to by my screenwriting teacher as ‘Third appearance law’, when dealing with seemingly innocuous minor characters in films. It has variants in anime (‘third power-use law’) and action films (‘third (or fourth) nazi law’), but the basic root of it all has spoiled many a mystery movie for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-wish-you-had-never-learned/451309.md?page=3)