# Things you're shocked to find out some people don't know. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353 "2010-01-10T02:44:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/461 "2010-01-29T00:16:58Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Are you talking about the people who say ‘ass’ instead? > > I don’t know any arse-speaking person who doesn’t pronounce the ‘r’. > > But I can quite imagine people pronouncing farce without the ‘r’. “It was a right faaaace” You don’t know anyone who doesn’t say the r? That’s surprising. The entire South-East of England doesn’t pronounce the r. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/462 "2010-01-29T00:33:47Z")
I talked to somebody who was about to graduate from Syracuse with a bachelor’s in piano performance who did not know who Chick Corea was. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/463 "2010-01-29T00:56:03Z")
> [@CBEscapee](#): > > The students were speaking the infamous “spanglish” dialect of Spanish. And they could have been from numerous different countries. This type of speech is uncommon in México but unfortunately very common in parts of the US. If we shorten “bicicleta” it is “bici” much in the same way bicycle is shortened to bike in English. “Lonche” in México is a type of sandwich similar to a sub sandwich and not the name for a meal. > > Vocabulary is probably the biggest language difference between México and Spain. Ours includes many words derived from the indigenous languages, especially Nahuatl. But grammatically, although there are a few differences, they both have proper rules which are followed. Ours is not a lessor or incorrect form. We are taught grammar and orthography since grade school. I doubt **Cardinal** was insinuating that Latin American Spanish is a lesser language, but that it’s silly when you have a ton of students in your school who speak variations of one major dialect of a language to bring in a teacher to teach the other one. Particularly when Spanish as it is spoken in Spain won’t do you a whole lot of good in California in general - Spanish teachers in the US should be preparing students for the majority of Spanish speakers they’ll encounter, who don’t sthpeak Cathellano. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/464 "2010-01-29T04:01:41Z")
> [@CBEscapee](#): > > The students were speaking the infamous “spanglish” dialect of Spanish. I know. That’s my point. Oh, and these kids did mean “mid-day meal”, as best I can recall, as seen here: [http://spanishforpochos.blogspot.com/2010/01/lonche-vs-almuerzo.html](http://spanishforpochos.blogspot.com/2010/01/lonche-vs-almuerzo.html) [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1438900](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1438900) ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/465 "2010-01-29T05:03:37Z")
I like how this has turned into an argument on how to say “arse.” I went to a bar the other night and the mofo at the door carded me! I was shocked he didn’t know me. Not so much about knowing something but I’m always surprised to hear people say they’ve never been out of the state. Especially if your from some dinky one like WA. I just can’t imagine how they’ve never made a road trip to Portland or headed up to Canada. I got into an argument last night on whether or not a koala **bear** was a marsupial. I lost. At work today we were talking about JD Salinger. Two or three people asked who he was. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/466 "2010-01-29T14:31:51Z")
> [@MitzeKatze](#): > > There are a whole lot fewer full service stations as before the self-serve days, but they do still exist and in numbers that make them if not routine, then at least not rare. (At least in the middle of the country. ;)) > [@MitzeKatze](#): > > There are a whole lot fewer full service stations as before the self-serve days, but they do still exist and in numbers that make them if not routine, then at least not rare. (At least in the middle of the country. ;)) Really? 😕 I live in the US and have driven back and forth across the country twice in the past 2 years (including Kansas and Missouri) Not a full service station in sight. Where do you see these? I’m thinking you might live in a specific region where these popped up or remained due to some sort of competition between them. The last full service station I’ve seen was when I visited Oregon in 1991 (and that was a surprise). ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/467 "2010-01-29T14:42:51Z")
Two things. Years ago I worked with a guy who did not know that Ireland (the island) was split into two separate states, one independent and one part of Great Britain. Some years after that, I encountered a woman who did not know that B.C. dates ran backwards, i.e., that the year 375 was earlier than the year 125. She must have had a truly peculiar notion of history. If she had any notion of history at all. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/468 "2010-01-29T15:01:38Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > The last full service station I’ve seen was when I visited Oregon in 1991 (and that was a surprise). 1991?!!! I am stunned by this! There is a full service station not 10 blocks from me, right now. ETA: Of course, I believe what you are saying, because who lies about full service gas stations. I am just stunned in the sense that, even though they are rarer these days, it is just nearly miraculous that you’ve seen none in 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/469 "2010-01-29T15:08:06Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Really? 😕 > > I live in the US and have driven back and forth across the country twice in the past 2 years (including Kansas and Missouri) Not a full service station in sight. Where do you see these? I’m thinking you might live in a specific region where these popped up or remained due to some sort of competition between them. > > The last full service station I’ve seen was when I visited Oregon in 1991 (and that was a surprise). The specific region I live in is the Kansas City Metro area. I can think of two off the top of my head less than two miles from home, and several more along highway I-70 between here and St Louis (a route I drive frequently). However all except for the totally full service station (which is on College Blvd. Overland Park, KS) have the full service lane tucked behind the self-service…maybe people are just overlooking them? The BP station that I frequent is on 87th Street Parkway in Lenexa if that helps at all. 😉 But I have lived and driven everywhere…and while they are harder to find they still do exist. I could tell you where some are in South Carolina off the top of my head too, and one or two in Texas… ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/470 "2010-01-29T15:24:16Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > I got into an argument last night on whether or not a koala **bear** was a marsupial. I lost. Useless trivia : for years, it was a neat bit of useless trivia to mention that “panda bears” aren’t really bears, they’d just been called that way because they looked like bears. In reality they weren’t part of the same species at all : they were really giant raccoons. Now that more research has been done (including DNA studies), useless triva fans around the world have been collectively declared wrong : it turns out panda bears really \*are \*bears. However, it means they’re not real \*pandas \*any more. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/471 "2010-01-29T15:24:30Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > At work today we were talking about JD Salinger. Two or three people asked who he was. Pretty much everyone I know (including myself) was shocked to find out that he wasn’t already dead. [QUOTE=Saintly Loser] Years ago I worked with a guy who did not know that Ireland (the island) was split into two separate states, one independent and one part of Great Britain. [/QUOTE] Probably because that isn’t true. 😉 One of the states is independent, and the other is part of _the United Kingdom._ Great Britain is just England, Scotland and Wales - originally, it was just the name of the island itself (as opposed to Brittania Minor, now the French region of Brittany). ---
**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:** [January 29, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/472 "2010-01-29T15:43:07Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Useless trivia [about pandas] And to add to the useless panda trivia: Originally, the panda bear was called the “particolor bear.” Later, physiological and morphological evidence suggested that it was not a member of the bear family, more closely related to a raccoonish type critter called the “panda,” now known as the “red panda” or “lesser panda.” Thus, the particolor bear, for a century or so, became the “giant panda,” and the former just plain ol’ “panda” was demoted to the “lesser panda,” or the more commonly seen “red panda.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/473 "2010-01-29T16:05:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Brittania Minor, now the French region of Brittany). Stupid typo. That’s Britannia Minor. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/474 "2010-01-29T16:14:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Stupid typo. That’s Britannia Minor. Pretty sure Brittania Minor is Jamie Lynn Spears. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/475 "2010-01-29T16:52:00Z")
Seems pretty major with a crotchfruit in the belly. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/476 "2010-01-29T16:54:36Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Pretty sure Brittania Minor is Jamie Lynn Spears. Not as of last June! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/477 "2010-01-29T16:59:00Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > 1991?!!! I am stunned by this! There is a full service station not 10 blocks from me, right now. > > ETA: Of course, I believe what you are saying, because who lies about full service gas stations. I am just stunned in the sense that, even though they are rarer these days, it is just nearly miraculous that you’ve seen none in 20 years. That is weird. I drive 15,000 miles a year and I’m sure I haven’t seen one since Oregon. Lets see… Drove from central Colorado to Pittsburgh and back (I70) in October. Then a year ago drove to Madison WI and back (I80). Did a huge loop through Texas and the Southwest about 5 years ago. And have driven to Vegas twice in the last 4 years I know there are none in the county that I live or the county that I work. And I doubt I’m missing them. I used to be a pump jockey myself. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/478 "2010-01-29T17:18:00Z")
15,000 miles a year isn’t that much. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/479 "2010-01-29T17:31:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > 15,000 miles a year isn’t that much. Sure, but I believe it’s more than average. I didn’t want people to think that I hardly drive at all, and that’s why I don’t see them. ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/480 "2010-01-29T17:47:35Z")
I tried googling for “full service gas station” hoping to find a nice list of them or some such, but no such luck. What I did learn though is that it is easy to find one online in most (not all) states if you look hard enough. 🙂 And it seems that a lot of them are BP stations which has been my experience. Apparently Michigan has gotten a few new full-service stations which have generated some internet chatter…But specifically, there is a full service station (if you want it, it also has self-serve) I forget what it is called, maybe Pump & Pantry? just outside of St Louis, and there is a BP station with a Dairy Queen attached on I-70 about two hours outside of Kansas City…I can’t think of a town name but it is right across the street from the adult book stores. Self-serve is on the highway side, and full service (or at least pumping service) is on the other. Many stations are set up this way and do not advertise the full-service aspect, but still have it available. I am thinking Warrenton (MO) has one on the highway as well, but all the towns run together to me when I am driving so I can’t say for sure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353.md?page=25)