# Things you're suprised people haven't heard of **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2011, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707 "2011-12-10T05:07:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/41 "2011-12-11T20:47:10Z")
She wasn’t mocking anyone. She read a review of comics that feature strong female protagonists that mentioned Girl Genius but not Digger and was surprised that someone who enjoys comics about strong female protagonists and fantastical settings hadn’t heard of Digger. I dunno how many comics there are where those two aspects overlap, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a relatively small niche anyway. Little Nemo, unless you specifically look for webcomics about female protagonists in fantastical settings, your ignorance of the comic is not unexpected and not what Silver Tyger is talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/42 "2011-12-11T20:59:13Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I told someone not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and I was flabbergasted when they didn’t know what it meant. I’m only 25 but evidently this is some sort of old-timey phrase now. Many more people would be familiar with the phrase ‘don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’ but be completly unaware of the meaning. When buying a used horse, at least in the past before documentation, you would check a horse’s teeth in order to determine the age of the horse. This is also where the phrases ‘long in the tooth’ (meaning old) and ‘straight from the horses’ mouth (meaning verified) come from. The seller may be lying to you about the age of the horse, but the horse’s teeth tell it’s true age. Thus it would be considered rude to question the value of your gift by looking the horse in the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/43 "2011-12-11T21:16:25Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Not arguable. It’s a fact that very few people read Digger: [http://www.quantcast.com/diggercomic.com](http://www.quantcast.com/diggercomic.com) > > You see up in the righthand corner where it says “Directly Measured Data”? That means that Quantcast is pulling visitor data from a code tag that the author of Digger added to the site themselves. And it says that roughly 5,000 people read Digger a month. There are currently four threads on the front page of IMHO with a bigger readership. Considering the comic is finished, getting 5000 people in a month is remarkable. There are a HUGE number of comics - at least hundreds of thousands.For another point of view, on [TopWebComics.com](http://TopWebComics.com), Digger is #265 (of 2601 comics). On [TheWebComicList.com](http://TheWebComicList.com) its #1565 (of over 19100). For a comic that finished in March. But we could talk webcomics all day. How about we get back to things you’re surprised people haven’t heard of? ---
**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:** [December 11, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/44 "2011-12-11T21:28:08Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > But we could talk webcomics all day. How about we get back to things you’re surprised people haven’t heard of? Nothing surprises me when people haven’t heard of it. It’s my belief (and I’ve said it before on these boards) that Superman is the only universal reference. Everything else has to fight for recognition. And not for nothing, but if Digger is finished, why would a comic writer be expected to remember it or include it in an article of recommended comics? Wouldn’t they want something current? ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/45 "2011-12-11T21:34:39Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > Yes, thank you - although, to be fair, the article I was referring to was primarily about printed comics, although it did mention Girl Genius (which was in print first, and like most webcomics has a print version) > > (And I’m not sure which comic people are referring to as ridiculously obscure, but Girl Genius, well, let me just quote from the first paragraph of its wikipedia article: “The comic has won five WCCA awards including 2008 Outstanding Comic, and been nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist, an Eagle Award and twice for an Eisner Award; in 2009, 2010, and 2011 it won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story.” > > Digger is by Ursula Vernon, the creator of the lolwut pear, and a published artist and writer. Digger itself, well, quoting from Ms. Vernon’s wiki article: “She was nominated for the 2006 Eisner Awards in the category Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition for her work on Digger. Digger has also received a number of awards and nominations for the Web Cartoonists’ Choice Awards in the Outstanding Black and White Art and Outstanding Anthropomorphic Comic categories.” > > She’s no Phil and Kaja Foglio, but she’s well-known enough that she supports herself and her husband with her art. Not to mention that the very first Google result for ‘digger’ is the comic.) Well, Phil and Kaja Foglio are fine, but they’re no Rebecca Floterba and Stanislas Vitokha… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/46 "2011-12-11T21:44:41Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > And not for nothing, but if Digger is finished, why would a comic writer be expected to remember it or include it in an article of recommended comics? Wouldn’t they want something current? That is a good point (I did say not to point out the logic there in the OP). Part of the impetus for the article was Marvel cancelling X-23 and some other female lead comic, so… I don’t remember where I was going with that. But Digger is awesome! And should be read! 😃 I’m really trying to remember something that’s actually on topic, but unfortunately I have strange interests and thus am not surprised when people don’t know things I like. Oh! My mom took music to work. The young lady (in her 30s) who shares an office with her hadn’t heard bubblegum pop before, which surprised my mom (but not me - as awesome as bubblegum is, it’s a very small genre.) ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/47 "2011-12-11T22:04:31Z")
I think we’ve exhausted the Digger comic debate. Let’s move along, now. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/48 "2011-12-11T22:17:44Z")
> [@dzero](#): > > Niels H. D. Bohr… His name always cracks me up because of the time Homer Simpson lost his TV remote and “The Boring World of Niels Bohr” came on - D’OH! I can’t conceive of someone not knowing who Justin Bieber is. Even my mom knows who he is and she’s 60. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/49 "2011-12-11T22:47:30Z")
> [@Dan\_Norder](#): > > A realist doesn’t expect anyone to have even heard of Peoria unless they live or have lived within a hundred mile radius. Oh, get away with you. I’ve heard of Peoria, and I’m thousands of miles away. It’s famous from the well-known expression [“Will it play in Peoria?”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_it_play_in_Peoria%3F) I’m surprised you’ve never heard of it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/50 "2011-12-11T23:03:46Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > I can’t conceive of someone not knowing who Justin Bieber is. Even my mom knows who he is and she’s 60. I know what a a bieber is now but he was really famous before I bothered to look it up and that was just because someone was amazed that I didn’t know what one was. The same is true for the people of the Kardasian tribe and Lady Gaga. There are probably some people that have been really famous for a year or two that I wouldn’t know. Pop culture isn’t really my thing. I alternate between living in the 1990’s, the 1890’s, and the 1930’s for my pop culture awareness. I wasn’t one of the survivors of the Y2K conversion culturally speaking. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/51 "2011-12-11T23:54:06Z")
If you grew up watching Jimmy Durante you would know about **[the schnoz](http://www.reminisce.com/2011/12/durante-da-schnoz/)** he had. Of course [there are contemporaries](http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10009005.html) for the clueless. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/52 "2011-12-12T00:18:12Z")
I was somewhat surprised last year when visiting my brother in Brighton (hardly known as a cultural backwater); I mentioned something about the hippy who was trying to sell dal in the park near where I lived. He claimed he’d never heard of dal, even after I’d given him a description of it, and seemed a little confused that I’d expect him to know what it was. We were, at the time, in his favourite local restaurant. An Indian restaurant. :smack: Really Bro? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/53 "2011-12-12T00:32:51Z")
A neighbour of mine didn’t know what cous-cous was. It’s not uncommon in England - it’s not usually in a specialist or ethnic food aisle - and she was in her thirties. But then, she also didn’t know the word fickle and teased me about using unusual words. Thing is, in some other ways she was intelligent - not the sort of person you’d expect to lack basic knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/54 "2011-12-12T00:44:39Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I was somewhat surprised last year when visiting my brother in Brighton (hardly known as a cultural backwater); I mentioned something about the hippy who was trying to sell dal in the park near where I lived. He claimed he’d never heard of dal, even after I’d given him a description of it, and seemed a little confused that I’d expect him to know what it was. > > We were, at the time, in his favourite local restaurant. An Indian restaurant. :smack: > > Really Bro? I have never heard of dal. From your first mention of it (“the hippy who was trying to sell dal in the park”) I would have thought it was some type of illegal drug. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/55 "2011-12-12T00:50:18Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I have never heard of dal. From your first mention of it (“the hippy who was trying to sell dal in the park”) I would have thought it was some type of illegal drug. In the conversation, I mentioned the fact that he was trying to bum plates off the local cafes on which to serve it… And it was all cold and congealed. It’s a common food here- as I pointed out at the time, there were several different dals on the menu in the place we were in at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/56 "2011-12-12T00:51:03Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I have never heard of dal. From your first mention of it (“the hippy who was trying to sell dal in the park”) I would have thought it was some type of illegal drug. At a wild guess I’m going to say some sort of booze. Wikipedia says… vegetarian stew very common to South East nations. **Filbert** , is your brother otherwise oblivious? ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/57 "2011-12-12T01:15:48Z")
My friends and I always play _Who am I_ whenever we’re in the car or waiting for something. Having done this for years, we’re pretty advanced now 😉 We’ve seen Deep Blue, Schrodingers Cat, the works. Recently, one friend brought over a new girlfriend. Really lovely girl, biologist, very intelligent. In the car, we played the game and to ease her in we thought we’d give her an easy one: Justin Bieber. Never heard of him. Of course, we all felt bad, so for the next one we carefully discussed a really, really easy one absolutely every person on earth would know: Julius Ceasar. Never heard of him. I’m coming to the point where I’m no longer surprised. A guy I work with asked me the other day what the difference is between a cow and a goat. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/58 "2011-12-12T01:44:59Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I have never heard of dal. From your first mention of it (“the hippy who was trying to sell dal in the park”) I would have thought it was some type of illegal drug. Exactly my thought as well. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/59 "2011-12-12T01:50:26Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > My friends and I always play _Who am I_ whenever we’re in the car or waiting for something. Having done this for years, we’re pretty advanced now 😉 We’ve seen Deep Blue, Schrodingers Cat, the works. Recently, one friend brought over a new girlfriend. Really lovely girl,i bologist, very intelligent. In the car, we played the game and to ease her in we thought we’d give her an easy one: Justin Bieber. Never heard of him. Of course, we all felt bad, so for the next one we carefully discussed a really, really easy one absolutely every person on earth would know: Julius Ceasar. Never heard of him. > . YOU were in the car? YOU heard this? Not FOAF? Because I find it challenging to believe that a “biologist, very intelligent” would have _ **never** _ heard of _ **either** _ of these people. Bieber is reasonable, Caesar is not reasonable, but _ **neither** _ is damn near inconceivable. Joe ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707/60 "2011-12-12T08:37:46Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > YOU were in the car? YOU heard this? Not FOAF? Because I find it challenging to believe that a “biologist, very intelligent” would have _ **never** _ heard of _ **either** _ of these people. Bieber is reasonable, Caesar is not reasonable, but _ **neither** _ is damn near inconceivable. > > Joe Absolutely, 100% true story, I was there and heard it. She said it was because she grew up in Africa (several countries, German parents) and they taught less European history there. At this point I didn’t want to point out Ceasar’s relevance to African history, we all felt pretty bad for her. She was genuinely intelligent, and could hold a good conversation about african politics and biology, other than that I never got to find out because they broke up. We still joke about her whenever new people join the game, they always get Julius Ceasar as a test now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-suprised-people-havent-heard-of/605707.md?page=4)