# Things you're wrong about but will stick to anyway **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2015, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893 "2015-04-17T06:04:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/61 "2015-04-19T00:53:52Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Well, old chap, that’s because it’s really “aught”; yours is just the American way of pronouncing it. It’s “Double-aught Seven”, not “Double-O(h) Seven” 😛 😉 Mind some tea…? If I understand you correctly, you’ve got this exactly wrong. “Oh” is often used to mean “zero” in British English, or sometimes we’ll use “nought”. But not “aught”, because that means “anything”. I’ve only ever heard Americans use “aught” to mean zero. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/62 "2015-04-19T01:13:54Z")
I don’t care what anyone says, it’s called a “personal identification number number”. I’m still on the fence about “automatic teller machine machine”. > [@jimbuff314](#): > > Apparently, if you end a sentence with something quoted, even if it’s only one word that is quoted, you must place the sentence-ending punctuation inside the quotation marks. Well, the hell with that! Uh-uh, no way, ain’t a-gonna. Also, this. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/63 "2015-04-19T01:16:06Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > If I understand you correctly, you’ve got this exactly wrong. “Oh” is often used to mean “zero” in British English, or sometimes we’ll use “nought”. But not “aught”, because that means “anything”. > > I’ve only ever heard Americans use “aught” to mean zero. We do. And we also use “oh” to mean zero. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/64 "2015-04-19T06:20:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Speaking of zeroes, you know how, in some fonts, the zero has a slash through it to make it look different from an O? I always put that slash in the wrong direction. It’s just the habit I’ve gotten into, and most of the time when I’m writing numbers it’s only for my own benefit anyway. That could be because you learned from old IBM computer manuals. Since forever, IBM has put a slash through the letter O (Oh) and no slash through the digit 0 (zero). I programmer I once worked with taught me to write the letter O (Capital O) with a tail at the upper right, like you do in cursive writing. (This was back in the day when cursive was still a thing.) I do that to this day. No possible ambiguity there. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/65 "2015-04-19T06:54:35Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I don’t care what anyone says, it’s called a “personal identification number number”. I’m still on the fence about “automatic teller machine machine”. I am told, that one of the reasons we settled on ATM is that one of the most popular was the “Any Time Money” machine. After all the early ATMs were not in any way "tellers’ since they could only dispense cash. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/66 "2015-04-19T10:22:06Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I understand that there is no “i” in realtor, but I’m not going to pronounce it with two syllables. First, no one I know says it the way it’s allegedly supposed to be pronounced. And Real-tor sounds like a villain in a Godzilla movie. This has to be regional. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it pronounced your way. I definitely can’t think of a way to slur it into one syllable and have it be recognizable. Rea-tor (omitting the l) is still 2. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2015, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/67 "2015-04-19T10:45:23Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > And Real-tor sounds like a villain in a Godzilla movie. Don’t say “tor” say “ter”. Real-ter. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/68 "2015-04-19T11:29:10Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > This has to be regional. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it pronounced your way. I definitely can’t think of a way to slur it into one syllable and have it be recognizable. Rea-tor (omitting the l) is still 2. Not one syllable, _three_. Like if it was spelled Realitor. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/69 "2015-04-19T11:50:19Z")
The year is irrelevant in most day-to-day usage of the date You start at the most broad and narrow it down today is April 19 not 19 April ---
**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:** [April 19, 2015, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/70 "2015-04-19T12:05:18Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > The year is irrelevant in most day-to-day usage of the date Well, that’s definitely not true. Whenever we write the date down we include the year, and for good reason. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/71 "2015-04-20T13:19:51Z")
> [@Mithras](#): > > Dates should be written year, month, day. For ease of sorting… > > For as long as I can remember, I’ve referred to the middle light in a traffic signal as orange. It wasn’t until my wife asked me what the hell that was about that I realized that the rest of the world thought it was yellow. It’s amber, as in red, red and amber, green, amber, red. Mind you, I think this sequence is only common in the UK, and that was the description in the Highway Code circa 1989… ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/72 "2015-04-20T14:06:39Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I am told, that one of the reasons we settled on ATM is that one of the most popular was the “Any Time Money” machine. After all the early ATMs were not in any way "tellers’ since they could only dispense cash. The other way around, actually. “Any Time Money” was a bank’s branding of an Automated Teller Machine. In Atlanta, the first bank to have ATM’s called them [“Tillie the All Time Teller”](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1734&dat=19760515&id=gJUbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=glEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4482,1397894&safe=on&hl=en). Oh, lord, I still remember the jingle… Interesting tidbit - Susan Bennett was the voice for Tille. She went on to be, among other things, the voice of Siri. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/73 "2015-04-20T14:09:42Z")
I have said ‘poMELo’ for so long now, even though I’ve since learned it should be, ‘POMelo’, I just keep on saying it wrong. Oh well! ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/74 "2015-04-20T14:15:08Z")
An orange light was what we always called it when you really push the edge on going through a yellow light. Yellow halfway, red halfway = Orange. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/75 "2015-04-20T14:54:01Z")
It’s National Airport. Washington National. End of story. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/76 "2015-04-20T14:55:54Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I have said ‘poMELo’ for so long now, even though I’ve since learned it should be, ‘POMelo’, I just keep on saying it wrong. Oh well! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/77 "2015-04-20T15:38:05Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > … In Atlanta, the first bank to have ATM’s called them [“Tillie the All Time Teller”](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1734&dat=19760515&id=gJUbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=glEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4482,1397894&safe=on&hl=en). Oh, lord, I still remember the jingle… It’s a shame they didn’t name her Tillie Willie the … ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/78 "2015-04-20T16:58:20Z")
> **[Catweazle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catweazle)** > > Catweazle is a British children's fantasy television series, starring Geoffrey Bayldon in the title role, and created by Richard Carpenter for London Weekend Television. The first series, produced and directed in 1969 by Quentin Lawrence, was screened in the UK on ITV in 1970. The second series, produced and directed in 1970 by David Reid and David Lane, was shown in 1971. Each series had thirteen episodes, most but not all written by Carpenter, who also published two books based on the script... It’s a tellling bone, not a telephone. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/79 "2015-04-20T16:59:09Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > The other way around, actually. “Any Time Money” was a bank’s branding of an Automated Teller Machine. > . Well , yesbut- they had not settled on what we would call a ATM by that time. The “Any Time Money” was popular enuf that that’s one reason why they settled on ATM. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893/80 "2015-04-21T13:33:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Well , yesbut- they had not settled on what we would call a ATM by that time. The “Any Time Money” was popular enuf that that’s one reason why they settled on ATM. Hmm, the original US patentcalls it an “Automatic Currency Dispenser”. I can find no definitive cites about the name “automated teller machine” being derived from “any time money”. There are sites that say ‘[nope](http://www.exploreabc.com/2013/04/atm-is-abbreviation-for-any-time-money.html)’. There are sites that infer ‘yep’. Soooo… TL/DR - This thread is about things that are wrong but we stick with anyway. Either way, this is one! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-wrong-about-but-will-stick-to-anyway/717893.md?page=5)