# Times you were REALLY glad you kept your mouth shut? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2015, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763 "2015-04-29T00:26:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763/21 "2015-04-30T03:25:15Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I shoulda kept my mouth shut last weekend. We were on the South-side, leaving the Rex Theater after seeing Reverend Peyton and his Big Dam Band. Across the street we saw an altercation beginning between two small groups of guys. A half block away I saw cops walking bristly toward the scene. > > So, of course, I screamed, “FIVE-O”. Like magic, the fighters ran in all directions. The cops sprinted toward them, except for one officer who walked over toward us with an angry look on his face. We blended into the crowd and split. > > My gf was _not_ amused. I have no idea what this means. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763/22 "2015-04-30T03:34:28Z")
At work, a year or so after I started at a new company, we were being shown safety videos. In one of them someone said “that’s Norm McDonald’s son!” I was about a second away from saying “Really, the comedian Norm McDonald?” when I figured out that that was such a common name that it probably wasn’t the comedian. And it wasn’t. I met Norm about a year later. (3,000 + people at the company.) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763/23 "2015-04-30T03:48:12Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I shoulda kept my mouth shut last weekend. We were on the South-side, leaving the Rex Theater after seeing Reverend Peyton and his Big Dam Band. Across the street we saw an altercation beginning between two small groups of guys. A half block away I saw cops walking bristly toward the scene. > > So, of course, I screamed, “FIVE-O”. Like magic, the fighters ran in all directions. The cops sprinted toward them, except for one officer who walked over toward us with an angry look on his face. We blended into the crowd and split. > > My gf was _not_ amused. OK. I Googled it, I guess it means cops are coming. Although why you would want to warn them I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763/24 "2015-04-30T03:52:58Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I have no idea what this means. “Five-O” has become slang for “the police”. Probably from the old TV show _Hawaii Five-O_. Even though the five-o in the show was referring to Hawaii as the 50th state. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2015, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763/25 "2015-04-30T05:05:07Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > Come to think about it, I have never had the urge to scream “FIVE-O” when I see cops. So you are telling me I shouldn’t start the practice? IANAL but the believe the phrase is obstruction of justice. ---
**Author:** ![Annoying\_Buzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Annoying\_Buzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoying_Buzz)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763/26 "2015-04-30T05:28:40Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > IANAL but the believe the phrase is obstruction of justice. The police may certainly threaten it\*, but actual obstruction of justice (in the US, at least), usually involves altering evidence, hiding witnesses, giving false testimony and the like. Just saying that the police are coming wouldn’t qualify. \*and let’s not go into what they might do, if they thought could get away with it, to someone they were just pissed off at. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763/27 "2015-04-30T05:47:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I shoulda kept my mouth shut last weekend. We were on the South-side, leaving the Rex Theater after seeing Reverend Peyton and his Big Dam Band. Across the street we saw an altercation beginning between two small groups of guys. A half block away I saw cops walking bristly toward the scene. > > So, of course, I screamed, “FIVE-O”. Like magic, the fighters ran in all directions. The cops sprinted toward them, except for one officer who walked over toward us with an angry look on his face. We blended into the crowd and split. I dunno. You stopped the altercation from escalating. Heck, you stopped it all together. How is that really a bad thing? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763/28 "2015-04-30T10:43:43Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > OK. I Googled it, I guess it means cops are coming. Although why you would want to warn them I’m not sure. The area is a fun nightspot with bars, etc. The “combatants” we’re college aged kids, not gangbangers. Why not warn them and preclude potentially hostile police interactions? Although they were white, so unlikely to be gunned down. I also flash my headlights to warn of speed traps and use Waze for similar purposes. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763/29 "2015-04-30T12:40:44Z")
I was in the international area of a major airport, and the lines for the women’s bathroom were out the door. As I patiently wend my way closer to the stalls, I can see and hear that the handicapped stall is occupied by more than one person. I can hear a lot of chit-chat and laughter, and there is a fair amount of setting down/picking up various bits of luggage. I’m starting to get seriously annoyed, because while I understand that some women regard bathroom breaks as social events, taking up a stall for ten minutes while the line is out the door is pretty unacceptable. Finally, the first woman comes out, and I am literally opening my mouth to say something to her, when her friend comes out - and she has no arms. I rapidly closed my mouth. If you’re in a situation where you literally need to wipe your friend’s ass on a regular basis, you get to make as much light conversation as you need to. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763/30 "2015-04-30T16:36:22Z")
Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to keep my mouth shut it seems. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/times-you-were-really-glad-you-kept-your-mouth-shut/718763.md?page=1)