# Tiny errors that drive you insane **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 29, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557 "2016-02-29T19:58:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/201 "2016-03-10T02:00:22Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Okay, here is my peeve. I’m saying “should 've”, i.e., I’m using the contraction form of “have” - _'ve_. I can’t help it that you hear “of”. I was referring to the written forms, not to spoken. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/202 "2016-03-10T03:36:09Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > There was a movie set in DC (I can’t remember which one) that shot its subway scenes in the Baltimore subway. Not an error, just a production logistics decision. Probably _No Way Out_ (1987), which also featured the world-famous Georgetown Metro station. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/203 "2016-03-10T10:37:19Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > I was referring to the written forms, not to spoken. 🙂 I was reading a piece on Wikipedia the other day where someone was described as “the **spit and image** of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kiber](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiber/32/317_2.png) [@Kiber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiber)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/204 "2016-03-10T13:27:29Z")
I’ve got two from McDonald’s. Although I haven’t been there in years, so they may have changed by now. Fries: They used to (and maybe still do) sell fries in 3 sizes: Medium, Large and Extra Large. Gah! How can the smallest of something be Medium? Cups: They used to have this statement printed on the side of their cups - “Please put litter in its place.” Um - the place for litter is on the ground. If you put it in the trash, it would be garbage and not litter. So every one of their cups was quite literally promoting the increase in litter. Finally - the [flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Carolina) for the State of South Carolina bugs me. It features a crescent moon where the tips of the moon curve back towards each other. Except that they never do in real life. The tips of an actual crescent moon only ever point away from each other, or perhaps in parallel. But never towards each other as depicted. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/205 "2016-03-10T13:35:55Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > Women named Aubrey. It means Golden KING. Girl form is Audrey. > > Also all the female Mackensies, McKennas, etc. The mac prefix means “son of.” :smack: Don’t forget my favorite, Madison. Meaning “Son of Soldier”, it never registered (according to the Social Security administration) as a female name until 1985, when it was the name self-given by Darryl Hannah’s character in _Splash_ as an obvious joke\*. So now there are millions of women around declaring themselves the male progeny of their warring father’s because of a joke in a movie. 😃 \*Darryl was a mermaid who rescued, then fell in love with, Tom Hanks. She appears, stark naked, in the middle of Madison Ave in NYC. While she is arrested and detained, the police somehow finds Hanks (it’s been almost 30 years since I’ve seen this) and when he asks her name, she gives him the only word of English that she knows: “Madison”. Big laughs ensue. Today, that bit would probably play totally straight and many wouldn’t get Hanks’s flustered reaction. (I think the name is brought up jokingly a couple more times - like I said, it’s been 30 years.) ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/206 "2016-03-10T13:36:30Z")
> [@Abner\_Ravenwood](#): > > In keeping with the military theme of the OP, whenever a Marine salutes without a **cover on his grape**. \ What does that mean? I googled that phrase, and all I got were references to the exact phrase, with no discussion of what that means. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/207 "2016-03-10T13:38:06Z")
> [@Kiber](#): > > I’ve got two from McDonald’s. Although I haven’t been there in years, so they may have changed by now. > > Fries: They used to (and maybe still do) sell fries in 3 sizes: Medium, Large and Extra Large. Gah! How can the smallest of something be Medium? > > Cups: They used to have this statement printed on the side of their cups - “Please put litter in its place.” Um - the place for litter is on the ground. If you put it in the trash, it would be garbage and not litter. So every one of their cups was quite literally promoting the increase in litter. > > Finally - the [flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Carolina) for the State of South Carolina bugs me. It features a crescent moon where the tips of the moon curve back towards each other. Except that they never do in real life. The tips of an actual crescent moon only ever point away from each other, or perhaps in parallel. But never towards each other as depicted. Wendy’s does that size thing, McDonald’s does not. Drives me batty. ---
**Author:** ![turtlescanfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@turtlescanfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turtlescanfly)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/208 "2016-03-10T13:55:17Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > \*Darryl was a mermaid who rescued, then fell in love with, Tom Hanks. She appears, stark naked, in the middle of Madison Ave in NYC. While she is arrested and detained, the police somehow finds Hanks (it’s been almost 30 years since I’ve seen this) and when he asks her name, she gives him the only word of English that she knows: “Madison”. Big laughs ensue. > > Today, that bit would probably play totally straight and many wouldn’t get Hanks’s flustered reaction. As I recall it (and it has been almost as long since I’ve seen it, FWIW), they are walking down the street AFTER he’s picked her up from the police station. They are discussing names for her (since her actual name sounds like a dolphin’s screech and is thus unpronounceable to him). He throws out a couple of names that she rejects, then makes an offhand comment like “Let’s see where are we… oh, 5th and Madison” and she lights up when she hears Madison and decides that’s what she wants to be called. I think the joke would play exactly the same today. Its not funny because Madison is a strange thing to call a person (or a mermaid) but because after trying so hard to come up with a name she abruptly picks something from their immediate surroundings. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/209 "2016-03-10T14:02:08Z")
> [@OffByOne](#): > > What does that mean? I googled that phrase, and all I got were references to the exact phrase, with no discussion of what that means. Bareheaded, with no cap or helmet on. Marines typically have ultra-short crewcuts (or just plain shaved heads), hence the grape reference. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/210 "2016-03-10T14:09:50Z")
> [@Kiber](#): > > Finally - the [flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Carolina) for the State of South Carolina bugs me. It features a crescent moon where the tips of the moon curve back towards each other. Except that they never do in real life. The tips of an actual crescent moon only ever point away from each other, or perhaps in parallel. But never towards each other as depicted. The flags of some Muslim nations (e.g., Turkey) are the same way. Or, they (e.g., Turkmenistan) have stars between the cusps, which is also impossible. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/211 "2016-03-10T14:18:49Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Bareheaded, with no cap or helmet on. Marines typically have ultra-short crewcuts (or just plain shaved heads), hence the grape reference. Because the phrase “no cover on his head” would be easily understood by all, and not a phrase understandable only by US Navy and other military types. It cheapens the thrill when non-members of the club understand things. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/212 "2016-03-10T14:24:45Z")
Or, you know, “without a hat”. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/213 "2016-03-10T14:48:22Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > Not to mention Weiser (Weezer not Wizer) and Helena, MT (Emphasis on the Hell, when the ladies name has the accent on the middle syllable). > > On the other hand, Ucon gets pronounced as Yukon. :rolleyes: > [@Irishman](#): > > How else would it be pronounced? 😕 Ukken, Ooken, etc. Granted, in these days of texting and LOLspeak, U for “yu” sound comes more naturally, but my actual point was the odd spelling. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/214 "2016-03-10T15:12:37Z")
> [@Kiber](#): > > . . .Finally - the [flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Carolina) for the State of South Carolina bugs me. It features a crescent moon where the tips of the moon curve back towards each other. Except that they never do in real life. The tips of an actual crescent moon only ever point away from each other, or perhaps in parallel. But never towards each other as depicted. The original crescent was meant to represent a [gorget](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorget). It’s been redesigned a number of times, and it’s unclear whether the most recent incarnation is meant to be a moon or gorget. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/215 "2016-03-10T15:25:45Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The flags of some Muslim nations (e.g., Turkey) are the same way. Or, they (e.g., Turkmenistan) have stars between the cusps, which is also impossible. The Star and Screscent is actually va complicated issue. Astrophysicist Brad Schaefer wrote a paper about it (partial abstract here [1990BAAS...22.1232S Page 1232](http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1990BAAS...22.1232S) ). There’s also a hefty article on Wikipedia about it. Some depictions of Star and Crescent are clearly not intended to be representational. There are some legends when a star actually appears between the tips, and in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s _Rime of the Ancient Mariner_ some versions have a star between the tips of the crescent moon, and some have it outside. Coleridge changed his mind. But having it between seemed mystical, siomply because it is impossible. There are reports of at least momentary lights in the body of the crescent moon – Cotton Mather (who was interested in science as well as theology) reported seeing it. Some people thought it might be due to meteor strikes on the surface of the moon. So it’s a complex question. In general, though, when it’s on flags and seals it’s best to view the image as fanciful, just as navies might use a “fouled anchor” emblem (with the anchor line twisting around the body of the anchor in a way no seaman ever would allow), or those “Engineering” seals that use three gears engaged, each with the other two, even though that couldn’t possibly work. ---
**Author:** ![Kiber](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiber/32/317_2.png) [@Kiber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiber)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/216 "2016-03-10T15:34:24Z")
OK OK - I’m willing to accept that it’s a gorget (learnt something today, by the way). Or a stylized moon meant more for artistic impact than scientific representation. But dagnabbit - I still don’t have to like it. Maybe I should post this in the “Possibly accurate things that drive you insane” thread . . . . ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/217 "2016-03-10T16:13:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I was reading a piece on Wikipedia the other day where someone was described as “the **spit and image** of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.” :smack: For many years past, I’ve frequently encountered “the spit and image of…” – used interchangeably with “the spitting image of…”. While acknowledging that the latter is more generally accepted as the “correct” rendering – I can’t get bent out of shape about the awfulness of the “spit and” variation. It seems to me that both are flights of imagination and figures of speech, rather than accurately or meaningfully describing “whatever / whoever looking just like whatever / whoever” – in this instance, why not just let people play with words as the fancy takes them? ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/218 "2016-03-10T17:12:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Intergalactic Gladiator View Post > It takes a lot of work to form a beret and I assume the ones on TV are pretty much straight out of the box. You have to pull out the liner, wet it, shave it, squish it, wet it again, shave it some more, wet it, squish it into the right shape (put something really heavy on top of it), repeat a few more times until it looks sharp. > [@Irishman](#): > > Shave it? Yep. I shaved mine when I got it and I assume some of the high speed troopers still do this though I wouldn’t know. A new beret is thick and fuzzy, wetting it and shaving it streamlines the beret’s look when it’s being shaped. > **[LARP Hacks](https://larphacks.tumblr.com/post/123814406265/how-do-you-get-the-body-of-a-military-beret-to)** > > How do you get the body of a military beret to stay inclined/flopped on one side of the head, and not end up like there is a plate badly hidden in it? Thanks! > > Oh boy here we go! IT’S BERET SHAVING… ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/219 "2016-03-10T20:59:58Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Apparently, both his father and his brother are called Lloyd Webber. Well, if it’s supposed to be proof that “Lloyd Webber” is an unhyphenated compound surname, there is at least one famous counter example. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien’s father was named Arthur Reuel Tolkien, and his brother was named Hilary Arthur Reuel Tolkien, and his children were given names ending “Reuel Tolkien”… but “Reuel” is not part of the surname, which is strictly “Tolkien”. It’s a family traditional terminal middle name. If you alphabetize by last name, you put everyone in that family under “T”. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/220 "2016-03-10T21:22:12Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > \*Darryl was a mermaid who rescued, then fell in love with, Tom Hanks. She appears, stark naked, in the middle of Madison Ave in NYC. While she is arrested and detained, the police somehow finds Hanks (it’s been almost 30 years since I’ve seen this) and when he asks her name, she gives him the only word of English that she knows: “Madison”. Big laughs ensue. This is a nitpick, not a tiny error that drives me insane. She appeared stark naked at the Statue of Liberty and had his wallet, which was how the police found him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557.md?page=12)