# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/101 "2016-03-02T19:00:13Z")
> [@](#): > > And most likely none of them are unique without restriction- other people in the world have identical blue cars or the same make/model/color/year as the “different model” car or the RV. And how much restriction you need for them to be unique does in fact mean that some are more unique than others. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/102 "2016-03-02T19:02:25Z")
Anytime there’s a story (online or not!) about someone whose name ends in _-ski_ or -_sky_, the chances are 50/50 the name will, at some point, be spelled _-ksi_ or -_ksy_. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/103 "2016-03-02T19:59:12Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I think it would be easier to list the moments of good science. Other than the answer to the question “how many atmospheres of pressure can the ship take?” I can’t think of a one. Scientific literacy showed up in odd places in _Futurama_. Omicron Persei (the planet whose inhabitants attack Earth when a 1,000 year old broadcast is interrupted) is approximately 1,000 light years from Earth. Bender’s and Flexo’s serial numbers are both the sum of two cubes. And there’s one where Professor Farnsworth invents the machine that can switch two people’s minds, but not switch them directly back; the theorem that proves that switching back is possible with no more than two additional people is (from what I’ve read) accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/104 "2016-03-02T20:32:17Z")
In the Italian Job (2003 version with Mark Wahlberg), the protagonists are pursued by a couple of security guards riding BMW R1150RT motorcycles. These have 2-cylinder boxer engines, yet the sound they make in the movie is that of an inline 4-cylinder sportbike. Maybe wrong to call this a mistake; I have no doubt it was a deliberate choice to appeal to the target audience, who generally don’t care what a BMW boxer engine sounds like. ---
**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 2, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/105 "2016-03-02T21:20:21Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Anytime there’s a story (online or not!) about someone whose name ends in _-ski_ or -_sky_, the chances are 50/50 the name will, at some point, be spelled _-ksi_ or -_ksy_. Ha! In the tv series “Space: 1999,” Martin Landau plays Commander John Koenig. In one ep, there is a locker or something labeled with his name, spelled “Keonig.” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/106 "2016-03-02T21:28:39Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > [Delta God Damned V](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta-v) > > Every space movie ever effing made (or at least a hell of a lot of them) Tv shows, it doesn’t really matter, They all make the same mistake with this. Burn hard and late instead of early and soft. Any Pilot of any kind of craft would know the importance of this and know it well. It could work that way in a combat maneuver, as in an assault shuttle approaching a space station with intent to board by force. Coming in really fast, and then decelerating as sharply as possible at the last minute is the best way to shorten the overall time of the transit, thus giving the enemy the least amount of time to prepare. In ordinary navigation, you’re very right. Course-correction burns should always be calculated to the minimum, and that does mean small corrections early rather than bigger ones later. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/107 "2016-03-02T22:01:40Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > In media, or in general? I hate when someone has the wherewithal to look up an easy to Google thing, but asks for the definition etc. Like the Samhain Wikipedia article uses both IPA and phonetic, but if it only had the former I’d understand a screw up, but not if you ask me what the capital of Ethiopia is when you’re in front of a computer. In general. I will never forget a character on 21 Jump St saying “I grew up in mun-auch-ee, New Jersey.” How did you grow up there and not learn it is pronounced MOON-auck-ee? Couldn’t someone on the show call the borough hall and get the correct pronounciation. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/108 "2016-03-02T22:16:04Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > In general. I will never forget a character on 21 Jump St saying “I grew up in mun-auch-ee, New Jersey.” How did you grow up there and not learn it is pronounced MOON-auck-ee? Couldn’t someone on the show call the borough hall and get the correct pronounciation. “Hello, is this the bore-ohg hall?” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/109 "2016-03-02T22:26:46Z")
The doctor was taking tumor out of my brain last year. He accidentally removed a little too much and gave me a psychosis. Little errors like that just drive me insane. ---
**Author:** ![desertmonk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@desertmonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desertmonk)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/110 "2016-03-02T22:42:12Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > The doctor was taking tumor out of my brain last year. He accidentally removed a little too much and gave me a psychosis. Little errors like that just drive me insane. But how do you feel about the scientific accuracy of Futurama? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/111 "2016-03-02T22:56:21Z")
Speaking of bad pronounciating, it bugs me when someone gets introduced as “here is Dr. Heincles” and he says it “hine culs”, and then someone responds “glad to meet you, Dr Hen clees”. Obviously there was no pronunciation guide with the script, and each actor just read it their own way. This is usually in sci-fi shows with their weird alien names. Real people would actually hear the name, and get the same pronunciation. But, even so, you’d think in the first rehearsal they’d get on the same page, but nope. I’ve seen this in finished episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/112 "2016-03-02T23:03:39Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Speaking of bad pronounciating, it bugs me when someone gets introduced as “here is Dr. Heincles” and he says it “hine culs”, and then someone responds “glad to meet you, Dr Hen clees”. . . . Obviously, this is a production blunder…but it’s fun to point out that I’ve seen this happen fairly often in real life. Some people have trouble pronouncing certain words, and can’t even successfully echo what they’ve just heard. I have a friend who absolutely cannot pronounce “Ysidro” correctly. He always says “Isidero” instead of “Ee-see-dro.” But, hell no, I’d never put that kind of business in a serious script. (It could work in a comedy!) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/113 "2016-03-02T23:15:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And how much restriction you need for them to be unique does in fact mean that some are more unique than others. Not at all. It simply means that they are unique in different ways, or amongst different groups. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/114 "2016-03-02T23:18:22Z")
Is there anything worse than when a miscreant flaunts the law? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/115 "2016-03-02T23:42:50Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Ha! In the tv series “Space: 1999,” Martin Landau plays Commander John Koenig. In one ep, there is a locker or something labeled with his name, spelled “Keonig.” Space:1999’s premise is that the moon is hurtling through space because of an atomic explosion, so anything else after that is not worth kvetching about. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/116 "2016-03-02T23:55:42Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Is there anything worse than when a miscreant flaunts the law? If you’ve got it, flout it. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/117 "2016-03-03T00:09:27Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Is there anything worse than when a miscreant flaunts the law? You need to reign in your objections. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/118 "2016-03-03T02:10:32Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Electrical: calling a receptacle a “wall socket”. I know it’s just trade ignorance, but it bugs me. > > For a real nitpick: you don’t pour concrete, you place it. Even when it’s being pumped to the top of a building and comes sliding down a chute, it’s being ‘placed’. I suspect there are few outside of the construction game who know that. > > Cooking: “saute” does not mean to gently cook vegetables on low temperature. That’s called “sweating”. Saute means to fry something quickly in fat. Sorry, but I have to nitpick your nitpick. My father who for 40 years after WWII was in charge of building some very large very famous concrete buildings here in Southern California always said pour. As in we are pouring on Friday, so I will be home late. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/119 "2016-03-03T05:44:48Z")
I really love a good space show - drama, comedy, whatever. And generally, I don’t get too fussed about the ‘science’. Hey, they’re aliens! Maybe their technology is better than our’s - so they can travel faster than light, or generate artificial gravity, or propagate sound through a vacuum - that’s fine. Ditto for earth-based technology of the future - it’s all going to be invented tomorrow! (And before you bring up ID4, just assume the aliens used a software that accepted all operating systems. Still should have used a password, though;)). But, when space movies or TV shows are set today, using today’s technology, for some reason I get really pernickety about the slightest errors and absurdities, and will rant, yell and eventually throw the remote at the TV in exasperation. (Why, yes, I did get around to watching Gravity recently - why do you ask?). ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557/120 "2016-03-03T10:27:39Z")
In “Primer,” there is a scene where someone is soldering a circuit board - by _dripping_ solder on the joints! I mean - _come on_ - couldn’t they even find one person who knew how to solder for that scene? It took me right out of the movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-errors-that-drive-you-insane/747557.md?page=7)