# Totally wrong stuff you believed to an embarrassingly advanced age **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 18, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477 "2007-06-18T16:42:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/221 "2007-06-20T14:01:10Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] I strongly recall reading that the connection between the symbol # and the word _pound_ was actually introduced by the phone companies, and that all those old dry-goods salesmen were just following Ma Bell’s lead. [/QUOTE] I seriously doubt this, since (to the best of my knowledge) the # wasn’t used in the phone business until the 1960’s, when touch-tone phones were introduced. I’m fairly certain that it was used as an abbreviation for “pound” long before that. [QUOTE=fetus] [No](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=primer). “Primmer” is a British pronunciation. It may hold more sway in the US than “petrol”, but the idea that you’re “wrong” for pronouncing the word in a way that’s intuitive to American listeners and clearly understood by everyone with any functional comprehension of the English language, is preposterous. It’s yet another example of the ridiculous British assertion that “the Queen’s English” is the superior form… [/QUOTE] Your link confirms that PRIM-mer is the primary pronunciation, and PRY-mer as a “chiefly British” alternative. And, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the latest _American Heritage_ dictionary shows _only_ PRIM-mer. The “chiefly British” alternative of PRY-mer doesn’t even show up as an acceptable alternative. [QUOTE=Usram] I’m British, and I don’t hear people say “primmer” for _primer_. I was momentarily confused when Jodie Foster used that pronunciation in _Contact_. [/QUOTE] Again, **fetus** has it backward. “Primmer” is the _American_ pronunciation. “Prymer” is British. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/222 "2007-06-20T14:02:14Z")
I used to think the bar exam was something you had to pass in order to become a bartender. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/223 "2007-06-20T15:23:47Z")
[QUOTE=r4nd0mNumb3rs] I’m also surprised by all this geographic misformation being taught at schools. [/quote] My high school world history teacher once handed out copies of a map of the Caspian Sea, which she said was Great Britain. (She was confusing the water and the land.) My fellow students and I spent the rest of the class period trying to convince her, seemingly without success. But the next day she handed out a new map, saying something like "Since you all had such a problem with the last one . . . " One common mistake that drives me nuts is when people think the correct expression is “You’ve got another thing coming.” It’s “another _think_ coming”, as in “If that’s what you think, you’ve got another think coming” (deliberate bad grammar for the sake of humor), at least if you believe the Oxford English Dictionary and not the band Judas Priest. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/224 "2007-06-20T15:52:14Z")
[QUOTE=Bootis] Huh? Anyways, I’ve always known flaccid was pronounced “flacksid” and that “flassid” is incorrect, but I always thought it was spelled F-L-A-X-S-E-E-D :eek: [/QUOTE] [Flaccid](http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flaccid) vs. [flaxseed](http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flaxseed). ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/225 "2007-06-20T16:28:51Z")
[QUOTE=] Up until [today](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8694833&postcount=131) I believed I wasn’t invisible on message boards. [/QUOTE] Who said that? 😕 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/226 "2007-06-20T16:37:06Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] FWIW, I thought- at least until I was about 10 or 11- that Thunder was caused by rainclouds bumping together… [/QUOTE] That’s so silly. It’s clearly Og bowling. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/227 "2007-06-20T17:17:23Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Dick. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Personal insults are not allowed outside the Pit, **Malacandra**. Don’t do it again. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/228 "2007-06-20T17:25:47Z")
[QUOTE=Judith Prietht] I used to think the bar exam was something you had to pass in order to become a bartender. [/QUOTE] That’s certainly more logical, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/229 "2007-06-20T17:29:28Z")
Just how many times DO people here have people say “primer” to them anyway, correct OR incorrect pronunciation? I can’t say I remember it ever having come up in conversation myself. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/230 "2007-06-20T17:30:28Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] In this part of the world, it’s called the “Hash Key”. I’ve only ever heard it called a “Pound Sign” in the US, and the first time I heard it, I was trying to work out why an American phone would have a “£” key on it… :smack: [/QUOTE] The normal Canadian name for # is ‘number sign’. We _do_ have the ‘pound sign’ usage, but only in the context of telephone keypads. My own belief is that this usage arrived with automated phone response systems, many of which were made in the States. These incorporated the US usage of ‘pound’ for #, because it was a convenient one-syllable counterpart to ‘star’ for \*. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/231 "2007-06-20T17:33:30Z")
[QUOTE=tim314] One common mistake that drives me nuts is when people think the correct expression is “You’ve got another thing coming.” It’s “another _think_ coming”, as in “If that’s what you think, you’ve got another think coming” [/QUOTE] We’ve done that on the board before. I’m still going with “thing.” Many people asked what the other “thing” could possibly be. The answer, I think, is obvious. If you think you’re getting ice cream for dinner, you’ve got another thing coming. Thing the first: Ice cream The other thing: Brussells sprouts ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/232 "2007-06-20T17:36:25Z")
Another logo one - I never knew until the Montreal Expos were defunct or close to it, that their logo was a stylized “M”. I always thought it said “Elk” and it was some sort of wierd Canadian thing. [Montreal Expos logo](http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?lo=1211) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/233 "2007-06-20T17:45:21Z")
I just planted a pineapple [del]tree[/del] plant! Wish me luck and baby pineapples! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/234 "2007-06-20T17:53:13Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I just planted a pineapple [del]tree[/del] plant! Wish me luck and baby pineapples! 😃 [/QUOTE] With the right climate and soil, you should get one in about 2-3 years. Took us 5. ---
**Author:** ![Butterscotch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Butterscotch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Butterscotch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/235 "2007-06-20T18:25:52Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] That’s so silly. It’s clearly Og bowling. [/QUOTE] It’s not the angels moving their furniture? Really? ---
**Author:** ![PuppyEars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@PuppyEars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PuppyEars)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/236 "2007-06-20T18:33:45Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] Previously the symbol had been known as a hash mark. [/QUOTE] I can tell you from experience that parts of the world still call it that. Last time I was in Europe the instructions said please enter your passcode followed by hash. In fact, I can still hear the voice of the lady in my head (ha ha). She has a most fantastic British accent when you choose to listen in English. Any American with a sense of irony would enter their passcode and then try to shove some cannibis in there. ETA: I didn’t add this to be a jerk as I think it might seem but only because **WF Tomba** said he couldn’t find his cite for this info. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/237 "2007-06-20T18:47:52Z")
[QUOTE=Dunawake] With all of the various shows on PBS who were sponsored by various companies, I always thought “Viewers Like You” was some sort of consumer charity group or something, not…you know…the literal meaning. [/QUOTE] I thought that one too. I think I was 11 before it clicked. And as for the Primm-er/Pry-mer debate, I was always under the impression that primm-er was a British thing and Pry-mer was the American pronounciation and I’ve always lived in the good 'ol US of A. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/238 "2007-06-20T18:59:35Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] Another logo one - I never knew until the Montreal Expos were defunct or close to it, that their logo was a stylized “M”. I always thought it said “Elk” and it was some sort of wierd Canadian thing. [Montreal Expos logo](http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?lo=1211) [/QUOTE] I always thought it said “elb” and was at a loss to connect it to the Expos or baseball or anything (“Expo League Baseball”?). I never saw the stylised M until reading these posts. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/239 "2007-06-20T19:33:28Z")
I’ve decided pineapples _d_ grow on trees and nothing will convince me otherwise. nopenopenopenope _shuts ears firmly_ ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/240 "2007-06-20T19:39:27Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Just how many times DO people here have people say “primer” to them anyway, correct OR incorrect pronunciation? I can’t say I remember it ever having come up in conversation myself. [/QUOTE] I’m probably not the best representative here because (a) I used to write primers, and (b) I own a bookstore, so I hear people saying things like “do you have a good gardening primer?” on a regular basis. [QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] And as for the Primm-er/Pry-mer debate, I was always under the impression that primm-er was a British thing and Pry-mer was the American pronounciation and I’ve always lived in the good 'ol US of A. [/QUOTE] I find this whole discussion fascinating. It seems that almost everybody who has heard both pronunciations figures that one is American and one is British, and most of them have it backwards. I first pronounced it as “pry-mer” because I had your typical teenage boy’s fascination with explosives and guns, so I knew the _other_ “primer” word. I later found out that the correct pronunciation was “prim-mer.” It was several years after _that_ when I discovered that the Brits do, indeed, pronounce it “pry-mer.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477.md?page=13)