# 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:** 16
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/301 "2007-06-21T20:07:21Z")
So why would we say “just deserts”? This some sort of European thing where they laugh at the middle east for only having deserts? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/302 "2007-06-21T20:19:47Z")
In this case, “deserts” (still pronounced the same as “desserts”) is an archaic noun meaning “things that are deserved,” surviving only in this expression. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/303 "2007-06-21T20:23:18Z")
Just deserts: things that are justly deserved. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/304 "2007-06-21T20:23:35Z")
Consider ignorance fought once again, at whatever advanced age I am as of 4:23 p.m. I always thought it was “just desserts,” and lazily assumed it meant that thing you have coming to you in the end, in this case using the end of a meal as the reference. Re: pineapples – I did not know that, either. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/305 "2007-06-21T21:20:36Z")
[QUOTE=whole bean] So you’re saying you walk around with a hard-on all day. Why doesn’t anyone notice . . or. . . was that a jab at Italians? 😉 [/QUOTE] No, half a hard-on. ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/306 "2007-06-21T21:29:04Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] In this case, “deserts” (still pronounced the same as “desserts”) is an archaic noun meaning “things that are deserved,” surviving only in this expression. [/QUOTE] Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! I er, knew, that… :o ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/307 "2007-06-21T21:32:37Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] No, half a hard-on. [/QUOTE] Italians can only get half a hard-on? ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/308 "2007-06-21T21:33:23Z")
[QUOTE=TJdude825] I don’t think I ever saw the WSU Cougars logo until I started going to a school that plays against them. But after that, it took me a few months to figure out why the cougar was drawn so weird [![](http://www.cougarsinseattle.com/pictures/WSU_logo.jpg) ](http://www.cougarsinseattle.com/pictures/WSU_logo.jpg) It’s both a cougar and the letters WSU. The W is the mane, the S is the top of the head to the lower left part of the logo, and the U is the lower jaw. [/QUOTE] Way back when my mother went to WSU, it was actually Washington State College, and the cougar’s lower jaw was a bit differently shaped. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/309 "2007-06-21T21:34:29Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] In this case, “deserts” (still pronounced the same as “desserts”) is an archaic noun meaning “things that are deserved,” surviving only in this expression. [/QUOTE] I’d bet it comes from Latin, being the whatever-part-of-verb it is that’s quoted last in the principle parts (as in _amo, amare, amavi, amatum_). In a similar way the word “oblation” (seldom seen outside the 1662 Book of Common Prayer) just means “thing that is offered” and is derived straight from the same part of the verb “to offer”. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/310 "2007-06-21T21:34:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by gigi > No, half a hard-on. > Italians can only get half a hard-on? Which half? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/311 "2007-06-21T21:44:44Z")
I remember reading and learning in a topic on here that electrocuted means one has died from electrocution…and shouldn’t ever be used in a living sense (I.E. “I just got electrocuted!”, “Did you get electrocuted?”, “Ow, it electrocuted me!”, etc). ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/312 "2007-06-21T21:48:35Z")
deleted ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/313 "2007-06-21T21:50:34Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I always thought a pry-mer was a simple book you taught children out of or white paint you put underneath real paint and a prim-mer was an embroidered or cross-stitched ABC or witty saying you hung on your wall. [/QUOTE] I feel weird correcting you, seeing as we are the same person, but aren’t you thinking of “sampler” here? Anyway, I find it weird that so many people are convinced pineapples grow on trees. Though I’ll admit I didn’t realize they looked so odd. I always pictured the pineapple more ensconced in the leaves, not sticking up in that weird way. So here’s my contributions: I believed in glass flow well into adulthood, even after becoming an urban legend aficionado. Also, for decades whenever I needed to replace batteries, I’d scrutinize the little diagram on the item that shows how to orient them. A couple years ago I realized the flat end goes against the spring, the nipple end on the contact point. :smack: As for La Jolla, well, thank Og I read this thread before being called upon to read that out loud! (Oh, and **Malacandra** , I thought it was obnoxious too, and I’m a devout atheist, FWIW.) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/314 "2007-06-21T21:51:29Z")
[QUOTE=whole bean] So you’re saying you walk around with a hard-on all day. Why doesn’t anyone notice . . or. . . was that a jab at Italians? 😉 [/QUOTE] Nope, it just doesn’t usually come up in conversation. When it does there is no need for the word flaccid, no matter how you want to say it. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/315 "2007-06-21T22:03:42Z")
[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon] I feel weird correcting you, seeing as we are the same person, but aren’t you thinking of “sampler” here? [/QUOTE] I could have sworn I’d also seen primer used the way **WhyNot** mentioned, but all I could find was this: [this](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=primer). 3 : a short informative piece of writing. I’m wondering if the use as “sampler” could have been fashioned from this thought. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/316 "2007-06-22T00:32:37Z")
> [@Idle Thoughts](#): > > I remember reading and learning in a topic on here that electrocuted means one has died from electrocution…and shouldn’t ever be used in a living sense (I.E. “I just got electrocuted!”, “Did you get electrocuted?”, “Ow, it electrocuted me!”, etc). Huh. That tripped my BS meter, but it seems like most if not all dictionaries agree with you. You learn something new every day, huh? Had my own ignorance fought on “just deserts” today, too. As for “another thing coming”–it may or may not have started as “think”, but now it’s usually “thing” and you’ll just have to deal with it. Sorry. Personally, I think it sounds better with “thing” (more ominous). ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/317 "2007-06-22T02:31:06Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] I could have sworn I’d also seen primer used the way **WhyNot** mentioned, but all I could find was this: [this](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=primer). 3 : a short informative piece of writing. I’m wondering if the use as “sampler” could have been fashioned from this thought. [/QUOTE] I’ve seen primer and sampler used interchangeably before. [Here, for example, is a quilt “primer”.](http://quiltville.com/tonya/alphabet1.shtml) And [#608 here.](https://www.countrystitching.com/~cs/cgi-bin/ss.cgi?ac=st&ai=Beginner) ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/318 "2007-06-22T03:26:17Z")
Okay, dammit, I bought a pineapple at Trader Joe’s today and we are planting the top of it! I did know they don’t grow on trees though, but it’s because I’ve spent a lot of time in Hawai’i, since I was a kid. ---
**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 22, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/319 "2007-06-22T03:35:07Z")
Slight hijack. Jack deriving from John makes me think of something that’s puzzled me for years. Why would anyone in his right mind call himself Dick? My grandfather, named Richard, commonly went by Dick. He was a Dick but not a dick, if you know what I mean. Same with Willy or Willie, but that’s not as bad as Dick. Are these people completely oblivious to the snickering around them? ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/320 "2007-06-22T05:28:58Z")
The FedEx logo thing is so played out that I now go out of my way to remark how that sideways lowercase b formed by the “ed” whitespace blows my mind. “I only see a q.” is my favorite response to this. Also, that picture of the pineapple plantation made me think that fruity bit of pineapples grew underground, which gave me a :eek: moment. I’m not exactly sure what I thought a pineapple plant looked like, but subsequent fruiting pictures don’t bother me as much as those few minutes of thinking they grew like carrots. Until discovering [this site](http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html) last week, I would have totally rejected any argument that there are or could be well defined genres of electronic music. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477.md?page=17)