# (Un)Common Knowledge **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 23, 2017, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524 "2017-02-23T04:27:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/21 "2017-02-24T00:29:12Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > I’m shocked by how few people seem to know how to open a bottle of wine with a shoe! The number of times\* I’ve had to step in when there’s no corkscrew, and people are trying to messily bash the cork _into_ :eek: the bottle, I dunno, it’s barbaric. > > - twice. Onlookers were only momentarily impressed on both occasions. Well, c’mon now. Some details would be helpful! ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/22 "2017-02-24T01:13:48Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Well, c’mon now. Some details would be helpful! The shoe is really just to cushion the bottom of the bottle. To get the cork out, place the bottle so that the base is inside the shoe, with the bottle base on where you heel would be. Grip the whole thing tightly, and just bang the heel of the shoe off something solid, holding the bottle horizontally. It has to be done quite firmly, quite a few times. The shock of the liquid moving up and down inside the bottle pushes the cork out. Here’s a video [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/u1wROm-OF9w/maxresdefault.jpg "Mirabeau Wine // How to open a bottle of wine - without a corkscrew") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1wROm-OF9w) ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/23 "2017-02-24T01:16:41Z")
Astronomy in general. Not esoteric things like where Betelguise is in the sky, but simple things like moon phases. No, you can’t watch the sun rise in the West Wing, Mr. TV President. No, there’s no crescent moon high in the sky at midnight. No, that’s not Venus…it’s the middle of the night. Think about it. The doozie is when grown adults exclaim surprise that the moon is out during daylight. > [@Maurie](#): > > The first/second/etc cousins ones always surprises me, too. I mean, it’s not like it really matters or anything, but it’s also not really that complicated and can sometimes really be a useful distinction. I find a lot of people skip the cousin thing altogether and just go by age. When my first cousin once removed had a baby recently, I went to meet him and was constantly referred to as his aunt. If it’s the younger generation’s baby, you’re his second grandaunt. I assume the parent is the elder of you two, so the infant is your second cousin? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/24 "2017-02-24T02:04:19Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > I’m always surprised at how few people know what I’m talking about when I bring up grackles, which are as ubiquitous as crows. They’re freaking everywhere, how can people not know what they are? We were camping at Death Valley years ago and there were Great-tailed Grackles all over the campground. They have a very unique song which was cool at first but became rather annoying after hearing it a couple hundred times. One morning we were sipping coffee and this girl, probably 5 or 6 walked past our campsite saying “grackle, grackle, grackle!” over an over again. We guessed she had been at the ranger program the night before. “Grackle grackle grackle!” ended up being a catchphrase for the rest of the trip. Now back to the thread topic: My (un)known common knowledge is National Park-related. When you hit 62, you are eligible for a Lifetime Pass good for entry to all National Parks and Federal Recreation Areas for only $10. If that ain’t a deal, I don’t know what is. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/25 "2017-02-24T02:28:56Z")
I know about the Lifetime Pass thing because my mom has one, and makes good use of it. She travels a lot (to, well, pretty much everywhere), and also often heads down to Cuyahoga Valley (twice just in the past week). And with the size of my extended family, knowing the whole Nth cousins M times removed thing is just a necessary survival trait. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/26 "2017-02-24T03:36:24Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I know those genealogical relationships like you do. I once figured out the relationship between me and a man who was an important gov’t figure in the 1880’s. We were both descendants of a man who came to the American colonies in 1722. You know, in my work as a baker I really prefer using the metric system of weights and measures, and I just now found out that the relative I mentioned above had a hand in making the metric system legal in the US, in 1866. [Metric Act of 1866 - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_Act_of_1866). He also held state and national offices, was Postmaster General of the US, and an ambassador to Austria-Hungary. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/27 "2017-02-24T04:34:09Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > The shoe is really just to cushion the bottom of the bottle. To get the cork out, place the bottle so that the base is inside the shoe, with the bottle base on where you heel would be. Grip the whole thing tightly, and just bang the heel of the shoe off something solid, holding the bottle horizontally. It has to be done quite firmly, quite a few times. The shock of the liquid moving up and down inside the bottle pushes the cork out. > > Here’s a video > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1wROm-OF9w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1wROm-OF9w) I’m not a wine drinker, but have opened many bottles the traditional way for family and friends. This is fucking amazing and I can’t wait to show everyone my new party trick. 😃 Typed this on my phone. Please excuse any typos. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/28 "2017-02-24T04:42:02Z")
I’m amazed how many people who work on computers for 40+ hours a week have no idea of the absolute basics of using it. Not just older folks either, but kids just out of college too. Now, I fix computers for a living and don’t expect my customers to know 90% of what I do, but they should know the difference between a laptop computer and a desktop computer. They should know which box is the monitor and which is the computer. The should know what reboot means and how to do it. Typed this on my phone. Please excuse any typos. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/29 "2017-02-24T07:04:17Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Grip the whole thing tightly, and just bang the heel of the shoe off something solid, holding the bottle horizontally. It has to be done quite firmly, quite a few times. The shock of the liquid moving up and down inside the bottle pushes the cork out. You bruise the wine? I feel faint… Dennis ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/30 "2017-02-24T07:52:24Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Astronomy in general. I recall a forum question once in which someone said “I want to go on a trip to a place where I can see the Midnight Sun and the Aurora Borealis – any suggestions?” There were about ten replies, before anyone stated the obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/31 "2017-02-24T12:28:25Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#): > > The one thing I feel I’ve done more than my share of explaining is the 1st/2nd/3rd cousins one/twice/etc., removed relationship(s). Wiki explanation [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin) if your among the hordes of the uninformed (along with other interesting info like double cousins, half cousins, that was news to me). I admit to being one of those people who are clueless about the cousin-type thorny thicket; when people embark on the subject, my brain turns straight to mush and my eyes glaze over (same effect, when flipping quickly through the Wiki link given here). With me –- and I suspect that I speak here for many others who are dunces on this subject –- quite frankly, though the matter is probably not all that fiendishly difficult to get one’s head around: I don’t find it interesting enough to be ready to undertake the necessary labour to achieve that end. I wonder –- not entirely flippantly –- whether some people’s lack of clue about this area of human affairs, can be blamed on J.R.R. Tolkien; and his telling of the hobbits’ obsession with genealogy and family trees, and their revelling in the extreme complicatedness of same. There comes to mind such stuff, as how Frodo comes to be Bilbo’s first and also second cousin, “once removed either way”. It’s hard to reproach readers who are not already well-informed devotees of this avocation, for thinking “all this is insane, and insanely complicated: nobody in their right mind could even begin to make sense of it”. Such readers overlook, perhaps, that hobbit genealogists make rather more of a meal of their subject, than their human counterparts usually do. > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I’ve gotten in to 3 different arguments within the past 6 months with people who insist that Slovakia and Slovenia are the same place, who don’t think the Czechs and Slovaks are different people and now they even have different countries, and are shocked that Bohemia is inside the Czech Republic No Not Czechoslovakia I Mean The Czech Republic. > > It’s not like I’m a scholar. I literally was just interested in the region, as I am Slovak, and took time to read the Wikipedia articles and look at maps. Pisses me off that these arguments were with other people of Slavic descent and they were completely clueless. If I might venture to speak on behalf of non-Slavic-descended people such as myself: I can feel a bit of sympathy for the sentiment, “it’s the fault of those crazy Slavs, for having so many pieces of real estate which look and sound so much like each other”. There are, as you note, Slovakia and Slovenia; and also, Slavonia; and sometimes the non-existent Slovania enters people’s heads too, and further worsens the confusion. Here in the UK anyway, many people experience considerable difficulty in telling apart, the different Baltic States – it’s reckoned a particularly unkind trick of fate, that two of them begin with the same letter. Plus, there’s that stupid detached bit of Russia, to confuse things yet more… Really, one feels that as with most things: it depends how much the issue concerned, interests you. If it does, you’re motivated to do the work to get it right; if not, you’ll probably be much less so. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/32 "2017-02-24T12:36:43Z")
> [@Emergency911](#): > > I have no idea how I learned about it, but it seems like I have always known how some traffic lights work. Not the lights so much, but how some are triggered. > Most of them are migrating to a camera system, but there are still some that have sensors in the ground that sense a vehicle on top and trigger the light to change. The cameras and the ground sensors are normally in front of the painted line on the road. When you pull up to the intersection and stop before the white line, the sensor or the camera is triggered and the light will start the process to change. I see so many people who either stop so far before the painted line that the sensor or camera doesn’t pick it up. There are several people who also pull past the line and stop just short of the cross walk line, (blocking the cross walk), that they are no longer on the sensor. Both will not trigger the light and they will have to sit there until someone pulls onto a sensor in another lane. I told my husband this a few years back. I could not believe he did not know. I learned that when I was a child > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > “Spring officially starts on March 20” (in the USA). There isn’t an ‘official’ start date of spring or any other season. but the calendar says so! The amount of “people” who do not know that # means pounds as well as a few other things, BEFORE, it became a hash tag… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/33 "2017-02-24T14:03:24Z")
Mayonnaise does not need to be refrigerated. It doesn’t go ‘bad’. It’s just a pile of oil with a tiny amount of egg used as an emulsifier. If you get sick after eating a mayo based salad it’s because of the other ingredients, not the mayo. It may look like cream, but it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Maurie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Maurie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maurie)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/34 "2017-02-24T14:48:51Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > [@Maurie](#): > > > > The first/second/etc cousins ones always surprises me, too. I mean, it’s not like it really matters or anything, but it’s also not really that complicated and can sometimes really be a useful distinction. I find a lot of people skip the cousin thing altogether and just go by age. When my first cousin once removed had a baby recently, I went to meet him and was constantly referred to as his aunt. > > If it’s the younger generation’s baby, you’re his second grandaunt. I assume the parent is the elder of you two, so the infant is your second cousin? I’m having a hard time following you here, so my apologies if I’ve misunderstood. Why do you say I’m his aunt? And why does the age of the parent matter? Age has absolutely nothing to do with it, ever. I think that’s the misconception that surprises me. I know that the varying degrees of cousinhood with the numbers and removeds and whatnot can be confusing, but an aunt is a very specific thing. I guess “older female relative” = “aunt” for some, but an aunt is, very specifically and only, the sister (or sister-in-law) of your parent (or grandparent, or great grandparent, etc) and can in fact be younger than you. A cousin is what the descendants of siblings are to each other, regardless of generation or age. The degrees and removeds is what indicates the generational separation from each other. And confusing degrees aside, the descendants of cousins are always cousins to each other, and nothing else, regardless of age (unless there is an additional relationship complicating it, like cousins who marry each other and have children). And a cousin relationship is always the same on both sides (ie unlike parent/child or aunt/nephew, if Susan is your second cousin twice removed, then you are also Susan’s second cousin twice removed). The relationship in the situation I referred to is first cousin twice removed. I am the baby’s first cousin twice removed, and he is my first cousin twice removed. His aunt is his mother’s sister. I am his mother’s cousin (once removed). Again, I get that the degrees are confusing and pretty useless in every day conversation, and I generally do refer to all of my cousins as “cousins” regardless of degree. The part I find surprising is the assumption that if I am older than my cousin I am somehow their aunt. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/35 "2017-02-24T17:00:08Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > It’s only a little annoying that people think the vernal equinox is the first day of spring. It is tremendously annoying when they say it’s the _official_ first day of spring. > > The US NWS says spring is March thru May. So _officially_, in the US, it’s actually March 1st. > > Now, don’t start me on “blue moon”. That simply isn’t correct or at least it is a misunderstanding based on an oversimplification. There are two major definitions of season in use that are very different but neither is more official than the other. The National Weather Service uses **meteorological seasons** that start on the first of the month and are at least twenty days prior to the more traditional **astronomical seasons**. One reason meteorological seasons were developed in the first place is that the seasons weren’t an even length and the official start date can vary from year to year which makes detailed weather analysis complicated. [Meteorological Versus Astronomical Summer—What’s the Difference?](https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/meteorological-versus-astronomical-summer%E2%80%94what%E2%80%99s-difference) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/36 "2017-02-24T17:24:14Z")
Population of people’s home countries. I know an American who thought that the U.S. population was 1 billion, and that there were 100 million houses foreclosed a few years ago (both figures of which are impossible.) A Taiwanese person I know once claimed that China’s population is 590,000 times larger than that of Taiwan. (It’s about 59 times larger. This was perhaps more of a math error than a perception error.) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/37 "2017-02-24T18:36:38Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Now back to the thread topic: My (un)known common knowledge is National Park-related. When you hit 62, you are eligible for a Lifetime Pass good for entry to all National Parks and Federal Recreation Areas for only $10. If that ain’t a deal, I don’t know what is. My parents had theirs and referred to them as “geezer passes”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/38 "2017-02-24T19:10:09Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Now back to the thread topic: My (un)known common knowledge is National Park-related. When you hit 62, you are eligible for a Lifetime Pass good for entry to all National Parks and Federal Recreation Areas for only $10. If that ain’t a deal, I don’t know what is. If you’re disabled, you don;t even need to pay the ten bucks. (Unless they’ve changed it) An increasing number of previously covered facilities have now been subcontracted out to private concessionaires, many of whom do not honor the passes. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/39 "2017-02-24T19:22:23Z")
To calculate the degree of cousinship, determine the closest relative from which you are both directly descended and add up the greats and grand. E.g., if the closest shared ancestor is a grandparent, you are first cousins (grand = 1). If the closest shared direct ancestor (CSDA) is a great-great-grandparent, you are third cousins (two greats + one grand = 3). If you and your cousin do not have the same relationship to your CSDA, you need to calculate a “removed” factor. To do this, subtract the smaller relationship number from the larger. For example, if the CSDA is your grandparent (grand =1), but is your cousin’s great-great-grandparent (2 greats + 1 grand = 3), the degree of removal is two (3-1=2). You are first cousins twice removed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/40 "2017-02-24T19:28:14Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > I’m not a wine drinker, but have opened many bottles the traditional way for family and friends. This is fucking amazing and I can’t wait to show everyone my new party trick. 😃 > > Typed this on my phone. Please excuse any typos. You know, I’ve tried this trick a couple of times, and it never worked for me. Then again, some bottles just have reaaaaaly stubborn corks, so I may have been unlucky both times. I’m often surprised at how many beer drinkers can’t open a non-twist off without an opener using something other than the side of a table (which will often chip the table.) Any small object with a flat side where you can get some leverage on works, as long as you know how to do it. I’ve done it with everything from spoons (most commonly), knives, plastic lighters, and even a sheet of paper folded up enough times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524.md?page=3)