# (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:** 4
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/61 "2017-02-27T13:32:31Z")
Most Spanish provinces share the name of their capital. Those of us who are from the exceptions don’t usually mess up with each other’s province/capital pair, but apparently it’s one of those things that people can only remember if it applies to them. And then you have people, businesses and even city halls from Castellón (the province), who will list the province as being Castellón de la Plana 😕 Dude, that’s the capital. You don’t even know what your province and your capital are named? Yeah, I can see why you were confused by my team’s insistence that our home towns of Pamplona, Bilbao or Gijón (which isn’t even its provincial capital) are not provinces. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/62 "2017-02-27T19:09:08Z")
Etymology has always been a great source of fun for me. If we are talking symbols one of my favorite etymologies is the ampersand (&). Or more literally the “[and per se and](http://blog.dictionary.com/ampersand/)” My other favorite etymology is the word spam, for unwanted email. Most here probably know this but everyone I mention this to in the real world is surprised. The word comes from the [Monty Python sketch](http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/09/how-the-word-spam-came-to-mean-junk-message/) where a couple comes into a diner and everything on the menu has Spam in it. It also has a hoard of Vikings who break into song, singing “Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam” Like the email recipient, the wife wants something without any Spam in it. A piece of false knowledge that continues to piss me off as I see it referenced still is the old chestnut that “Ring Around the Rosie” is a song/game about one of several medieval plagues, usually stated as being the Black Death. In fact the game is a holdover from American Puritans who held that both dancing and singing were evil. They came up with several movement/chanting games to play that they decided were not officially either dancing or singing. Ring Around the Rosie is about the only one that anyone remembers any more. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/63 "2017-02-27T20:57:59Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Being “three sheets to the wind” did not originate from " the sails (sheets) on a boat flapping around out of control". Sheets are actually the lines that control the moveable corners of the sail, not the sail itself. Minor nitpick but hey… Hey. Nitpicking is what we do here. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/64 "2017-02-27T21:35:29Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And the number of people who don’t know the difference between “amount” and “number” (unless you’re measuring people by the #). yeah yeah yeah, I never said I was an English major! :rolleyes:At least I know when to use; too, to or two and AN and A! :dubious: ---
**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 28, 2017, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/65 "2017-02-28T03:42:14Z")
> [@Maurie](#): > > 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. I didn’t say age mattered, and I didn’t say you were his aunt. I said the younger/elder _generation_ and I said you were his second grandaunt. You said it was your first cousin once removed, but you didn’t tell us if you were the higher or lower cousin, so I had no way to know if the infant was your generation or two below you. > [@](#): > > 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). Right, but you didn’t say which you were! > [@](#): > > 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. So there’s our answer. You’re the elder generation, so the baby is two below you. There’s a term for the woman that’s your first cousin once removed. It’s “second aunt.” You’re twice removed. There’s a term for that too. It’s “second grandaunt.” It’s right there in the Wikipedia entry and [here](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/submission/1006/second+uncle) for men. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/66 "2017-02-28T07:32:11Z")
> [@quimper](#): > > [Equal Transit Fallacy](https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/wrong1.html) > > It’s amazing how often this fallacy keeps getting perpetuated. Lifting surfaces work solely by angle of attack. End of. Even Einstein believed in this fundamental error when he designed his ‘cat’s back’ airfoil. When a test flight of his airfoil included an unintended roll immediately after takeoff :eek: , he [had this to say](http://wrightstories.com/einsteins-wing-flops/): When an old sailor friend I used to sail with explained that wind particles wanted to stay together so those on the leward side of the sail travel faster than those on the windward side of the sail, and that is what drives the boat through the airstream, I just looked into space and said “huh!”. Then I thought about it later at night and concluded that it was either witchcraft or bullshit. :o ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/67 "2017-02-28T13:08:30Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > There’s a term for the woman that’s your first cousin once removed. It’s “second aunt.” You’re twice removed. There’s a term for that too. It’s “second grandaunt.” It’s right there in the Wikipedia entry and [here](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/submission/1006/second+uncle) for men. I’ve dabbled in genealogy, and this is the first I’ve heard of this — despite myriads of opportunities where the expression would have been very useful. The Wikipedia article offers no cite. The Collins dictionary entry is of a “New Word Suggestion.” Googling leads one to conclude that **“Second Aunt” is translated from a Spanish usage**. (One of the top Google hits for “second aunt” is a 2002 SDMB thread in which no one confirms OP’s hope that she was now a “second aunt.”) ---
**Author:** ![Maurie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Maurie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maurie)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/68 "2017-02-28T13:59:27Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I’ve dabbled in genealogy, and this is the first I’ve heard of this — despite myriads of opportunities where the expression would have been very useful. > > The Wikipedia article offers no cite. The Collins dictionary entry is of a “New Word Suggestion.” Googling leads one to conclude that **“Second Aunt” is translated from a Spanish usage**. (One of the top Google hits for “second aunt” is a 2002 SDMB thread in which no one confirms OP’s hope that she was now a “second aunt.”) Same here. It _would_ be handy to have a term that clarifies who is the older or younger generation within a cousin-removed relationship, but I would hate for it to include the word “aunt” since that already has a very specific meaning and so would muddy more than it clarify. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/69 "2017-02-28T14:05:20Z")
Basic mechanical stuff: which way to turn a screw. I am astonished when I see a grown adult trying a wrench or screwdriver both ways before figuring out which way loosens the fastener. General mechanic stuff: things like accounting for the tendency of a drill bit to grab on the other side when drilling through; applying counter torque to the ratchet head with the other hand when using a socket wrench (more necessary when using extensions); or how to get a very wide thread like a jar lid started without cross threading (turn it backwards until it clicks). Photography: it is an absolutely natural thing to half-click the shutter to get focus on an object in the center of the screen, then reframe. But when I hand a camera to another person, I almost always have to explain this process. I have no right to criticize folks about obvious stuff. Don’t ask me about European countries, or geography in general. I’m the poster child of the dumb American in that regard. And if I see a bird in the yard, I’ll say “there’s a bird in the yard” and that’s the extent of my avian knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/70 "2017-02-28T14:53:11Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Basic mechanical stuff: which way to turn a screw. I am astonished when I see a grown adult trying a wrench or screwdriver both ways before figuring out which way loosens the fastener. > > General mechanic stuff: things like accounting for the tendency of a drill bit to grab on the other side when drilling through; applying counter torque to the ratchet head with the other hand when using a socket wrench (more necessary when using extensions); or how to get a very wide thread like a jar lid started without cross threading (turn it backwards until it clicks). > > Photography: it is an absolutely natural thing to half-click the shutter to get focus on an object in the center of the screen, then reframe. But when I hand a camera to another person, I almost always have to explain this process. > > I have no right to criticize folks about obvious stuff. Don’t ask me about European countries, or geography in general. I’m the poster child of the dumb American in that regard. And if I see a bird in the yard, I’ll say “there’s a bird in the yard” and that’s the extent of my avian knowledge. Along with your first couple of paragraphs: general household upkeep. The number of people who don’t know that you need to clean the cooling fins on your AC or heat pump a couple of times a year is legion. Ditto for folks who don’t know that you really need to clean your chimney flue occasionally and have someone clean out the ducts of your forced air heating system every five years or so. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/71 "2017-03-01T18:49:29Z")
> [@Maurie](#): > > Same here. > > It _would_ be handy to have a term that clarifies who is the older or younger generation within a cousin-removed relationship, but I would hate for it to include the word “aunt” since that already has a very specific meaning and so would muddy more than it clarify. I have never heard the term “second aunt” or “second uncle,” but I actually think using “aunt” and “uncle” in this way is quite intuitive. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/72 "2017-03-01T19:11:02Z")
It’s also pretty neat because it allows to disambiguate between older vs younger generational relationships. “First cousin once removed” is a symmetrical relationship–you don’t know who is higher or lower on the generational tree. “Second aunt/second niece” disambiguates that. Although there does seem to be a point of confusion. [See this definition of “second aunt.”](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/second_aunt) It says it’s the female second cousin of a parent. I think it should be the female first cousin of a parent. Sister of a parent? Aunt. Female first cousin of a parent? Second aunt. Female second cousin of a parent? Third aunt. It still feels fairly intuitive to me, personally, but I see how the mis-match in numbering may cause confusion for most people. There’s also a solution with the word “cousin-aunt” and “cousin-nephew.” A bit cumbersome, though. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/73 "2017-03-01T21:01:21Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s also pretty neat because it allows to disambiguate between older vs younger generational relationships. “First cousin once removed” is a symmetrical relationship–you don’t know who is higher or lower on the generational tree. “Second aunt/second niece” disambiguates that. If it’s necessary to disambiguate between generational levels - and I’m not sure that it often is , there is a simpler way without confusing things by using the word aunt or uncle. Just refer to " my mother’s cousin" or “my cousin’s daughter” . BTW, I’m not sure the “When my first cousin once removed had a baby recently, I went to meet him and was constantly referred to as his aunt” sort of thing has as much to do with generations as it does with age. When I was young, my aunts and uncles occasionally referred to me as “Aunt Doreen” when they were talking to their children. It wasn’t because my family has a tradition of calling people “Aunt” or “Uncle” as a sign of respect. It was simply because I’m between 8 and 18 years older than my first cousins and they occasionally forgot, as their children did have aunts and uncles my age on the other side of the family. ---
**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 1, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/74 "2017-03-01T22:11:55Z")
Just my own terminology: If it’s a first cousin once removed, I just refer to them as “a cousin.” It’s usually irrelevant to go into the details of how we’re related, just that it’s relatively (no pun intended!) close. Just because of the age range in my parents’ families, I have first cousins older than my parents, and many of their children are around my age. To me that whole group is just ‘cousins.’ If it’s second cousin or some other something similar, I’ll just say ‘distant cousin.’ And while this thread is the first time I’ve heard the term ‘second aunt,’ well. . . the title is ‘(Un)Common’ knowledge–and that certainly appears to be uncommon! ---
**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:** [March 1, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/75 "2017-03-01T22:55:45Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Just my own terminology: If it’s a first cousin once removed, I just refer to them as “a cousin.” I’m more likely to use “uncle” or “aunt” here for that, if the generational difference is apparent, rather than “cousin.” Term of respect, and all that. Of course, I also grew up calling close friends of the family “aunt” and “uncle” even if they weren’t blood relatives, as long as they were of my parents’ generation. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/76 "2017-03-02T20:17:04Z")
> [@Maurie](#): > > Same here. > > It _would_ be handy to have a term that clarifies who is the older or younger generation within a cousin-removed relationship, but I would hate for it to include the word “aunt” since that already has a very specific meaning and so would muddy more than it clarify. The specific meaning is slightly culture-specific. Fortunately, we mostly don’t need to know the exact relationship between /somebody else/ and /their aunt/. I was brought up that aunt and uncle were appropriate terms of respect for unrelated adults who, for one reason or another, were very close to family. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/77 "2017-03-05T05:18:03Z")
Here’s my contribution to cousins and removal. Number the generations sequentially, ascending from older generations to younger. gen(x) is the generation number of person x. Persons p1 and p2 are (Degree) cousins (Remove) removed where Degree = min(gen(closest common ancestor)-gen(p1),gen(closest common ancestor)-gen(p2)) - 1 Remove = abs(gen(p1)-gen(p2)) Using this, you and your siblings are zeroth cousins, and you are your own (-1) cousin. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/78 "2017-03-05T05:20:54Z")
> [@Rocketeer2](#): > > You’d be surprised how many people I’ve had to teach to tie their shoes properly. Many people tie them with the equivalent of a granny knot, which explains why their shoes keep coming untied. I realized why my shoes kept coming untied when I was in my mid-twenties and re-taught myself, and if you show the slightest interest, I’m happy to expound on the subject for a good ten minutes or so. I also tied my shoes wrong until I was in my 20s when I figured the error out myself. But for me both ways seemed to stay tied equally as well. It was the positioning of the bow that was the issue for me. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/79 "2017-03-05T12:24:43Z")
As pickup trucks have morphed from “work vehicle” to “fashion statement for suburbanites” it’s surprising how few actually know how to park a large vehicle. The number of hapless owners who can’t get centered in a space is uncountable. Here’s a hint: The wheels on one end steer, those on the other do not. Either back in, or learn to pull a little past your space until the rear wheels are in line. Then reverse, swinging the front around to align and pull in. I guess I’m getting weary of finding a parking spot, only to see some dimwit has left the rear wheels of his truck intruding 1-2 feet over the line. I actually left a note once stating: “Little boys have trouble when their toys are too big for them to handle. If you need help parking your big-boy truck, ask one of the men in the lot. We’ve easy to spot – our cars are inside the lines.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524/80 "2017-03-05T13:22:30Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Most people don’t seem to understand the difference between _percent_ and _percentage points_. > > If an interest rate changes from 3% to 5%, it is _not_ a 2% increase. The interest rate increased 2 percentage points. > > If the relative humidity changes from 80% to 70%, it is _not_ a 10% decrease. The humidity decreased 10 percentage points. I agree that it is important when stating a percentage to be clear about the “base”, i.e. “percentage of what”. But I don’t think that the distinction in terminology that you advocate actually exists in practice in the English language, or that it’s necessary for clarity. Suppose the prevalence of a disease increases from 10% of a population to 15% of a population. In this example, I agree that to say “the incidence of the disease has increased by 5%” would be quite misleading. The number of occurrences of the disease has increased by 50%. However, in the two examples that you gave, I think it _is_ contextually clear that the “base” is _not_ the prior quantity that was present. If I said, “interest rates were 10%, and rose by 2%”, literally _every_ English speaker (including technically-oriented economists) would correctly infer that interest rates were now 12% (and not 10.2%). That’s completely unambiguous, because we only ever talk about interest rates with respect to the principal sum, not the prior “quantity of interest” (with the possible exception of saying something like “interest rates doubled”, where the meaning is again clear.) Similarly, with humidity. We talk about humidity in terms of the total carrying capacity of the atmosphere, not the prior amount of water present. So I don’t think it’s incorrect or even ambiguous to say that humidity decreased by 10% in the example that you gave. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/un-common-knowledge/780524.md?page=5)