# What are the dumbest questions you've been asked more than once? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 6, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767 "2019-09-06T01:47:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/62 "2019-09-06T20:26:04Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > Because heavy items with handles are more comfortable to be carried by the handle instead of by a plastic bag? > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > And also are a waste of a bag. Unless you have dogs. Then they come in very handy for picking up poop. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/63 "2019-09-06T20:38:35Z")
I’m a lesbian who had a child young, and the ex I had when my daughter was very young coincidentally looked a lot more like my daughter than I did - they both have straight blonde hair and similarly shaped and eyes and face (and we all have blue eyes). So I didn’t mind when people assumed she was the biological mother - it was a reasonable assumption. And it happened quite a lot. People would get confused about my daughter calling me Mum and my ex by her name and they’d decide to find out why, or they were just curious, or whatever. But it was very odd when several times people _argued_ with me on that point. I mean, you’d think I’d be the number one authority on whose mother my daughter is, wouldn’t you? I guess maybe they thought we’d decided to… pretend, or something, in order to give the non-bio Mum more power? Or they thought I carried her but wasn’t the genetic parent? But still, when I said no, and I know why you thought that, but nah, I’m her biological mother (can’t remember the actual words I used but it was along those lines - not upset but very certain), that should have been the end of it because if there were any complicated (and extremely unlikely) circumstances they probably wouldn’t be the kind you’d discuss in public. It didn’t anger or annoy me, it was just weird. So it wasn’t the question itself that was dumb - although a bit rude from people who’ve only just met you, really - it was arguing that I was wrong about _my own life_. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/64 "2019-09-06T21:10:56Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > IMO those aren’t as dumb as “How many questions will be on the exam?” > > I could maybe give you a number, but I don’t see how you would find it useful, since a “question” could be anything from a quick multiple-choice test of knowledge to a long multi-part problem to work out. Now I’m thinking of a final I had in a compilers class - if we’d been told in advance how many questions it had, we rightly would have panicked. (It had five. I gather that most people didn’t finish.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/65 "2019-09-06T21:42:40Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > You don’t have to have pink eyes to be albino. My father-in-law was albino and he had pale blue eyes. Is that so? Well now I can answer “maybe” ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/66 "2019-09-06T21:46:52Z")
I recently got this metal tumbler I’ve been gushing about to my coworkers. Me; “Yeah it’s great, I fill it up with iced tea before work, and by the end of the day it’s still full of ice” Coworkers: “Will it keep hot stuff hot too?” Me: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/67 "2019-09-06T21:53:27Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > You don’t have to have pink eyes to be albino. My father-in-law was albino and he had pale blue eyes. All I know is what I read in the Wikipedias, but, are you sure? Could he have had [leucism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucism) instead? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/68 "2019-09-06T22:06:31Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I recently got this metal tumbler I’ve been gushing about to my coworkers. > Me; “Yeah it’s great, I fill it up with iced tea before work, and by the end of the day it’s still full of ice” > > Coworkers: “Will it keep hot stuff hot too?” > > Me: :smack: There are thermos flasks that will keep stuff either hot or cold depending on how it started. I think some modern ones aren’t made to withstain high temperatures, but a lot of older such cups did both. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/69 "2019-09-06T22:14:54Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > There are thermos flasks that will keep stuff either hot or cold depending on how it started. I think some modern ones aren’t made to withstain high temperatures, but a lot of older such cups did both. 😕 Now I am confused. I thought it was the point that a thermos keeps low temperatures as well as high ones. ETA: or else my conception of such a container is old-fashioned… ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/70 "2019-09-06T22:23:59Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > 😕 Now I am confused. I thought it was the point that a thermos keeps low temperatures as well as high ones. > > ETA: or else my conception of such a container is old-fashioned… I once managed to destroy a cheap thermos by pouring liquid nitrogen into it. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/71 "2019-09-06T22:29:44Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > 😕 Now I am confused. I thought it was the point that a thermos keeps low temperatures as well as high ones. > > ETA: or else my conception of such a container is old-fashioned… Yes, and now I’m confused because you quoted me saying the same as you just said, but it looks like you were disagreeing with me. Maybe it’s Schroedinger’s Thermos Flask! (That would sell SO well right now). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/72 "2019-09-06T22:44:08Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Yes, and now I’m confused because you quoted me saying the same as you just said, but it looks like you were disagreeing with me. > > Maybe it’s Schroedinger’s Thermos Flask! > > (That would sell SO well right now). 😃 I think that we cannot get out of this confusion other than calling it that! ---
**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:** [September 6, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/73 "2019-09-06T23:14:27Z")
This scenario has played out countless times when I tell people that I’m from Alaska: Oh yeah? I have a friend who lives there. . .(states name). . .do you know him? I’ve been tempted more than once to answer “Oh, _that_ asshole; he got my dog pregnant.” ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/74 "2019-09-07T00:14:56Z")
I have a co-worker that has a desk right next to mine. We share a phone. We have very different responsibilities. His subordinates are always walking up to our area and not seeing Ted, they ask me “Where’s Ted?” I try to be cool about it but I am getting increasingly sarcastic in my response. I have no idea what Ted is doing or where he is. My usual response is to slowly (and pointedly) look around and say “I don’t see him.” Some of the people that have been around a while have caught on but there is so much churn that there are always new people that think my job is to keep track of where “Ted” is. Sadly a lot of higher ups have the same notion and I have to act like I normally keep track of him but am not sure at the moment. Not a big deal but after the 10,000th time it gets old. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/75 "2019-09-07T00:18:08Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Not really. So some other property about a different number that is not actually ambiguous causes confusion … how? (And keep in mind the context. Your example would be like upper class Math majors not knowing if one was prime or not. If a senior in Math asked a prof if one was prime or not, the prof would definitely classify it as a dumb question.) > > A “less bad” example the fact that 0 is neither positive or negative somehow, mysteriously, by some weird thing, causing confusion. But still, it’s _Computer Science_ where they’ve been taught all sorts of stuff about _binary_ numbers. > > It _is_ incredibly dumb to not know this is that major at that point in college. Incredibly dumb. Hence why my fellow profs didn’t believe me when I mentioned this. They had to see it for themselves. And did. I didn’t remember if the rules for even numbers included 0 or had a special exception for it. Even though 0 is in the set of numbers evenly divisible by two in my mind, I didn’t remember that the definition of even was that and only that. Even’s and Odd’s are somewhat arbitrary sets in the grand scheme of things (e.g. there are also sets of evenly divisible by 3, or by 4, etc.), and it’s not obvious on the surface if there is some mathematical principal driving the need to define and give a name to those two particular sets that might have an exception for 0, or if they are just convenient sets due to frequency of usage. Regarding binary numbers: the number base someone might be using to perform some operations doesn’t change the definition of the set of numbers. For example, the definition of the set of natural numbers isn’t influenced by whether someone is going to perform some operations on a computer. Having said all of that: once I googled the actual definition of “even number”, I did feel kind of dumb 🙂 ---
**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:** [September 7, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/76 "2019-09-07T00:24:54Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > All I know is what I read in the Wikipedias, but, are you sure? Could he have had [leucism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucism) instead? Quite sure. He eventually died from Hermansky–Pudlak syndrome. One of the symptoms is oculocutaneous albinism. It is surprisingly prevalent in some portions of the Puerto Rican population. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/77 "2019-09-07T00:26:42Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Regarding binary numbers: > the number base someone might be using to perform some operations doesn’t change the definition of the set of numbers. For example, the definition of the set of natural numbers isn’t influenced by whether someone is going to perform some operations on a computer. **ftg** , ignore this, I misread your post and thought you were still talking about even vs odd. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/78 "2019-09-07T00:49:37Z")
> [@](#): > > For a patient to ask the doctor whether “all of the cancer” had been eradicated is a question the doctor can’t truly know the answer to, but it’s not dumb at all, it’s an eminently sensible and reasonable question for a patient to ask. The OP asks for the dumbest questions [I’ve] been asked more than once. I am not a doctor; I am a person who had cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/79 "2019-09-07T06:45:47Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Easter - any Sunday between March 22 and April 25 Specifically, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. If it would match Passover, then it’s moved to the following Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/80 "2019-09-07T07:26:56Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > **Twice** in the past few weeks, I went to a bakery/cafe chain (Panera and Atlanta Bread) and asked for a whole loaf of bread, nothing else. And the cashier asks me, “Is that for here or to go?” > > I suppose they are trained to ask that to every customer, and it becomes automatic, but still… Next time I should say “for here” and see if they’d put it on a plate. It’s a habit you get into. Usually you hear yourself saying it and mentally whack yourself in the head.\* - Nine years of fast food. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/81 "2019-09-07T09:18:53Z")
> [@susan](#): > > “Did they get all the cancer?” > > 1. There’s no definitive answer to this. > 2. What would you do if I said, “No”? Of course this is an incredibly stressful situation. Nevertheless both my mother and I (at separate times) have asked a cancer specialist that very question. In each case the specialist took us seriously and answered us politely. I was told “There is no trace of your cancer and your prognosis is excellent.” I’m still healthy and cancer-free years later. My mother was told “No, I’m very sorry, but we could not remove it all.” She took the news bravely, put her affairs in order and soon passed away peacefully in a hospice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767.md?page=5)