# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/162 "2019-09-10T15:22:06Z")
“Are you _sure_ we’ve never met?” Apparently I look like someone everyone knows. I constantly meet new people who insist we’ve met, even after we run down all of the possibilities. It got so bad that for a few years I’d answer the question by giving the person my thousand-yard stare, and say, “you ever done time?” That freaked a few people out pretty badly, so my gf asked that I stop it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/163 "2019-09-10T15:31:26Z")
Don’t remember that one, **Limmin**. LOL, **kayaker**. Steven Wright jokes about saying to hitchhikers he’s just picked up, “So, how far did you think you were going…?” ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/164 "2019-09-10T15:37:30Z")
I internally scream in chromosomal anguish every time someone asks where my son’s red hair comes from. It’s like nobody has ever heard of recessive genes. Explaining the basics of inheritance is a waste of time (and borderline rude), so we’re coming up with snarky joke answers. Bottle of Clairol, ate too many carrots during pregnancy, demonspawn, adoption agency, etc. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/165 "2019-09-10T15:55:29Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > 50 years is Back Before the Internet. But now, if you wanted to learn the guitar chords for Piano Man, you’d just go to youtube or [tabs.ultimate-guitar.com](http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com) I think you are misinterpreting my post. ---
**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 10, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/166 "2019-09-10T17:44:38Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > “Are you _sure_ we’ve never met?” > > Apparently I look like someone everyone knows. I constantly meet new people who insist we’ve met, even after we run down all of the possibilities. It got so bad that for a few years I’d answer the question by giving the person my thousand-yard stare, and say, “you ever done time?” > > That freaked a few people out pretty badly, so my gf asked that I stop it. ☹ “Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?” 😃 ---
**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 10, 2019, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/167 "2019-09-10T18:11:39Z")
“Is the road closed?” It doesn’t matter if every square inch of the road is covered in cones (and believe me you can’t leave 6 inches open or someone will try to drive through). It doesn’t matter if there is a police car with lights on across the road. It doesn’t matter if there is a giant “road closed” sign. It doesn’t even matter if they can see there is a giant hole or fire trucks blocking the entire road and no physical way of getting through unless the car can fly. Someone will always ask “is the road closed?” ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/168 "2019-09-10T18:15:04Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > Wait, I heard another one regarding monuments are Gettysburg. Maybe you posted this elsewhere on SDMB?? > > Tourist seeing cannons pointed at a high angle: “Were these used as anti-aircraft guns during the battle?” Well, damn. This seemed like a perfect set-up for a joke about the Confederate Air Force (a living history group that preserves and flies WWII aircraft), but they’ve apparently [changed their name](http://https://commemorativeairforce.org/). ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/169 "2019-09-10T18:22:15Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > I run a Pizzeria in St Louis… > > The most common (in my opinion STUPID) question I get asked is “How Big is a 14” Pizza" or How big is an 18" pizza"…ummm “14” or 18" inches in diameter, respectively" Back when I delivered pizza, people were always asking me if I had any extra pizzas I could sell them. Extremely rarely I would end up with an extra, but it was so rare you’re just wasting your time asking. Not to mention the fact that I could take home the extra pizza for free at the end of the day.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/170 "2019-09-10T18:46:57Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > “Is the road closed?” > It doesn’t matter if every square inch of the road is covered in cones (and believe me you can’t leave 6 inches open or someone will try to drive through). It doesn’t matter if there is a police car with lights on across the road. It doesn’t matter if there is a giant “road closed” sign. It doesn’t even matter if they can see there is a giant hole or fire trucks blocking the entire road and no physical way of getting through unless the car can fly. Someone will always ask “is the road closed?” Hope springs eternal… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/171 "2019-09-10T19:19:53Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > Wait, I heard another one regarding monuments are Gettysburg. Maybe you posted this elsewhere on SDMB?? > > Tourist seeing cannons pointed at a high angle: “Were these used as anti-aircraft guns during the battle?” No one is that stupid. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/172 "2019-09-10T19:27:52Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > No one is that stupid. you must not deal with the public very much ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/173 "2019-09-10T19:27:53Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > No one is that stupid. > **[President Trump Said Revolutionary War Troops 'Took Over the Airports' in...](https://time.com/5620936/donald-trump-revolutionary-war-airports/)** > > President Trump said that the Continental Army "took over the airports" from the British during the American Revolutionary War during his Fourth of July "Salute to America" speech. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/174 "2019-09-10T19:28:37Z")
A lot more time has passed since the invention of the anti-aircraft gun than has passed between the civil war and the anti-aircraft gun! ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/175 "2019-09-10T19:54:25Z")
After being told I have boy/girl twins: “Are they identical?” (Granted it’s possible once they are old enough for gender and biological sex to be incongruent, but I’ve been asked since they were infants.) Same question with the two kids standing right in front of them. I know some people might have trouble discerning differences in features, but one of them is about 4 inches taller than the other. Are they thinking we just don’t feed one of them? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/176 "2019-09-10T21:10:10Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > “Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?” 😃 “And do you like movies about gladiators?” ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/177 "2019-09-10T21:37:41Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > I run a Pizzeria in St Louis… > > The most common (in my opinion STUPID) question I get asked is “How Big is a 14” Pizza" or How big is an 18" pizza"…ummm “14” or 18" inches in diameter, respectively" I’ve asked how big is the Small Pizza and how big is the Large Pizza, and been told they are 6 and 8 slices respectively. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/178 "2019-09-10T21:43:45Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > No, that is a dumb question. That’s like asking, “What flavor is the pineapple soda?” I disagree. Many things come in nominal sizes that aren’t the real sizes. There’s nothing on an 18" television screen that measures 18". A “quarter pounder” burger weighs less than a quarter pound (unless you eat it raw). How are people to know exactly how big is a 16" pizza? I can picture what I expect when I order one, but I’ve never taken a tape measure to it. Have you? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/179 "2019-09-10T21:45:32Z")
At the grocery store I often buy a large number of identical items, such as six-packs of seltzer water. They allow customers to leave most of them in the cart and put just one up on the conveyor for scanning. I used to say “I have a total of # of this item”, and they would ALWAYS ask, “Including this one?” So I gave up and now I say “I have a total of # of this item including this one.” ---
**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 10, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/180 "2019-09-10T21:50:39Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I’ve asked how big is the Small Pizza and how big is the Large Pizza, and been told they are 6 and 8 slices respectively. So if you order pizza regularly, you know a 6 pizza is a small, about 8", and an 8 slice pizza is medium, about 10". > [@Napier](#): > > I disagree. Many things come in nominal sizes that aren’t the real sizes. There’s nothing on an 18" television screen that measures 18". A “quarter pounder” burger weighs less than a quarter pound (unless you eat it raw). How are people to know exactly how big is a 16" pizza? I can picture what I expect when I order one, but I’ve never taken a tape measure to it. Have you? No, but I can guess the size of something by eyeballing it. 16" is about the distance from my elbow to the tip of my middle finger. ---
**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 10, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767/181 "2019-09-10T22:05:00Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I disagree. Many things come in nominal sizes that aren’t the real sizes. There’s nothing on an 18" television screen that measures 18". Try measuring the diagonal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-dumbest-questions-youve-been-asked-more-than-once/839767.md?page=10)