# What if people laid eggs? **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162 **Category:** In My Humble Opinion **Created:** [March 3, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162 "2009-03-03T17:11:21Z") **Posts on this page:** 20 **Page:** 4
### Author: ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor) #### Post date: [March 5, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/61 "2009-03-05T23:42:05Z")
Holy Dejah Thoris, Batman! 😃 ---
### Author: ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier) #### Post date: [March 6, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/62 "2009-03-06T00:02:09Z")
Humans sometimes do lay eggs, and the infant hatches out of it. We call it “being born with a caul”. The egg spends mere seconds intact before the infant hatches, but in a literal sense it’s still an egg. ---
### Author: ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb) #### Post date: [March 6, 2009, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/63 "2009-03-06T12:51:58Z")
Would it be “ouch” two separate eggs for fraternal twins? and Double yokers for identical twins? ---
### Author: ![kapntoad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@kapntoad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapntoad) #### Post date: [March 18, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/64 "2009-03-18T13:09:13Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Which obviously didn’t/wouldn’t happen, or the race wouldn’t have reached the point where it could post on a message board. Or did happen, which is why that particular mutation didn’t become dominant. ---
### Author: ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch) #### Post date: [March 18, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/65 "2009-03-18T13:23:30Z")
How wold the kid get out? Would we have some infant egg-opening spike that we later lost as we aged? ---
### Author: ![wisernow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow) #### Post date: [March 18, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/66 "2009-03-18T16:04:34Z")
The saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” would have an entirely different meaning. ---
### Author: ![KnitWit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@KnitWit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KnitWit) #### Post date: [March 18, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/67 "2009-03-18T18:33:36Z")
I have a dumb question: What do platypus eggs look like and how come we don’t eat them? Is it just that they’re more rare and/or harder to get than bird eggs? ---
### Author: ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case) #### Post date: [March 18, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/68 "2009-03-18T18:37:30Z")
> [@schnuckiputzi](#): > > Farmer checking in here… but at only a few hours old, you can’t tell the difference … I would suppose unwanted pregnancy would be a lot easier to avoid – don’t incubate. Without the dreams, we’d never have had Jesus 😉 ---
### Author: ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance) #### Post date: [March 19, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/69 "2009-03-19T00:38:20Z")
Those long evenings suffering while you go through your neighbour’s family albumin would still be murder. ---
### Author: ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance) #### Post date: [March 19, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/70 "2009-03-19T00:39:58Z")
> [@KnitWit](#): > > I have a dumb question: What do platypus eggs look like and how come we don’t eat them? Is it just that they’re more rare and/or harder to get than bird eggs? Mr Google [is your friend](http://images.google.com.au/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&hs=UER&q=platypus+eggs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=FZTBSaHPBYbAkAXB3eA5&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title) - not only are they smaller than a thumbnail, the platypus is a protected species. ---
### 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: [March 19, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/71 "2009-03-19T01:59:53Z")
> [@AllWalker](#): > > Egging someone’s house would be a widespread fertility ritual. > > And TPing the house would show your respect, or something. Those were, without exception, always our motivations in West Texas. 😃 ---
### Author: ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs) #### Post date: [March 19, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/72 "2009-03-19T02:06:25Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > How wold the kid get out? Would we have some infant egg-opening spike that we later lost as we aged? Or the egg would start rocking from the infant’s struggles, and a nearby adult would crack it with a rock. That could be a difference between humans and apes in the Eggverse; apes would have some sort of natural claw or spike to get out of the eggs, while humans would lack it and use tools instead. ---
### Author: ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace) #### Post date: [March 19, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/73 "2009-03-19T05:33:01Z")
There might be a prejudice based on the colour or texture of one’s eggs. ---
### Author: ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs) #### Post date: [March 19, 2009, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/74 "2009-03-19T05:50:39Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > There might be a prejudice based on the colour or texture of one’s eggs. “I can’t prove it, but I **swear** Clarissa paints her eggs !” ---
### Author: ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace) #### Post date: [March 19, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/75 "2009-03-19T14:58:33Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “I can’t prove it, but I **swear** Clarissa paints her eggs !” _Pysanky_ would be a lot different, that’s for sure. And the Easter Bunny would be the most important religious figure. ---
### Author: ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor) #### Post date: [March 19, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/76 "2009-03-19T15:03:25Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > After all, we don’t eat the fetuses of anything now. There’s something close, called a “[balut](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg)).” It’s a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. Just check out the pictures on the Wiki page, especially the third one down. ---
### Author: ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins) #### Post date: [March 20, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/77 "2009-03-20T03:30:49Z")
Supermoms would spend big bucks on having their eggs professionally painted, buy headphones for the eggs, maybe cute little egg cozies… ---
### Author: ![Klaus\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@Klaus\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaus_K) #### Post date: [March 20, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/78 "2009-03-20T13:02:11Z")
> [@Gus\_Gusterson](#): > > You know that the chicken eggs we eat are unfertilized eggs, right? You’re not going to make a very good omelet with a fertilized egg. Child: “Mummy (or Mommy), my egg’s bad…” Mom: “Hush now and eat it up.” \ Child: “Mummy (or Mommy), my egg’s really bad!..” Mom: “Just eat it up!” \ Child: “Mummy (or Mommy), must I eat the beak too?” ---
### Author: ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord) #### Post date: [March 20, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/79 "2009-03-20T13:21:51Z")
Easter would be a blast for the moms to decorate their kids. Contests and prizes for the best decorated kids. ---
### Author: ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit) #### Post date: [March 20, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162/80 "2009-03-20T13:28:21Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Humans sometimes do lay eggs, and the infant hatches out of it. We call it “being born with a caul”. The egg spends mere seconds intact before the infant hatches, but in a literal sense it’s still an egg. I think I might have just been whooshed, but I will forge ahead anyway – this is incorrect. Being born with a caul refers to babies that are born with the bag of waters still intact. It happens, but rarely. The bag of waters is not an egg; it is the sac that holds the amniotic fluid while the fetus is in utero. Usually it breaks sometime during the process of labor and delivery, but not always. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-people-laid-eggs/488162.md?page=3)