# What is extremely common in TV or movies but almost never happens in real life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2021, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311 "2021-02-06T04:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 121
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2402 "2023-02-17T00:49:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So, yes, if you just need some blood for some ritual, there are better places on one’s body. Subverted nicely in the OG Pirates of the Caribbean flick. “Waste not.” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2403 "2023-02-17T02:40:38Z")
I have one of those. I usually use it if I want to eat a meal while watching TV at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2404 "2023-02-17T02:49:03Z")
For me, one of those times involved medicinal leeches. I was the only person in the pharmacy who was willing to retrieve them from the fish tank. I mean, what was the big deal? I put on elbow-length gloves and scraped them off the glass with a fish net, and then I labeled the jar and the pharmacist verified it and sent it upstairs. p.s. Around that same time, a man who had graduated from HS ca. 1960, and possibly not in the United States, said that some anti-smoking group came to his school, and to demonstrate how dangerous it was, they slapped a leech on his arm and handed him a lit cigarette and told him to take a puff. This instantly killed the leech. He said that made quite an impression on him. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2405 "2023-02-17T03:27:04Z")
I haven’t read all 2403 posts, but my contribution is characters saying things like, “I’m sorry for what happened _back there_,” or some other phrase of regret, embarrassment, awkwardness about something that happened “back there,” even though the thing might’ve literally happened in there, over there, up there, down there. It sounds like something that was in the script before they really knew the particulars about where it was going to be filmed/performed, so the stand-in phrase is “back there” and it never gets corrected. Drives me nuts! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2406 "2023-02-17T03:39:59Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > … they slapped a leech on his arm and handed him a lit cigarette and told him to take a puff. This instantly killed the leech. I’ve heard of using lit cigarettes to burn off leeches, but poisoning them with nicotine in your blood? Ew! 😲 ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2407 "2023-02-17T15:06:47Z")
> [@Jay\_Z](#): > > Beyond that, kids just trying to learn swimming on their own are highly likely to drown. Kids learn to swim pretty easily in naturally sloping small bodies of water, where they can get in and out gradually, and can flounder to shallower water. In straight-sided concrete boxes of water, different story. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2408 "2023-02-17T15:29:28Z")
My mother always warned my brother and me not to swim out too far because we might drown in a dropoff! My mother was scared of her own shadow. 🥺 ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2409 "2023-02-17T16:03:01Z")
> [@xanthous](#): > > I haven’t read all 2403 posts, but my contribution is characters saying things like, “I’m sorry for what happened _back there_,” or some other phrase of regret, embarrassment, awkwardness about something that happened “back there,” even though the thing might’ve literally happened in there, over there, up there, down there. It sounds like something that was in the script before they really knew the particulars about where it was going to be filmed/performed, so the stand-in phrase is “back there” and it never gets corrected. Drives me nuts! It sounds totally normal to me and I’m not sure what the objection is. “Back there” meaning “previously in a different location from where we are now.” I’m sure I’ve said that or heard it spoken. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2410 "2023-02-18T18:30:08Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > In straight-sided concrete boxes of water, different story. Ditto for quarries, notorious for drownings. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2411 "2023-02-18T21:26:14Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > said that some anti-smoking group came to his school, and to demonstrate how dangerous it was, they slapped a leech on his arm and handed him a lit cigarette and told him to take a puff. This instantly killed the leech. I have grave doubts. Sure, I can see a heavy smoker’s nicotine hurting a leach. But one puff? And instantly? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2412 "2023-02-18T22:29:21Z")
It was a stunt leech ---
**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:** [February 18, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2413 "2023-02-18T22:53:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I have grave doubts. Sure, I can see a heavy smoker’s nicotine hurting a leach. But one puff? And instantly? Nope. Yeah, it would take some time for the nicotine to enter the bloodstream (and the little amount of nicotine from one puff would be greatly dissolved) and travel to the spot where the leech was attached. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2414 "2023-02-18T23:18:51Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > It was a stunt leech band name! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2415 "2023-02-18T23:38:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I have grave doubts. I do as well. Though I did hear some describe rubbing some chew on a frog’s back which caused it to go into a sort of paralytic stretch – that _does_ sound believable. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2416 "2023-02-18T23:56:40Z")
I am skeptical that it would kill the leech. I might be willing to believe that the leech tasted something wrong and quickly let go. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2417 "2023-02-19T01:19:14Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > it would take some time for the nicotine to enter the bloodstream Inhaling a drug gets it into the blood stream really, really fast. The whole point of lungs is to get stuff in the blood stream fast. Now, I’m suspicious that the concentration of nicotine is enough to cause a leech to release, but a quick search [found this article](https://doi.org/10.1016/S2222-1808(14)60493-X). In a dish of water, nicotine kills leeches faster than ivermectin! ---
**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:** [February 19, 2023, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2418 "2023-02-19T04:13:43Z")
An XKCD for everything? There’s a study for everything. So the government will be releasing an anti-smoking campaign targeting leeches. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2419 "2023-02-19T07:35:14Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > It was a stunt leech That took a dive. ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2420 "2023-02-19T09:33:50Z")
I’ve been in those tunnels and they are tiny. Just about wide enough for my shoulders (and I’m a 5ft 4 female) and about 18 inches high. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2421 "2023-02-19T09:35:31Z")
i was watching an old 60s pi show called “hawaiian eye” this episode concerned a family that owned a private island with a plantation on it and when the grandfather died he split it between 2 cousins and his allegedly loyal foreman the catch was the foreman was blackmailing the attorney handling it into marrying the heiress after he killed the first cousin he seduces and marries the heiress(in like a day in a half) but tries to let her know what’s going on and escape the island … our PI heroes save her and the attorney … and in the end, she decides to stay married, and after a few jokes about the dumb subplot about the trio of old biddies that the heiress came with the show ends with her deciding to stay at her new estate I don’t think these days the marriage would stay and many charges would be filed … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311.md?page=120) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311.md?page=122)