# 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:** 127
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2522 "2023-02-24T06:56:55Z")
wow, its actually faster , usually it’s so slow, especially in westerns…was the powder different back then? ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2523 "2023-02-24T08:10:33Z")
Back in the 80’s, me and my friends would pour old “shotgun powder” we found in a can in the basement into thin lines on the cement floor and light 'em up. The powder would “burn and run” just like in the comics. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2524 "2023-02-24T08:54:00Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Some guy gets hit in the groin and he immediately says in (usually in a high pitched voice) “My nuts!” > > I don’t want to speak for all guys but every single time I’ve taken a hit to the nads it felt like I had the wind knocked out of me and I couldn’t even focus or speak, let alone exclaim the exact location of my pain. I remember a comedian years ago, maybe on Johnny Carson, who asked, “Why is it, when you take a shot to your nuts, it feels like the top of your head explodes?” As one who has taken a few such shots, the comedian was right. You can’t speak, in any voice, and it does indeed feel like the top of your head explodes. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2525 "2023-02-24T12:12:30Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > wow, its actually faster , usually it’s so slow, especially in westerns…was the powder different back then? . I think the movies have it backwards. In the days of westerns, they would have used black powder, which basically just explodes. Today’s “smokeless” powder acts more like you see in the movies. ---
**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 24, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2526 "2023-02-24T15:04:26Z")
I don’t see many people insanely obsessed in revenge against the death of a family member. Not saying it doesn’t happen, it’s just not something that comes up in casual conversation. Likewise, old white guys dressed up as monsters to scare off the customers of an amusement park. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2527 "2023-02-24T15:33:58Z")
Not quite the same thing, but I’ve seen people spit dip-spit onto scorpions, and they curl up and die right away. I can imagine that with a bit of preparation (i.e. smoking a bunch beforehand), and then smoking that last cigarette might do a leech in (or more likely, just make it let go), especially if that leech was on the sickly side to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2528 "2023-02-24T15:34:01Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > old white guys dressed up as monsters to scare off the customers of an amusement park. In real life, there aren’t as many meddlesome kids, so more people get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2529 "2023-02-24T15:37:09Z")
These damn helicopter parents don’t let the kids run wild all over tarnation like when we were kids! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2530 "2023-02-24T16:34:56Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Likewise, old white guys dressed up as monsters to scare off the customers of an amusement park. …or to keep the youngsters from leaving town (except for the intrepid blind ones). ---
**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 25, 2023, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2531 "2023-02-25T06:21:51Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I think the movies have it backwards. In the days of westerns, they would have used black powder, which basically just explodes. Today’s “smokeless” powder acts more like you see in the movies. The movies are correct. Black powder and today’s smokeless powder are both low explosives (burn rather than detonate). The density and size of the grain influence the burning rate. Whether a train of black powder or modern powder, both will burn like in the movies. Now if you pack black powder very densely like in a cask or shell, it will function as if it were a high explosive. The earliest time fuse was cotton cord soaked with a black powder slurry and allowed to dry. The fizzing sparking would be visible as the cord burned. As a more modern time fuse (US M700), black powder is encased in a vinyl wrapper for waterproofness. The density/grain size is controlled during manufacture to provide repeatable burn time for a length of time fuse. The time fuse is marked at lengths to indicate the approximate safe separation time a length will give you; single band 1/4 inches wide every 18 inches and a double yellow band every 90 inches. You always do a test burn of a measured length to check the burn time that day. It will vary depending on ambient temperature, direct sun, humidity, altitude, under water or not, and phase of the moon (just kidding there). You also cannot see the progress of the burn along the length of time fuse. The vinyl wrapper will show bubbling but the actual burn may be further along. For demolition purposes, we use propellant trains, spread out fine grain propellant like found in bags #1 and #5 from a 105mm howitzer round, if memory serves me, to lead to a spread out line of artillery propellant, or in rare cases, loose high explosive in flake form. The line would be ignited with a split end of time fuse or an electric squib tucked into an initial bag. That should pretty much over explain things. Thanks if you’re still with me. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2532 "2023-02-25T06:52:01Z")
As far as banquettes go, there’s a TV Tropes for that. [ISO-Standard Urban Groceries - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ISOStandardUrbanGroceries) FWIW, nicotine has a history as a pesticide. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2533 "2023-02-25T07:00:49Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Robert “Jim West” Conrad was in it, wasn’t he? Speaking of Conrad, he was able to do all kinds of crazy stunts in tight-ass Mr. Fanservice pants without ever splitting the seams. IRL, he blew them out regularly. > Mr. Conrad said in an interview done for a mini-documentary made for a “Best of the Wild Wild West” marathon TNT broadcast in the 1990s, “and then they glued me into my pants, which made me even more uncomfortable, because they wanted the matador look.” > > The dark-colored pants split so often, he said, that he took to wearing dark-colored underwear rather than white. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2023, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2534 "2023-02-26T21:34:20Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > > [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > > > I think the movies have it backwards. In the days of westerns, they would have used black powder, which basically just explodes. Today’s “smokeless” powder acts more like you see in the movies. > > The movies are correct. Black powder and today’s smokeless powder are both low explosives (burn rather than detonate). The density and size of the grain influence the burning rate. Whether a train of black powder or modern powder, both will burn like in the movies. Now if you pack black powder very densely like in a cask or shell, it will function as if it were a high explosive. > > The earliest time fuse was cotton cord soaked with a black powder slurry and allowed to dry. The fizzing sparking would be visible as the cord burned. > > As a more modern time fuse (US M700), black powder is encased in a vinyl wrapper for waterproofness. The density/grain size is controlled during manufacture to provide repeatable burn time for a length of time fuse. The time fuse is marked at lengths to indicate the approximate safe separation time a length will give you; single band 1/4 inches wide every 18 inches and a double yellow band every 90 inches. You always do a test burn of a measured length to check the burn time that day. It will vary depending on ambient temperature, direct sun, humidity, altitude, under water or not, and phase of the moon (just kidding there). You also cannot see the progress of the burn along the length of time fuse. The vinyl wrapper will show bubbling but the actual burn may be further along. > > For demolition purposes, we use propellant trains, spread out fine grain propellant like found in bags #1 and #5 from a 105mm howitzer round, if memory serves me, to lead to a spread out line of artillery propellant, or in rare cases, loose high explosive in flake form. The line would be ignited with a split end of time fuse or an electric squib tucked into an initial bag. > > That should pretty much over explain things. Thanks if you’re still with me. Now talk about shock tube 😂 ---
**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 27, 2023, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2535 "2023-02-27T00:08:44Z")
FYI, this is a baguette: [![](https://www.panesco.com/getmetafile/17d1a473-5b86-4fbb-9803-7412ad7a2139/2104389.jpg.aspx) ](https://www.panesco.com/getmetafile/17d1a473-5b86-4fbb-9803-7412ad7a2139/2104389.jpg.aspx) This is a banquette: [![](https://hgtvhome.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/hgtv/fullset/2013/7/31/1/HBRVB104_team-drew-kitchen-after2_v.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.616.822.suffix/1400981152949.jpeg) ](https://hgtvhome.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/hgtv/fullset/2013/7/31/1/HBRVB104_team-drew-kitchen-after2_v.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.616.822.suffix/1400981152949.jpeg) The most non-ISO set of groceries I can think of was mentioned in an episode of _ **Lou Grant** _: a container of yogurt and a six-pack of root beer. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2536 "2023-02-27T04:35:12Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > FWIW, nicotine has a history as a pesticide. A horticulturist friend who ran a university greenhouse (Faculty of Botany), was always smoking in the greenhouse. When I asked why, he replied that the nicotine kept the pests away. Must have worked, there were very few plant pests in that greenhouse. ---
**Author:** ![fordgt100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fordgt100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fordgt100)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2537 "2023-02-27T04:39:22Z")
Happy endings. We know how real life ends, it probably won’t be a happy moment. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2538 "2023-02-27T07:44:10Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > FYI, this is a baguette: Thread mashup: Oh, normal mustard wasn’t good enough for terentii, he had to have dijon mustard. ---
**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 27, 2023, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2539 "2023-02-27T07:52:06Z")
Actually, I prefer English to Dijon. 🙂 [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ288_Z-6imV2Y3E9FkfEC5pxUzC8L7s4hqiA&usqp=CAU) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ288_Z-6imV2Y3E9FkfEC5pxUzC8L7s4hqiA&usqp=CAU) ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2540 "2023-02-27T08:16:23Z")
I think clever, snappy _dialogue_ in general is something rarely seen in real life. People can’t really construct witty retorts quickly and constantly the way fictional characters do. But, realistic dialogue would make for a dull story, so we accept it. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2023, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2541 "2023-02-27T12:22:26Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > smoking in the greenhouse. When I asked why, he replied that the nicotine kept the pests away. A friend who has a nursery business doesn’t allow smoking on site due to concerns over [tobacco mosaic virus.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_mosaic_virus) [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=126) [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=128)