# 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:** 249
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4989 "2025-05-17T20:09:33Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I’ve read a couple of English history books written in the 1950s that when quoting French people (and only French people) it would be entirely untranslated French for absolutely no reason. The reason was to show the educated people of "our class’ can read that- 🙄 just like putting latin in, like my Dad did for his Masters thesis (he knew his prof would like it). ---
**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:** [May 18, 2025, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4990 "2025-05-18T03:10:12Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > One might suppose someone would have published a translation guide specifically for restaurants. I commonly say I speak English – plus menu Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, and Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4991 "2025-05-18T09:43:58Z")
My brother learned enough Chinese characters to read newspaper headlines. Where he started though, was with his other main interest and exposure: Chinese restaurant menus, and enough spoken numbers to be able to order “#27” (or whatever) in Mandarin 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4992 "2025-05-18T11:57:22Z")
Yesterday I saw an episode of Columbo and he went into an auction. He made a gesture to his suspect and the auctioneer interpeted it as a bid. I don’t know if that happens in real life, but I’ve seen it before on TV shows. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4993 "2025-05-18T18:40:13Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I’ve read a couple of English history books written in the 1950s that when quoting French people (and only French people) it would be entirely untranslated French for absolutely no reason. Agatha Christie never translated any of the French in her novels, even when it was a paragraph, but she always translated other languages. I wondered about that. Josephine Tey did the same-- left French in her novels untranslated. Vera Brittain, who was a contemporary, albeit she wrote autobiography, also left French, but not other languages, untranslated in her books. Not to mention, that when I went to embassy school in _Moscow_ in the 1970s, to a school co-sponsored be the UK and US embassies, we had to study a language, and had the the choice between Russian (of course) and French (???)-- but if French was still compulsory in many UK schools, it made a lot more sense. I always wondered about it. Any British dopers old enough-- or who remember conversations with parents or grandparents old enough-- who can confirm that French was a required subject in schools, or at least so common, that people who grew up c. 1885 - 1975 could be expected to understand it? ---
**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:** [May 18, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4994 "2025-05-18T19:00:37Z")
I’ve heard, how accurately I don’t know, that at one point French was the default “international” language at least for Europeans. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2025, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4995 "2025-05-18T19:17:02Z")
^^ That was true, at least from the early 18th century until WWII, when English took over because of American influence/dominance. French was also the predominate language of diplomacy. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4996 "2025-05-18T19:48:38Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > Yesterday I saw an episode of Columbo and he went into an auction. He made a gesture to his suspect and the auctioneer interpeted it as a bid. I don’t know if that happens in real life, but I’ve seen it before on TV shows. Once when I was a kid, my parents dragged me to an estate sale/auction. I was so nervous about an accidental bid that I literally sat on my hands. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4997 "2025-05-18T20:49:18Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Any British dopers old enough-- or who remember conversations with parents or grandparents old enough-- who can confirm that French was a required subject in schools, or at least so common, that people who grew up c. 1885 - 1975 could be expected to understand it? This may help- > **[M. Thomas Kingsley (@mthomaskingsley) on Threads](https://www.threads.com/@mthomaskingsley/post/DHbQf4Tt2Xp/french-was-a-mandatory-subject-when-i-was-at-secondary-school-11-16-in-the-ukit-)** > > French was a mandatory subject when I was at secondary school (11-16) in the UK > > It was not well-taught, provided no real ability to converse in the language, and was largely regarded by most students as an absolute waste of time > > The... > **[Reddit - The heart of the internet](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/lew6jb/why_is_french_mandatory_in_british_schools_when/)** Or not. Anecdotes. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4998 "2025-05-18T21:40:11Z")
So French was the _lingua franca_? ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4999 "2025-05-18T22:11:51Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Any British dopers old enough-- or who remember conversations with parents or grandparents old enough-- who can confirm that French was a required subject in schools, or at least so common, that people who grew up c. 1885 - 1975 could be expected to understand it? At least one modern language has been a compulsory part of the secondary school curriculum for decades. Up to the late 90’s pretty much all schools offered French as the default language with other options available for advanced students. There’s been some diversification since then with more schools offering Spanish or mandarin as the default option now. But French is still the number 1 foreign language taught in the uk. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5000 "2025-05-19T05:34:26Z")
I thought that a compulsory foreign language in secondary school had been abandoned (sadly) a few years ago in the UK. I could be wrong. British people generally don’t do well with other languages. We are very lazy because everyone else speaks English. It should be taught much earlier but I think a lot of kids only start at secondary school i.e. at 11 years old. Anyway, just on French, I think it is still used as the main language in the Olympic Games? Everything at the ceremonies has to be read out in French and the native language of the host city? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5001 "2025-05-22T18:18:44Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Not to mention, that when I went to embassy school in _Moscow_ in the 1970s, to a school co-sponsored be the UK and US embassies, we had to study a language, and had the the choice between Russian (of course) and French (???)-- but if French was still compulsory in many UK schools, it made a lot more sense. My Russian professor said that in pre-revolutionary Russia, the upper classes all spoke French. Russian was for the peasants. > [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Anyway, just on French, I think it is still used as the main language in the Olympic Games? Everything at the ceremonies has to be read out in French and the native language of the host city? All the Olympics I’ve seen over the last 30 or 40 years make announcements in **three** languages: the host country language, French, and English. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5002 "2025-06-02T05:02:05Z")
Man accidentally loses his wedding ring. Proceeds to hide from his wife to cover this up. Wife suspects something is going on because of him now constantly hiding. Confronts him over it, sees he doesn’t have a wedding ring and immediately assumed he’s cheating. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2025, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5003 "2025-06-02T06:53:59Z")
I avoid that situation by wearing mine and my dad’s after he passed away. It had been just sitting on my desk when I tried it on. It fits real well on my pinkie next to my actual wedding ring. It looks a little weird since it’s mostly a plain 18K white gold band and mine is a 14K yellow band with some white gold features. But every time I see it, I smile and say “Hi Dad.” ---
**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:** [June 2, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5004 "2025-06-02T19:28:59Z")
Here’s two preposterous situations you’d never see in real life. Truck with a bomb is detonated on a highway bridge, a train of fuel tankcars just happened to be adjacent on the rail bridge. Both bridges knocked out for a considerable time. A bomb is detonated underneath a highway bridge bringing it down on a train passing below. Incredible timing, no? A bonus; drones erupt from parked trailers and destroy a significant portion of a nation’s nuclear triad. Comical, like science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5005 "2025-06-03T00:39:45Z")
For the drone stuff here’s what [fiction claimed would happe](https://youtu.be/7FwDMzIbZrg?si=GV1HmvVypqf3AZJe)n ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5006 "2025-06-03T15:09:35Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > My Russian professor said that in pre-revolutionary Russia, the upper classes all spoke French. Russian was for the peasants. There are long passages of _War and Peace_ that are written in untranslated French. Tolstoy could safely take it for granted that everyone likely to read the book would understand it. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5007 "2025-06-09T19:27:03Z")
Not only do extremely shadowy black ops government organizations exist they also have massive firefights in public spaces quite frequently and yet somehow the public isn’t the wiser. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5008 "2025-06-09T19:57:48Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Yeah, and the longer, the better. Not just to avoid getting bit, but one thing that I always found really silly and nonsensical about zombie fighting is, a person can kill zombies and get splattered in literally _gallons_ of zombie blood and gore, and never get infected. But one little bite that slightly breaks the skin and, inevitably…they’re a goner. > > This is true in most zombie shows/movies, but The Walking Dead is / was particularly egregious with that. One explanation I heard (not defending it or dissing it, just reporting) is that everybody in The Walking Dead is already infected with the zombie virus (this was actually confirmed at the end of season 1) so no matter how you die, unless your brain is destroyed you WILL be a zombie. So getting splashed with zombie-virus infected blood doesn’t kill you. The zombie _bite_ kills you because of all the _other_ pathogens happily breeding away in the zombie mouth. Once you’re dead from that the zombie virus activates and you stand up again (or crawl, or writhe around helplessly depending on how intact your body may or may not be). That’s also why if, say, your foot gets bitten and you get an immediate amputation at the thigh you might not die, because that eliminates the new infection before it can kill you. Well, I suppose it makes as much sense as anything else once you accept the dead walking. [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=248) [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=250)