# What unlikely source educated you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 4, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unlikely-source-educated-you/258350 "2004-08-04T21:27:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unlikely-source-educated-you/258350/41 "2004-08-10T00:08:40Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Reader’s Digest exposed me to a better vocabulary and knowing to always pack a flare gun incase my car carreens off the road, into a ditch and just out of sight of passer byers where I am left alone, trapped and in inclement conditions for days. > > Nothing like Drama in Real Life to make you a little paranoid. Yeah, no kidding. My parents subscribed to _RD_ for years, and I always did the vocabulary quiz and never missed the Drama in Real Life feature. As for the OP: I learned that SCUBA stands for **S** elf- **C** ontained **U** nderwater **B** reathing **A** pparatus from an episode of _Family Ties_. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unlikely-source-educated-you/258350/42 "2004-08-10T00:26:32Z")
Maybe this is a more obvious source, but I learned alot from **Schoolhouse Rock** : The Preamble to the Constitution The correct usage of adverbs and interjections… What happens to a bill on Capitol Hill… The function of conjunctions …and many more!!! ---
**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:** [August 10, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unlikely-source-educated-you/258350/43 "2004-08-10T00:29:38Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Yeah, no kidding. My parents subscribed to _RD_ for years, and I always did the vocabulary quiz and never missed the Drama in Real Life feature. > As for the OP: > I learned that SCUBA stands for **S** elf- **C** ontained **U** nderwater **B** reathing **A** pparatus from an episode of _Family Ties_. My Mom would buy me a comic book if I got 90% right on the vocab quiz, 2 if 100% correct. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unlikely-source-educated-you/258350/44 "2004-08-10T15:05:06Z")
When I was a kid, I learned the state capitals and the presidents from Animaniacs (I also memorized that entire damned countries of the world song). They stuck with me long enough to be a huge help in 10th grade US history. Once I stopped watching _Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?_ I lost all concept of world geography. Naval ranks from Star Trek, like **Aesiron** said. Most of what I know about 80s and 90s pop culture and music comes from “Weird Al” Yankovic. I learned what prostitution was from _Les Misérables_ (I was ten, and my mom enlightened me before taking me to see the show.) ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unlikely-source-educated-you/258350/45 "2004-08-10T16:33:00Z")
Marvel Comics taught me such words as temerity, insouciance, and my favorite, microencephalic. Their villains tended to be wordy and long-winded. ---
**Author:** ![Bimble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@Bimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bimble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unlikely-source-educated-you/258350/46 "2004-08-11T10:33:12Z")
Should the situation ever arise (in London) where I needed it, I now know how to wrestle crocodiles into submission from watching WAY too much “Crocodile Hunter” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unlikely-source-educated-you/258350.md?page=2)