# What's the dumbest question you've ever been asked? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 3, 2017, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054 "2017-06-03T23:16:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/201 "2017-06-08T10:50:22Z")
“Was that good ?” ---
**Author:** ![Drummond\_Bays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@Drummond\_Bays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drummond_Bays)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/202 "2017-06-08T10:55:06Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Not quite. > [ul] > [li]the sum of any number of even numbers is always even.[/li][li]the sum of one or more even numbers plus an odd number will be odd[/li][li]the sum of two odd numbers will be even: it takes an odd number of odd numbers to get an odd sum[/li][li]multiplying odd numbers together gives you an odd product, but let one even number get in there and it will be even[/li][/ul] Exactly, add two odds, get an even. Add another odd, back to odd. Add evens forever, only evens. You’re thinking at least 14 years ahead 😛 ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/203 "2017-06-08T18:07:16Z")
**Some Context:** A guy once asked me where he could get something to eat. Now keep in mind this wasn’t a bum looking for a handout, nor a foreign tourist who didn’t know our strange American ways. This was a well-dressed, older gentleman with a Midwestern accent, who asked where he could eat a meal. Within eyesight of us both were a McDonald’s, a Long John Silver’s, a Red Lobster, an Arby’s, and a Cici’s Pizza. Somehow he didn’t know that those places all served food. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/204 "2017-06-08T18:10:11Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > At my high school, a student moved in from South Africa, and the counselor put her into remedial English, because she was from Africa-- they don’t speak English there, right? That reminds me - Orange County Public Schools required me to take the ESOL test in my first month of US high school because I came from another country (the UK!). Though I think it may have been because I said there was another language spoken at home (even though it wasn’t the primary language in our home and I made it clear that I didn’t even speak it). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/205 "2017-06-08T18:27:25Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That reminds me - Orange County Public Schools required me to take the ESOL test in my first month of US high school because I came from another country (the UK!). Though I think it may have been because I said there was another language spoken at home (even though it wasn’t the primary language in our home and I made it clear that I didn’t even speak it). Was the grading scale A, B, C, _Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off_? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/206 "2017-06-08T19:05:58Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I was walking around E 57th and 7th and someone asked me “How do I get to Carnegie Hall from here?” > > “Practice” East 57th Street is nowhere near 7th Avenue. Carnegie Hall is on WEST 57th and 7th. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/207 "2017-06-08T19:08:43Z")
Guy: “What’s tomorrow’s date?” Me: “Well, today’s the 10th.” Guy: “Nah, man, what’s \*tomorrow’s \*date?” Me: “Umm. It’s, uhh, the 11th.” Guy: “Thanks” The guy asking was a local celebrity college basketball player, so a lot of people I went to school with know who it is. Built like a linebacker, 6’6" 250lbs, and I didn’t know him personally, so I was too nervous to mess with him. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/208 "2017-06-08T19:14:41Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > East 57th Street is nowhere near 7th Avenue. Carnegie Hall is on WEST 57th and 7th. I thought that was the joke. Nevermind. I get it now. ---
**Author:** ![Unabashed\_Fascist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c2a13f/32.png) [@Unabashed\_Fascist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unabashed_Fascist)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/209 "2017-06-08T19:26:00Z")
I was speaking to a friend of mine about computers; we were on the subject of cooling mechanisms, like heat-sinks and fans. I mentioned occasionally the transistors in computers give off so much heat that liquid nitrogen cooling is required. He asked, “Is there any such thing as liquid nitrogen gas? What’s that called?”. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/210 "2017-06-08T19:36:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For instance, if I were asked “how big is a 16” pizza?", my answer would have been something like “About enough for four people”, since that’s probably what the questioner meant. Well, now that’s just a dumb answer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/211 "2017-06-08T19:45:34Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > East 57th Street is nowhere near 7th Avenue. Carnegie Hall is on WEST 57th and 7th. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I thought that was the joke. Nevermind. I get it now. I don’t get it. I mean, I get the original joke. Why does it matter where you are geographically, the joke works anywhere, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/212 "2017-06-08T19:48:24Z")
> [@Unabashed\_Fascist](#): > > He asked, “Is there any such thing as liquid nitrogen gas? What’s that called?”. Is it so outlandish that the liquid state of something might have a common name that’s different? Ok, I’ll stop being a curmudgeon. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/213 "2017-06-08T19:50:29Z")
> [@Annoying\_Buzz](#): > > Are you a Sagittarius? > > Stupid, because it was her 14th guess. _Typical_ Sagittarius, exaggerating. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/214 "2017-06-08T20:04:33Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > When people find out that I’m color-blind, they often ask me, _so, how do you tell whether it’s a red light or a green light?_ Which puts me in a bind. > > See, if I silently respond with an “oh, come on” stare, then the answer of course soon dawns on them; but that’s _insulting_. But if I crisply state that one is on top and one is on the bottom, well, they’d of course take _that_ as an insult likewise. Look just be careful [where you go in Syracuse, alright?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipperary_Hill#Green_over_red) ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/215 "2017-06-08T20:14:58Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I just remembered this one: > > I was watching the news when the Aurora Borealis was going to be visible. After interviewing an astronomer, and referring to the phenomenon several times as the “Northern Lights,” the interviewer asked if there was any particular direction we should look to see them best. > > The astronomer said, “Well…North…” That is a reasonable question, and this answer is wrong. Northern lights are called that because it’s visible at higher latitudes (far north). But it can be visible in any part of the sky. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/216 "2017-06-08T21:30:21Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Was the grading scale A, B, C, _Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off_? _snerk_ The whole thing was bizarre. The teacher administering the test (“Mrs. Rivera”) barely spoke English herself, and the test was so basic that I can’t imagine how it could have been used to measure a high school level of English fluency. The first question consisted of a comic-style image of a boy sitting on some steps, and asked, “where is the boy?” It then gave three _multiple choice_ answer options (“the boy is on the steps,” “the boy is in a bus,” etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/217 "2017-06-08T21:34:56Z")
Not sure if this meets the thread criteria, but it’s not uncommon, when someone says “The world is overpopulated,” to be met with the retort, “Well then why don’t you commit suicide, then?” ---
**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:** [June 8, 2017, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/218 "2017-06-08T21:39:42Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > That is a reasonable question, and this answer is wrong. Northern lights are called that because it’s visible at higher latitudes (far north). But it can be visible in any part of the sky. Don’t know what to tell you then-- they guy was an astronomer, and we did, in fact, face north to see them. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/219 "2017-06-08T21:57:26Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > That is a reasonable question, and this answer is wrong. Northern lights are called that because it’s visible at higher latitudes (far north). But it can be visible in any part of the sky. They are called that because they occur at the poles - the northern lights (aurora borealis) at the North Pole, and the southern lights (aurora australis) at the South. They are _theoretically_ visible in any part of the _world_, but not in any part of the _sky_. In practice they are not visible from inside the tropics regardless of which direction you look (though there are disputed claims that the southern lights have been seen a few degrees from the Equator). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054/220 "2017-06-08T22:22:13Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > They are called that because they occur at the poles - the northern lights (aurora borealis) at the North Pole, and the southern lights (aurora australis) at the South. They are _theoretically_ visible in any part of the _world_, but not in any part of the _sky_. In practice they are not visible from inside the tropics regardless of which direction you look (though there are disputed claims that the southern lights have been seen a few degrees from the Equator). I’m no expert, but from these images, and many more that you can see by googling “aurora from space”, it seems clear that they do not just occur around the poles. It’s hard to see exactly where they are on the dark globe, but some have city lights below. > **[Stunning Aurora from Space - NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/stunning-aurora-from-space/)** > > This still shows a view of a stunning aurora captured from the International Space Station. cool video too: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PBJAR3-UvSQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Stunning Aurora Borealis from Space in Ultra-High Definition (4K)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBJAR3-UvSQ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-dumbest-question-youve-ever-been-asked/788054.md?page=12)