# When titles disappoint **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055 "2023-07-15T02:06:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2023, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/21 "2023-07-16T19:21:53Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I don’t know why, but when I heard there was a movie called _Gleaming the Cube_ I expected some SF/ Fantasy epic. Turns out it’s a skateboard term. Huh. I thought I remembered seeing that that movie (which I never watched) was about pool players, and the term referred to that cube you sometimes see people in TV/movie rub on top of a pool stick. [https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pool-Cue-TIP-Maintenance-Lightweight-Spike-Tool-Shape-Snooker-Accessories-Tapper/833681705](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pool-Cue-TIP-Maintenance-Lightweight-Spike-Tool-Shape-Snooker-Accessories-Tapper/833681705) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/22 "2023-07-16T19:27:29Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I remember reading about some elderly women who were on vacation in the late 1970s, and were disappointed to find out that the Fabulous Poodles were a new wave band, not a dog show. There was a comedy/folk band based in Madison, WI, called “Free Hot Lunch!” The story goes that they appeared at the Summerfest music festival in Milwaukee back in the 1980s, in an afternoon time slot, and apparently a bunch of attendees, who saw the listing in the schedule, were disappointed to discover that it was just some band performing stage, and _not_ a free hot lunch being served. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/23 "2023-07-16T19:29:19Z")
Re: Gleaming the Cube: From Wikipedia: A term meaning “pushing your limits to the edge”. So it could be applied to anything. Apparently one of the characters says it in the movie. The movie’s about skateboarding BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/24 "2023-07-16T19:31:36Z")
I just googled movies about pool hustlers, and it turns out that _The Color of Money_ is the pool movie I was thinking of that I knew only from a title that doesn’t sound like a pool movie. ---
**Author:** ![Guapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@Guapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guapo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/25 "2023-07-17T14:52:05Z")
when I was younger I pucked up a book called “Bat Boy of the Giants” which sounded like it would a mythological adventure story. Turns out it was about baseball. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/26 "2023-07-17T16:21:12Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > > > I remember reading about some elderly women who were on vacation in the late 1970s, and were disappointed to find out that the Fabulous Poodles were a new wave band, not a dog show. > > There was a comedy/folk band based in Madison, WI, called “Free Hot Lunch!” The story goes that they appeared at the Summerfest music festival in Milwaukee back in the 1980s, in an afternoon time slot, and apparently a bunch of attendees, who saw the listing in the schedule, were disappointed to discover that it was just some band performing stage, and _not_ a free hot lunch being served. There was a band in the early 70s by the name of “Free Beer.” They were a bar band. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/27 "2023-07-17T16:47:33Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And a later episode where Homer complains that _To Kill A Mockingbird_ taught him nothing about how to commit avicide. Some years back I was lamenting to my boss about how a mockingbird had taken up residence outside my bedroom window and would start his whole repertoire at fifteen minutes after midnight every night. He immediately replied “You know there’s a book about that, don’t you?” For those who have never heard a mockingbird, they imitate several dozen bird calls, and having one right out the window is like hearing sixty or seventy different bird species on shuffle. Unbearable. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/28 "2023-07-17T18:35:56Z")
Maybe not precisely what the OP is looking for, but … long before the internet, my high school English teachers gave us a list of suggested books to read over the summer, carefully typed out by the school secretaries on their old manual typewriters. There was a typo in one of the titles, and so it was spelled, “Bang the Frum Slowly.” Not realizing this was a typo, I spent the summer wondering what exotic instrument a “Frum” was. I did eventually find the book and realized, to my disappointment, that it was only a drum. The postscript to this incident is that after the summer was over and we returned to school, I shared an English class with our eventual valedictorian, a very smart girl who was quite the know-it-all. For some reason the teacher made reference to “Bang the Drum Slowly” and she spoke up, saying with great confidence, “You’ve got it wrong. The name of the book is 'Bang the _Frum_ Slowly.” Much laughter ensued. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/29 "2023-07-17T19:01:54Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > _The Man with the Golden Arm_ wasn’t literal. I suspect _The Man with the Golden Gun_ is right up your alley. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/30 "2023-07-17T19:17:39Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I wasn’t disappointed, exactly - it turned out to be a wonderful book - but I completely misunderstood the title **The Unbearable Lightness of Being.** I thought it referred to the state of being so joyous you almost can’t stand it. (Spoiler alert: the book is decidedly _not_ about that.) [Reads synopsis online of the film] Am I getting this confused with a Steve Martin movie where he has chronic amnesia? Huh, got it confused with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which given the structure of the titles in question isn’t too surprising I guess. And Jim Carrey = Steve Martin natch… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/31 "2023-07-17T21:24:58Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > There was a typo in one of the titles, and so it was spelled, “Bang the Frum Slowly.” > > Not realizing this was a typo, I spent the summer wondering what exotic instrument a “Frum” was. In the modern day you, of course, would turn to Google. The top Google images hits for “Frum” reveals a number of things you probably would not want to bang slowly… ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/32 "2023-07-17T23:32:11Z")
[Ducks: How to make them pay.](https://9gag.com/gag/avA9Qmq) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/33 "2023-07-18T00:05:58Z")
[Tooth and Nail: A Novel Approach to the New SAT](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/328020.Tooth_and_Nail) It’s just a mystery novel designed to teach students vocabulary words. I was expecting some kind of high-intensity training regimen where you spent six hours a day chanting analogies while standing on one leg. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/34 "2023-07-18T01:29:20Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > In the modern day you, of course, would turn to Google. The top Google images hits for “Frum” reveals a number of things you probably would not want to bang slowly… What about banging them quickly? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/35 "2023-07-18T02:01:58Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > > In the modern day you, of course, would turn to Google. The top Google images hits for “Frum” reveals a number of things you probably would not want to bang sIowly… > > What about banging them quickly? [![](https://www.americanacademy.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Frum-David.jpg) ](https://www.americanacademy.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Frum-David.jpg) You tell me. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/36 "2023-07-18T02:15:03Z")
Wow. I thought we had a two-click rule about NSFW content. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/37 "2023-07-20T01:52:20Z")
In his book “Cruel Shoes”, Steve Martin included an ultra-short story called “Sex Crazed Love Goddesses.” It’s not about any of those things, and is G-rated. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/38 "2023-07-20T19:37:24Z")
_Everything you wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask_ has adult humor but I still don’t know the answers to my questions. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/39 "2023-07-20T19:59:53Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Penn and Teller Get Killed Been forever since I’ve seen this, but wasn’t the title on this one 100% accurate? I remember the movie ending with them both dead in a murder-suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-titles-disappoint/987055/40 "2023-07-20T20:01:58Z")
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