# You never knew they existed. Somebody told you. Now they're everywhere! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 14, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529 "2005-09-14T01:36:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/21 "2005-09-14T11:18:13Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > In the mid-'80s, an old friend took me to an Italian restaurant in London, Ontario, where we had a new thing called panzerotti. It was a pizza, folded in half and deep-fried or baked. It was the only place you could get one. Nowadays they’re everywhere you go, only now they’re called calzones. I hate to tell you but calzones pre-date your panzerottis. My friend and I ate one every time we went to the mall back in the 70’s. ---
**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:** [September 14, 2005, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/22 "2005-09-14T11:22:35Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > By the way, as a projectionist, did you amuse yourself by splicing single frames of pronography into family films? No, but I did have a handful of relatively ancient trailers kicking around. It was not unheard of for a light audience on a slow night to see a trailer for “Rambo: First Blood Part II coming in May 1985” amid the standard previews. I also had a CD of sound effects that I would occasionally pipe into a theater (e.g. a loud toilet flush). ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/23 "2005-09-14T11:32:11Z")
Besides Lost Gloves brought to me by **Mangetout** I’ve noticed **Lost Shoes**. I think there is a conspiracy or something. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/24 "2005-09-14T11:34:24Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Bad kerning. I tell you, it’s everywhere!!! > > If you don’t know what kerning is, don’t find out. You’ll start seeing bad examples of it wherever you look, and there’s no turning back. Please tell me what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/25 "2005-09-14T12:33:47Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Please tell me what it is. Kerning is essentally proper typesetting; allowing lower-case characters to nestle in under overhanging parts of taller ones, so badly kerned text would have the o in ‘Tom’ aligned starting at the right-hand end of the top bar of the T; proper kerning would allow the curved side of the o to tuck in a little underneath the top bar of the T - if it’s done really badly, it can make one word look like several. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/26 "2005-09-14T12:37:36Z")
Oops, it’s probably worth mentioning that bad kerning can go the other way too; cramping characters together when they needed a bit more space - it can also be manifest as ‘joined-up’ handwriting fonts not actually aligning properly at the joins. ---
**Author:** ![snorlax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@snorlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snorlax)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/27 "2005-09-14T12:43:49Z")
Since reading a book on film theory, I always spot clunky exposition. Exposition is a movie device to reveal backstory to explain characters’ motivations. In its worst form involves a minor character whose only purpose is to explain, in words, something which the filmmakers couldn’t be bothered to film. When I first heard about this I noticed it in “Double Jeopardy”. If I remember correctly, a woman wanders up to Ashley Judd, points to Tommy Lee Jones, and says something like “hey, isn’t that the guy who lost custody of his daughter after a DUI infraction? Yep, that’s him. He also lost his job and now he’s really disillusioned and runs a halfway house.” ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/28 "2005-09-14T12:45:26Z")
Previous threads on this subject (specifically the FedEx logo) [Things You’ve Never Noticed, and Now You Can’t Stop Noticing](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=263628) [An experiment: Tell me if you can see the arrow](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=289016) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/29 "2005-09-14T12:51:13Z")
> [@](#): > > In fourth grade my teacher told us the plural of “mongoose” was “mongooses” and not “mongeese”, because they weren’t geese. I had no idea what a mongoose was and had never seen either the animal or the word. I walked out of the classroom and there was a bicycle next to the door decked out with Mongoose brand accesories o.O IIRC, the plural is “mongoose”, just as the plural of “sheep” is “sheep” “Well, if you can have snakes, then I ought to be able to have mongeese. Or mongooses. Which is it?” “One Mongoose. Then you won’t have a problem.” "Yeah, but what is it’s pregnant and has mongoslings? Then we’re right back where we started.’ —semi-remembered from Fredric Brown’s “The Freak Show Murders”. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/30 "2005-09-14T12:52:05Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Movie reel change dots > Every twenty minutes or so in a film you will see a black dot in the upper-right corner. Ten seconds later you will see another. In the days of dual projector setups, this was to let the projectionist know that the reel was ending. Since all six (or seven) reels are spliced together these days, the dots really are only a curiosity. > > My three years as a projectionist brought these dots to my attention. I can’t watch a film without spotting them (as well as splices, cue tape, and other such stuff). I notice these ever since I saw _Fight Club_. In real life they don’t look much like the ones in that movie, though. You mean the dots have no function? Why do they survive? ---
**Author:** ![caligynephobia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7feea3/32.png) [@caligynephobia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligynephobia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/31 "2005-09-14T13:05:00Z")
I mainly notice this in the South and West: [flashing arrow signs](http://www.cotteradvertising.com/assets/portable_arrow_signs/ModelA7_400w.gif). They’re marketed as “signs no business can do without” and they are _everwhere_. I suspect its because they’re sold at Sam’s Club or one of those mega-Wal style stores. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/32 "2005-09-14T13:11:51Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Bad kerning. I tell you, it’s everywhere!!! Ain’t that the truth. Mine is poor registration. I didn’t notice it so much before I started working in the printing industry. Now I can’t ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/33 "2005-09-14T13:30:50Z")
My boss teased me about three months ago regarding ending my sentances with prepositions. Now, I see them everywhere. Whenever I’m reading a book, they stick out like sore thumbs. I mentally pounce on news anchors. I edit my sentances before I speak them. _I can’t stop noticing them!_ ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/34 "2005-09-14T13:31:14Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > I notice these ever since I saw _Fight Club_. In real life they don’t look much like the ones in that movie, though. You mean the dots have no function? Why do they survive? Same here, **Fight Club** was what did it for me. I never used to notice them all that much, now I sometimes find myself actively looking for them. I think that the ones I see in the cinema do look kinda like the ones they showed in the movie, but I haven’t watched it in a while so it may just be my faulty memory filling in the gaps. ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/35 "2005-09-14T13:37:14Z")
[Backflow preventers](http://www.accessfayetteville.org/utilities_and_cable_access/water_and_sewer_services/) (scroll to the last picture on the page.) They’re one of those ubiquitous but invisible pieces of infrastructure, but I work on them now and see them everywhere. Nobody else ever knows what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/36 "2005-09-14T13:38:46Z")
Kearning is only ever going to get worse, because it’s hard for cold type to do it right, and by now nobody cares anymore. (What I really miss is ligatures – it’s getting so that you don’t even see them in books anymore.) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/37 "2005-09-14T13:48:19Z")
Jews. I keed! I keed! ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/38 "2005-09-14T13:58:19Z")
Scratch off lottery tickets. In New York, anyway, there is a code underneath the scratched off part that reveals how much the ticket pays off. It’s usually a letter. If the letter is a Q, X or Z, you don’t have a winning ticket. This is a pain because often, the game on the ticket involves scratching off a bunch of spots (depending on the game) to reveal “lucky numbers” or whatever. If you come across one of the randomly floating letters, you know you’ve lost right there and then. The fun of the game is ruined. Of course, scratch offs aren’t that fun when you lose, are they? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/39 "2005-09-14T14:37:36Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > I notice these ever since I saw _Fight Club_. In real life they don’t look much like the ones in that movie, though. You mean the dots have no function? Why do they survive? Wild, speculative theory: the film has a life beyond the first-run theaters. Sometimes, colleges and the like will rent films after they’ve gone through their initial run, to have showings in the little auditoriums that dot campuses. These smaller theaters don’t have the huge “platter”-style setups that big theaters have, so they can’t splice the film all together. They use a system of two smaller projectors, with one 20-minute reel each. When one ends, they (seamlessly, if they’re good) switch off the first projector and start the second. Then, they rewind the finished reel, and set up the next reel on the free projector. So, the cigarette burns may still be useful to cue the projectionist in those cases. No one seems to mind if they’re on the film during the movie’s initial run. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529/40 "2005-09-14T14:56:41Z")
Wild parrots in cities. There was a movie about them in San Francisco, and now I’ve noticed them in two other cities. Well, that’s not _everywhere_, but it’s more than one would expect, I imagine. Normally I ignore bird sounds. Now I look up to see if they’re parrots. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-knew-they-existed-somebody-told-you-now-theyre-everywhere/321529.md?page=3)