Things you're shocked people don't know
- Thread starter Jadzia
- Start date
This isn't that shocking, is it? How many people encounter analog clocks in their daily lives? The clocks in my classrooms are even digital!
Actually, I was awful at learning to tell time back when I was little, and my parents had to get a special clock and it took me much, much longer than all my classmates to learn.
People who don't know how to tie shoelaces. I was beaten as a small child until I showed I had learnt how to do such things for myself.
First of all, beaten? If true, that's horrible and I'm sorry you had to go through it. Most of us have not had that experience though, and I definitely failed at tying my shoelaces in school. It was actually a category on my report card, and I had failed it!
I would also like to include fission and fusion. Most people I talk to have no idea which is which.You would think, with all the atom bomb hysteria in the 50's and 60's, that folks would have a better understanding of basic nuclear reactions.
[Stewie]Absolutely, and the dullards haven't even the faintest notion of the basics of tensor calculus and complex analysis.[/Stewie]
You are correct, it is a poem. I had actually meant to tye story; however, I tend to use both "story" and "novel" interchangeably, which I should not.
As far as the word malum, the sources I reviewed state that the Latin translation is - evil, misfortune, misdeed, crime, injury, damage
Don't see where "apple" came into use.The college where I currently attend class, the clocks are all analog. At work, every clock on the wall is analog. I find using a digital clock to be a PITA because I have to perform mental gymnastics in order to determine how much time I may have for a specific task.
This isn't that shocking, is it? How many people encounter analog clocks in their daily lives? The clocks in my classrooms are even digital!
Actually, I was awful at learning to tell time back when I was little, and my parents had to get a special clock and it took me much, much longer than all my classmates to learn.
People who don't know how to tie shoelaces. I was beaten as a small child until I showed I had learnt how to do such things for myself.
First of all, beaten? If true, that's horrible and I'm sorry you had to go through it. Most of us have not had that experience though, and I definitely failed at tying my shoelaces in school. It was actually a category on my report card, and I had failed it!
I was 4 years old and a day pupil at what described itself as a school, although it was more like an institution for ritual child abuse. I was also beaten until I could tell the time correctly using an analogue clock. Heaven knows what the punishment was for real misdemeanours.
Rii
Rear Admiral
I would also like to include fission and fusion. Most people I talk to have no idea which is which.
I recently gave a presentation on global governance as relating to nuclear proliferation to a bunch of international politics students. At the conclusion of the presentation I offered a short quiz. I fully expected "don't know" to be the answer from most students to most of the questions - they were intended largely to provoke interest in specific areas folks might wish to explore - yet I was still caught off guard by the near-zero hit rate. The questions were as follows:
1. Of the five legitimate (as considered under the Non-Proliferation Treaty) nuclear-weapons states, which is the only state to maintain a policy of "no first use"? (China)
2. Which well known symbol originated as the symbol for the UK-based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament? (☮)
3. Which ostensibly non-nuclear-weapon state hosts more nuclear weapons than are possessed by Pakistan? (Germany or Turkey)
4. Which nation disrupted an international security treaty in the 1980s by banning nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered vessels from its ports? (New Zealand)
5. Which is the only nation to have first developed, and then divested itself of nuclear weapons? (South Africa)
6. In 2008 the Nuclear Suppliers Group issued an export waiver for which non-signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty? (India)
I only knew the answer to #3 there too.
I though SA was never confirmed to have actually developed nukes.
I though SA was never confirmed to have actually developed nukes.
[Rii]^You should edit to show the answers as spoilers -just to make it a little interesting for us poor sobs that didn't know the answers to all of those!
You are correct, it is a poem. I had actually meant to tye story; however, I tend to use both "story" and "novel" interchangeably, which I should not.
As far as the word malum, the sources I reviewed state that the Latin translation is - evil, misfortune, misdeed, crime, injury, damage
Latin's like that. Malum means "apple tree" and "wicked act", malus means "apple" and "evil".
There's also this Latin quote "Malo malo malo malo malo malo malo, quam dente vento occurrere" -- "I would rather meet with a bad apple, with a bad tooth, than a bad mast with a bad wind", "Malo malo malo malo" which can be rendered as "I would rather be in an apple tree than a wicked man in adversity", and "Mala mali malo mala contulit omnia mundo" -- "Man's jaw and an apple brought all evils into the world."
ETA: Oh, I forgot -- malum also means "Fuck!" in Latin.
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You are correct, it is a poem. I had actually meant to tye story; however, I tend to use both "story" and "novel" interchangeably, which I should not.
As far as the word malum, the sources I reviewed state that the Latin translation is - evil, misfortune, misdeed, crime, injury, damage
Latin's like that. Malus also means "apple".
There's also this Latin quote "Malo malo malo malo malo malo malo, quam dente vento occurrere" -- "I would rather meet with a bad apple, with a bad tooth, than a bad mast with a bad wind", "Malo malo malo malo" which can be rendered as "I would rather be in an apple tree than a wicked man in adversity", and "Mala mali malo mala contulit omnia mundo" -- "Man's jaw and an apple brought all evils into the world."
Is the above ancient Latin, or Medieval Latin? When I studied Latin in high school (1980's), it was three years of "proper" Latin, with the fourth year being Medieval Latin, which was basically "anything goes" as far as grammar and syntax.
I don't know, I would think that's pretty shocking. I mean, analog clocks are all around us, almost everywhere we go. Of course there are a lot of digital clocks as well. I actually much prefer analog clocks as I get a better sense of the time in relation to other points on the clock...like if something will take 10 minutes, you can actually see how big that chunk of time is within an hour. It makes time easier to visualize and therefore easier to manage and follow. A digital clock is just numbers on a screen, which tells me the current time but not how that time fits into the big picture.
My 30 year old coworker has never heard of Chernobyl or the U.S.S.R. I had to explain them to her. She didn't know Russia was in Asia and asked me why, if Russia is in Asia, Russians don't speak Chinese. .
.
Well, to be fair, it's also in Europe. 
But yeah, that's pretty shocking.
But yeah, that's pretty shocking.
A
Amaris
Guest
My 30 year old coworker has never heard of Chernobyl or the U.S.S.R. I had to explain them to her. She didn't know Russia was in Asia and asked me why, if Russia is in Asia, Russians don't speak Chinese.
Heaven help us all!
If anyone is familiar with the Jeff Foxworthy joke about hawaiian money, I can say that I have an Uncle who thought something similar. In an effort to support Sarah Palin during the Presidential campaign, my Uncle asked how much it would cost to send them $5 in Alaskan money. He also thought Alaska was where you find Washington state. I kid you not.
My 30 year old coworker has never heard of Chernobyl or the U.S.S.R. I had to explain them to her. She didn't know Russia was in Asia and asked me why, if Russia is in Asia, Russians don't speak Chinese.
On that topic, many people also don't know, that not only is a large part of Russia in Europe, but Russia is also by far the largest the largest country in Europe; the European part of Russia is more than 6.5x as large as the next largest one (it's also the largest European country by population).
Well, to be fair, it's also in Europe.
I'm also well aware it's in Europe *and* Asia. For simplicity's sake (and you need lots of it with this girl), I told her it was in Asia. She thought Russia was in North America, because if Sarah Palin could 'see' it from Alaska, that means it had to be in North America, because Alaska is North America. Asia is too fffaaarrrr away and Russians don't look like Chinese people!
Yeah, working with her is hell on earth.
Why would you expect the average person to know this?
The title of the thread states: "Things you're shocked people don't know".
Right, so why would you be shocked that people don't know that?
If you type what con into google the first thing google suggests is what continent is Russia in.Well, to be fair, it's also in Europe.
I'm also well aware it's in Europe *and* Asia. For simplicity's sake (and you need lots of it with this girl), I told her it was in Asia. She thought Russia was in North America, because if Sarah Palin could 'see' it from Alaska, that means it had to be in North America, because Alaska is North America. Asia is too fffaaarrrr away and Russians don't look like Chinese people!
Yeah, working with her is hell on earth.
So i guess their are a lot of people who are unsure.
