MetaChat - AskMeCha: Things I've always wondered.

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29 August 2005

AskMeCha: Things I've always wondered. →[More:]I have questions -- too many questions for AskMe.

1) Phone numbers with more than 7 digits. Do the superfluous digits really matter?

2) In rural areas near where I live, each segment of telephone line (i.e., each length between two poles) has two v-shaped triangular metal things hanging from it. What are these, and what do they do?

3) On electric fans, why do the speeds go from Off --> High --> Medium --> Low (instead of low, medium, high)?

4) When I was a kid, we learned that *men* were supposed to take their hats off during the national anthem. Now that fashion is a bit more unisex (and women don't wear hat pins), are women supposed to remove their hats too?

5) What are the origins of "PWNED!" and "Mr. Spirit Foam"?

6) Why do so many restaurants use cilantro in so many dishes when it's such a love-it/hate-it food?

7) Why are water towers in different geographical areas shaped so differently? Is there a design reason, or is it just aesthetics?

8) Are there things you've always wondered about?

post by: mudpuppie at: 23:29 | 24 comments

1) yup, at least here, not counting areacodes of course...if you dial more than just the number it won't go thru.

3) i have a really old fan from the 40s that goes off, low, med, high.

5) Matt posted this ages ago, and i like bringing it up and teasing him about it, esp if he's being bitchy about one-link posts or silly posts or fun lightweight posts. : >

6) dunno, but it makes me gag.

8)tons!

posted by amberglow 29 August | 23:36

(1) Yes ... ten digits are necessary - since the first three are state "area codes" ... the next three "city codes" and the remaining four unique to the residence.

(3) Check out the Ask MetaFilter discussion regarding fan speeds.

(8) Yes ... I wonder why we have such assholes in prominent positions in Washington D.C. these days.

posted by jrun 29 August | 23:36

1. All phone numbers in Australia are 8 digits, plus a 2 digit area code. That probably doesn't help, but there it is.

2. Not sure, but they are probably to separate the lines so they don't touch in windy weather and cause short-circuits.

3. It's a conspiracy.

4. No. But then, when was the last time you saw someone (under 40 anyway), remove their hat for any reason other than to scratch their head?

5. No idea about "PWNED", but its origins are in l337 speak, I think. "Mr Spirit Foam".

6. See #3.

7. Because they are. No. Yes

8. Yes.

posted by dg 29 August | 23:38

(4) Nope, not yet - at least, not according to this particular self-proclaimed hat etiquette expert.

posted by yhbc 29 August | 23:44

(6) Because it's necessary for the dish! I couldn't imagine Thai food without it (I love it, by the way). If you don't like those sorts of flavours, don't order the dish, I guess. Why do so many dishes contain pork when there are so many jews / muslims out there?

Now my question - why are toilets designed so differently around the world? We all know about the German poo-shelf toilet. Here in Australia, our toilets are deep funnels, with just a little pool of water in the bottom. When I visited North America recently, I found your toilets are somewhere inbetween - a large pool of water that fills most of the bowl. What's that all about? Surely we all dump the same? Someone else has had the same thoughts.

posted by Jimbob 29 August | 23:44

I don't think we all dump the same--the diet is richer in some places than others (heavier maybe?) Or there's more water to waste? or something...

posted by amberglow 29 August | 23:51

Could different sewage systems have anything to do with it?

posted by mudpuppie 29 August | 23:52

5. The P key is right next to the O key. Simple as that.

posted by puke & cry 30 August | 00:01

pukey: thanks!

posted by mudpuppie 30 August | 00:06

1) No. And there's a reason for where the hyphen falls, too. In the US, the first three digits are (or generally are) the number of the exchange that you're connected to. It's not just a way of conveniently breaking up a 7 digit number. So "1-713-555-4444" means "line number 4444, connected to exchange number 555, in the 713 area code, in country-code '1' (Canada & the US)"

posted by bugbread 30 August | 00:14

yup--It's by neighborhood, or used to be (like PEnnsylvania6-5000, and BUtterfield8)

mine was Lyceum originally--59

posted by amberglow 30 August | 01:02

if i had the spare dosh, i'd dial old letter numbers to see who answered
i mailed to old places i knew and they had email i should answer
like they're the same emails after a year or anything anymore

posted by ethylene 30 August | 01:16

Hey, ethylene's back! Welcome.

posted by dg 30 August | 01:45

6) Cilantro is fucking disgusting, and it's a fad that started in about 1998.

posted by interrobang 30 August | 02:56

6) Cilantro is fucking disgusting, and it's a fad that started in about 1998.
posted by interrobang 30 August | 02:56

Heh, interrobang, cilantro/coriander use can traced back a few thousand years, at the very least, and has an extended history in Middle Eastern, Asian and Mexican cooking. Not so much a fad, I think; though, truly not for everyone.

posted by Frisbee Girl 30 August | 04:27

Cilantro is fucking disgusting, and it's a fad that started in about 1998.

I think you mean "The US discovered cilantro in 1998".

While I can understand, in principle, the concept of 'not liking the taste of cilantro', I can't really grok the inevitable results: 'not liking Vietnamese food', 'not liking Mexican food', and 'not liking Thai food'.

posted by bugbread 30 August | 06:39

1. Yes, superfluous (in America). It's just so a slogan will fit.
2. Those things are for wind control. They're aerodynamically designed to keep the wind from making the wire flop around too much. (My grandfather showed me exactly how they work, it's neat-o.)
3. I have no idea. I bet if we took one apart and examined the wiring, it would prove to be more convenient to wire it that way.
4. Yeah, sure. I mean, if you've got a man and a woman both wearing baseball caps, wouldn't it be weird if the lady didn't remove hers?
5. I don't know.
6. This is subjective. There's aren't that many dishes that use it when you want them to use it. And I think bugbread and FG are right.
7. It's probably aesthetics, and/or tradition... a style passed down from water tower builder to water tower builder.
8. Hell yes.

posted by Specklet 30 August | 13:13

1) They just let your fingers walk a little further, that's all.
2) Antennae.
3) My electric fan is either plugged in, or unplugged.
4) Ball caps/service lids off, ladies (churchy) hats on.
5) PWNED!
6) Like it or not, they won't divulge the secret recipe.
7) It gives many engineering grads their first job.
8) I wonder if I could just... if you would hold still a minute... perfect! Thanks.

posted by Hugh Janus 30 August | 13:42

Well, not always, but since I lived here and have been attending baseball games where "God bless America" is played in the 7th inning stretch, I have wondered why people stand for it. It's not the national anthem!

posted by gaspode 30 August | 14:00

I hate God Bless America. It's insipid, and it's a lame song, and, and, and. Dammit! It sucks! It's not the national anthem and it never will be (well, maybe over my dead body, but I won't care then).

Fuck God Bless America!

The only thing that should be played during the seventh inning stretch of a baseball game is John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy."

posted by Hugh Janus 30 August | 14:15

6) Cilantro is fucking disgusting, and it's a fad that started in about 1998.

Cilantro is used a lot in mexican cooking, and I love it. I've eaten it by itself, actually. Yummy. Bunnies love it, too.

posted by puke & cry 30 August | 16:51

The only thing that should be played during the seventh inning stretch of a baseball game is John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy."

Goes without saying. Go O's!

erm, and any other team that plays it

posted by gaspode 31 August | 10:07

Well thanks, now I know what cilantro is! (It was one of those Americanisms I could never summon the energy to translate.)

I didn't know coriander was a love it/hate it flavour, though. I mean, who doesn't like Thai food?

posted by jack_mo 31 August | 10:28

jack_mo, in America, coriander is the powdered dried seeds of the plant, and cilantro is the fresh leaf.

posted by Specklet 31 August | 12:17

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