favourite urban myths

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martinworswick

martinworswick

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i've just spent a couple of weeks at work listening to the roofer trying to assert urban myths as truths,its painful to listen to,theres a collective silent groan when he walks into the lunch room!,heres some of his best-

onions make you sick,

once you cut an onion it begins to turn poisonous,save it in the fridge and use it the next day and your asking for trouble,
i pointed out i normally cut up an onion on sunday night and have it on my sandwiches all week without ever getting sick didn't deter him!


eyes popping out of your head,

he worked with a guy who'd worked with a guy who stifled a sneeze and the pressure caused his eyes to pop out of his head,yep,just dangled there by his optic nerve looking at his feet.
the mocking laughter didn't knock his confidence in this story one little bit

there are others which i can't remember right now but i'll post them when i do,

so what are yours?:mug:
 
Oh man this guy sounds like my supervisor. He drives me crazy with his generalizations and speculations which he passes off as complete fact. At one point I thought about writing it all down and making a blog out of it -sort of something like the book, "$&#$ my dad says".
 
DrinksWellWithOthers said:
Oh man this guy sounds like my supervisor. He drives me crazy with his generalizations and speculations which he passes off as complete fact. At one point I thought about writing it all down and making a blog out of it -sort of something like the book, "$&#$ my dad says".
Click to expand...

its to the point now that everybody on site questions every word he says!
 
Oh, man. If I knew this were to come up, I would have started writing some stuff down. We had this new guy at work come up with ALL KINDS of crap. The only thing I can remember off the top of my head was "there are more English speaking people in Australia than there are in the UK". A quick google check proved that one wrong. But it seemed like EVERY DAY there was something new that this guy was trying to pass off as fact.

Shoulda kept a notebook.
 
I worked with a guy once that claimed Johnny Cochran almost represented his brother for some stupid crime like theft and that he backed out at the last minute so his brother is now doing time. This coming from a guy in his mid-twenties with no front teeth and works graveyard clean up at a sawmill in Philomath OR.
 
Alright well I was out washing my car today and I was thinking about this thread and some statements my supervisor makes. They might not all my urban myths, some are just incorrect, ignorant and sometimes offensive comments. So, on with the list...

"All wireless networks fail in any type of storm; that's why I hard wire everything".

"Microsoft purposely makes computers that are vulnerable to all types of virus attacks to make more money selling you stuff you don't need."

"All Irish are racist alcoholics." (Yeah, I'm Irish)

"All corporate employees make 300K a year and people who work in administration make about 100K a year. Everyone else makes minimum wage"

"People in the military have a hard time finding jobs because they're not as smart as everyone else; that's why they have to join the military." (He said this one to a mother of a son whose done 3 tours in Iraq)

"The only place to get reliable auto service is at the dealership."

"You can't turn on a computer, TV, etc if its connected to something else." (Ex: He thinks you'll ruin a DVD player if you turn on a TV while the DVD player is plugged into it)

"Heineken will get you drunker than any other beer; that stuff is like 10%"

"Black people wipe the color of them when drying off after a shower." (No ****, that's honestly what he said)

"Gay men want to have sex with all other men"


There's a lot more but lately I've been tuning him out when he talks...
 
There was a guy at the place I used to work who was ultra-conservative. I guess he was new to the interwebs. He would come in with all the latest facts from the "Letter" (Email) he had just received.

Obama is was a member of a Kenyan terrorist organization

There is an upper level of democrats with a secret tattoo that identifies them to each other.

911 was a Jewish plot that was hatched in Hollywood.

It was all really quite funny after I got over the trauma of my head exploding. I don't know what site he was visiting that sent him these emails. I couldn't find them on snopes.
 
I have heard that spelling favorite wrong will make it so all of your beer will get infected.
 
"Guinness is great, but you can only have one or two! That stuff is like a meal in a can!"

Tastes watery, and has half the calories of a lager. Bud is way more filling.

I work at a Starbucks in our school library, and I hear people say stuff like this all the time:

"I just got a quad mocha! I'm going to be up all night!"

A shot of espresso contains less caffeine than a SHOT of regular coffee. Anything else is just in your head.
 
rexbanner said:
"I just got a quad mocha! I'm going to be up all night!"

A shot of espresso contains less caffeine than a SHOT of regular coffee. Anything else is just in your head.
Click to expand...

Sorry, wrong... A shot of espresso does have less caffeine than a CUP of regular coffee, but it definitely has more caffeine per SHOT. A cup of brewed coffee is somewhere between 100 and 200 mg per 8 oz. cup depending on the type (200mg/8oz = 25mg/oz for a strong coffee). A shot of espresso is generally 50-75 mg per oz.

But in the end, that does mean that quad mocha only has about 200-300 mg of caffeine, or about the same as two cups of average coffee.
 
Best one I ever heard. Someone actually said this to me. Using copper pipe in your brewery will turn your beer green.
 
rsquared said:
Sorry, wrong... A shot of espresso does have less caffeine than a CUP of regular coffee, but it definitely has more caffeine per SHOT. A cup of brewed coffee is somewhere between 100 and 200 mg per 8 oz. cup depending on the type (200mg/8oz = 25mg/oz for a strong coffee). A shot of espresso is generally 50-75 mg per oz.

But in the end, that does mean that quad mocha only has about 200-300 mg of caffeine, or about the same as two cups of average coffee.
Click to expand...

We have a winner!!!!!!


Nothing like someone trying to counter a supposed myth with a "fact" that really is an urban myth.
 
"Glass is really a liquid that settles so slowly it takes hundreds of years to settle out"

This was always a favourite of mine. I always believed it, especially when I had a 400 year old house and saw that the panes were twice as thick at the bottom, and the tops were so thin that some even had tiny holes in them. They looked exactly like the panes were slowly running down.

The internet has since told me that it is because glass in those days was made by spinning it, and centrifugal force makes that effect. I was very disappointed when I found that out! :(
 
That's why the Blackeye was invented. Cup of coffee + 2 shots espresso :ban:

rsquared said:
Sorry, wrong... A shot of espresso does have less caffeine than a CUP of regular coffee, but it definitely has more caffeine per SHOT. A cup of brewed coffee is somewhere between 100 and 200 mg per 8 oz. cup depending on the type (200mg/8oz = 25mg/oz for a strong coffee). A shot of espresso is generally 50-75 mg per oz.

But in the end, that does mean that quad mocha only has about 200-300 mg of caffeine, or about the same as two cups of average coffee.
Click to expand...
 
My fiancee's sister has so many old wives tales, I think she was secretly raised by a pack of grandmas.

-cutting your hair makes it grow faster
-pulling on a dog's ears will make them stretch out
-she thinks she is addicted to caffeine because she drinks 1 coke a day


I'll have to talk to my fiancee, there are a TON more. Just can't think of all of them!
 
rsquared said:
Sorry, wrong... A shot of espresso does have less caffeine than a CUP of regular coffee, but it definitely has more caffeine per SHOT. A cup of brewed coffee is somewhere between 100 and 200 mg per 8 oz. cup depending on the type (200mg/8oz = 25mg/oz for a strong coffee). A shot of espresso is generally 50-75 mg per oz.

But in the end, that does mean that quad mocha only has about 200-300 mg of caffeine, or about the same as two cups of average coffee.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you're right. I was basing what I said off of a history channel program I saw that apparently was wrong. However, a quad mocha has about the same caffeine as a tall coffee (12 oz).

In any case, espresso roast does have less caffeine per volume than light roast. The darker the roast, the less caffeine.
 
rexbanner said:
In any case, espresso roast does have less caffeine per volume than light roast. The darker the roast, the less caffeine.
Click to expand...

Yea, I hate it when people say stuff like "I really like the dark roast, that stuff gets me wired!" Those are the same people who load their coffee with cream and sugar because its too bitter. Drink a lighter roast, and you get a more flavorful, less acrid cup which you don't need to disguise with sugar and cream!


I also hate that people associate "strong coffee" with bitter or nasty coffee. In a drip coffee maker, 2 scoops for 4 cups will yeild a more bitter coffee than say double that. Less grounds = more extraction = more bitter compounds are extracted. When I started making coffee at work, people were appalled at how much coffee I used. A week later, everyone is exclaiming how good the coffee is when I make it, and now I am "the coffee guy".
 
It seems that nearly everyone I know has a story of how someone they know got bit by a Brown Recluse spider up here in Michigan. What they don't know is that it's practically impossible for a Brown Recluse to survive up here. Much research online indicates that the ONLY bites recognized by spider experts as coming from a Brown Recluse, came from someone who had just moved from down south, or had furniture or some other item from down south. All other bites were purely speculation by doctors and EMTs. None of whom were qualified to identify the Brown Recluse (Which resembles more than a couple non-dangerous spiders in appearance), nor the necrosis associated with the bite (which could be caused by other things).

Those doctors and Emergency Personnel often use the Brown Recluse as an explanation for bites or injuries that heal poorly. Brown Recluse is very common in the south, yet cannot survive Michigan winters.
 
Edcculus said:
I also hate that people associate "strong coffee" with bitter or nasty coffee.
Click to expand...

It's no different than people who assume Guinness has a ton of calories, which goes on the board as my favorite urban myth. "Nah, bro! Guinness is a MEAL is a can..." Yeah, whatever.
 

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