Common knowledge things you learned late

GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Dave said:
There's a bar/restaurant near here called Quaker Steak & Lube. I always thought it was an auto parts store.
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I'm pretty sure they did that on purpose, it's a chain, and the inside is usually mocked up to look like an oil change garage.



There's another place around here called Harvey Washbangers. That's confusing on a number of levels, because it sounds like a bar because of the Harvey Wallbanger pun, but it's not a bar, it's a Restaurant that serves really good non-standard burgers. Oh, and yes, double whiplash from "that must be a laundromat" "well, it's a restaurant" "Oh" "and it's also a laundromat." "Wha?"

So yeah, it's a combined restaurant/laundromat.



 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Well that's just stupid. There's no way I'd see the name and think, "Huh. Guess I want to EAT there."
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Dave said:
Well that's just stupid. There's no way I'd see the name and think, "Huh. Guess I want to EAT there."
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Which, Quaker Steak and Lube or Harvey Washbangers? :D

Heh, as for the latter, well, you're not a dorm-dwelling college student with a huge sack of dirty clothes and an empty belly :p They must be doing SOMETHING right because it's outlasted a dozen other restaurants in the area over the last 15 years or so.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

This probably doesn't fall under common knowledge, but two things blew my mind when I first moved to Toronto.

For one, I didn't feel like cooking for the first few days after I'd arrived. Too much shit to unpack. So I figured I'd order my usual from a local pizza place: a medium pizza and medium garlic fingers. I called over half a dozen different pizza joints. None of them had a clue what I was talking about. They thought I confused garlic fingers with garlic bread or garlic sticks. After some short googling, I discovered garlic fingers, like donairs, is strictly an east coast thing. I was a little heartbroken.

Then, I experienced my first major Toronto snowstorm. But while I watched the snow fall from my window, I suddenly see a flash of...lightning?! And a clap of thunder?! Since when the hell does a thunderstorm happen during a snowstorm!? I learned later that that was indeed a thing that occurs in weather. I had no idea.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
ThatNickGuy said:
For one, I didn't feel like cooking for the first few days after I'd arrived. Too much shit to unpack. So I figured I'd order my usual from a local pizza place: a medium pizza and medium garlic fingers. I called over half a dozen different pizza joints. None of them had a clue what I was talking about. They thought I confused garlic fingers with garlic bread or garlic sticks. After some short googling, I discovered garlic fingers, like donairs, is strictly an east coast thing. I was a little heartbroken.
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TIL Garlic fingers. And that I want some.

But I also had a similar experience to this, too! Apparently the term for what you get when you deep fry mozzarella varies from place to place. What the Red Robin in Colorado Springs called "Fried Cheese" apparently is called "Mozzarella sticks" at restaurants here in Texas, even though they are both this:



And asking for the former here just gets you dumbfounded looks.
 
Emrys

Emrys

I found out yesterday that "green cheese" (as in "the moon is made of...") refers to the age of the cheese, not the colour.
 
Dei

Dei

GasBandit said:
TIL Garlic fingers. And that I want some.

But I also had a similar experience to this, too! Apparently the term for what you get when you deep fry mozzarella varies from place to place. What the Red Robin in Colorado Springs called "Fried Cheese" apparently is called "Mozzarella sticks" at restaurants here in Texas, even though they are both this:



And asking for the former here just gets you dumbfounded looks.
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Um, I have never seen them called anything but Mozzarella sticks. :confused:
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Third thing you'll learn if you watch it is that Dustin Hoffman used to be young.
(And no, I haven't seen it)

--Patrick
 
Chad Sexington

Chad Sexington

Probably within the last five years: the correct pronunciation of "caulk" - I always pronounced the L, which now sounds quite awkward to my ears. People thought I was being a prude, afraid to say "cock." Nope. Just didn't know.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Chad Sexington said:
Probably within the last five years: the correct pronunciation of "caulk" - I always pronounced the L, which now sounds quite awkward to my ears. People thought I was being a prude, afraid to say "cock." Nope. Just didn't know.
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Hrm, I've always pronounced it "kawlk" and nobody's ever corrected me...
 
Dei

Dei

I never pronounce the L, but with more of a cawk than a cock. Or is that the same pronunciation to some people? :O
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Dei said:
I never pronounce the L, but with more of a cawk than a cock. Or is that the same pronunciation to some people? :O
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It is for some. Depends on the regional dialect, in my experience.

And thank you all for getting me to sit here at my desk at work practicing the various ways of saying "cock" out loud.
 
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Dei

Dei

Regional dialects are fun, my husband and I still argue about the right way to pronounce aunt.
 
drifter

drifter

I only recently (as in the last year or two) learned what fitful actually meant. Growing up I never bothered to look up the definition, assuming its meaning from context. Turns out it means pretty much the opposite of what I thought. :/
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

drifter said:
I only recently (as in the last year or two) learned what fitful actually meant. Growing up I never bothered to look up the definition, assuming its meaning from context. Turns out it means pretty much the opposite of what I thought. :/
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I exercise fitfully.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

I pronounce "caulk" like "chalk" or "talk." I also try to pronounce "aunt" like "awning" mainly so that there is no confusing what I mean, though I will inconsistently pronounce "auntie" like "anti-" or "on tea" with no rhyme nor reason because I don't feel there's confusion there.

--Patrick
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
fade said:
I don't think I've ever heard anyone drop the "L" in caulk.
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I mean, I think I sort of have?

Because Caulk rhymes with Chalk which rhymes with Chock which has no L.

And what's really wierd is that the chocks you put around the wheels of a plane to stop it from rolling seem to be pronounced differently than something being chock full of whatever.
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

Caulk and Chalk don't rhyme at all. the middle of "Caulk" is like "all around the world" - the middle of "Chalk" is like "Alphabet". Well, ok, not really, but I can't think of anything that has the "chalk" pronunciation readily and doesn't have a differently-pronounced homonym. Hmm.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Bubble181 said:
Caulk and Chalk don't rhyme at all. the middle of "Caulk" is like "all around the world" - the middle of "Chalk" is like "Alphabet". Well, ok, not really, but I can't think of anything that has the "chalk" pronunciation readily and doesn't have a differently-pronounced homonym. Hmm.
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Maybe in belgium, but almost everywhere I've lived, they rhyme.
 
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