HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Mis-applied physics in advertising
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 19:02:54 GMT

richg@hatch.socal.com (Rich Greenberg) writes:
: 
: If you listen carefully to the trident ad, they say 4 out of 5 dentists
: reccomend Trident FOR THOSE PATIENTS WHO CHEW GUM.
: 
: The way I read that is that if you MUST chew the stuff, 4/5 of the dentists
: they asked say that Trident is better than other gums . . . . .
: Unsaid is my suspicion that dentists would rather you not chew gum at all.
: And nowhere is there any indication that they asked more than 5 dentists
: the question  . . . 

Also note - They do not say that the dentists ONLY recommend Trident gum. 
They could just as easily recommend some other brand of sugarless gum, as
well, and the advertising hype would still be correct. All they have to do
is find a bunch of dentists who have recommended Trident at least once in
the past, for whatever reason. For example, a patient could say "Doctor,
do you recommend I chew Trident gum or Super-Sugar-Bomb gum?" and have the
dentist state that he preferred Trident. 

Bill
From: bugs002@bugs.mty.itesm.mx (Ing. Andrew Stevens)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: How many Grooves on an LP?
Date: 26 Jul 92 00:08:27 GMT


chil@fraser.sfu.ca (Keith Lim) writes:

>ian@raven.Centric.Com (Ian Macky) writes:

>>I once had a Monty Python LP that had one groove on one side, but two on the
>>other.  Depending on where you dropped you needle on the weird side, you'd
>>get one of two different routines...

>Two! What about the Mad Magazine record that had *eight* grooves on one
>side. (I think it was the song "It's a Super Spectacular Day.")

Well, apparently this is a thread I started (although my original
posting never appeared, the responses have) so I'll throw this in: on he
record "Penthouse and Pavement" by the Heaven 17, the listed duration of
the final song is <infinite>. This song, "We're going to live for a very
long time" is placed so that the final phrase, which lasts exactly one
revolution, doesn't activate tha automatic return of the tone arm. When
you play it you get "for a very long time" and a cyclic snippet of music
playing forever. Or until your mother comes in to see what in hell has
happened to your record player.

Andrew
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:19901 rec.arts.books:13201 rec.arts.sf.misc:2250
From: futor@llnl.gov (randy j futor)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.misc
Subject: Re: Mandatory negatives (was Re: Agnostics and Athiests)
Date: 27 Jul 92 18:45:48 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: CSo @ LLNL


 brad@clarinet.com (Brad Templeton) writes:
> 
> I'm not saying at all that "you don't have to" means "you must not."
> 
> I understand this difference just fine, thanks.  No need
> to get insulting.  I just argue that it is not very meaningful.

Lemme get this straight, Brad . . .

Two groups think that there's a world of difference between the two
phrases & that this difference is quite meaningful.

You understand the difference yourself.

You dismiss the distinction as "not very meaningful".

*They* are the ones being "insulting".


( Nuclear on the concept, dude! )
--
__
\/ -+- randy -+- all generalizations are flawed -+- futor@llnl.gov

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: cel@nsscmail.att.com (clayton EDward LEIHY iii)
Subject: Re: N times more
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Summary: applies to race horses
Organization: NCR Systems Support Center - New Jersey
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 19:42:57 GMT

In article <1992Jul28.171843.6918@vicorp.com> jmethot@vicorp.com writes:

>In today's (July 28, 1992) edition of the Springfield (MA) Union-News is
>an article . . .
>It states that "133 horses at Suffolk Downs [have been stricken],
>nearly a quarter of the 500 horses that race at the track."

This one is soo-o-o Obvious...

Those horses in Massachusetts are:

        QUARTER-horses!!

Ed "You're welcome" Leihy
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: peterk@public.sub.org (Peter Kittel)
Subject: Re: Left - Right
Organization: Public News & Mailserver, Commodore Germany PM UNIX, Frankfurt
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 15:38:09 GMT

rgm@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Rob Menke) writes:
>In article <n==mz-f@lynx.unm.edu> jfreter@triton.unm.edu (The Myth) writes:

>   Actually, most of the doors I've seen rotate both ways.  It's just
>   that we're accustomed to walking in on the right, so the doors
>   rarely get rotated the other direction.

>Doesn't the placement of the door handle also influence the direction
>of rotation?  I've never seen a revolving door that had handles on
>BOTH sides...

Add to this that supermarkets are always built in a way that you walk
counterclockwise through them. It's obviously more convenient for an
average human.

This was also brought up as a question in a german TV show: Why does
everything run counterclockwise, when humans are involved? They
referred to track&field arenas, and they also stated that men in a
fight attack in a curve with this orientation. So there seems to be
a predomination for this orientation buried somewhere in human anatomy
or other places. And they couldn't give a real explanation for it.

My opinion about it is that this is an analogy or followup to the
fact that the majority of humans is right-handed. So they have more
skill and control in their right hand (I'm a good example for this).
And I think this is also true for your feet. So you operate the gas and
break pedal in your car with the right foot, where you need some accuracy,
and you use the left foot for the clutch, which is a not so difficult
thing.

So to bring this all together, I simply assume that when running in a
curve, the outer foot has to do more in regards of power and control,
and as the right foot can do this better, you prefer left turns.

The only counterexample I know are horse racing tracks. There are still
many with differing orientations. But I remember one here, where they
changed the direction to counter-clock, because everyone was more
accustomed to this way.

-- 
Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel  // E-Mail to  \\  Only my personal opinions... 
Commodore Frankfurt, Germany  \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk
                                   or  peterk@public.sub.org
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: jvmg9796@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Doc)
Subject: Re: Anyone heard this one? New UL?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 17:24:21 GMT

frey@alfheim.actrix.gen.nz (Bruce Clement) writes:

>[it is unlikely]
>that the quote abuser will have any rational arguments (or anything else for
>that matter) which is worth wasting my time reading.
                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
			somehow that just kinda looks funny. :)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: bobm@Ingres.COM (Bob McQueer)
Subject: Re: Kilroy
Date: 23 Jul 92 20:29:54 GMT

In <mcirvin.711902336@husc8>,
	dated 23 Jul 92 14:38:56 GMT,
	mcirvin@husc8.harvard.edu (Mcirvin) writes:

> I thought that the phrase was of Second World War vintage.  Like I
> said, Pynchon mentioned it in _V._, which was written pre-US-Vietnam-
> involvement, at least.

I think so, too.  I seem to recall references to it in many 40's-ish sources -
old Saturday Evening Posts's, old movies, Bill Mauldin cartoons.  I know I
heard it during the sixties when I was a kid, and it was usually used in a
context which attached it to my parent's generation, or specifically to
stories about GI's in WWII.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Mis-applied physics in advertising
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 20:21:19 GMT

ssnyder@sunai.er.usgs.gov (Steve Snyder) writes:
: In article <sysmatt.711809308@aix3090b.uky.edu> sysmatt@aix3090b.uky.edu (James M. Simpson) writes:
: >I've often wondered about the difference between "prescription" strength and
: >over-the-counter versions of the same drug. For example, after a recent
: > [etc]
: 
: Which reminds me of the ads that say "4 out of 5 doctors recommend 
: Brand X..." I've always wondered about that 5th doctor. Why is s/he 
: different?

It is not a matter of being different. It is what they don't say in the
commercial that is important - and that is, " ... at one time or another."
The statistic quoted in these commercials is meaningless. If they had said
"4 out of 5 doctors always recommend brand X for all headache pain", then
it would mean something.

Bill
From: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: that'd be in the butt, bob
Date: 29 Jul 92 01:39:05 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.1992Jul29.013905.26125
Reply-To: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Organization: Columbia University

In article <Bs26q0.AFC@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> dp35@mc1adm.UWaterloo.ca (Greg Moore) writes:
>Steve Taylor writes:
>>Terry Chan writes:
>>>Yes, it lacks the proper degree of angst and pathos.
>>I nominate "It lacks the proper degree of angst and pathos".
>



>With the Subject line, I would say:
>
>            "It likes the proper degree of anus path holes."

Is that lacks or likes?

cjl
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: stame@emunix.emich.edu (Stewart Tame)
Subject: Re: "Eat the rich"
Organization: Eastern Michigan University
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 23:30:55 GMT

In article <1992Jul24.080225.16197@news.eng.convex.com> datri@convex.com (Anthony A. Datri) writes:
>
>Eating Raoul is a completely different movie, also starring Mary Woronov
>and the guy she's almost always with whose name escapes me.
>-- 
>
>======================================================================8--<

Paul Bartel.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: beb@pt.com (Bruce Buck)
Subject: Re: 2/3's of the Three Stooges
Keywords: Manny Moe Jack Curley Larry among others
Organization: Performance Technologies, Incorporated
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 20:56:06 GMT

In article <1992Jul20.203230.13582@ncmicro.lonestar.org> ltf@ncmicro.lonestar.org (Lance Franklin) writes:
>In article <2A6A9825.29500@noiro.acs.uci.edu> dkrause@noiro.acs.uci.edu (Doug Krause) writes:
>}In article <qqg4NB4w165w@slic.cts.com> mikey@slic.cts.com (Mike Shirley) writes:
>}Moe, Curley, and Shemp.
>}
>}Moe:    Morris Horowitz
>}Curley: Jerome Horowitz
>}Shemp:  Samuel Horowitz
>}Larry:  Lawrence Fineberg
>
>But, But....what about Gummo?

Milton, of course.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: lmh@world.std.com (Larry M Headlund)
Subject: Nobody reads the middle name (was Re: offensive phrases ("Rule of Thumb")
Summary: lame joke explained. 
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 14:23:09 GMT

In article <1992Jul30.045242.10511@sifon.cc.mcgill.ca> peterd@cc.mcgill.ca (Peter Deutsch) writes:
>In article <BrFqwE.70M@world.std.com> lmh@world.std.com (Larry M Headlund) writes:
>.  .  .
>>	However,  when the OED says the origin is unknown,  it means there
>>is no clear origin,  not that they haven't heard all the stories.  Nailing
>>down the thumb rule would be a major effort (if possible) and earn you a
>>referred publication.
>
>Yes, nailing down _my_ thumb would certainly require a
>major effort, since I would fight like the dickens. Last
>time I let someone do that to me I couldn't type for
>weeks, and I still have bloodstains on my keyboard.
>Nosireebob, nobody nails down _my_ thumb again - that's
>_my_ rule...
>

	In my original post my middle name was thus:

Larry "Couldn't resist the pun" Headlund

	However,  many have seen fit to comment and drag out a minor pun
to ridiculous extents.  Hey, I made the pun,  it was intentional.

Larry "Can't spell, Can pun" Headlund 

-- 
Larry Headlund  lmh@world.std.com    Eikonal Systems (617) 482-3345 
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: perry@Unify.Com (Perry Clarke)
Subject: Re: Kilroy
Keywords: n
Organization: Unify Corporation
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 92 02:21:18 GMT

ceb@dbrus.Unify.Com (Caroline E. Bryan) wrote:
>In article <MePSc4a00VogJF_n9B@andrew.cmu.edu> Mary Rose Campbell <mc3d+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
>>ian@pharaoh.cyborg.bt.co.uk (Speed Freak) writes:
>>
>>>Does anybody know where the phrase 'Kilroy was here' originated ?
>>>I have been told that Kilroy was a dock worker who inspected crates
>>>at night at some port in America.  He wrote KWH on them and because
>>>they then got shipped all over the world he became a superstar!
>>>Is this correct ?
>>
>>Actually, the phrase originated in 1983 when Styx released the album
>>"Kilroy was Here."  
>
>There are times when I can't tell whether the poster is being humorous or just
>doesn't know about anything that happened before s/he was born.  "Kilroy was
>here" has been around AT LEAST since during WWII.  Was it around during WWI?
>And which came first, the doodle or the phrase?
>

In a book on graffiti (sp?) which I used to own the explanation given was
thus:

  Kilroy was an inspector of Liberty Ships.  These craft were
  manufactured during WW2 using a sort of extrusion process in which a
  factory continuously produced the bottom and sides of a ship, hunks
  were chopped off the length of hull and bows, sterns, decks and
  superstructures welded on.  Very cheap way of manufacturing ships
  which would last once across the Atlantic (to send supplies to the
  hard-pressed but valiant Allies).  Kilroy was in the habit of making
  sure that his boss could see that he was actually doing his
  inspections by scribbling "Kilroy was here" on various parts of the
  ships.  These marks were then seen by both stevedores unloading the
  ships in Liverpool and servicemen of various nationalities when the
  same ships were used in the D-Day landings who then took to (for
  their own reasons) scribbling the same phrase on wash room walls.

This explanation always struck me as being too elaborate to not contain
at least a grain of truth.  On the other hand you could say that it was 
too elaborate to be true.  Take your pick.

--
Perry Clarke                   perry@unify.com                 (916) 928 6287
Unify Corporation, Sacramento, CA                   I speak only for Me, Inc.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: bill.dehaan@rose.com (bill dehaan)
Subject: Re: Sanity
Organization: Rose Media Inc, Toronto, Ontario.
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 22:28:42 GMT
X-Gated-By: Usenet <==> RoseMail Gateway (v1.70)


Date Entered: 07-30-92 00:05
Larry M Headlund writes:

LMH>This sounds sufficiently like the "blind people have acute sense of
LMH>smell/hearing/touch" story but I'm willing to listen to facts.

Actually, I can vouch (a bit) for the "blind people have acute..." part.

I lost the sight in  my left eye when I  was 5, and spent 6  months with
both eyes  taped over  after the  surgery. I  found after  a bit  that I
actually _could_ compensate for the  total loss of sight with  smell and
hearing, although nowhere  near as much  as the UL  has it. It's  not so
much  that  the  senses  change  (they  don't),  but  you pay a lot more
attention to them. You learn  to recognize people just by  their walking
patterns, etc. I  got to the  point where I  could recognize all  of the
nurses by perfume, and all of  the doctors just by the sounds  they made
moving (shuffle, stomp, etc). After  I got my right eye  operational, it
all went downhill from there.

I  imagine  that  anyone  can  do  this,  it's  just that sight tends to
overwhelm all of the other senses, so you don't notice it as much.  What
I'm trying to say is that the UL about other senses becoming more  acute
is false.  However, since  a blind  person concentrates  so much more on
their  hearing/smell,  they  will  notice  more  with  it than a sighted
person.

Bill "sorry snopes, no documents, just observation" de Haan

----------------------------------+-----------------------------------------
Deus Ex Machina                   | Internet:   bill.dehaan@rose.com
Software Consulting and Gator Pit | I'm a brain in a vat. What about you?
----------------------------------+-----------------------------------------
---
   SLMR 2.1a   The beatings will continue until morale improves.
   RoseMail 1.70: RoseNet<=>Usenet Gateway : Rose Media 416-733-2285
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: pki@ipsa.reuter.com (Phil King)
Subject: Custard/Silver Spoon Synergy
Organization: Reuters Information Services (Canada) Ltd., Toronto, Ontario
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 20:13:52 GMT

My mother-in-law was teaching me how to make custard the other day, and
she claimed that it was essential that a rubber spoon be used.  Any one
else ever heard of this?  Is there a pseudo-scientific explanation for
why this should be so?

/Phil

WARNING:  missing .sig file
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: kja2192@tamsun.tamu.edu (Kevin Alexander)
Subject: Re: catching bullets with the teeth
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 14:02:32 GMT

In article <RaPPoB1w164w@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca> rich@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Richard Hempsey) writes:
>stame@emunix.emich.edu (Stewart Tame) writes:
>> [. . stuff deleted . .]  I do seem to recall reading, however, about some
>> fool who actually tried to catch a .22 caliber bullet with his teeth on
>> the old "That's Incredible" program or something.  I don't recall if he
>> succeeded though . . . 
>
> [. . . stuff deleted . . .]  He had some kind of teeth protector made 
>of rigid plastic which covered all the teeth and fixed the lower jaw in 
>place.  A block of some material was inserted into his mouth and affixed 
>to the teeth protector.
>They showed him catching the bullet from about 7 different angles at full 
>speed and slow motion.

I too remember this episode and after he "caught" the bullet, he was
bleeding in the mouth.  They sent him to the hospital, but said he was
ok later in the program.  (There was no big drama as the mouth bleeding
didn't look serious at all -- I'm surprised he even agreed to go to
the hospital.

Kevin Alexander
no .sig


Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: styri@hal.nta.no (YuNoHoo)
Subject: Re: Man Shot In Head Survives!
Reply-To: styri@nta.no
Organization: Bohemians and Globetrotters, Unlimited
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 14:24:51 GMT

[other stories deleted]

My dad, the retired surgeon, still tells the story about a guy who shot
himself in the head and survived. The result was a diy lobotomy and the
lucky fellow lost the urge to do himself away for some time. The story
continues, however, and he made a second attempt some years later. This
time the bullet deflected from the metal plate used to fix the first hole
and all he got was a severe headache.

---
YuNoHoo
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.misc,rec.humor
From: madams@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Michael T Adams)
Subject: Re: Agnostics and Athiests
Followup-To:  a whole shitload of useless argument in an inappropriate place
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 18:20:38 GMT


     To all the posters of articles on atheism/agnosticism/etc. on rec.humor
lately -- please post somewhere else.

                         sorry for the interruption, now back to the
                         previously scheduled programming.

                         mikey
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: cldavies@nyx.cs.du.edu (cindy davies)
Subject: Re: Who was Sam Walton
X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University
	of Denver for the Denver community.  The University has neither
	control over nor responsibility for the opinions of users.
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 92 02:49:04 GMT

In article <1992Jul30.083503.52108@qut.edu.au> lean@qut.edu.au writes:
>I noticed in this thread that someone  (I'm sorry I forget
>who) made a reference to Robert Heinlein having shuffled off the mortal 
>coil. Is this true? Can anybody tell me when and how?

Yep, Robert Heinlein is no longer on this time line :(

Don't have the details to hand (date etc.,)  See his book _Grumbles from the 
Grave_ for all the dirt.


--
Life among academics has taught me that a well-expressed opinion is
usually better than a badly expressed fact, so far as professional
advancement goes.  --Gabaldon, Outlander.
cldavies@silver.sdsmt.edu        cldavies@nyx.cs.du.edu
From: lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Choking Burglar
Date: 31 Jul 92 16:48:04 GMT
Reply-To: lawson@aldia.UUCP (Drew Lawson)
Organization: ACUSON, Mountain View, CA

In article <1992Jul30.145344.1926@javelin.sim.es.com> gfowler@javelin.sim.es.com (Gary Fowler) writes:
>
>A thief tried to break into a restaurant by slipping through the ventilation
>system.  For some reason unknown to me, he removed his clothing to make it
>easier to get through.  He tried to "shinny in the skinny" as the radio
>announcer put it.  Well the unfortunate slob ended up getting stuck and had
>to remain there until the next morning when the police could rescue him and
>arrest him.
>
>Like I said, the first one is true, but the second one I'm leary of.  Please
>let me know if it can be verified or if it is an UL.

I also heard that one on the radio, probably about 4-6 months ago.  I
believe the story listed the city, but I don't recall it.  This was on
a station which liked "news of the wierd" kind of things, so it may not
have been from highly reliable sources.

-- 
Drew Lawson                      If you're not part of the solution,
lawson@acuson.com                you're part of the precipitate
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: dwight@locus.com (Dwight Tovey)
Subject: Re: Custard/Silver Spoon Synergy
Organization: Locus Computing Corporation, Los Angeles, California
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 15:06:18 GMT

In article <1992Jul22.201352.2018@ipsa.reuter.com> pki@ipsa.reuter.com (Phil King) writes:
>My mother-in-law was teaching me how to make custard the other day, and
>she claimed that it was essential that a rubber spoon be used.  Any one
>else ever heard of this?  Is there a pseudo-scientific explanation for
>why this should be so?
>
>/Phil
>
>WARNING:  missing .sig file

Dunno about custard.  My grandmother always mixed pancake batter with one
particular spoon.  She had been using this spoon for over 30 years and
had worn the bottom half off the spoon.  One day one of my aunts swiped
the spoon and had it mounted and framed.  My grandmother claimed that after
that she never could make decent pancakes.
	/dwight
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Dwight Tovey				| I didn't claw my way to the top of
  Locus Computing Corp.			| the food chain to eat vegetables.
  (213)337-5978				|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.sf.misc,rec.humor
From: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Subject: Re: Agnostics and Athiests
Reply-To: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 04:57:36 GMT

In article <1992Jul27.043455.8189@athena.cs.uga.edu> mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington) writes:
>>->
>>->I would call myself an athiest.  I have no belief in god and have
>>-
>>-Agnosticism is the Schrodinger's Cat of theism.  Believers/Atheists...
>>
>>    I was sitting here 'a wonderin' what all this agnostic .vs. athiest
>
>The misspellers are winning 2 to 1.

No, I am athier than you are, so therefore I am athiest.

cjl
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban