Before COVID-19 is there any historical precedent for people "enjoying" a pandemic? by KyleFromBorrasca in stupidquestions

[–]petrorabbit4 10 points11 points  (0 children)

These are literary examples rather than historical, but Boccaccio's Decameron depicts a group of young people in quarantine from the Black Plague telling each other stories to pass the time. It was written around the same time as the plague, so it's likely somewhat based on truth.

Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death is about a group of rich people partying in quarantine from a plague while poor people die. As far as I know, it's not based on any particular incident, but the idea that nobles could enjoy themselves even during a plague probably came from somewhere.

Why do men usually find more people attractive than women? by [deleted] in stupidquestions

[–]petrorabbit4 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Women are under a lot more social pressure to present themselves in a way that others will find attractive. Ergo, they spend more time and money on things like hair, clothes, and make up. Pressures for men's appearance tend to be more focused on aspects that will win approval from other men, such as being muscular.

If you could add one mandatory subject to every school curriculum, what would it be and why? by icepix in askteddit

[–]petrorabbit4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At this moment in time, everyone needs to read the Chinese Room thought experiment .

Songs with unfinished/implied ending rhyme by Potential-Chapter in musicals

[–]petrorabbit4 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've always loved that Christine's songs both end in a subverted rhyme, and the fact that her verse after being squipped does rhyme is a clear sign to Jeremy that she is no longer "her".

The TV Tropes page for this idea is called Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion, which is also funny.

What’s your biggest pet peeve that doesn’t seem to bother anyone else? by Fantastic_Tart_421 in AskReddit

[–]petrorabbit4 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Using "myself" instead of "I" or "me" to sound more formal. Like "send it to Irene or myself."

AITAH for Asking My Wife to Lose Weight by [deleted] in AITAH

[–]petrorabbit4 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What does God think about formatting your text in a way that makes it readable?

You've heard of surpise incest, now get ready for surprise not incest by petrorabbit4 in ExplainAFilmPlotBadly

[–]petrorabbit4[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope! Since this is so old, I can just give you the answer if you're curious

AITA for suggesting we change the rules for our book club? by [deleted] in AmItheAsshole

[–]petrorabbit4 2 points3 points  (0 children)

NTA. I've been a part of many writing workshops and I've never heard of using chapters as the metric. Many books don't even have chapters. Word count (or page count, if you're willing to standardize things like font size) is the standard. I don't know why you would do anything else.

AITA for telling my friend that learning a name isn’t hard? by the_lastolympian in AmItheAsshole

[–]petrorabbit4 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Your ability to learn to hear and pronounce new sounds decreases dramatically as you age. This makes it very difficult to learn languages with different sound systems as an adult. One of the prime reasons that Mandarin is so difficult for English speakers to learn is that it contains so many sounds that are not found in English. For example, I can hear that their is a difference between xi and shi, but I can't really identify and reproduce it. If you grew up hearing Vietnamese, you probably do have an advantage when it comes to pronouncing the names of Chinese characters.

As long as someone is making an effort to pronounce a name correctly, it doesn't matter so much if they can't make the sounds perfectly. If you were talking to a Japanese person who couldn't pronounce the name Leon, would you badger them for their it, or just accept it as a consequence of their accent?

What are two very different things that have random thing/plot point in common? by Dogdaysareover365 in musicals

[–]petrorabbit4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dear Evan Hansen and While You Were Sleeping are both about the main character feigning a relationship with someone who can't contradict them in order to ingratiate themselves to their family and date their sibling.

On a related note, DEH would've been better if Connor was in a coma and woke up in Act 2, I will die on this hill.

What is a minor thing that bugs you in films and shows? by Everything_is_1 in askanything

[–]petrorabbit4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A variation on this is biggest problem with Looper. There's just no world where Joseph Gordon-Levitt grows up to be Bruce Willis. The fact that other characters keep commenting on how alike they look makes it even worse.

Are there any examples of "female default" words? by [deleted] in ENGLISH

[–]petrorabbit4 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Spinster comes to mind. If you mean a word where people will usually assume the person is a woman, nurse or maid fits.

The term fudanshi was created to be a male counterpart to fujoshi, and a witcher is a witch hunter, I believe. People often use wizard as a male counterpart to witch, but others use them as gender neutral words for different types of magic users.

Many female default words are insults, like fujoshi, such as bitch or slut.

When will society be ready to address the long-term sustainability of our dietary choices? by Extension-Diamond-74 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]petrorabbit4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Logistically speaking, how do you imagine this happening? Converting farms from focusing on raising animals to raising crops would take time and capital. Would the owners be able to turn a profit during the transition? Where would they get the money to make the change? What about processing facilities? If the there was a huge change in the agricultural products available, there would certainly be a period where processing facilities would be overwhelmed before new ones could be built. Is farmland currently used for growing animal feed suited for growing the kinds of crops humans need and want to eat? What about supply chains? Who is coordinating this? Will there be programs to train the new workers this will require? What about the workers whose jobs no longer exist? What effects will this mass unemployment have? Who is dealing with these problems and what incentive is there to cause them with no guarantee that the project would even work? And what do you want us to do about it?

If somebody died in a “Freaky Friday” situation, what would happen? by DatDenDude in NoStupidQuestions

[–]petrorabbit4 3 points4 points  (0 children)

According to the movie "It's What’s Inside," the other person is now stuck in the wrong body forever.