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ubersiren's avatar

Did you ever have the pleasure of proving a group of people wrong who laughed at you for saying something they thought was incorrect?

Asked by ubersiren (15208points) February 27th, 2010

There have been several occasions where my friends and I have had a discussion, and I will say something that I think is common knowledge, and they’ll collectively laugh because they think I’m wrong. Then, after some googling, I prove them wrong and it is glorious.

Ex: One summer I mentioned that I had seen a cicada and they laughed because it hadn’t been 17 years yet. I told them that not all cicadas were born the same year and that every 17 years there’s just a more noticeable influx. Thank google.

Ex: I was talking about how Al Green is now a Reverend and they insisted that I was thinking of Al Sharpton. Thank you google.

What’s your triumph?

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17 Answers

john65pennington's avatar

I has been working lasar radar on a divided four-lane highway. this road was under construction and the speed limit had been reduced to 45 mph. early one Sunday morning, i clocked a Trans Am speeding at 124 mph. the next morning at police roll call, i told one officer about the Trans Am speeding and the gossip spread like wildwire at our precinct. no one believed that i actually caught this vehicle at 124 mph , in my Crown Vic police car. they all made jokes about it…...........UNTIL, UNTIL, UNTIL…...i produced a State Citation written to the driver of the Trans Am. i posted a copy of this citation on the police bulletin board for everyone to see and to RUB IT IN THEIR FACE! they are not laughing anymore.

Just_Justine's avatar

Agh! I don’t care if no one believes me. Believe me?

Supacase's avatar

Thomas Jefferson’s birthday is listed as April 13, but his headstone at Monticello says April 2. I was saying that if he were born now, his DOB would be April 13 and if I had been born when he was my DOB would be April 2. I was explaining that the difference in dates is due to the change from the Julian to Gregorian calendar shortly after Jefferson was born. My boss swore I was wrong and made fun of me in front of everyone.

Thank you internet of 1998. I printed out proof and gave it to her in front of the same group of coworkers who heard and/or helped her laugh at me.

————————————

There was also the time I told my soon-to-be husband not to charge something on his credit card b/c it would put it over the limit and they would charge him a fee. He rolled his eyes and said they just wouldn’t approve the transaction if that were the case. How could I not know that? Geez! That is what limits are for. (Right, like they won’t find every opportunity to charge you a fee.)

Next credit card statement proved I was correct and I didn’t have to say a word.

live_rose's avatar

I got in a heated argument with my coworkers over whether platypus lay eggs or not . . . they do but they refused to believe me, then someone looked it up and I took a verbal victory lap basking in the fact that I was finally right about something.

Cruiser's avatar

Happens here every day!

Chongalicious's avatar

I’m usually the one to suck at math. Yet one day in prob/stat, I was explaining to my two friends how to do this one problem. They kept telling me “No, you have it backwards!!” Then, our teacher Mr. D. came over and showed us how to do it. (I was right.) So I got up and was like, “HA!!! I TOLD YOU!!!” Lol I’m not such a big math dummy after all :)

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

I was laughed at by a bunch of trekkies for telling them I saw Abraham Lincoln in an episode of Star Trek.They eventually saw that I was right after I made them lick the moondust off my space boots.lol!

Trillian's avatar

@Chongalicious takes a victory lap around the desk!

sjmc1989's avatar

Of course! The latest one I can remember is during a conversation with my brother (who is the epitome of a know it all) and used the word peaked meaning: having a sickly appearance; my brother was convinced that I had made up this word and just laughed at me as we argued for about 10 minutes. I got on the computer looked it up and kept playing the pronunciation as loud as I could. After I read the definition and did my litte “I am right, you were wrong” dance, my brother said “Well it has to be a very word that was just made recently.” I could have strangled him.

Zuma's avatar

Back in 7th Grade in Catholic school, way before the Internet, Sister Mary Ignoramus was telling us that the reason the Panama Canal had locks was because the level of the Atlantic Ocean was higher than the Pacific, and that if they didn’t have locks all the water from one ocean would drain into the other.

As it so happened, I had watched a PBS documentary on the building of the Panama Canal and the purpose of the locks was to gain access to a large lake in the middle of the Isthmus. It was the lake (which covered about half the distance) which was above sea level. She, of course denied it and everyone laughed. I said I could prove it and got an Encyclopedia, which showed the lake, just as I said.

However, being the new kid in school, this did not go over well. Sister took me out in the hall, and told me I was never to contradict her or any religious. I told her that I thought that it was only the Pope who was infallible, and she slapped me in the face. Later, after school, the kids beat me up.

Even so, it was worth it.

ubersiren's avatar

@sjmc1989 Nice! I’d never heard that definition before either.

@Zuma That’s just silly that she would think that’s the reason. Nice Christian kids, too.

JLeslie's avatar

Yes. My friends thought I was ridiuclous when I said that the US teaches 7 continents, but most of the world teaches 6 and some 5 (the olympic logo, the rings, represent the 5 continents). They insisted that this is not something for interpretation, it is what it is. My girlfriend went to the computer eventually, I would guess to prove me wrong, maybe just to see what comes up, and of course I am right.

My husband’s family laughed at me when I called a cake a torta in Spanish. I went to the Spanish English dictioinary and it said cake, except in Mexico where it means sandwich, they are Mexican, and seemingly in the minority of Spanish speaking countries, maybe they are the ones who are wrong? JK. I don’t think that. I just don’t think that one is more right than the other.

Parrappa's avatar

This one is kind of weird. My dad asked me the speed of light and I said 186,000 m/s, he said I was wrong and that it was 75 m/s, I couldn’t believe that he was so naive toward how fast light actually moves. Anyway, my whole family was in the room and I was told I shouldn’t argue with my dad because he was right and I also got called an idiot by my sister. I looked it up, and sure enough, I was right. They got all quiet and embarrassed when I proved them wrong.

tinyfaery's avatar

I never bother. Let them live in ignorance.

dogkittycat's avatar

In class I told people the London Bridge is in Arizona, they all looked at me as if I were crazy and laughed at me. Then I had my teacher look it up and I was right. The bridge couldn’t handle the traffic and began sinking hence the song “London Bridge is Falling Down”. Then a mayor in Arizona bought the bridge and had it shipped piece by piece rebuilding it in Arizona. It was wonderful and very amusing to see some jaws drop.

Dr_Lawrence's avatar

I have enjoyed the experience of being proven right many times. I don’t celebrate my doubters defeat, it is more cool to be serenely humble and they can’t hold that against you!

Being right without gloating earns the respect of others. I like that.

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