Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Anyone got really stupid questions that someone else on here might be able to answer?

324 replies

AlaskaElfForGin · 18/12/2019 19:01

I only ask because I have a really stupid question but haven't asked in case you talk about me ...

So if someone else could ask something ridiculous first that would be great!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
Clangus00 · 19/12/2019 13:08

No the Queen doesn’t vote. Nor do any other members of the Royal family.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 19/12/2019 13:10

Does the Queen vote ?
Obviously she has her views, I would love to know if she spoilt her ballot paper.

I'm guessing she sees herself as the equivalent to the manager at the sewage and water works.

The used stuff comes in absolutely foul, full of thick slime and stenching jobbies. Even if the workers there stick their filthy boots in the fast-flowing grim tide to power-wash the very worst of the mud off them, she's still in charge of the final button that takes out all the offensive damage and makes it all pure and clean again. And so it goes.

abitoflight · 19/12/2019 13:19

Will a mug with metallic painted outside keep tea hotter than a mug without?
I've tried googling but no help

Based on heat output of chrome towel rails less than identical white painted towel rails

MissLadyM · 19/12/2019 13:21

The pork catfood thing is interesting. I would say cats are Jewish but they love prawns.

Also on live TV programmes, how do they show a trailer of it happening? I've Strictly Halloween Special etc. You see the judges dressed up giving opinions but it HASN'T HAPPENED YET!

eggandtoasty · 19/12/2019 13:27

Oh good, I've been waiting for a thread like this - I've been wondering this since secondary school Blush

You know during the Cold War, America wanted to get to the USSR, so the USSR made the countries in Eastern Europe communist to create the Soviet Bloc to protect them. This deterred America from invading. Why did America have to fly through Eastern Europe to get the the USSR, why couldn't they have gone the other way??

I've attached a pic, why didn't they go that way to avoid the eastern bloc countries all together???

Anyone got really stupid questions that someone else on here might be able to answer?
DadDadDad · 19/12/2019 13:50

@abitoflight - a smoother / shinier / lighter-coloured surface radiates less than the opposite, so yes if the metallic paint is shiny then that should help slow loss of heat by radiation. But I suspect it's not going to be a big effect - still going to have heat loss by conduction and by convection from the top.

DadDadDad · 19/12/2019 13:57

@eggandtoasty - it was a cold war: the US didn't want to invade USSR and march on Moscow (going via Alaska then Siberia would probably be physically impossible anyway, as it's thousands of miles of arctic wilderness), it was about political control. Warsaw pact countries meant USSR's sphere of influence went across much of Europe, giving them the economic power they needed to support the military dominance.

If it turned into hot war, Alaska would have been irrelevant, as nukes launched from UK would destroy Moscow as quickly as they would have destroyed us. Over in five minutes. Shock

MIdgebabe · 19/12/2019 14:09

Where does missing rain go?

I have 2 guesses

The first, the rain goes north or south due to weird air flows. The air flows around the uk are quite unstable generally but can get stuck.

The second, perhaps there is less water in the air to turn into rain. Which would involve funny ocean currents meaning that the water near the surface is cold so doesn't evaporate into the air, leading to drought. Which I think is what is happening with the El Niño

highheelsandweathercocks · 19/12/2019 14:24

To answer the robins question.

The robins we see in summer are different to the ones we see in winter. Essentially, they all go looking for warmer climes. The summer ones head to the Continent and the winter ones join us from Scandinavia and Russia to avoid the harsh winters there.

highheelsandweathercocks · 19/12/2019 14:26

My husband had a shower thought the other day.

Why do we have to pay extra to Gift Aid when paying in somewhere? Why can't they claim back on the non inflated price?

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 19/12/2019 14:40

Why do we have to pay extra to Gift Aid when paying in somewhere? Why can't they claim back on the non inflated price?

I think the idea is that, if you've paid £10 for a £10 ticket, it's not a gift but just buying the ticket. However, if you give £11, that shows you freely want to donate towards the cause. You're forced to acknowledge your wish to support them by handing over more of your own money whereas giving away tax money that you wouldn't otherwise receive back anyway is the easy option.

Maybe they 'officially' consider it that they give you a 'free' ticket as a thank-you for 'donating' an amount that would be more than just the ticket price.

highheelsandweathercocks · 19/12/2019 14:45

But why can't we have the easy option? Surely they claim the tax back on anything, as long as you fill in the form. Generally if you're paying to get in somewhere, you're already supporting them, seems counter productive to try to guilt people into paying more. Surely they'd get more Gift Aid if they claimed on the lower price (or made the higher one the set price).

Lordfrontpaw · 19/12/2019 14:48

Will we still be able to take cases to the European Court of Human Rights after (you know what). And if so, why and if not, then where?

FuzzyPigeon · 19/12/2019 14:52

Because legally they can't do that. They have to show that you were making a donation to their charity to claim gift aid.

If the ticket price is £10 and you pay £10, you're not making a donation but are just paying the entry fee. So they can't legally gift aid that. If the entry is £10 and you give £10.01 then they can claim gift aid because you're making a donation on top of the fee.

The whole point of gift aid is to claim back tax from donations. If you're just paying the cost of something it isn't actually a donation.

highheelsandweathercocks · 19/12/2019 14:54

Aha. Okay. Thank you! I will show DH when he gets in.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 19/12/2019 14:57

But why can't we have the easy option?

It's not them - it's the taxman. If you buy something (e.g. a ticket) at a stated price - even from a charity (and even if you wouldn't have bought it had it not been a charity) - and if you could not have had it without paying that stated price - it is not a gift but a purchase, thus it doesn't qualify for GA.

The charity could offer free entry but encourage suggested donations of £10 each. That way, they could claim GA on all qualifying monies received, but they wouldn't be able to stop people only paying £8, £5, £1 or absolutely nothing, which many would do (far more than would chuck them £20), leaving them worse off overall.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 19/12/2019 14:58

x-posted with FuzzyPigeon

Scoobygang7 · 19/12/2019 15:34

@webuiltthisbuffet if the organs work independently and weren't keeping either alive. They'd be separated.

abitoflight · 19/12/2019 15:42

DadDadDad
Thank you
The difference between the towel rails was surprising but when I googled it, I only got info on metal mugs

BlaueLagune · 19/12/2019 15:43

Will we still be able to take cases to the European Court of Human Rights after (you know what)

Yes because it's a completely different institution.

The Court of Justice of the European Union is what it says it is.

letsgomaths · 19/12/2019 15:46

@MissLadyM Because they film the judges giving different possible answers in advance. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the producers decide who will win before they even start filming.

Here's my question. I know the answer, but I'm struggling to find a simple answer for my inquisitive 6yo niece: when playing pin the tail, why does she see black when she has a green scarf tied over her eyes? (She also wants to know what's the point of the game. Xmas Wink )

VanyaHargreeves · 19/12/2019 15:47

Conjoined twins often share vital organs so if one dies they both die

The Queen can't vote. The Crown is impartial.

One of my favourite Queen facts is that they had Alexander Armstrong down to Norfolk so that The Queen could have a round of Pointless with The WI because she cant be on Pointless Celebs Grin

My questions

What are "Unadopted Roads" all about why isnt the local council responsible?

Am I imagining it completely or did you use to have to buy the Radio Times AND the TV Times at Christmas because the BBC wouldn't include ITV ?

VanyaHargreeves · 19/12/2019 15:52

I think as a general rule of historical warfare @eggandtoasty invading Russia has literally never ended well for anyone.

For the US to have done so and lost would have been cataclysmic. Stakes far too high.

BlaueLagune · 19/12/2019 15:52

What are "Unadopted Roads" all about why isnt the local council responsible

I don't know! There's a road near where I lived as teenager and it has been unadopted as far as I remember. It's a terrible mess of potholes.

Where I live now, there's a housing estate that was built in the late 90s/early 00s and only now are its roads being adopted by the council.

BlaueLagune · 19/12/2019 15:52

On the Russia/USA thing - Alaska used to be Russian. The history of the world might have been quite different if it hadn't been sold to the US.

Swipe left for the next trending thread