Crowd-source advice sites like Yahoo Answers have become a bit of a magnet for the maladjusted. Sure, there are plenty of average Joes just looking for ordinary information. But among the sites’ many mundane queries, there’s a sea of jaw-droppingly dumb discussions guaranteed to amaze and entertain.
I spent some time surfing through Yahoo Answers to find the worst of the worst, and boy did I find it. The spelling, grammar, and punctuation are all as found in the original queries–because why put lipstick on a dodo?
So let’s take a look at the vital questions of our time, as posed by some of the deepest thinkers out there, along with the best answers I could come up with…
“HOW DO I TURN OFF CAPSLOCK? I ACCIDENTALLY TURNED IT ON YESTERDAY AND I DONT KNOW HOW TO TURN IT BACK OFF.”
Note to self: Register howtoturnoffcapslock.com; make millions.
Photo: Courtesy of garethjmsaunders via Flickr.com3. Credit Crunch
“I wanted to see if my computer would read my credit card so i put it in the cd rom and it got stuck, how do i get it out?? I tryed toothpics but lost them in the process?? also the drive is making noises”
Oh, that’s normal. Your system is just waiting for you to pay the required $1 processing fee for scanning the card. Simply fold a greenback into a tiny square and insert it into any USB port.
“My mouse stop working every time i lift it up from the table why is this? this is not just OS .i have linux and vista both same thing so its not drivers”
Yeah, no big deal there, either: Insert your credit card into the CD-ROM drive and tell your computer–slowly and distinctly–that you need the Air Mouse 3000 upgrade. You’ll be good in no time.
“I’ve been asked to write an application in my own handwriting….? is there a computer programme that will do this for me? they also want original ideas. do you know any?”
This reminds me of a letter to the editor I once read years ago: “Are there any undiscovered islands left in the world?” The response: “Not that we know of.”
“How do i become obese fast? I want to look good by the end of the year.”
You can start by eating two tangerines in two hours. Then run around in circles until you figure out what “obese” means.
Next: Ten more mind-bending questions, including whatever happened to the horned Arizona cantaloupe, where do babies come from, and what is the relationship between turtle bites and orange juice.
“I thought cantelope was an animal!? i always thought that a cantaloupe was that animal that has the horns and they live in Arizona and stuff, but i was shopping for groceries yesterday and i saw they had cantaloupe meat on sale. so i was like yeah sure i’ll try it, but what i saw, wasn’t a cantaloupe. it was some white and green fruit thing! whats up with this?”
The store is guilty of mislabeling. The term it was looking for is “jackalope”–which is a cross between a jackfruit and a manila envelope.
There are school so you can learn how is babby formed, silly.
Photo: Courtsey of pthread1981 via Flickr.com14. Canine Law
“Is it illegal to name a dog after a movie?”
Only if that movie is Air Bud 2. As a practical matter, though, you might want to avoid calling out to your pooch on a crowded bus if you decide to name it “Bang Bang You’re Dead” or “I’m Going to Explode.”
Photo: Courtesy of daviddesign via Flickr.com20. Turtle Trouble
“I was bitten by a turtle when i was a young lad, can i still drink orange juice?”
This is why old lads should be barred from Yahoo Answers. Seriously–where do they come up with this stuff?
Additional Reading
In the land of the complete idiots, the halfwit is king. PCWorld has examined and documented evidence of this phenomenon from time to time, with remarkable scientific success. For further explorations of high-tech hijinx and online foolishness, consult these dispatches:
When not questioning his own sanity, Contributing Editor JR Raphael jokes around at eSarcasm, his geek humor getaway. You can keep up with him on Twitter: @jr_raphael.
