Paraphrased conversation between MAB and me last night:
(edited to add conversational markers, for clarity)
Me: Hey, I've got a science question.
Him: [curious] Yeah?
Me: Do people float in oil?
Him: [bewildered] Huh? I don't want to know where this question came from.
Me: No, seriously. Would a human thrown into a big vat of oil float?
Him: (thinks a minute) Yeah, of course.
Me: Because humans float in water, and oil floats in water.
Him: [contemplatively] Yeah.
(pause)
Him: [bemusedly] OK, why?
Me: Cop show. Bad guy gets thrown off a catwalk into a vat of oil. Does he float?
Him: [contemplatively] Yeah. Unless he drowns, instead.
Me: Yeah, 'cause then the oil's in his lungs and he'll sink to the bottom.
Him: Yeah.
It's conversations of this type (which are somewhat common around our dinner table) that make me wonder if other people talk about things like this.
(edited to add conversational markers, for clarity)
Me: Hey, I've got a science question.
Him: [curious] Yeah?
Me: Do people float in oil?
Him: [bewildered] Huh? I don't want to know where this question came from.
Me: No, seriously. Would a human thrown into a big vat of oil float?
Him: (thinks a minute) Yeah, of course.
Me: Because humans float in water, and oil floats in water.
Him: [contemplatively] Yeah.
(pause)
Him: [bemusedly] OK, why?
Me: Cop show. Bad guy gets thrown off a catwalk into a vat of oil. Does he float?
Him: [contemplatively] Yeah. Unless he drowns, instead.
Me: Yeah, 'cause then the oil's in his lungs and he'll sink to the bottom.
Him: Yeah.
It's conversations of this type (which are somewhat common around our dinner table) that make me wonder if other people talk about things like this.