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> What is wrong with a yes response to "do you want to eat pizza or pasta?" It doesn't answer the question. The questioner is asking for your help in making a

> What is wrong with a yes response to "do you want to eat pizza or pasta?" It doesn't answer the question. The questioner is asking for your help in making a decision. If you are completely neutral about the two, then most people answer with the phrase, "Either one is fine". Saying just "yes" sounds like you misunderstood the question --- unless you say it with a wry smile, showing that you mean to be funny in your answer. (I suppose occasionally someone could ask the question with a different inflection, with the last word at a higher pitch, meaning, "Are either of these fine with you?" rather than, "Please pick one.") > Similarly with the boy or girl question, "no" may be stillborn. The sex is set at conception.

deleted 6y ago
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tsimionescu 6y ago
Completely off topic, but this is a pet peeve of mine: > > Similarly with the boy or girl question, "no" may be stillborn. > The sex is set at conception. Not necessarily - at conception, the cells could be XX, XY, but also XXY (not to mention, they could be X- or -Y). After conception, chymerism could occur, where XX and XY twins become conjoined and a single fetus develops having both XX and XY chromosomes in different parts of the body - the sex will mostly be determined by which DNA is used when forming the gonads. It could also end up developing both kinds of gonads. But even if the fetus develops testicles, there is a chance that it has some kind of testosterone resistance and ends up with a completely female phenotype. Of course, there is also a possibility that no gonads are developed. This is all staying well in the realm of biological sex, and disregarding other hormonal complications that could happen based on what the mother is doing and her health, and disregarding any morphological abnormalities that could cause surface-level confusion between biologically male and female sexual organs.
- combatentropy 6y ago
  These are edge cases, abnormalities. Do you have this pet peeve with other topics? ("If you press the gas pedal, the car will accelerate --- unless you're out of gas, the fuel line is broken . . . ")

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

tsimionescu 6y ago

Completely off topic, but this is a pet peeve of mine: > > Similarly with the boy or girl question, "no" may be stillborn. > The sex is set at conception. Not necessarily - at conception, the cells could be XX, XY, but also XXY (not to mention, they could be X- or -Y). After conception, chymerism could occur, where XX and XY twins become conjoined and a single fetus develops having both XX and XY chromosomes in different parts of the body - the sex will mostly be determined by which DNA is used when forming the gonads. It could also end up developing both kinds of gonads. But even if the fetus develops testicles, there is a chance that it has some kind of testosterone resistance and ends up with a completely female phenotype. Of course, there is also a possibility that no gonads are developed. This is all staying well in the realm of biological sex, and disregarding other hormonal complications that could happen based on what the mother is doing and her health, and disregarding any morphological abnormalities that could cause surface-level confusion between biologically male and female sexual organs.

combatentropy 6y ago
These are edge cases, abnormalities. Do you have this pet peeve with other topics? ("If you press the gas pedal, the car will accelerate --- unless you're out of gas, the fuel line is broken . . . ")