4 ms·
I saw a big one in the evening during army bootcamp. For a second or two it was as bright as day. One of the guys says "wtf was that?" and another replied "it'
by terlisimo 4y ago
I saw a big one in the evening during army bootcamp. For a second or two it was as bright as day.
One of the guys says "wtf was that?" and another replied "it's a falling star" (literal term we use for shooting stars in our language).
A third guy asks, "so why do stars fall?". Silence.
I ventured, "uh, guys... stars don't fall. Stars are like the Sun, just really far away. What we saw was a meteor, a rock that flew through space and burned up when it hit the atmosphere."
Half the squad looked at me like I just said that babies are delivered by storks. I could tell they thought that was total bullshit but couldn't offer an alternative explanation and call me on it.
It was then that I realized how smart and educated the average person is. Army service was mandatory back then so everyone had to go.
- askonomm 4y agoFor a moment I thought you are an Estonian, because we, too, call it a falling star. But our military service is still mandatory :(
- School-Cotton 4y agoWe call it a falling star in English too (though “shooting star” is more common, at least in my experience).
- jaywalk 4y agoI have never heard the term "falling star" before this thread.
- Shared404 4y agoCan second having heard "falling star" in English as well, though "shooting star" is more common. Maybe a result of regional dialect/language exchange in high immigration areas?
- OoBabybaby 4y agoYeah, you have to make sure you put them in your pocket. Save them for a Rainy Day. Never let it fade away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VJlHWESyLI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VJlHWESyLI \o/
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- voytec 4y agoSame in Poland - "spadające gwiazdy" - "falling stars". Even National Geographic uses this term[1] but exaplains in the lead: "Falling stars are meteores..." [1] https://www.national-geographic.pl/artykul/spadajace-gwiazdy-czym-sa-i-jak-je-obserwowac-ciekawostki-o-meteorach-i-meteorytach https://www.national-geographic.pl/artykul/spadajace-gwiazdy...
- jaclaz 4y agoIn Italian as well, "stella cadente".
- scotty79 4y agoFrom George Carlin in a standup: "Imagine how dumb the average person is. Half of them are dumber than that."
- stephen_g 4y agoYeah, but a lot of the population is clustered around the average so many of those half aren’t really much dumber than the average person (and of course a large number on the other side aren’t much more intelligent).