Daftest or most humourous thing you`ve been asked for/about

AdrianWint:

"Electricity is like a kind of water"


Remember when you leave batteries in something too long and they leak? That's the electricity coming out!


I was also told that, in days long gone, one of the reasons that the older generation feared electricity is that they believed it was some kind of invisible water like substance. One popular myth is that if you left the lamp out of a fitting with the switch on, this invisible 'electric water' would drip out of the lampholder during the night & pool on the floor. If you stepped in it the next morning it would kill you.

This reminds me of my perceptions of electricity when I was a very small child. Snippets of information I had received included "Electricity is dangerous," and "Electric heaters use much more electricity than lights."


In our school hall, in the austere early 1950s, it was common for one or two of the long light pendants to have a bulb missing, purloined for use in a more critical place, i.e. a classroom. During morning assembly I was very careful not to stand under one of these bulbless fittings. I did not want electricity to dribble down onto my neck.


I observed that when radiant electric heaters were switched off, it took a little time for the red glow to disappear. I presumed this was because of the large amount of electricity it used; it took time to drain back into the power socket. One day someone switched off a radiant heater and unplugged it immediately, with the element still glowing. I was most alarmed and shouted, "Don't do that," worried that electricity was going to drain into the room and electrocute us.

AdrianWint:

"Electricity is like a kind of water"


Remember when you leave batteries in something too long and they leak? That's the electricity coming out!


I was also told that, in days long gone, one of the reasons that the older generation feared electricity is that they believed it was some kind of invisible water like substance. One popular myth is that if you left the lamp out of a fitting with the switch on, this invisible 'electric water' would drip out of the lampholder during the night & pool on the floor. If you stepped in it the next morning it would kill you.

This reminds me of my perceptions of electricity when I was a very small child. Snippets of information I had received included "Electricity is dangerous," and "Electric heaters use much more electricity than lights."


In our school hall, in the austere early 1950s, it was common for one or two of the long light pendants to have a bulb missing, purloined for use in a more critical place, i.e. a classroom. During morning assembly I was very careful not to stand under one of these bulbless fittings. I did not want electricity to dribble down onto my neck.


I observed that when radiant electric heaters were switched off, it took a little time for the red glow to disappear. I presumed this was because of the large amount of electricity it used; it took time to drain back into the power socket. One day someone switched off a radiant heater and unplugged it immediately, with the element still glowing. I was most alarmed and shouted, "Don't do that," worried that electricity was going to drain into the room and electrocute us.