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'Dead as a doornail' expression explained

cloudballoon says...

A cadaver certainly has its medical scientific uses and it's still as dead as a doornail to me...

BSR said:

I've heard the expression but never knew the origin.

But after watching this video I argue that if the nail is still doing its job it's not dead yet.

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kceaton1 says...

>> ^wraith:

That was my point. Fluids are incompressible.
Unfortunately, those bad analogies seem to stick in the minds of the physics lay-person. Just think of the mother of bad analogies: Schroedinger's Cat. The particle may be in a undecided state between "life" or "death", yet the cat certainly isn't. It's either alive and very pissed or dead as a doornail.
When explaining science, avoid analogies whenever possible or clearly mark them as such and point out their deficiencies.


I think explaining qubits does a better job for first time quantum beginners. It also makes them see the potential for awesome. BUT, it is hard to explain--plainly. I blame my college professors and books. Scientific American has an awesome article for the "lay"-man for qubits.

I get blank stares with entanglement.

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wraith says...

That was my point. Fluids are incompressible.

Unfortunately, those bad analogies seem to stick in the minds of the physics lay-person. Just think of the mother of bad analogies: Schroedinger's Cat. The particle may be in a undecided state between "life" or "death", yet the cat certainly isn't. It's either alive and very pissed or dead as a doornail.

When explaining science, avoid analogies whenever possible or clearly mark them as such and point out their deficiencies.

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videosiftbannedme says...

The only thing that kept me rooting for Duke was hopes that the multiplayer would rival the original game. Some of my fondest memories of deathmatch still come from Duke3D. I miss the wacky arsenal and multitudes of ways you had to kill your opponent. I want a really good deathmatch game again, not just the same ol' shootem up, with the same tired array of cliched weapons.

Regardless the outcome of the lawsuit, the only way Duke could save face now is if he came back as a zombie...because this franchise is deader than a doornail.

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blankfist (Member Profile)

schmawy says...

The thing about doornails is that they are hammered through the door until they stick out the other side, then are pounded flat to keep the boards together. during the early days of the American West, people used to burn down their houses when they moved, allowing them to collect the nails. All, except for the doornails, of course.

In reply to this comment by blankfist:
Dead as a doornail... what is a doornail, anyways, and why is it dead?



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