Poll Results

All Previous Polls: 701-750

Total votes: 836

I'd invite myself, and I'd accept! It'd be fun!: 406 (48.6%)
I wouldn't invite myself, and I wouldn't care - I'd go do something else instead!: 214 (25.6%)
I'd invite myself out of politeness, but I wouldn't accept (it'd be awkward): 169 (20.2%)
I wouldn't invite myself (it'd be weird), but I'd be upset not to be invited: 47 (5.6%)

Total votes: 770

I'll try new things when they look appetising, but not if it's weird: 238 (30.9%)
I mostly stick with what I know, but try new things occasionally: 230 (29.9%)
I love trying new food! Will try most things, but I have limits.: 141 (18.3%)
I'm adventurous, I actively seek out new flavours and experiences: 69 (9.0%)
I always stick with meals I know and like: 44 (5.7%)
I stick with food made with familiar ingredients: 24 (3.1%)
I'll try ANYTHING! Bugs, eyeballs, you name it!: 24 (3.1%)

Total votes: 900

I don't have a toaster: 211 (23.4%)
Wait, that's a thing people do?: 195 (21.7%)
Once or twice a year: 169 (18.8%)
Every few months: 112 (12.4%)
Every 2 or 3 years: 93 (10.3%)
Monthly: 56 (6.2%)
When the toaster catches fire: 38 (4.2%)
I just buy a new toaster every so often: 16 (1.8%)
Weekly: 10 (1.1%)

Total votes: 1025

I only listen to the radio in the car: 404 (39.4%)
I listen to the radio in places other than the car: 319 (31.1%)
I own a radio but don't listen to it: 159 (15.5%)
I don't own a radio: 143 (14.0%)

Total votes: 708

I don't have any: 191 (27.0%)
December 26 (Boxing Day): 2 (0.3%)
Some time before New Year: 45 (6.4%)
A day or two after New Year: 123 (17.4%)
The traditional end of the season, Twelfth Night (January 5 or 6): 192 (27.1%)
I usually get round to it some time later in January: 109 (15.4%)
February or later!: 21 (3.0%)
Easter, specifically: 1 (0.1%)
The decorations stay up all year round: 24 (3.4%)

One person wrote in, "Typically sometime around the first weekend after New Year", and another wrote, "The traditional end of the season, Candlemas (February 2)".

I included Easter as an option because that was what my grandparents always did. The Christmas decorations would go up on Christmas Eve, no earlier, and stay up until Easter. They claimed it was traditional and the correct way to do it, and complained loudly that anyone who did differently was doing it wrong. They claimed this was the tradition in Germany, where they came from, however I've never heard of anyone else honouring this "tradition" before. So I have no idea where they really got it from.

Poll Results

Total votes: 1312

A legitimate food flavour.: 1028 (78.4%)
Oh god no! Food should NOT taste like toothpaste!: 284 (21.6%)

Total votes: 711

Yes, but mainly because I'm not a native speaker of the local language/dialect: 43 (6.0%)
No, pretty sure I pronounce everything "properly": 39 (5.5%)
Not that I know of, but it's possible: 226 (31.8%)
Yes, there's this one specific word I pronounce differently: 52 (7.3%)
Yes, there are a few words I can think of: 321 (45.1%)
Yes, lots of words: 30 (4.2%)

There's one word in particular that everyone pronounces differently to me: debauchery. I'd encountered it many times when reading, but the first time I ever heard someone say it I had no idea what the heck word they were trying to say.

They were saying some weird thing like "duh-BAWTCH-ery", when I knew it was actually pronounced "duh-BOUGH-kery".

I have since discovered that apparently everybody except me also pronounces this word wrong!

Total votes: 721

Refrigerator: 344 (47.7%)
Washing machine: 121 (16.8%)
CD player + 20 CDs: 56 (7.8%)
Electric hotplate: 50 (6.9%)
Microwave oven: 39 (5.4%)
Electric kettle: 22 (3.1%)
Dishwasher: 18 (2.5%)
Toaster: 17 (2.4%)
Electric clock: 16 (2.2%)
Sandwich press: 13 (1.8%)
Espresso machine: 8 (1.1%)
Electric toothbrush: 7 (1.0%)
Vacuum cleaner: 7 (1.0%)
Food processor: 3 (0.4%)

Total votes: 715

0 - a continuum: 90 (12.6%)
1: 25 (3.5%)
2: 32 (4.5%)
3: 52 (7.3%)
4: 31 (4.3%)
5: 101 (14.1%)
6: 38 (5.3%)
7: 104 (14.5%)
8: 93 (13.0%)
9: 73 (10.2%)
10 - strictly binary: 76 (10.6%)

Wow. Not only is it difficult to define what "life" is, it's difficult to define whether life/not-life is even a valid thing.

Total votes: 816

Dish in left; and I'm right handed: 688 (84.3%)
Dish in right; and I'm left-handed: 53 (6.5%)
Dish in left; and I'm ambidextrous: 20 (2.5%)
Dish in left; and I'm left handed: 17 (2.1%)
Dish in right; and I'm right-handed: 17 (2.1%)
I never wash dishes, so have no idea: 15 (1.8%)
Dish in right; and I'm ambidextrous: 6 (0.7%)

This poll was inspired by my recent accidental kitchen knife injury to my left hand. I had my hand bandaged up for a couple of weeks, and it made it tricky to do various everyday household tasks. In particular I noticed that when cleaning off dishes I naturally hold the dish in my right hand and the dishcloth in my left, which was not really possible with having to keep my bandage dry, so I was forced to switch hands, and noticed how bizarre and unnatural it felt to hold the dish in my left hand and the cloth in my right.

I asked my friends which way around they hold them, and every single one of them (all right-handed, like me) said they hold the dish in the left hand and the cloth/brush in the right. So I was inspired to put it to a poll.

As the results show, a whopping 90.8% of you hold the cloth/brush in your dominant hand. However I'm in the minority who holds it in the non-dominant hand. Admittedly, although right-handed in all the major ways (writing, throwing, playing sports, brushing teeth, using tools), I seem to do a lot of minor tasks in the same way as most left-handed people. It's a bit weird.

Total votes: 1018

Burger too tall to pick up: 283 (27.8%)
Crab: 158 (15.5%)
Fish with bones in: 114 (11.2%)
Crunchy tacos: 91 (8.9%)
Pistachios (in shell): 85 (8.3%)
Pomegranate (whole): 82 (8.1%)
Ribs: 76 (7.5%)
Chicken wings: 54 (5.3%)
Corn on the cob: 38 (3.7%)
Mangoes: 30 (2.9%)
Xiao long bao: 7 (0.7%)

Total votes: 503

What? Why are you even asking? Of course not! Who would possibly think it is?: 13 (2.6%)
It's a proper noun, a name, a label, has no semantic meaning, illegal in Scrabble, of course it's not a word: 165 (32.8%)
Um. Tricky, I can see sensible arguments on both sides: 55 (10.9%)
I refuse to be drawn into what is obviously a bone of contention for some people: 58 (11.5%)
Um. Who the hell cares?: 41 (8.2%)
It's a pronounceable sequence of letters, commonly used in everyday English, of course it's a word: 133 (26.4%)
What? Why are you even asking? Of course! Who would possibly think it isn't?: 38 (7.6%)

This question was inspired by an argument that broke out amongst my circle of friends while playing Scattergories. The category was "Words that start and end with the chosen letter" (and the letter was A). From memory, most of were happy to disqualify "Amanda" as a proper noun, but one person insisted that it shouldn't count because it wasn't a word. I found this an interesting enough assertion that I thought I should put it to the ultimate test: an IWC poll.

Oh, also: "Allosaurus" got a hack-in vote. But I'm sorry to say it doesn't end in A.

Total votes: 565

Awesome! I'd love it!: 29 (5.1%)
Interesting, I think I might like it: 126 (22.3%)
A wall's a wall, who cares?: 48 (8.5%)
I could live with it, but only if I had furniture to match the angles: 174 (30.8%)
That sounds vaguely inconvenient and annoying: 161 (28.5%)
I would never get over how weird that is: 14 (2.5%)
Sounds horrifying, no way!: 13 (2.3%)

Naomi R. wrote to inform me that she has in fact lived in a hexagon-based building, namely Trevelyan College at Durham University. Here's a map of the building, which shows just how wacky and cool it is. Although Naomi did point out that most of the rooms are subdivided from the hexagons using walls at 90° to a straight wall, so there are in fact 90° angles in places. I don note that some of the communal spaces are fully hexagonal, and a few rooms have 60° angles in them, which look awkwardly tight.

I got one hack-in pun-vote for: I would not be All Right with that. And of course an Allosaurus.

Total votes: 602

What are liquorice allsorts?: 284 (47.2%)
I don't like liquorice allsorts (surely nobody will pick this!): 171 (28.4%)
The cylindrical sort with fondant on the outside: 37 (6.1%)
3 layers of fondant and 2 of liquorice: 34 (5.6%)
The cylindrical sort with liquorice on the outside: 27 (4.5%)
2 layers of fondant and 1 of liquorice: 25 (4.2%)
2 layers of fondant and 3 of liquorice: 24 (4.0%)

Liquorice allsorts are these things. A few people wrote to ask why I didn't include the ones covered in little balls - honestly the reason is because those sort are very rare in Australia and I completely forgot that they existed. Even the cylindrical ones are not that common here - we mostly just get the cubes with flat layers of liquorice and fondant.

Liquorice is a very polarising subject. I got one hack-in vote for: "They should be banned".

Total votes: 507

0 - Doesn't even look like a human made it: 34 (6.7%)
1: 46 (9.1%)
2: 70 (13.8%)
3: 73 (14.4%)
4: 50 (9.9%)
5: 49 (9.7%)
6: 62 (12.2%)
7: 63 (12.4%)
8: 36 (7.1%)
9: 18 (3.6%)
10 - wins penmanship awards: 6 (1.2%)

According to one hack-in vote: "The Allosaurus".

Total votes: 617

Carrot cake: 354 (57.4%)
The Allosaurus: 235 (38.1%)
Carob cake: 28 (4.5%)

Judging from the comments in the forums, a lot of people had no idea what carob even is. I'll let Sandra Boynton explain in this quote from her book Chocolate: The Consuming Passion:

Carob is a brown powder made from the pulverized fruit of a Mediterranean evergreen. Some consider carob an adequate substitute for chocolate because it has some similar nutrients (calcium, phosphorus), and because it can, when combined with vegetable fat and sugar, be made to approximate the colour and consistency of chocolate. Of course, the same arguments can as persuasively be made in favour of dirt.

My idea with the poll was to have a choice between two cakes made with "healthy" ingredients, and the almost homophony of their names was too good to pass up. And I threw in The Allosaurus because what the heck, it's been ages since he was an option in a poll question. It seems he's well and truly more popular than the evil carob.

I think I've also emboldened the hack-in voter brigade, as this time we received votes for:

• Banana cake - 2 votes
• Parrot cake - 1 vote
• ^cake (caret cake) - 1 vote
• ˇcake (caron cake) - 1 vote
• Crabcake - 1 vote
• 🦀cake - 1 vote

Total votes: 547

Eighteen past ten (or equivalent): 254 (46.4%)
About twenty past ten (or equivalent): 109 (19.9%)
Twenty past ten (or equivalent): 66 (12.1%)
Nearly twenty past ten (or equivalent): 61 (11.2%)
A quarter past ten (or equivalent): 25 (4.6%)
About a quarter past ten (or equivalent): 25 (4.6%)
Just after quarter past ten (or equivalent): 7 (1.3%)

Total votes: 703

The Allosaurus: 433 (61.6%)
Joe Biden: 232 (33.0%)
Donald Trump: 38 (5.4%)

The people have spoken! President Allosaurus wins a historic fifth term!

Total votes: 636

Nice and brisk in winter, too hot in summer: 198 (31.1%)
Too cold in winter, too hot in summer: 132 (20.8%)
Nice and brisk in winter, nice and warm in summer: 132 (20.8%)
Too cold in winter, nice and warm in summer: 72 (11.3%)
Too warm in winter, too hot in summer: 47 (7.4%)
Too warm in winter, nice and warm in summer: 21 (3.3%)
Too warm in winter, too cool in summer: 13 (2.0%)
Too cold in winter, too cool in summer: 11 (1.7%)
Nice and brisk in winter, too cool in summer: 10 (1.6%)

Total votes: 629

Cleaning shower/toilet/bathroom: 203 (32.3%)
Gardening/weeding: 95 (15.1%)
Washing up dishes: 59 (9.4%)
Cleaning floors (vacuuming, mopping): 58 (9.2%)
Dusting: 56 (8.9%)
Ironing: 55 (8.7%)
Lawn mowing : 33 (5.2%)
Washing windows: 29 (4.6%)
Laundry: 17 (2.7%)
Cooking: 13 (2.1%)
Taking out garbage: 11 (1.7%)

I clean the bathroom weekly and really don't mind it that much. The one I keep putting off all the time is dusting. Yuk.

Total votes: 795

Broccoli: 169 (21.3%)
Peas: 128 (16.1%)
Green (bell) pepper / capsicum: 103 (13.0%)
Asparagus: 68 (8.6%)
Spinach / silverbeet: 66 (8.3%)
Brussels sprouts: 51 (6.4%)
Beans (green string beans): 47 (5.9%)
Bok choy / Asian leafy greens: 39 (4.9%)
Snow peas: 28 (3.5%)
Artichoke: 24 (3.0%)
Cabbage: 24 (3.0%)
Kale: 13 (1.6%)
Zucchini / courgette: 12 (1.5%)
Okra: 9 (1.1%)
Beans (broad / fava): 8 (1.0%)
Broccolini: 6 (0.8%)

No love for broccolini? Wow. I guess it's so similar to broccoli that it might be the second favourite of 20% of people.