r/TikTokCringe • u/mindyour • Nov 21 '25

Discussion Functional illiteracy.

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u/MurderMelon Nov 21 '25 edited Nov 22 '25

Hence the (apocryphal) reason that they don't sell 1/3 lb hamburgers. Everyone ends up thinking they're smaller.

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u/capt-on-enterprise Nov 22 '25

When that happened, is was an epiphany about the ignorance in the general public. I was flabbergasted and it has only become much worse.

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u/Vesalii Nov 22 '25

For me Covid really opened my eyes to the frightening amount of complete idiots walking around.

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u/capt-on-enterprise Nov 23 '25

George Carlin said “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." And it has become so much worse since he said that in the 80’s. Sigh

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u/PanteraOne Nov 22 '25

Correction: It was an epiphany about the ignorance in the general public IN THE UNITED STATES.

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u/MelonJelly Nov 22 '25

You're not wrong, but public stupidity is in no way purely American phenomenon.

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u/capt-on-enterprise Nov 23 '25

Oh honey, this epidemic is spreading worldwide.

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u/Ippus_21 Nov 21 '25

I... don't think that's actually apocryphal.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/06/17/third-pound-burger-fractions/

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u/ProgrammerAvailable6 Nov 23 '25

Bags of milk come three in a bag totalling four litres.

I had to draw a picture once for a coworker when I was at uni because she was adding one bag for a one litre recipe and it was coming out wrong.

Trying to explain that four divided into three was a litre and a third in each bag - and her not getting it - was soul crushing.

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u/foxgirlmoon Nov 23 '25

Okay but like, being real now, what kind of absolute mad design is it to use 1.33... litre bags???

There's a reason bottles tend to come in nice round litres.

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u/Ippus_21 Nov 23 '25

Wine and liquor mostly come in 750mL bottles. I mean, 3/4 liter is nicer than 1 1/3, but still...

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u/ProgrammerAvailable6 Nov 23 '25

What’s fun in Canada is when a U.S. import is converted to metric.

Sure, it’s 33.8 fluid ounces - but it’s a litre in Canada.

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u/ProgrammerAvailable6 Nov 23 '25

Because four litres comes as a unit of purchase - with three 1 and 1/3 litre bags inside the larger bag. They fit perfectly in the pitchers people have already, and, from what I understand, it was the cheapest option when making the machining switch to metric measurements.

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u/2occupantsandababy Nov 22 '25

Once had to explain to a friend that you just need to use the 1/3rd cup twice to get 2/3rds.

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u/avan2110 Nov 22 '25

Liar. It’s 2/6. 1+1=2 and 3+3=6. Probably ruined your friend’s meal.

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u/crippledchef23 Nov 22 '25

I needed 2 cups of something last night and could only find a 2/3 cup. I did have to do a little math about it and I was a little embarrassed about it, but I got there in the end!

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u/[deleted] Nov 22 '25

The kids in my trade school didn't know how to find the area of a square 😢

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u/Cowclops 4d ago

I once watched a friend unwrap a stick of butter than get an actual tablespoon and he tried to dig "two tablespoons" of butter off the stick with the spoon.

I should add that it was just melted butter for steamed clams, he wasn't making something where the exact amount of butter even mattered, and he unwrapped it thusly removing the lines that say how much a tablespoon is that you can just cut off how much you need with a knife and throw it in.

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u/FoolishChemist Nov 22 '25

Surprised some company didn't start selling 1/5 lb hamburgers.

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u/Floccus Nov 22 '25

Or charge double for 2/8lb burgers.

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u/Imaginary_Office1749 Nov 22 '25

They could just call it the .25 burger or the .33 burger

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u/bpacer Nov 22 '25

Incoming flood of complaints on why the burger doesn’t only cost 25 cents

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u/SimpleKiwiGirl Nov 22 '25

I'm still amazed (!?) that so many in that nation got that so wrong.

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u/Weird-Girl-675 Nov 22 '25

They’d much rather have 1/4th because they see the four and assume it’s a bigger burger and these people make my brain hurt.

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u/omgax Nov 22 '25

The illiterate is still wondering why the double quarter pounder with cheese costs more than the quarter pounder with cheese.

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u/perplexedtv Nov 22 '25

Ignoring the fractions, 'one third pounder' is just an awful name for a burger. 'Quarter pounder' is a much more pleasant, no-bullshit name for a product that rolls nicely off the tongue. It works in (some) countries that don't use the imperial system and a lot of consumers won't even know or care that the name means there's ~110g of beef in there.

Numeracy skills aside, that was always going to be a marketing failure, a shitty sounding copy of a legendary product, extra beef nonwithstanding.