Just when you thought it could not get any dumber. This is from the BBC website (linked below) title Nigeria bikers \\\'vegetable helmets\\\' and I quote :-

Stories have also appeared in the local papers highlighting passengers\\\' fears that the helmets could be used by motorcyclists to cast spells on their clients, making it easy for them to be robbed.
\\\"Some people can put juju inside the helmets and when they are worn the victim can either lose consciousness or be struck dumb,\\\" passenger Kolawole Aremu told the Daily Trust newspaper.

* Facepalm *

Andy

I think you\'re kind of jumping to conclusions saying that one or the other person in that car wreck story is wrong about God. Look at God\\\'s track record, after all.

\"You ate from the tree, you have original sin! But I\'m going to forgive you. Aren\\\'t I merciful?\"

\"Kill your son! Don\'t kill Isaac! Aren\'t I merciful?\"

And on and on. God\'s schizophrenic. He regularly says things that are in opposition to what he\'s said before.

Uki-

Only you would bring up such a freaking awesomely unrealized social nuance.

Very very true, man, very true- and not showing teeth is definitely for that exact reason, --- not to look weird. Of course accompanying the toothed smile with that sound you associated with you would make you look psychopathic... or ... psychopathesque? Or ... just psycho.

Anyway- yes, the raised eyebrow definitely goes along as well.

Honestly though, I can tell you, I don\\\'t really see anyone else do this! I see people from all around the states on a daily basis, and I do not see it- though honestly I don\\\'t always make eye contact when doing the non-psycho smile thingy.

Maybe it\\\'s just that being polite like that isn\\\'t very military... i\\\'ve come across a ton of rude people.

I don\'t think the smiling is a local thing, although I hate it when someone holds a door open for me, I am not sure why...
However I think calling a shopping cart a \'basket\' is a regional thing!

Not to be a nit picker . . . well, OK this *is* nit picking, which I ENJOY . . . but the judge who wants to take away the child from the lesbian couple gave no religious reason for his judgment. So he isn\'t really a \"religious moron of the week.\" He\'s just a \"plain ole moron of the week.\"

J. D.

\\\"...he would have to fling elk at himself...\\\"

Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

I do the toothless smile thing, but I notice I also often share a toothy sheepish grin for which the noise might be more of an \\\"eeeeeeeee.\\\" This is usually reserved for near-misses in the grocery store aisles.

I guess the third largest city in NY doesn\\\'t count for much... We just have teeth.

I seem to recall reading that, in chimps, a teeth-baring \\\"smile\\\" is actually a threat posture -- so maybe that\\\'s why the hmm smile gets used, to signal \\\"I\\\'m not a threat\\\" to random strangers.

Of course, that doesn\\\'t account for why toothy smiles are also seen (by humans) as non-threatening in some situations.

Can\\\'t wait to listen to this new podcast! Happy New Year by the way Geo!

Yeah, the hmm smile is to be cordial... a bare modicum of civilization. I think we all do it.

Oh, but you are crazy... ;)

Oh, I get to see Zappa Plays Zappa tomorrow in Portland... I\\\'m sooooooo stoked...

~Dan
http://jazzsick.wordpress.com/

Can\\\'t speak for veryone but for me, I make an effort to smile like that becuase I\\\'m self-conscious about my teeth.

Happy New Podcast! I resolved to cook less with Yak.

Oh, and Eugene is the 2nd largest city in Oregon. Come visit sometime... :)

~Dan
http://jazzsick.wordpress.com/

I do the hmm smile all the time, sometimes with the raised eyebrows for added effect