Yahoo! Answers

Hey Guys,

Yesterday, for the umpteenth time, my car’s “Check Engine” light made an unpleasant return to the dashboard. Few things are as unwelcome, and it got me thinking about starting fresh with a new ride. Just for kicks, I decided to look for the most expensive car in the world. Buckle up, expensive ride ahead.

I limited the search to new and street-legal cars. No antique Rolls-Royce Phantoms or rocket-powered flying cars allowed. Still, even with those limitations, I managed to find a car that I wouldn’t be able to afford in a million years. Ladies and gentlemen, behold the Bugatti Veyron.

According to car experts at Edmunds.com, the Veyron will run you about $1.5 million. (That’s not counting the trade-in value of your ’89 Pontiac, FYI.) But, the Bugatti isn’t just about style, although it has plenty of it. In addition to being the world’s most expensive automobile, it’s also one of the fastest and most powerful cars on the planet. Top speed: 252 mph. Horsepower: 1,001 under the hood.

Of course, a $1.5 million dollar car begs the question: What’s the least expensive car on the market today? About.com claims it’s the Hyundai Accent, which retails for around $10,690. True, it won’t go 252 miles per hour, and it has a fraction of the Bugatti’s horsepower. But, on the plus side, you can buy about 140 of them for the same price as one of the Italian supercars.

Back to my beleaguered car for a moment. Anyone know of a quick way to figure out why the hated Check Engine light is on, without having to take the car in to the shop? I’m sure I’m not the only one who would love to know. As always, links are appreciated.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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Hey Guys,

A cliché is another word for a phrase that has become so popular and overused that it has lost its effectiveness. Few clichés are as well worn as “blondes have more fun.” Not being a blonde, I can’t say whether or not there is any veracity to the claim, but I can try to figure out who coined it.

Some might think that history’s most famous blonde, Marilyn Monroe, first said it. Not so. Near as I can tell, the sentiment was part of an advertising campaign for Clairol hair products back in the 1950s. Copywriter  Shirley Polykoff, one of the all-time great ad execs, used the tagline “Do blondes really have more fun?”.

The actual phrase she used was “Is it true that blondes have more fun?.” The question-like phrasing (“Is it true…”) makes me believe that the expression was already around before the ad campaign. However, I was unable to find anyone else who might have said it first. So, Ms. Polykoff, a blonde by the way, gets the credit here.

Ms. Polykoff, who died in 1988, is one of only five women in the Advertising Hall of Fame. You might recognize another of her famous campaigns, also for Clairol hair dye: “Does she or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.” According to a blog, Undercover Blonde, the campaign had a huge effect. Before it hit, just 7% of women dyed their hair. After it came out, 40% of women did.

Was this the most successful ad campaign ever? Is there anyway of knowing what was? Maybe “Just Do It”? What about “Got milk?” What do you think? Got any URLs to back up your opinions? For the record, AdAge says the title belongs to Volkswagen. Disagree? Go ahead and leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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Hey Guys,

99% of the time, I couldn’t care less about soccer. Hey, I’m just being honest. But like most fair-weather fans, I merrily jump on the bandwagon during the World Cup.

In honor of the month long party down in South Africa, I looked through Yahoo! Answers for some popular questions about “the beautiful game.” Here are a few answers that might help you look less like a fair-weather fan and more like a hardcore hooligan.

Why do Americans call the sport “soccer”? — Here’s the scoop, according to Mavens’ Word of the Day. It may come as a surprise to learn that the term originated from Britain. “The formal designation for the game we know as soccer is Association football.” Mavens’ goes on to explain that the word “soccer” is simply a contraction of “(As)soc(iation football)” and an “er” suffix. The sport most Americans know as football is technically “North American football.”

Who coined the phrase “The Beautiful Game”? — A tough one to answer. Some say that that Brazilian player Valdir Pereira came up the expression. However Stuart Hall, a BBC announcer, claims he coined the phrase, after watching his favorite player, Peter Doherty, many years ago.

Why does the goalie wear a different uniform? — If you think about it, this one is actually pretty simple. When the ball is near the goalie, all hell breaks loose. As the goalie is the only who can use his hands, it’s important that he be easy for the refs to identify. Hence, the garish jerseys.

Got more questions about soccer/football/the beautiful game? Leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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UPDATE: 14th June. All issues below are now fixed. Thanks for your patience on this!

Our latest release has unfortunately released a few bugs into the system which we are working to fix as soon as possible.

We’re working hard to get these outstanding issues resolved and will update this post when we iron out the bugs… Issues now resolved!

–Yahoo! Answers Team

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You will notice a cool new Yahoo! Answers feature that will allow you to share your Answers content with your Facebook friends! This means your friends on Facebook can now help you answer your questions if you choose to share them. Your Facebook friends can also join Yahoo! Answers and connect with our amazing community to have the many questions they have answered.

What are the benefits?

One of the many advantages of social networking sites is having the ability to connect with thousands of people.   Linking your Answers account with your Facebook account increases the number of people that can answer your questions!  Some of the benefits are:

1. Make it easier for your non-Answers friends to answer your questions if you choose to share them beyond Answers
2. If you choose to share your great answers with your Facebook friends too then they will see your answers right at the top of the list when coming to Answers from Facebook

Control options:

On the `Preview` page you’ll see the check-boxes for where you want to share your questions and answers to.  The setting you choose here will be the default for all of your content but you have the option to change this with every posting.  This gives you full control over which info you want to share with your friends and those questions you want to ask only to the Answers community.

Things to keep in mind:

If you do decide to share your Answers activity with your friends on Facebook, keep in mind that your Answers screen name will be visible.  Your Answers activity will be associated with your Facebook identity and vice versa, which means your Facebook friends will be able to see all your Answers activity (including past activity).   If your friends on Facebook ‘like’ your question, their contacts will be able to see this activity too.

Remember, more visibility to your questions means more answers from a wider range of contacts so we hope you will find the new Facebook integration a useful addition to your Answers experience!

Once you have started sharing your Answers and Facebook accounts, “tell us what you think” on the Forum or leave your comments here, on the blog.

–Yahoo! Answers Team

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