# Nit-Picking Dept: A million microphones do not make a megaphone! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Show\ **Created:** [January 26, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643 "2012-01-26T03:51:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Barry22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@Barry22](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barry22)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643/1 "2012-01-26T03:51:22Z")
This is a belated reaction to the statement on a recent show that one million microphones equal a megaphone. In the usual parlance, one million microphones would be a phone; a million million microphones, or a million phones, would be a megaphone. ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643/2 "2012-01-26T04:27:58Z")
Interesting catch. It is an exercise in semantics I suppose, as I don’t think it takes a million microcars to equal one car. Glad to see someone is thinking, fun! ---
**Author:** ![mleich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@mleich](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mleich)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643/3 "2012-01-26T18:55:13Z")
Gotta love the metric system! ---
**Author:** ![DfromSD](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dfromsd/32/1669_2.png) [@DfromSD](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DfromSD)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643/4 "2012-01-26T22:33:15Z")
It was a joke. It can be anything the teller wants it to be as long as it gets a laugh! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643/5 "2012-01-27T02:48:27Z")
A million microphones isn’t a phone…it’s a million microphones. “Microphone” is a nomenclature, an improper noun. There is no correct term for a million of them other than…a million of them. Similarly, a million tomatoes isn’t a megatomatoe…it’s just a million tomatoes. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643/6 "2012-01-27T03:08:22Z")
So a bug with 1000 legs isn’t a megapede? ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643/7 "2012-01-27T04:33:53Z")
Nope. A bug with a MILLION legs is a megapede! But a half million bugs with two legs each isn’t a megapede…it’s a half million two legged bugs. ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 7:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643/8 "2012-01-27T07:48:52Z")
I have a special telephone on its own line to book musical engagements. This telephone is called a gigaphone. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643/9 "2012-01-27T20:33:36Z")
Gigaphone…I like that. CORRECTION: a half million two legged bugs is a half million bipedal bugs! ---
**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643/10 "2012-01-27T20:59:04Z")
I don’t think there’s any such thing as a bipedal bug - unless some obnoxious kid pulled a bunch of its legs off. I think only two legs disqualifies it from the bug category. But if there were bipedal bugs then I give the argument to mountainbike. But wait…if by a “bug” we mean a tiny little microphone… ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/nit-picking-dept-a-million-microphones-do-not-make-a-megaphone/70643/11 "2012-01-27T21:19:21Z")
Cig, I was wondering when someone would catch that. Where’s that retired linguistics professor when you need him?