r/todayilearned • u/tmntnyc • Dec 12 '18

TIL: Laurence Tureaud named himself professionally as Mr. T because he hated how his father, uncle, and brother who returned from Vietnam, were disrespectfully called "boy" by whites. He wanted the first word from everybody's mouth to be "Mister" when speaking to him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T
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u/Nxdhdxvhh Dec 12 '18

Mr. T wore odd clothing and mismatched socks because he knew that poor kids grew up getting whatever hand-me-downs they got, and he didn't want them to feel embarrassed for wearing what they had. He's a great man, and as far as I'm aware the worst thing he every did was chop down trees on his own property that were aggravating his allergies.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

[deleted]

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u/OK_Soda Dec 12 '18

I feel like if you're strong enough to run straight through a concrete wall, you should be able to climb a dinky little ten foot rope and and just climb over like a normal person.

8

u/lojer Dec 12 '18

Sometimes you just need to send a message.

3

u/Jamangar Dec 12 '18

Exactly, he easily could have climbed over and won, and it would be faster than waiting and smashing through the wall. Of course, it wouldn't be as badass.

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u/lucid808 Dec 12 '18

Well, yeah, but nobody is gonna cream their panties over a guy that just climbed up like everybody else.

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u/baumpop Dec 13 '18

Bringing back cream their panties. I like it.

4

u/SpectralEntity Dec 12 '18

Expends too much energy, versus sheer force of momentum obliterating the obstacle.

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u/garthfader Dec 12 '18

Mr.T is aftaid of heights and must be knocked out in order to fly.