Really random question?
 

So this is a really random question but I need help. I am looking for a travel fan to take with me to Ireland. It cant be battery operated, needs to have an AC adapter. I know it has to be 220V and I cant find a dual voltage fan anywhere here in the US. It may sound crazy but I cant sleep without a fan on at night. So if anyone has any suggestions of places or websites to look for a fan,please let me know. I am going to Ireland for a month this winter so want to get it soon! thanks!

I suspect that a dual voltage travel fan isn't a high demand item.

My suggestions:

1. ask your hotel if they have a fan. I've never had a problem getting a fan from a hotel, especially those without AC.
2. buy a small 220V fan upon arrival.
3. practice at home sleeping without a fan.
4. download white noise sounds to your ipod and bring along small speakers. (if it is the noise you need not the air flow)

Is it the noise you need or the air circulation? If it's the noise, I used to be the same way - then I discovered the joys of earplugs. I use the wax kind. They take a night or two to get used to - you hear your own breathing and heartbeat, but it puts you to sleep. I am a very light sleeper, so any little noise would wake me right back up, a fan was great to drown out those noises. Earplugs are easier to carry :)

If it's the air, you should be able to find one once you arrive. They do have them :)

Get it there.

Has some new definition of random developed while I wasn't looking? This is the 2nd question I have seen in the past month on one of these travel boards which claimed to be random, but clearly isn't by any definition that I know.

The definition changes randomly.

Perhaps the real word was "odd".

Thanks for help of those of you that took the time to really answer the question at hand and not wasting time writing why random should not be the word used in a headline. and yes it is a really random question on this board since most people ask about hotels and places to see and eat. This board is for suggestions, not whether the word random has developed a new meaning.

Thanks, Green Dragon, for the laugh and Kerouac, for the suggestion of a possible meaning. The OP's response implies that she thinks her question is somewhat unique, so perhaps that's her definition.

There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of questions on this board over the years about voltage, so I don't find anything unique, odd or random about this particular version.

"Random" is US slang.

It is used by young people and people who are around young people.

Its meaning changes depending on the context.

All countries have such slang.

Generally, the standard version of a language will elicit better replies if used in the presence of a variety of people from different countries, cultures and generations.

I think that the purchase of a fan in Ireland is the best solution, as it will be used for a month apparently. Not the most expensive model of course, just enough to keep our friend out of the local mental institutions.

I wondered about the latest usage of that word.I routinely get emailed links to online photo albums of my grandkids. Almost all are titled "Random pics of _____", when they aren't random at all. Now I get it.

On to the fan issue. I too sleep with a fan at night and find it hard to sleep without one. I also sleep with wax ear plugs and a wave machine. And a night guard to keep me from grinding my teeth. I often wonder if someone were to break in at night, would they be more frightened of me than I of them?

I am delighted to know about this clarification of the re-defintion of "random". I will add it to "fat" (or is that "phat"?) and "sick" and "bad" as meaning something different than it once did.

As far as the actual purchase of the fan is concerned, OP, may I suggest ebay UK? You can do the deal at home and have the fan sent to your first hotel and leave it at your last.

Think "random killing".

Your question is in fact highly specific and more or less opposite in meaning to the term 'random'

You could buy the fan overseas but it might not be easy to find especially out of season so ask the hotel first and then try ebay...

It's not "random" but "fan" that I take exception to. When I got halfway through the second sentence, I thought Subright was offering to take a fan of travel along with her. Only to have my hopes crushed in the third sentence.

Rats; I'm still confused. What is the new meaning of the word random? What does it mean when it's used in this way, or in the "random pics of the kids" way?

And Subright, please don't be offended. "Electric fan in Ireland" would have elicited many more responses than "Really random question?"

Fodorites looking at this: what would be a good example of a "Really random question?" Can questions actually be really random? Can anything be more random than random, as in really random?

I admit to being sick in bed right now, but the more I ponder this, the more confused I become.

Ha ha. I think the discussion about random is so funny. When I really think about it, I see that it is a slang definition of the word. But it's been around so long ( at least for me), I wouldn't have realized that it's country-specific unless I saw this posting.

I am 28 and have been using "random" since at least high school to mean something strange, unusual, out of the blue, humorously weird, incongruous, unexpected, etc.

I sometimes use it in the subject line of emails to friends. Recent example: Random question - Do you happen to have an extra high chair around the house? I have friends coming in from out of town with a baby.

Or you can use it to describe unknown people or things. Example: this random guy was walking around the office.

I'm sure the OP thought that his/her request was not a typical question for someone preparing to travel and didn't think twice about using the term.

The suggestion above that random was being used here in the sense of current young people slang, led me to this definition from a BBC site about teen slang:

>>random - odd, irregular, crazy, out there. Not used when something is genuinely random, but as an adjective by those who like to think they live a life less ordinary and have a wacky sense of humour. An example from Urban Dictionary reads thus:
Teen 1: "Cheese! hahahaha"
Teen 2: "Wow! That's sooooo random!"<<

Hmmm, not sure if I totally agree with the cheese example. Unless the cheese unexpectedly showed up in the mail or came with the purchase of a pair of pants or something.

For people of my age group (I live in U.S.), I think this term started being overused by about 1997 or 98. I use it much less now, but it has made its way into my normal speech. I'm sure I don't get many of the things high schoolers are saying these days...