Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to ask you to tell me things that you learned way too late in life *lighthearted*.

238 replies

Tinkofhousepan · 24/02/2018 06:43

I started talking with a friend who emigrated to the states a few years ago for work. He lives in New York. We were discussing me going over for a holiday as I've never 'done' NYC. Started discussing the time difference between there and here 5 hours which surprised me as when I went to California the difference was larger 8 hours I think.

This lead to me being informed that the two states are on totally opposite ends of the country.

This is my thing I learned late, ive gone 26 years assuming florida and California were next to each other, And i have learned today that Florida is on the same side as NYC. AND IS AS FAR SOUTH AS TEXAS??? I also learnt that Washington is the most northern state on the side of California, where as Washington DC is just below Maryland and right next to Virginia, which is not at all in the middle part of America where I assumed it to be Blush. I didn't learn USA geography at school, but surely I should have picked this up before now, especially considering I have been to both California and Florida!

Anyone else never realised this? Or is it just Me!

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
SourdoughStarternerd · 10/05/2024 11:50

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Roundtumble · 05/03/2018 14:37

PanPanPanPing
Well... I thought it was in the UK just not so close to home. It always sounded like a Manchester or a Liverpool to me BlushGrin

IMightMentionGriddlebone · 05/03/2018 14:29

I always thought cracking the flags meant windy, as in the sound of the fabric, like the cracking of sails on ships.

But I clearly had another think coming Wink, and now I've had it. Of course flags wouldn't make that sound:
a) they're tiny, and;
b) they're only fastened at one side, and;
c) they're of totally different fabric to sailcloth.

If it's very windy, flags may make a flapping noise, they may tear, and they may even occasionally blow away, but they don't crack.

Thank you, mumsnet!

morningconstitutional2017 · 05/03/2018 13:21

I only learned how to play Patience a few months ago, not having the type of brain that can do this easily.

Gwenhwyfar · 04/03/2018 18:33

"Always assumed it was some sort of clever Latin abrieviation."

Me too!

PanPanPanPing · 04/03/2018 08:48

"That Chelsea was in London. Don't ask"

Well I'm going to ask; where did you think it was, Roundtumble?!

CuboidalSlipshoddy · 03/03/2018 23:49

For me, I always mix up Germany and Poland,

A lot of European history would be different if an Austrian hadn't had the same problem.

RubyFlint · 03/03/2018 23:44

Until a few years ago for whatever reason it hadn’t twigged that the band The Jam wasn’t named after a conserve.

Roundtumble · 03/03/2018 23:14

That Chelsea was in London. Don't ask

freddiemed · 03/03/2018 21:29

That you can undo a double knotted shoe lace just by pulling one end, I did not know this until about a year ago 😳 I am 46!!
Also that you can remove those seals in lids of Tupperware and wash them separately rather than having manky mouldy lids 😳

Kelly75 · 03/03/2018 20:57

I recently had a moment of clarity and realised asking someone to do something PDQ meant “pretty damn quickly”. Always assumed it was some sort of clever Latin abrieviation.

Elmo230885 · 28/02/2018 15:21

That the piggy that went to market didn't go there to do some shopping! 😧

StripySocksAndDocs · 28/02/2018 15:08

That makes so much sense, it's actually mad I didn't realise it. (About engine heat and blowers.)

witchofzog · 28/02/2018 14:40

Justmarried Grin

cannotmakemymindup · 28/02/2018 14:21

@stripeysocksanddocs as boulebaker says.
Without a temperature gauge be a bit more of a guessing game as to when the engine is warm and you can turn the blowers on but yes to the explanation ^^

JustMarriedAndLovingIt · 28/02/2018 12:49

Ok, mine is a bit smutty but I swear it’s true.

Until I was mid-twenties, I thought that gay men had sex by rubbing their Willies together and couldn’t work out what was so exciting about that. I had never heard of anal Blush

BouleBaker · 28/02/2018 12:47

The air blowers get their heat from the engine. Until the engine is warm the air will not be hot, no matter how much you turn them on.

StripySocksAndDocs · 28/02/2018 12:08

No I didn't mean that @cannotmakemymindup (didn't notice typos!!). I mean what do you mean?

In order to get the blowers warm you don't need them on max to start with? I'm not getting the temp gauge thing (i've a old car so wondering if it's a new fangle thing in the last decade ).

cannotmakemymindup · 28/02/2018 11:14

Sorry stripeysocksanddocs for all the typos.
I should add been driving for 14 years only just learnt for this winter.

StripySocksAndDocs · 28/02/2018 06:19

What's that *cannotmakemymindup^?

cannotmakemymindup · 28/02/2018 01:05

That I don't need to have the air on in mu car until it warms up!! I like another MN thought it was like a tap where you let it blow out until it warms and not doing do would be slower. It isn't. It makes absolutely not the slightest having it on zero air whilst on hottest setting and waiting until my temperature gauge says the car has warmed!
Only proviso is when I use Air Con to heat the car quicker then have the air on.

EarlGreyT · 28/02/2018 00:57

I don't get these threads where people post boasting how ignorant they are - not knowing where Florida or California are on the map isn't really something to be proud of.

Or put it another way, I've learned to late that some people like to revel in their lack of knowledge as if it were something funny.

Oh, the irony. The phrase glasshouses and stones comes to mind. It would be a good idea to learn the difference between to and too before coming on here and criticising everyone else for being stupid.

giggly · 27/02/2018 23:56

Learned right here on MN that people who live and work in London work really really hard as opposed to the rest of us who obviously only work a wee bit hardWink

MontyPythonsFlyingFuck · 27/02/2018 23:47

The petrol pump gauge thing definitely isn't true (it points R on my car and the fuel cap is on the L), so I now want to know what the arrow actually means!

thecuckoosnest · 27/02/2018 21:47

That the petrol gauge has a little picture to show you (with the arrow) which side to fill up on. I'd owned a car for about 15 years before realizing this and only found out on facebook