I can't believe people don't know that?

I'm not a snob, but sometimes I am shocked at some peoples lack of knowledge. I wouldn't laughingly point it out though.

One younger girl I worked with arrived late because there was a traffic jam and 'they were all driving so slow?' They all turned off at the cemetery road. I had to explain to her what a procession was, and that she couldn't pass the slow cars out of respect, and also that they wouldn't stop at normal stop signs. She just hadn't experienced it before, so didn't know.

This is the same young woman who has a handbag with the Playboy logo all over it. I wonder if she knows what it signifies, or just thing they are cute bunnies? I haven't, and won't ask.

I'm Canadian, and have had the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom explained to me a few times, but I'm not sure I've got it right.

I (think) I know quite a a bit about British politics. I'm always astounded when, periodically, red tops run articles about how few people recognise the current cabinet.

But on the whole, I Remember that I'm just a bit of a political nerd. I know bugger all about loads of things, so why should everyone know what I know about politics? And I probably know an eighth, if that, of what there is to know about even that.

There are some very basic things that do shock me when people don’t know it. When the world wars ended, who our prime minister currently is never mind who has been PM historically.

I have very broad general knowledge but enjoy learning pretty much anything new, so always open to someone introducing a knowledge gap to me!

But I have used different currencies in places. I’ve used sterling (cash) in India.

Why should people know that Scotland has a different education system to England and Wales? If they don’t live in Scotland or nearby, don’t have friends or relatives there, don’t travel there for holidays or work, why should they? If they want their children to go to school there they’ll do the research. Otherwise, no point. It’s like researching the system in Belgium despite having no interest in moving there.

A lot of people (me included) hadn't heard about Aberfan until The Crown covered it, just not old enough to remember it being on the news maybe?

I'm on a Disneyland Paris group and every single week there's a post from someone asking if they can just use £ when they're there. How has someone grown to adulthood and not know about currencies? This is after they've booked their flight or whatever to France.

I work with a guy who is astonishingly ignorant and has absolutely no curiosity about the world beyond the parameters of his own life. I never comment on it but christ I eyeroll inwardly.

Not really.
Why would people know that if it doesn't affect them ?
I only know because I have read it on various MN threads.
Not everyone is on MN.

I saw Randall Munroe talking about this in London a couple of weeks ago. 💕

I once had an American boyfriend who was living in UK.

He had a Masters Degree (not in history), who was surprised that we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving.

I also hated "draw" instead of "drawer" until someone pointed out to me that they did it because they thought "drawer" was pronounced "draw-er" and I couldn't really argue with that logic.

I mean if you're a UK person and you don't know Scotland has a different education system that's genuinely wild. I wouldn't be shouting about it. Or putting it on this thread. It's like not knowing they have different flags or bank note designs or something.

This is the kind of thing that amazes me too. I remember telling my DP that I’d watched an episode of The Crown which covered the Aberfan Disaster and he said ‘what’s Aberfan’? He’s a very intelligent man in his 50s and couldn’t understand how he never heard of this. However, I was also polite and quietly astonished!

I’m less polite when I realised that some people genuinely think that drawer is spelt draw or other things of that nature 😁

There's something bloody annoying about being told you're wrong by a person who has paid fuck all attention to anything beyond their own small world all their life, and who wears ignorance with pride.

And buffalo’s don’t have wings!

Love this! Even though I now have to wipe my wine off the wall ...

I was just coming on to post that 😊

m.xkcd.com/1053/

The currency example is fair enough, but I can definitely see why saying “I can’t believe you didn’t know that” about Jersey is along the same sarky vein. I know where Jersey is because my mum visits frequently, but it’s definitely not on any school syllabus that I’ve ever studied, so I wouldn’t blame anyone I went to school with for not knowing it.

Well, you know, historically Wales did become part of England. There was an Act of Parliament during Henry VIII's reign that had all English law apply in Wales, and the Kingdom of England incorporated Wales.

Legally this was very different to the Act of Union that created the Kingdom of Great Britain by unifying the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland. That is why there's no part of the Union flag that represents Wales, while there are elements that represent England, Scotland and [Northern] Ireland.

It is, however, not hard for me to believe that you don't know that because lots of people don't know the nuances of the history.

There's plenty out there that I don't know. I do a highly technical job, and know loads about that. I have pretty good general knowledge. But on topics I am not interested in, there's plenty of obvious stuff I don't know!

I also hate it when people say ' oh you'll know, this you did history.' And then act all surprised when I don't know.

I didn't do a degree in every second of anything that's ever happened so no, I might not know which king died in 1182.

My MIL also says flatly, in the same tone, every single time anything to do with geography comes up. 'Oh I should know that, I did A Level Geography.' Makes me want to poke my eye out.

Anyway - my husband and I actually had the conversation about prunes the other day and neither of us knew what fruit they were. So reading this thread, we now do! (We didn't know as neither of us like them).

As a proud Cardiffian, I not only know where it is, but encounter people daily who don’t know that Wales is a separate country and not part of England.

10000 people a day, worldwide, discover that the Titanic event actually happened and wasn’t just a story.

Nobody knows anything until they do. It’s a bit unreasonable/unkind to expect everyone to know what you know, and you don’t get people to find out more by patronising them.

I always think people who say that aren't the sharpest tools in the shed themselves, know it deep down and try to feel better at other people's expense. They give themselves away by confusing knowledge, which is really just exposure to, and the ability to and memorise facts, with intelligence. Which is something entirely different.

On the tsunami thing - if you live around the Pacific you'd know that as a tsunami is a real risk. Not so much in the UK.

Still not on the same level as not knowing who the PM is, or where Cardiff is.