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Original poster

What do you remember from your childhood that you now realise you really misunderstood?

806 replies

Carryonrunning · 24/01/2025 08:53

Was just chatting to a friend about this:

  1. Hearing all the boys in class talking about how a girl’s tampon fell out in the classroom. Lived in fear of this for many years before I realised they meant it fell out of her bag, not her body!

  2. Opening the door of a sauna with my cousin (which was right in the middle of the spa area, so not private) on holiday in a nice hotel and my uncle inside shouting at us to close the door. I cried for weeks thinking I’d inadvertently seen him naked (although I didn’t actually see anything). Couldn’t look at him for years without feeling sick before I was old enough to realise we were just letting the heat out and annoying the other people in there! No one was naked in mixed sauna in the very public pool area of a nice spa hotel full of people!

OP posts:
JMSA · 26/01/2025 04:18

Georgyporky · 24/01/2025 11:45

My Gran had a tablespoon that she said was specially shaped for her saucepans.

It wasn't until I was about 40 & my own tablespoons were wearing away I realised !

I don't understand this one. Probably just me!

I'm loving this thread though Smile

CrowleyKitten · 26/01/2025 04:14

FrustratedC0ffeeDrinker · 24/01/2025 17:51

When I was younger I was sometimes dropped off at my grandad’s house so he could look after me. Much to my dissatisfaction he always watched snooker on the TV (with the volume off). I used to wonder why no one wanted to pot the white ball. When it was accidently potted I couldn’t understand why no one got excited about it, as potting a white ball seemed to be a rarity.

When younger I thought that Ireland was Germany.

In the 80s/90s when we went to the video shop I always wanted to rent the fudge-it-if with Harrison Ford (The Fugitive).

When I was a teenager there was a dance song which had the lyrics “If your name’s not down you’re not coming in…” I thought this was “If your name’s not Dan you’re not coming in…”. I had envisioned a nightclub full of Dans and pondered how boring that would be!

I used to think that the point of darts was to hit the bullseye, like archery, and I couldn't understand why professionals kept missing so far out.

JMSA · 26/01/2025 04:12

BrownieBlondie01 · 24/01/2025 11:19

I thought mummy genuinely was kissing Santa Claus in the song. I always thought it was a bit mean on the dad and wondered why someone would write a happy song about it. I was literally an adult when I realised the truth 🙈

What's the truth?
Shock

getahhtmapub · 26/01/2025 04:10

That a lot of tv programmes advertised on TV were titled Wee Knights.

Neighbours WeeKnights
Home and Away WeeKnights
6 o'clock news WeeKnights.

I think I thought it meant they were okay for kids or something.

JMSA · 26/01/2025 04:08

Youbutterbelieve · 24/01/2025 10:49

That the "don't drink and drive" message was relating to alcohol. I absolutely screamed at my dad in the car for drinking a carton of ribena 🥴

Adorable.

JMSA · 26/01/2025 04:03

I remember going into the hospital overnight for a minor operation when I was about 8 years old. Only in the 70s would you be left there with no adult, but that's another story ...
I remember panicking at night because I couldn't fall asleep. And I had been told that the operation would be done when I was 'put to sleep'. I thought I was going to have to have it when awake!

CrowleyKitten · 26/01/2025 04:02

Alltheyearround · 24/01/2025 14:29

That ladies don't just decided they want a baby and hey presto, it's there in their tum and ready to get growing. Also that ladies don't just get to a certain age and happily wake up one fine morning pregnant.

I did not have a single clue that men were involved. To be fair, I went to a Catholic primary and there was a lot of talk about the Virgin Mary, who kind of did conceive like that, according to the teachers. Well, OK God may have helped, a bit. Ineffably.

I was a tad disappointed when the truth finally dawned.

love seeing the word ineffable in the wild :)

JustBeach · 26/01/2025 03:49

I thought houses with "to let" signs were houses where you could use the "toilet"! I just thought the sign had lost the "i"

CrowleyKitten · 26/01/2025 03:48

Thelnebriati · 24/01/2025 13:17

I've posted abut this before, but I was never the sharpest knife in the box and as a child thought Cabbage Patch dolls were supposed to be dolls with Downs syndrome. I thought it was especially grim they were sold with an adoption certificate.

there are people that say they were invented to "normalise" Downs. 🙄

CrowleyKitten · 26/01/2025 03:43

Fillmeinfan · 24/01/2025 12:56

Thinking that if I wrote to Jimmy Saville's show I would appear on it magically. I was disappointed every week! A blessing in disguise, be careful what you wish for and all of that.

a friend wrote to Jim'll fix it, asking to meet Gary Glitter. 😰

AtomicRuby · 26/01/2025 03:24

"This Little piggy Went to Market" I happily imagined a little pig with a straw basket on his arm trotting happily to a lovely market and doing some grocery shopping. I read a lot of Beatrix Potter and Richard Scarry back then. I had no idea!

Learning about tampons etc was confusing as I wondered how a girl could do a wee wearing one. I honestly believed it was the same hole.

That I was made in a factory. My toys had made in Hong Kong on them, I didn't know why I didn't have that label on me.

Foxylass · 26/01/2025 03:16

Dinosaurs!
We had educational books in school, clearly showing humans existing WITH dinosaurs.... .

MarxistMags · 26/01/2025 03:14

I've always wondered where all these Mothers and Fathers were going when they went to see a man about a dog.
A farm ? Kennels ? 😆

AtomicRuby · 26/01/2025 02:57

CrowleyKitten · 26/01/2025 02:51

the fuck, see ya fairy sounds like my kinda gal.

Show quote history

The Flower Fairy books could be rewritten like that I suppose. I used to think the Scabious fairy in one of those books was the Scabies Fairy! I wanted to be the poppy fairy as she had the loveliest dress.

I used to think antique was anti-kew, fatigue was fatty-goo, auction was aucussion, and drought was drawrt. I read loads but didn't understand the concept of breaking words down into bits to pronounce them properly.

CrowleyKitten · 26/01/2025 02:51

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 24/01/2025 10:35

Such a funny word on signs in M&S - linger-y. It was quite a while before I heard anyone actually say it.

OTOH I loved the fuck-seeya fairy in my Flower Fairies book. Such a lovely dress she had on! It was some time before I said it out loud, whereupon an aunt said hastily, ‘No, dear - it’s pronounced ‘fyoosha’. 😂

the fuck, see ya fairy sounds like my kinda gal.

AtomicRuby · 26/01/2025 02:51

@Carryonrunning Me too with conservatories and Tories! @ElsaMars same thing happened to me with a teacher at school and the socks. I remember the other kids laughing and me feeling very silly! @zoemum2006 yes I remember asking my sister "why are the Wombles common?" As I didn't see Wombles around in my day to day life outside of tv I remember thinking they weren't such a common sight like they claimed to be!

AtomicRuby · 26/01/2025 02:44

@Mumof3PrettyBoys my heart hurt for you reading that. What an awful way to treat anybody let alone a child. Flowers

Whotenanny · 26/01/2025 02:31

I thought days were actually 48 hours long... 24 hours to be awake, and 24 hours to sleep!

If only my 6 year old self was correct 😆

AtomicRuby · 26/01/2025 02:29

Miffsmum · 25/01/2025 21:43

😂😂😂

Show quote history

I'm guessing they rub those all over our washing as well! Quelle Horreur!

Fam23 · 26/01/2025 02:25

Youbutterbelieve · 24/01/2025 10:49

That the "don't drink and drive" message was relating to alcohol. I absolutely screamed at my dad in the car for drinking a carton of ribena 🥴

I thought the same 🤣

PotaytoPotahhto · 26/01/2025 02:20

mrsm43s · 24/01/2025 11:37

I used to think my Dad was super popular as he waved to everyone when he was driving. It wasn't until I learnt to drive that I realised he was just thanking them!

I was also (showing my age here) confused about the "Blankety Blank Cheque Book and Pen". I didn't realise it was just a trophy, I thought you won a gold checkbook and pen which magically allowed you to spend as much money as you liked paid for by the BBC!

Oh gosh. I didn’t know until your post that it’s a trophy…

Until this moment, I genuinely thought they get a fancy cheque book and pen - but to use with their own bank account, not unlimited funds from the BBC. How embarrassing!

oldmanandtheangel · 26/01/2025 02:10

Used to pass near Seer Green in Buckinghamshire to visit my Nan. I'd always start singing Yellow Submarine when saw the sign. I thought they were talking about the place, took me years to realise it's actually...

So we sailed on to the sun
'Til we found a sea of green

oldmanandtheangel · 26/01/2025 02:07

I saw this film in the TV or Radio Times ( I was a teenager) and it said it was about a nymphomaniac. I told my mum I was going to watch it , I thought a nympho was someone who started fires. I said it was about people that dad deals with sometimes (he was a fireman). She looked very surprised and I got a shock when watched it

ThisBrickPombear · 26/01/2025 00:44

I didn’t realise for years that the male couple in Four Weddings and a Funeral were gay. I thought they were just mates living together, especially when the vicar at the funeral calls his partner “Gareth’s closest friend” - I lived a sheltered life!

BubblesMacgee · 26/01/2025 00:35

When I was very small thinking that I could start on my bicycle from the north coast of Scotland and freewheel down to the south coast of England - thought it would all be downhill north to south!