Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

OMG I'm thick as mince

447 replies

OopsInamechangedagain · 21/12/2018 20:43

I was just doing an online trivia quiz and one of the answers mentioned that zebra crossings are so-called because the black and white stripes resemble a zebra's coat. I can't believe that not once in my 40-odd years on this planet did I twig the connection!

What else have I missed...? Confused

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
Piffpaffpoff · 21/12/2018 20:47

I don’t know, but ‘thick as mince’ has made me lol, not heard that phrase for a while!

borntobequiet · 21/12/2018 20:48

To be fair, there are panda crossings. How could you guess what they are? Many people were confused when they were introduced:
news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/2/newsid_2840000/2840919.stm

halfwitpicker · 21/12/2018 20:48

Yeah you're dumb

I only just realised Adam Ant was adamant

So me and you both matey

KeepServingTheFestiveSnogs · 21/12/2018 20:49

Another one here who loves the expression 'thick as mince' (couldn't resist writing it out again!).

I'm sure you excel in other areas, OP. Maybe you are a kind person?

WoodBurnerBabe · 21/12/2018 20:50

Yeah, I only just realIsed Adam Ant was adamant. Thanks to halfwitpicker

ILoveMaxiBondi · 21/12/2018 20:52

I only just realised Adam Ant was adamant

Shock I can’t believe I hadn’t noticed that before!

Whitegrenache · 21/12/2018 20:55

Adam an = adamant??

Really

Thehogfatherstolemycurry · 21/12/2018 20:57

Took me years to twig Diagon Ally in Harry Potter is diagonally

Emma145 · 21/12/2018 20:59

This thread is making me feel thick as mince...I didn't know adamant or diagonally!

redandyellowandpinkandgreen99 · 21/12/2018 21:09

I don't think that's true about Adam Ant. He is called Adam Ant, not adamant.

redandyellowandpinkandgreen99 · 21/12/2018 21:10

I knew about zebra crossings btw.

What I didn't know is that HOLLAND is not a country! It's a province of The Netherlands! I do have more I just can't think right now.

UrbaneSprawl · 21/12/2018 21:12

Crossings that are for both cyclists and pedestrians are called Toucan Crossings because two can cross at once...

motortroll · 21/12/2018 21:12

@redandyellowandpinkandgreen99 that's the point. He's called Adam Ant but it's a play on the word adamant.

Missingstreetlife · 21/12/2018 21:13

How thick is mince? And how do you mince words?
I know about mincing around, but why is it called that?

FrankieChips · 21/12/2018 21:13

I don’t think the Adam Ant thing is right but my god he was a beautiful man!

chipsandpeas · 21/12/2018 21:13

i worked with someone who thought barcelona was a country

florentina1 · 21/12/2018 21:13

I am sure you are not alone. At a quiz one Christmas one of my GCs 17 year old friend replied to the question “In which Country does the Pope Reside? with the answer Poland “ . We all thought she was joking until she said “I thought that was why it was called Poland, because the Pope lived there”.

JoyceDivision · 21/12/2018 21:14

Never realised re Adam Ant.

Only a while ago I realised re Perry Farrell re Jayne's addiction (peripheral)

redandyellowandpinkandgreen99 · 21/12/2018 21:15

@motortroll

Well I have never heard that before. (About Adam Ant.) Confused

Where did you hear that?

PoptartPoptart · 21/12/2018 21:19

Another Harry Potter one - Knockturn Alley is a play on nocturnally

FestiveGanesh · 21/12/2018 21:22

Last weekend it dawned on me that the rhyme "The lion and the unicorn" was about the power struggle between England and Scotland, several hundred years ago.

ILoveMaxiBondi · 21/12/2018 21:22

Where did you hear that?

Grin You don’t need to hear it! It’s what the name spells!

WhenTheDragonsCame · 21/12/2018 21:23

When I was a teenager I was watching who wants to be a millionaire with a friend. A question was "what animal is used to play polo?" And she said flamingo, as in Mary Poppins! Grin

I only realised in my 30s that Moses baskets are named after the Moses from the bible because he was put in a basket to save himBlush

DerelictWreck · 21/12/2018 21:25

How can people not know the Diagon Alley / Diagonally one?! HP even says Diagonally in one of the books when he uses the Floo network, and that's why he ends up in Knockturn Alley!

WhyAmISoCold · 21/12/2018 21:27

Grimmauld Place is Grim Old Place too.