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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:
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WoWsers16 · 21/12/2018 22:23

Also- I really terrible one of mind- I didn't realise (until early 20s) that there was a thing called Tuna Fish- I thought it came from dolphins and the dolphin friendly sign on the tim was because they had been kind to the dolphins when extracting the tuna meat from them lol!

Petalflowers · 21/12/2018 22:23

In the Square phrase, I think Square means being boring/untrendy/unadventurous.

Never thought about Beatles being ‘beat’ before. Doh!

Missingstreetlife · 21/12/2018 22:23

A knob jockey is someone who rides a knob.

WoWsers16 · 21/12/2018 22:23

sorry terrible typos in my post x

Moonflower12 · 21/12/2018 22:24

I only found out recently that Havant was a real place! I thought it was made up. In my defence it was beachside I'd seen it written in capital letters so thought it was an acronym?!?
I also thought a village on the Fens called Guyhirn was a sort of tied estate place belonging to a chap called Guy Hirn. I only found out when I said to my DP that the residents must be very wary of pissing him off as they'd not be able to get a job anywhere in the area!

Moonflower12 · 21/12/2018 22:26

Because not beachside.

diddl · 21/12/2018 22:26

A dead ringer is something to do with two things or people looking alike isn't it?

Like a dead cert-nothing tio do with death.

Saved by the bell-from boxing?

Batfurger · 21/12/2018 22:26

No wonder we ended up with Brexit. Jesus facepalm.

There's no such thing as stupid people, only people who stop thinking too soon.

JaneJeffer · 21/12/2018 22:28

A genius has arrived on the thread.

ChesterGreySideboard · 21/12/2018 22:30

I thought saved by the bell was from boxing too.

GrumpySausage · 21/12/2018 22:33

All the Harry Potter ones have blownnn my mind!! 💥

hopefullybettersoon · 21/12/2018 22:34

Yeah, the graveyard shift/saved by the bell/dead ringer thing is an urban myth

GrumpySausage · 21/12/2018 22:34

Also- I really terrible one of mind- I didn't realise (until early 20s) that there was a thing called Tuna Fish- I thought it came from dolphins and the dolphin friendly sign on the tim was because they had been kind to the dolphins when extracting the tuna meat from them lol!

Actual lol

Smidge001 · 21/12/2018 22:36

Yeah, saved by the bell is from boxing.
The graveyard shift and dead ringer suggestion below is also cited as being a popular fallacy according to Google.

brizzledrizzle · 21/12/2018 22:37

Inuits (Eskimos in old speak) live in Canada (and a bit of Alaska/Greenland).

Inuits are in all settlements around the coast of Greenland, obviously not in the middle. It is only a bit of Greenland because it's so huge. The Greenland Inuits are also known as Kalaallit. In Greenland and Canada they don't accept the term Eskimo but the Yupik people of Alaska and Siberia reject Inuit so there isn't a common description for them all.

Sorry got a bit carried away there, the Inuit people fascinate me, I have met many who are lovely and have a great outlook on life despite the difficulties that they constantly face.

diddl · 21/12/2018 22:41

Dead ringer is from horse racing isn't it-something to do with substituting horses?

So dead means "exact"?

As in dead centre?

Also dead ringer-well if they were ringing the bell, they wouldn't be dead!

TroysMammy · 21/12/2018 22:42

formerbabe are you sure because my jaw hit the floor when a friend's husband told me they spoke Hollish in Holland Hmm.

He was also convinced that penguins had a pelt not feathers.

DarcieStarlight · 21/12/2018 22:44

That the reason the bed was named 'bed' is because the word actually looks like a bed.

BlancheM · 21/12/2018 22:45

Well it only occurred to me the other day that 'butt' is short for 'buttocks' I don't know why it popped it into my mind nor why I didn't realise this sooner...

DarcieStarlight · 21/12/2018 22:45

Also, that the numbers on a toaster aren't actually the strength of heat it will kick out but actually number of minutes until it pops the toast back up.

diddl · 21/12/2018 22:47

"That the reason the bed was named 'bed' is because the word actually looks like a bed."
GrinGrinGringrin]

BlancheM · 21/12/2018 22:48

What's the right way to call a lift then? Because OH tried explaining it to me: that you press the up/down arrow to summon the lift from either above or below the floor you're on. But how do you guess where the lift is? It could be anywhere!

Kintan · 21/12/2018 22:49

I have only realised TONIGHT that Maori from Moana shares his name with The Maori People from, er, New Zealand (and other places)

But the character is Maui not Maori?

ChesterGreySideboard · 21/12/2018 22:50

Please tell me you don’t really think that, Darcie

Knittedfairies · 21/12/2018 22:51

You press the up button if you want to go up!
I heard a child ask grandma in a shopping centre if they needed the ‘upscalator’ or the ‘downscalator’. Genius.

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