Your “how did I not realise that” moments.

[Meruem]

I am getting too involved in the corona virus threads so wanted to start something lighthearted!

Went to visit DSis recently. She bought a wine box. I have bought the odd one in the past and once the little tap stopped producing wine just threw it out. I did not realise that there is nearly a whole bottle of wine left in the bag at that point! I felt really stupid but now view it as “free” wine given I would have thrown it away!

What silly things didn’t you realise until someone pointed it out to you?

'Slang' doesn't mean 'shortened language'. The word is of Scandinavian origin.

If you think about it, many slang words are longer than the formal terms - e.g. 'dekko' for look, 'ivories' for 'teeth' and almost all cockney rhyming slang expressions.

I’d argue that turquoise simply proves I do pronounce tortoise correctly, and the official pronunciation is just wrong, but given that @SchadenfreudePersonified has pointed out it can’t even be trusted to know what colour it is I’m not sure it’s a strong enough defence.

The Sky button on the remote! Well I never!

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion it's qwerty not querty 🙈

When you typed it out didn't you notice you had to go elsewhere for the u?

I’d argue that turquoise simply proves I do pronounce tortoise correctly,

Are you saying it as "tor-twarrzzz"?

No. I pronounce it tur-coys 😳

The sun is just an ordinary star I learnt in primary school that it's a star, but I thought it was a particularly massive type of star! It wasn't til DS became interested in space when he was little that I learnt it's just a bog standard star. And consequently, every star you see in the sky is a "sun". 🤯

yes tea bags go off. I drank a cuppa made with an old teabag which had been in our caravan for bit - it hit my stomach and came straight back up!

And wine boxes - I do hope that you are all cutting the corner off the bag to get the last drops out?

I only just found out (am about to launch my own business) that business cards sometimes have stuff printed on the BACK.

@crapette ...'The next time I opened the fridge I was momentarily puzzled as to why there was a dead, silver wombat on the top shelf'...

When I moved in with dp I didn't put food near the light in the fridge in case it got warm and made the food go bad 🤯. Nearly ten years later he still teases me about it.

Well actually my ex flat mate took the bulb out as he said his food got too hot by it. It was actually quite warm!

@RedRec I whispered a tiny apology to him as I put him in the recyling box

@BusterMove @Catkin8
You'd better sit down for this one...did you also know that an olive is actually a fruit, and the oil is its juice???

whispers ** I only found out a few years ago that lockers give you your £1 back! I thought it ate them! All those £1s I've wasted 🤣

I pronounce turquoise "Turk-wise". I'm probably wrong though.

It was only a couple of years ago that I realised the HP in HP sauce stands for Houses of Parliament. Even though there is a picture of the building and Big Ben on the bottle. It was a bit of a lightbulb moment

Gin is not flavoured vodka, Vodka is a neutral spirit that can be flavoured. Gin has to have juniper in its composition to be legally called gin

Actually, I think it’s not far off to describe gin as flavoured vodka. Vodka is just neutral spirit, gin is neutral spirit which has been flavoured with botanicals, of which juniper must be the dominant flavour. It does need to be redistilled with the botanicals so it’s not just regular flavouring, but you’re not increasing the alcohol content - that step is just about adding flavour. You can legally sell anything if it is a spirit with juniper as the dominant flavour. Flavoured gins are not technically gin at all because although you can probably still taste the juniper, it’s no longer the dominant flavour.

DH had to explain to me recently that in the nursery rhymes the old woman who lived in a shoe and the old women who swallowed a fly are not the same old woman, but different old women doing odd things.

I honestly have thought they were the same old woman all my life!

slang means shortened language

Seriously what is wrong with me! That is 3 new durrrrr moments for me from this thread.

When the EU standardised on the QWERTY keyboard, they insisted that any instruction literature had the French instructions at the start of the manual or in French in a separate manual because the French had been forced to give up their AZERTY keyboard layout.

@Absolutepowercorrupts Wow the penny has just dropped about this little pig. I won't say how old I am

And wine boxes - I do hope that you are all cutting the corner off the bag to get the last drops out?

And then slitting the bag open and licking it out happy..

I still don't know how electric fences around farmers fields are powered. Surely cables aren't run from the farmhouse, and big batteries in the field would just get nicked. Hurts my head thinking about it everyone I see one on the drive home

@Spartonian Slang doesn't mean 'shortened language' - in the same way that 'Club' doesn't mean 'chicken and lettuce under bacon.

Someone, somewhere on the internet is sitting there inventing all these retrospective etymologies to try to make others feel silly - don't fall for it!

Not me, But a few months ago i had a stand up argument with my 10 year old who was counting that it was not infact ' One Mrs Zippy, Two Mrs Zippy's@