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?

I’m glad to find out I had been pronouncing tortoise correctly. I had someone correct my pronunciation - and they’re wrong!

I genuinely thought there was a website called old.com or something and was amazed how popular it was, judging by how often I see it on here!

Hahaha that reminds me of when I used to think Tia was either a popular name amongst mumsnetters, or a very prolific poster. Then one day I realised it means "Thanks in advance"!

An old forum I used to visit had the option to "Mark Read"
For ages I thought this dude was a prolific poster!

More people need to smuggle a bag of wine wrapped in a coat into music festivals 😂

I didn’t realise you could flip the sun visor in the car to the side until DH did it a few years ago.

I’d also genuinely never heard the word squally in my life until a couple of years ago, I though Tomas Schaferthingy was making it up

Why would microwaveable meals say "put on a microwaveable plate" if they're already on one?

Lots of plates weren't microwaveable - e.g. those with a gilt edge etc.

And I'm not going to my put leftovers directly on the turntable plate either!

That seasons were flipped in the Southern Hemisphere.

I grew up in the tropics and northern hemisphere climates were all that I knew about different seasons. We were very American-influenced

Catkin8

Do you know where rapeseed oil, coconut oil and cod liver oil come from?

Re the tins of corned beef, if you are exporting tins to Europe from Argentina and Frey Bentos(yes that is a real place) then round tins mean there is a lot of space between the tins. It is also easier to slice when square(ish).

That lord farquaad in shrek was DreamWorks getting away with calling him lord fuckwad.

Going back to the original OP.........did you not wonder why the box was so heavy when you were throwing it away, or what the liquid sloshing around inside was?

Until about 10 years ago I though BP stood for Better Petrol.

(I don't live in the UK is my excuse)

Lets not get started on song lyrics. I have a few but the corker is....

Billie Jean is not my lover.
Until very recently I sang Billie Jean is at my door.......

The way I found out about the wine left over in the box was because I opened one up to use the bag to blow up to use in the swimming pool. To my delight a whole load of wine appeared.

If you look at the symbol of a petrol pump on the dashboard of your car, there's an arrow pointing left or right to show you which side of the car is the filler cap. MOH didn't know that and he's been repairing/dealing cars all his life

This is not always the case. I have two vehicles (mine and a work one) the one vehicle has the arrow points to the opposite side. I have to make a mental note and think about which car I am in, and where I should stop when I go to the petrol station.

Lets not get started on song lyrics. I have a few but the corker is....

For years I thought Sister Sledge were singing this chorus in 'He's the greatest dancer":

I really wasn't carin', but I felt my eyes starin'
At a guy who stuck out in the crowd
He had the kind of body that would shame Madonna's
And a face that would make any man proud

I just assumed they moved in similar circles back then, and Madonna DOES have an amazing body...

@crapette

Problem was I was so used to buying bottles of wine, which are obviously much heavier due to being glass, that the wine box didn't feel "heavy" as if there was still something in it. And I think the wine gets somewhat compacted at the bottom so doesn't really "slosh" around. I'm just happy I found out in the end!

I was well into my 30s before I realised that Alaska and Russia are close together...because they're on opposite sides of a world map I'd never thought about the fact that if you rolled it into a glose it makes them next to eachother [blush[

*Globe and

@Meruem I learnt this just this year, wine in a box stays fresh to use until the very end of the box. The clever valve stops air going in as you use it. So you can enjoy a glass today and a glass in months time all from same box.

The problem with my new found knowledge is that there is very little choice of box wines in our supermarket.

Wine is brought in from all over the world in lorries designed like the humble box and decanted into bottles at factories here in UK.

Zoe Lyons has some excellent advice about the Box of Wine op.

My moment - reading a penguin history book as a young child. There was a section called "post war". My reading skills weren't good enough to understand and I genuinely believed for quite a while that there was a period of time after WW2 where people had got fed up of fighting and were just posting eachother rude letters instead.

@cigarsofthepharoahs that clip is absolutely brilliant

I recently reached the tail end of some boxed rose and took the bag out to "bagpipe" the last dregs. There was more than I thought so I shoved the silver bag back in the fridge with the spout bit pointing upwards.

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

Until last week (at the age of 40) I thought that the lyrics to the Wizzard song were 'See my baby die.. see my baby die... Well every one you meet coming down the street , Just to see my baby die'

I was very relieved when I suddenly realised it was 'jive' - until then clearly I thought that the song was about the public execution of the singer's beloved....

What at about pronunciation of turquoise?

Turquoise doesn't even know if it's blue or green.

DO you think it's going to have a say in how we pronounce it?

Also that slang means shortened language. I'm in my 50's!

WHAT?

I'm in my 60's and a Speech and Language therapist, and I never sussed that out!

I am ashamed . . .

@highlighter
www.thesun.co.uk/motors/3040851/petrol-cap-which-side-car-symbol-gauge-meaning/
Seems odd to have the arrow on the wrong side.

The way I found out about the wine left over in the box was because I opened one up to use the bag to blow up to use in the swimming pool. To my delight a whole load of wine appeared

Life doesn't get much better than that!

Re the tins of corned beef, if you are exporting tins to Europe from Argentina and Frey Bentos(yes that is a real place) then round tins mean there is a lot of space between the tins. It is also easier to slice when square(ish).

Ah that makes sense, as does the key thing.

We were looking at HMS Prince of Wales and the information said it was 65000 tons. My DH pointed out that this is not its weight, but the weight of the water that it displaces. The ship weighs substantially less.