Can we have an "OMG I can't believe I never realised that!" thread?

[TwigTheWonderKid]

Mine is Sandie Shaw. I can't believe it had never occurred to me until tonight that her name is a play on Sandy Shore.

When I was a child & someone asked me what I want to be be when I grow up I thought the choices were man or woman!

This reminds me of a conversation I had with DS when he was 3 and dd was weaning. He asked why we had to give babies food. I told him “so that they can grow up to be strong boys and girls”. He said “does that mean that DD can grow up to be a boy then?”. It took him about 10 years to get over not having a brother.

I just told my 19yo DD that I was reading this thread and said "you wouldn't believe how many people didn't realise a dandelion clock was a dandelion gone to seed". Her reaction? NO WAY!!! I feel like I haven't properly done my job as a mother by not telling her this!

This is the same person who yesterday taught me the 'righty tighty, leftie loosie' rule .

My contribution - I was a young adult before I realised a Turf Accountant was a betting shop.

My contribution - I was a young adult before I realised a Turf Accountant was a betting shop.

Me too. I thought it was a gardening shop!

Until my early 30s I thought water polo was played on horses, like normal polo. I was amazed they could find a swimming pool anywhere that would put up with that!
Me too. Well, until I was 21 and my housemate started playing water polo. In fact, I still always imagine it with horses, it's more interesting that way.

It really would be better with horses wouldn't it, totallyyesno? All swimming pool events would surely be more fun with horses?

I'd love to combine my swimming with my horse riding, what a time saver

I think we should start a MN horse back water polo team once lock down is over.

Re the solar system, just before lockdown I taught a science lesson where we made the solar system on the playground and the school field. Thankfully we have a very long field. I had to send a runner to fetch Pluto (the planet/non-planet!) back for lunch.

When I was a kid the popular toast at any get together of my parent's friends or family was 'absent friends'. Until very recently I genuinely thought that it meant people who couldn't make it because they were busy or whatever, but it actually means dead people. Apologies if someone has already mentioned this but I couldn't rtft.

@womanthatfelltoearth the cafetière frothy milk is brilliant thank you.

@Cattenberg, in York there is a cycle path with scale models of the planets at scaled distances along the route. The Sun is at the start of the route, and the first few planets - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth are all in the first half mile or so. Then as you go along, the planets get further apart. The distance from the Sun at the start to Pluto at the end is 6.5 miles, of which about 3 miles is between the last two planets, Neptune and Pluto.

Tarantulas keep tiny frogs as pets

Pleased the frothy coffee has added some joy to your lives as it has mine

Took me 5 seasons of Ru Paul's drag race to clock what they meant with charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent...

Tarantulas keep tiny frogs as pets

That's not a symbiotic relationship that I'd want to be a part of even if it is based on mutalism

If you put cheese on cream crackers then heat in the microwave when you take them out the crackers will still be room temperature and crunchy but with melted cheese so easier to eat.

This also works with sesame seeded crispbreads and has definitely upped my quick snackage choices. You need a bit more cheese per 'sandwich' though due to the run off - but if you put them on a plate to heat through you do get a delicious bonus melted cheese puddle for afters.

Shit - absent friends really = dead friends??

A few days ago, I learned that the phases of the moon look different in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. For example, a waning crescent looks like a C - shape from the UK, whereas from Australia, that’s what a waxing crescent looks like.

I'm sorry Cattenburg but I refuse to accept that!

The truth is not altered by geography!!!!!

You must think I'm stupid!

Crafty

Bloody hell!

Even after your post it took me about 10 minutes to work that out!

@SchadenfreudePersonified glad it wasn't just me! Proper penny drop / face palm moment when I twigged.

While maps with different projections are fun, really it's much better to buy a globe (or look at virtual globes online).

I don't think we've yet had 'which ocean does the westernmost end of the Panama Canal open into.'

I didn’t know until child 4 that swim nappies can be dried and reused.

It took me years to realise that the phrase is NOT "I can't be asked to [do something]." in my defence English is not my first language...

thehop
Waiiiit what??????
So unless there's a poo I can just return out?

*dry them out

I found out yesterday that Elon Musk is an actual person, I thought it was the name of a space station!

I was having a conversation with my hairdresser before lockdown, mentioned that I had a really bad bout of tonsillitis in the early 90s and that I only had Anadin Extra because you couldn’t buy Ibuprofen back then. She thought it had always been around, like paracetamol.