Is there something you're really good at, but never tell new friends etc. because...

[SaladandGravy]

... it sounds so highly unlikely you think people won't believe you?

I have one talent that sounds impossible (I may share later!!) but my great-grandma was about 4 feet nothing tall, not very agile but she could juggle with just about anything you could throw at her that she could physically hold (Diddy little hands too!). We used to just shout "oi Grandma" and throw 3 things at her. it was so funny, and she loved it too.

And my ex could turn a digestive biscuit 360° back to front and widthwaya without it breaking.

(Csn you tell I'm. bored?)

@QueefofSheena

I’m memory woman, I can remember huge detail about things that happened years ago. It freaks people out.

And I can touch my nose with my tongue but I’m not sure if that’s unusual

@QueefofSheena - I’m the same re memory - have an almost photographic memory - but don’t recall everything but a lot of small details! Wished I didn’t when I was drunk when younger .

@Bumpy23

I don't tell anyone mine coz it's wierd. I can see really well, like quite far. It's wierds me out a bit. Like focusing on signs and detail quite far away.

Very jealous. My eyesight is shite and getting worse and I hate it.

I used to be really good at lots of things before menopause and wine got in the way. I can do the splits though, Don’t need a warm up. I think dancers and yoga practitioners everywhere will be eye rolling at that though as a non talent.

Great thread. I don't have anything particularly.

although I can often remember conversations verbatim, quote them back to people: no I didn't say abc, I said ab and sometimes c. People don't like this.

Love the 15 languages and the being able to drink because of a redhead?
And the BJ, is it hard... You’d certainly hope so…

I’m another memory person. I can remember pretty much everything someone tells me-virtually word for word which can make me look like a bit of a stalker.
However I’m absolutely rubbish at recognising people-especially out of context. The other day someone I’d worked with for 3 years said hi to me in a supermarket and it genuinely took me about 10 minutes before I could remember who she was.

I can come up with brand names that become famous. Written quite a few. No one believes me so I don't bother telling anyone anymore. At my last job marketing told me to butt out.
I was also a champion shagger in my youth 😀

This is a bit weird but I can speak backwards. I am totally fluent in my head and when I practise it out loud (alone!) I'm almost as fluent.

I speak each word backwards.

I don't need to set timers on for cooking. I know when 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc has passed.

This also I am never unintentionally late, don't need an alarm clock, can tell the time by looking at the sun and the tide by looking at the sea. Good with times and dates, don't need a calendar or a diary. My DM is the same.

As a junior doctor could do handover without reference to notes or a sheet. Still a bit like that I rarely write stuff down.

@TheWayTheLightFalls

I’m a bit of a Cassandra - I can look at a situation and predict pretty actually what will happen and how. I’m not quite sure how it works but I think I just have a very good grasp of people’s motivations and behaviours and can quickly apply them. I tend to just keep my mouth shut but write things down so that I know I’m not going crazy.

I have this too! You cant really tell anyone though as they assume you just say you knew know you have hindsight. I can predict what is going to happen but also, I know when people are lying and sometimes the future of a situation just pops fully formed into my head, its always true and I also write it down ! I cant tell anyone as it would sound like I think I am psychic or something

I scuba dive. I dive in caves and abandoned mines. I also dive inside shipwrecks, and I am qualified to go quite deep. You wouldn’t think it to look at me. I stopped taking about it a few years ago because my friends used to worry about me…

@SquarePeggyLeggy

I know what time it is without checking the clock within about 2-3 mins. I’m extremely good at eyeballing measurements, both by weight and volume. Ie, I can measure flour by eye to within a gram or so, and I always choose exactly the perfect container for say, leftovers. I can multiply it too, say I’m making 3 smoothies, I can look at what’s in the mixer and know it’s exactly right for the three cups I’ll be filling. Also mental arithmetic. I was very average at mathematics at school. So I don’t know how I do it.

This is me! I'm astonished. I've never known anyone with the same abilities. I'm autistic. Wonder if it's something to do with that.

I write smut and lots of it.

Not many people in my life know I do and fewer have actually read it.

Im an exceptionally good jazz pianist. I've never never had music lessons, and I have synesthesia.

I'm 5 foot tall though, with tiny baby hands, and all my friends know me as that lass you'll find at an electronic music concert.

My colleagues found out one day when I was working in a train station and suddenly there was a communal piano so I jumped at the opportunity.

This is amazing.

I can ski moguls on black runs, including "The Wall" in Avoriaz

@Graphista
Not a redhead no but that is interesting.
I’ve had the need for anaesthetic a few times in my life and wake up like I’ve just had a nap. Usually starving! Also, my Botox clinician says I need 3 times the average dose for it to have any effect.

Lots of little useless skills:

I can say the alphabet backwards (didn't have to learn it, just picture the alphabet in my head and read it backwards).

Can name every country in the world and their position.

Can remember routes to anywhere I've been, even if only once.

Very good at finding exits/ways out of mazes etc.

Good at picking up instruments. Can play 7.

@MakingProgress2022

My talent is my job. I specialise in a very niche area that only a few people in the world can do. I am close to the top of my field, work with the UN and international agencies. I specialise in conflict zones and regularly spend time in them.

On the other hand I am a middle aged mum to two teens with an abusive EXH and a weight problem, living In a very ordinary semi in a low-key Northern town.

I don’t tell people about my job, I just say I’m a management consultant, which tends to kill any questions. The kids don’t really know, either.

But why don’t you talk about it with a few people you trust? Including your children? Seems a real shame that they in particular don’t know

I'm an absolute crack shot with a rifle, I make perfect rice every time, and I have a very high IQ.

[quote Ruthietuthie]@SilverSplitsTheBlue, of course.
English - my mother tongue.
Turkish - my husband's languages.
Various Chinese dialects- Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, Cantonese
Southeast Asian languages - Tagalog, Malay (Both Bahasa Melayu, the Malay version, and Bahasa Indonesia, the Indonesian version, which are pretty similar), Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Karen (Taungthu, Bwe, Geba, Pwo and Sgaw versions - again each is spoken in a different region), Mon, Chin, Kachin, Shan (all these last few are spoken in Myanmar), Japanese, Korean.
Oh, and French. I think that's all.
My speciality is Asian tonal languages. I also write in all of the languages that have a writing system (some of the Burmese dialects don't, for example).[/quote]
@Ruthietuthie

I am wildly fascinated by this-does your brain just automatically switch in to what ever language someone speaks to you in?

How/why/where did you learn? Are you musical?

probably enough questions for now...

@ThisIsAGreatLife

Name changed for this one. Short and sweet, but won’t respond to anyone because it’s very very unbelievable to most. I remember where I was before I was born. Not like inside my mother, but I remember “home”. I know I’m meant to be here, but not afraid to die because I will get to go home. I understand why people aren’t “supposed” to remember. It would change everything. I also know when I will die. Year, not day or moment!

So comforting to read that ( maybe not so much to live it though, I'm not sure)

I know which direction is north, as if I have a compass needle in my head!

Torunette - what are the likely outcomes for Russia's ambitions in Ukraine and then possibly the Balkans?

Same question to MakingProgress2022 if your job gives an insight!

@SquarePeggyLeggy

I know what time it is without checking the clock within about 2-3 mins. I’m extremely good at eyeballing measurements, both by weight and volume. Ie, I can measure flour by eye to within a gram or so, and I always choose exactly the perfect container for say, leftovers. I can multiply it too, say I’m making 3 smoothies, I can look at what’s in the mixer and know it’s exactly right for the three cups I’ll be filling. Also mental arithmetic. I was very average at mathematics at school. So I don’t know how I do it.

This is me!

My kids test me all the time and I’m always within a couple of minutes/grams.

Just came on to express my admiration for @Ruthietuthie! I'm a language teacher and speak 4 languages (one self-taught over the last few years). Learning languages is my favourite thing, and I'd do it full time if only someone would pay me to

But your list is staggering . Especially since they are mostly very difficult ones for a native English speaker to learn. I've always wanted to learn a language with a different script. I did a bit of Japanese before deciding Spanish would be much more useful!

I guess apart from foreign languages, my talent is spelling. I used to correct my teachers' spelling in primary school . I can both remember spellings without trying and have always been able to spell anything, even complicated words I've never heard of before.