Things I’ve just learnt

[hopeful777]

I just found out you can’t put a chopping board in the dishwasher unless you want it to break 😕

as my family are now laughing at me, it made me wonder what other things have people learnt in adulthood that maybe others assume should be intrinsically known?

@Gwenhwyfar

" Or who confuse capers with a type of fish, which just seems odd?"

It sounds like a fish. Even after finding out what they are, I have still not seen them in a shop.

Normally in jars, where all the pickles and pickled onions etc are, things you find in vinegar aisle

@Knittedfairies

My husband was astonished years ago that chips could be made at home; his mother had told her three strapping, ever-hungry boys that chips had to be made in a chip shop.

My niece had no idea that it was possible to make Yorkshire puddings. She thought they could only be bought in packets, from shops. Then I completely messed with her head by telling her that if I poured the Yorkshire pudding batter I'd just made into a hot frying pan, it would be a pancake.

Pancakes are another thing that can't be made at home, apparently, save by buying a packet of pancake mix from a shop and following the instructions.

She was in her early 20s at the time, it's not like she was 5 years old or anything.

@Ddot

Raisins and sultanas are the same, just dried differently

Not quite true, they start off as different kinds of grape. Also the dried currants you buy are traditionally also a type of grape and not the same as ribena type currants www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-raisins-sultanas-and-currants-223285

I thought it was swingers + pampas grass in the front garden.

@Justanotherobserver

DameHelena, I think the bumblebees are saying we're in their faces and they're telling us in no uncertain terms to fuck off.

I kind of hope so

Here some other vintage MN "surprise" facts:

Dunkirk is in France (not Scotland)

The expression is "you've got another think coming", although "thing" is a common mis-hearing.

Gherkins are a type of cucumber that has been pickled.

Seahorses, narwhals, wolves are real animals living today [some MNetters in the past have admitted to thinking some of these were mythical]

It’s actually ‘fine-toothed comb’, not ‘fine toothcomb’

Mince pies have a sweet filling - no meat!

Those are a taster from a thread I started years ago: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3418716-Pineapples-dont-grow-on-trees-and-other-misconceptions-that-MN-has-revealed-over-the-years

@twilightcafe

I thought it was swingers + pampas grass in the front garden.

that's because in the UK, pampas grass is easier to grow than a pineapple.

RiverSkater
I knew that from reading "Hannibal" but that was the least of that victims worries

"Interesting" fact,
Gherkins and capers are what the wee green bits in tartar sauce and thousand Island dressing are. Also, if you fry sole in butter and chuck in some capers and lemon juice it makes a lovely light sauce

Ah, but mince pies did originally contain meat @DadDadDad

See here

Someone said to me only a week or so ago that dry cleaning is called that because... they don't use water...? Is that right?! If so... how?!

@zingally

Someone said to me only a week or so ago that dry cleaning is called that because... they don't use water...? Is that right?! If so... how?!

They use chemicals and steam instead

@Pyri

The channel tunnel isn’t directly through the sea, you don’t see the fish on the other side

Pineapples grow on the ground

Portsmouth is an island

Any other MN lore I’ve missed?!

Portsmouth is actually an isthmus (to be pedantic)

@tkwal

"Interesting" fact, Gherkins and capers are what the wee green bits in tartar sauce and thousand Island dressing are. Also, if you fry sole in butter and chuck in some capers and lemon juice it makes a lovely light sauce

yes to tartare sauce but in thousand island, the green bits are more usually chopped gherkin

Sure @BIWI , but I've read comments from people who were put off mince pies because they assumed that mincemeat was a type of meat (rather than meat having its archaic sense of "food").

@OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow

That n block and s block at our school are north and south. 15 years I’ve worked there.

Are you at a school in South Yorkshire by any chance? 😂

Or maybe they don't use steam but they use solvents so the clothes don't come into contact with water but with liquid chemicals

[quote godmum56]The true story of big block of cheese day
www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/01/the-real-story-of-the-white-house-and-the-big-block-of-cheese/384676/

Barack Obama did it virtually
obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/01/16/big-block-cheese-day-back-and-its-feta-ever[/quote]
Thank you.
I've just fallen down a cheesy rabbit hole.

@zingally

Someone said to me only a week or so ago that dry cleaning is called that because... they don't use water...? Is that right?! If so... how?!

I used to work in a dry cleaners. I am not sure what the solvent they use now is but it used to be perchorethylene (perc) the clothes are put into the washing machine and the perc is added and the clothes are wshed and rinsed in it just like water. The machine also dries the clothes like a tumble dryer, the perc evaporates off and is condensed back into liquid. the clothes are taken out while warm, shaken and hung up and steamed to get any remaining creases out. They can also be steam pressed if its needed. The perc is filtered to catch stuff like buttons and coins and then it is distilled (heated and condensed) to clean the fluid and leave behind the dirt and grease from the clothes which comes out as a black oily looking sludge. The washing machines are all connected up to a sealed system to keep the perc fumes contained and a trained operative is needed to run the machines. One time there was a failure in the perc recycling cycle due to a blockage and the fumes got vented into the shop. We had to close the shop and stand outside while the emergency fans vented the shop. Oh PS, If you have a stain on a garment, its worth pointing it out when you drop off the garment and telling them what it is if you know as they can then pre treat it before it goes in the machine.

@DadDadDad

Sure *@BIWI* , but I've read comments from people who were put off mince pies because they assumed that mincemeat was a type of meat (rather than meat having its archaic sense of "food").

but originally they had meat in and traditional sweet mincemeat still has grated suet in.

@pussycatunpickingcrossesagain
"Thank you.
I've just fallen down a cheesy rabbit hole."

I have always thought well of Barack Obama and Michelle and I love that he likes West Wing

I discovered the “pineapples grow on the ground” thing on honeymoon in Zanzibar - I was so blown away I took loads of photos 🤣🤣

@CarltonPeach

Wait!!!…. There’s TWO Channel tunnels??

Oh, I thought the trains passed each other and you could wave to the other train….
Really thought that PP meant the tunnel workers dug their own graves… 😱. Til I read on and saw she meant for the machinery!! Feel sad about the machinery now…😳

I thought there were 3. One "in" and one "out" and one service tunnel running between the two acting as an evacuation route if everything goes tits up.

[quote godmum56]@pussycatunpickingcrossesagain
"Thank you.
I've just fallen down a cheesy rabbit hole."

I have always thought well of Barack Obama and Michelle and I love that he likes West Wing[/quote]
And me.

godmum56
I meant both grapes but if we are being literal, different grape varieties and one dried in the sun and the other coated and dried with machine. I think 🤣