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?

@dottydodah

Until recently always thought that Capers were small fish! Apparently not .Small berries of a bush grown in the med. Must be confusing them with Anchovies !

Maybe people confuse them with capelin?

Yep, I am glad I'm not alone in the "I don't know my anatomy club"
You should have heard the howls in my uni dorms when I confessed

Kettles are the most expensive appliances and chest freezers the least to run

@LovePoppy

It was Tina Fey parodying Sarah Palin who said that. Palin actually said (accurately) "They’re our next door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."

"learnt recently that pineapples try to eat you as you are eating them, which is why they can make your mouth sore or tingly. It's due to the enzyme it contains (bromelain) which is also what stops your pineapple jelly from setting."
I find the same with kiwi, especially if you eat a few and then have some salt and vinegar snacks.
I learned today that the car that sits opposite my house and has done for the last year and a bit and doesn't move much is exactly the same as my DH's. I always admired it, thinking it was lovely not realizing it was identical to ours.

@Deadringer

I learned the 'lefty loosey righty tighty' from Phil on Modern Family, it's been very useful.

Why did he not say clockwise and anti-clockwise?

Up until the coming of the railways, it was quicker to get from Norwich to Amsterdam than from Norwich to London.

@18tkwal

So do pigs.

Randomly I knew pigs did tbf.... must've been something in biology but I was gobsmacked at ducks!

Ooh another one when I was younger WH Smith is not pronounced Whiff Smith...... and I think the shoe shop Saxone was not Sax-One!

Oh and when a lid on a jar was depressed didn't mean it was a bit down and to feel sorry for it, it just meant it had already been opened!

Why did he not say clockwise and anti-clockwise?

Because "anti-clockwise loosen" isn't an alliteration, and "clockwise tighten" doesn't rhyme. "Lefty loosey, righty tighty" is much more memorable (and I've heard people use it, so it works).

@MurmuratingStarling - if it makes you feel any better, there is a small percentage of women whose urethral opening is just within the vagina, or who have a birth anomaly where the vagina and urethra didn't separate properly.

[quote Melm22]@18tkwal

So do pigs.

Randomly I knew pigs did tbf.... must've been something in biology but I was gobsmacked at ducks!

Ooh another one when I was younger WH Smith is not pronounced Whiff Smith...... and I think the shoe shop Saxone was not Sax-One!

Oh and when a lid on a jar was depressed didn't mean it was a bit down and to feel sorry for it, it just meant it had already been opened! [/quote]
umm no depresed means its till sealed and held by a partial vaccuum

@deste

"learnt recently that pineapples try to eat you as you are eating them, which is why they can make your mouth sore or tingly. It's due to the enzyme it contains (bromelain) which is also what stops your pineapple jelly from setting." I find the same with kiwi, especially if you eat a few and then have some salt and vinegar snacks. I learned today that the car that sits opposite my house and has done for the last year and a bit and doesn't move much is exactly the same as my DH's. I always admired it, thinking it was lovely not realizing it was identical to ours.

also but to a lesser degree, papaya. All of the above can be used to tenderise meat.

AFAIK you can say the Shetland Islands, or just Shetland, but not Shetland Isles or the Shetlands.

The actual salad comes under 'fixings'.
I've never known what that word means.
It's made me think: why do Americans say they'll 'fix' you a sandwich/'fix' lunch etc?

@DameHelena

The actual salad comes under 'fixings'. I've never known what that word means. It's made me think: why do Americans say they'll 'fix' you a sandwich/'fix' lunch etc?

They're using the verb "fix" with the meaning "to arrange or make happen". Compare with "match fixing" i.e. bribing a player or sports official to ensure a pre-determined outcome, or (horrible connotations aside) "Jim'll Fix It".

I'm not sure about "fixings" in the sense of what we'd call salad - it's the equivalent of what we'd call "trimmings" which doesn't make a lot of sense either. "Accompaniments" is much clearer, but is a clumsy word to say.

My confession: until I was 38 I thought Cutty Sark was simply a brand of tobacco and of whisky. I had no idea it was a famous ship! And my Grandpa was in the Navy! 🙈

@listsandbudgets

Never to put kiwi in jelly. I spent hours waiting for the blasted thing to set and it never did.

The same happens with pineapple and papaya. They have enzymes that break down the jelly.

@EvenMoreFuriousVexation trimmings maxes sense because you use them around the edge of the plate like a trim with the main part of the meal in the centre.

Compare with "match fixing" i.e. bribing a player or sports official to ensure a pre-determined outcome, or (horrible connotations aside) "Jim'll Fix It".
Ah, that makes sense, thank you.

I'm not sure about "fixings" in the sense of what we'd call salad - it's the equivalent of what we'd call "trimmings" which doesn't make a lot of sense either. "Accompaniments" is much clearer, but is a clumsy word to say.
No, I've always wondered about 'trimmings' as well! Are they not sometimes called 'accoutrements' too? Which is even sillier

@all Xpologog don't worry, i can laugh about it now as well

@icelolly99 I have got straight pubic hair. TMI 🤣

But why can't you crumble chicken oxo in the foil, only beef? Discuss...

@Shivvy1

At the grand old age of 38 I learnt that when the red light goes off on tho oven it means it's at the temperature you set it to 😂😂

My OH Is always going on about getting the oven up to temperature and I had no clue how he knew....now I do so thank you(I'm 44)

More mind blowing proximity facts:

Cleopatra is closer to an iPhone than she is to the Pyramids at Giza (Cleopatra was born approx 2,500 years after the Great Pyramid was built, and the iPhone was invented about 2,040 years after she died)

Stonehenge was built at the same time as the Great Pyramid - yup the ancient Egyptians were building mathematically perfect pyramids at the same time the Britons were putting stones in a circle

A Tyrannosaurus Rex is closer to a human that it is a Stegosaurus - Stegosaurus lived about 140 million years ago, 80 million years later T-Rex came along and then 66 million years later came us!

I also thought it was trombolese

@Livebythecoast

That the lyrics in the song 'Ironic' by Alanis Morissette are 'it's a death row 'pardon' two minutes too late' - not 'it's a death row 'hard on' two minutes too late' .

I always misheard that one too. It should feature on Peter Kay’s misheard lyric sketch 😂