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Original poster

Things I'm embarrassed to have realised so late in life...

1000 replies

OrangeFlowersAreLovely · 11/09/2022 17:03

Those ID necklaces? I had absolutely never heard of the word "lanyard" until around 3 years ago. All my friend's children learnt this way before I did. If you had told me "Lanyard" was a European city - I'd have believed you.

That little press send arrow in the top right hand corner? It only occurred to me in my mid 30s that it is in fact a paper aeroplane. I just thought it was a dodgy triangle.

I was absolutely stunned to find out the woman who plays Amanda in Motherland is not Catherine Tate.

Any confessions to console me I'm not the only one failing at life?! 😃

OP posts:
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12
MumBoot2022 · 11/09/2022 21:13

For many many years (!) I honestly thought that Timbuktu was the next town to Aberystwyth 😱

Didnt know about the baby vests
Didnt know about the Narwhals
Didnt know that Cruella de Ville was Cruel Devil

Feel a bit daft now!!🫢

Marynotsocontrary · 11/09/2022 21:14

There is a (reintroduced) reindeer herd in Scotland @SirGawain.

PurpleFlower1983 · 11/09/2022 21:14

Twillow · 11/09/2022 21:12

I don't know about an arrow, but whichever side of the icon the pump handle is on indicates which side of your car the fuel cap is. Genius!

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Not always the case as per the photo on @LittleBiscuits post.

Iabhorlaziness · 11/09/2022 21:14

DeclansAFeckingDream · 11/09/2022 17:21

I thought that Pontefract was in Wales until last week. 🫣

It's not?!!! And Billericay isn't in Ireland?! Where the are they then? (Yes, I may use Google in a mo)

Iusedtobecarmen · 11/09/2022 21:14

iwishiwasafish · 11/09/2022 17:55

I just had to look up Pontefract. I also thought it was in Wales.

I always think Penrith sounds like it should be in Wales too (and particularly given the connections to Merlin).

Where the bloody hell is it then????🤔 need to Google, genuinely thought was Wales as I'm good at geography !!

Cozzadelsol · 11/09/2022 21:14

Yep I found this out recently after driving for over 20 years 🤣🤣it's extremely handy

PurpleFlower1983 · 11/09/2022 21:15

Iabhorlaziness · 11/09/2022 21:14

It's not?!!! And Billericay isn't in Ireland?! Where the are they then? (Yes, I may use Google in a mo)

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Pontefract is in West Yorkshire, close to Wakefield and Leeds.

Twawmyarse · 11/09/2022 21:16

LostPropertyBox · 11/09/2022 21:06

You'd think they were all common knowledge lol, but given this thread.... 😂

The spaghetti one was a joke obvs. But it was believed by many Brits once upon a time... amp.theguardian.com/theguardian/2015/feb/03/weekly-notes-queries-april-fools-spaghetti-trees

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Ahhh...yes I can totally imagine it in the olden days before most Brits would've eaten spaghetti.

Another food roared one I just remembered is that I didn't realise pineapples grew in the ground until I was about 30 years old on visiting the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall and seeing them growing - I was amazed!

Things I'm embarrassed to have realised so late in life...
Iusedtobecarmen · 11/09/2022 21:16

Didn't know about baby vests
Had 4 kids
And my job involves babies

Twawmyarse · 11/09/2022 21:16

*related not roared 😩

SnoopyNoseTits · 11/09/2022 21:16

LittleBiscuits · 11/09/2022 20:51

Also, if you change your name on marriage, I thought until recently that you needed to do some formal registration thing. I didn't realise that you can just start calling yourself by your new name (the marriage certificate being the formality!)

My fresh out of the box husband thought this when I said about getting the ball rolling with changing my name just after we got married

SirGawain · 11/09/2022 21:16

DogInATent · 11/09/2022 21:07

And who the hell thinks spaghetti grows on trees??

It's a reference to this hoax by the BBC.

To be fair this was in the '50s when foreign travel and foreign food were less familiar than they are now.

PoppyBlunt · 11/09/2022 21:17

DogInATent · 11/09/2022 21:06

I've owned 7 or 8 vehicles in my life, and not one has had the mythical arrow indicating which side the fuel tank is on.

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If it doesn't have the arrow, the picture / icon of the pump will be on the same side of the gauge as it is on the car.

alwaysdarkestbeforedawn · 11/09/2022 21:18

Partey · 11/09/2022 21:10

I learned about 3 years ago that moles are very small creatures. I had a Jack Russell sized image in my head until my dad sent me a picture of one he’d found in his garden. I think my Jack Russell sizing came from the size of mole hills or possibly animals of farthing wood

Moles are surprisingly tiny. I had a similar experience with puffins. Always imagined them penguin sized and was surprised at how small they were when I first saw them.

SirGawain · 11/09/2022 21:19

PurpleFlower1983 · 11/09/2022 21:15

Pontefract is in West Yorkshire, close to Wakefield and Leeds.

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Pontefract is where the liquorish triangle is!!!

Iusedtobecarmen · 11/09/2022 21:19

Partey · 11/09/2022 21:10

I learned about 3 years ago that moles are very small creatures. I had a Jack Russell sized image in my head until my dad sent me a picture of one he’d found in his garden. I think my Jack Russell sizing came from the size of mole hills or possibly animals of farthing wood

Hilarious

OliveOyl321 · 11/09/2022 21:19

Bpdqueen · 11/09/2022 18:37

Something I learnt recently on tiktok and had not realised before in the nursery rhyme this little piggy, the one that went to market wasn't shopping 😬

Oh my god I never realised this until now!! Totally ruined the nursery rhyme for me now 😂😂🙈 I think I’ll substitute it by saying ‘went to Tesco’ or something!!

GretaVanFleet · 11/09/2022 21:20

I thought Jodrell Bank was a bank like Barclays

Iabhorlaziness · 11/09/2022 21:21

Bpdqueen · 11/09/2022 18:37

Something I learnt recently on tiktok and had not realised before in the nursery rhyme this little piggy, the one that went to market wasn't shopping 😬

Oh dear gods I'm learning things I didn't want to know. I always imagined it trotting along with an old-fashioned shopping basket down a country lane....

blackpearwhitelilies · 11/09/2022 21:21

parkslice · 11/09/2022 20:58

Until a couple of months ago, I thought this was a sign showing a hammer banging the road, with bits of rock jumping off to show how loose it is. Then one day I saw it, and it's like my eyes changed and it suddenly became a car!

Strangely, I find it quite hard to see the hammer myself now!

I have never seen this as a car before!!

Twawmyarse · 11/09/2022 21:21

SeaGlassShining · 11/09/2022 21:12

I was in a bookstore where authors were organised alphabetically.

I asked a member of staff why I couldn’t find the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole in “M”.

I also said, aged 20, “If you asked me what Sir Alan Sugar’s first name was, I just wouldn’t know”.

Hahaha - I love this - I'm a huge Mole fan.

It always amazes me how a middle aged woman could write more like a teenage boy than a teenage boy could!

alwaysdarkestbeforedawn · 11/09/2022 21:21

Twawmyarse · 11/09/2022 21:16

Ahhh...yes I can totally imagine it in the olden days before most Brits would've eaten spaghetti.

Another food roared one I just remembered is that I didn't realise pineapples grew in the ground until I was about 30 years old on visiting the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall and seeing them growing - I was amazed!

Show quote history

😳 I don’t think I’ve ever seen pineapples growing. Imagined some sort of tree. That photo just looks wrong somehow. I was surprised to see bananas growing upwards when I first saw banana trees.

Iusedtobecarmen · 11/09/2022 21:22

PinkArt · 11/09/2022 20:42

Are we sure Pontefract isn't actually in Wales?! Because I thought it was too until this thread but googlemaps suggests it's recently moved to near Leeds.
My Will.I.Am / Flo Rida penny drop was that Cruella De Vil is literally called cruel devil.

Same about Pontefract. Swear to God its recently moved.

diddl · 11/09/2022 21:22

ZooMount · 11/09/2022 18:06

It was only when the covid tests came out that I realised the tonsils were not the bit that dangles down!

Did you not think though that tonsils is plural & there's only one uvula?

RobertsRadio · 11/09/2022 21:23

Billericay Is in Essex and Penrith is in Cumbria.

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