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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:
Thread gallery
12
MrsCocochannel · 12/09/2022 18:40

That wifi doesnt mean or stand for anything

Wallyandasnog · 12/09/2022 18:41

pickledpotato · 11/09/2022 17:09

Found out a week ago that Flo Rida was Florida with a space in it Grin

I did the same with Will.i.am one day it just clicked that it's William

Juced · 12/09/2022 18:45

Omg this ticked me 🤣

Fink · 12/09/2022 18:45

wonderer9 · 12/09/2022 18:21

Just realised 50 years after my Ancient Greek A-level that the letter

Omega comes from "O mega" or "big O"
Omikron comes from "O mikron" or "little O"

Must have been ill on the day it was mentioned in class.

@wonderer9 I'm fairly sure they didn't mention it to us (I had 100% attendance, so no excuse), I was in my late 30s before I realised.

dlizi4 · 12/09/2022 18:49

IWantAShitzu · 12/09/2022 18:24

Watching a baby birth programme with my husband. He was 34 at the time and I was pregnant with my first. He turned to me and said

“did you know, that after giving birth some women eat the foetus!”

he meant placenta, he didn’t realise the foetus was the baby.

😂😂😂

Juced · 12/09/2022 18:50

🤣🤣

RagzRebooted · 12/09/2022 18:51

What? No... Is it?

Common one, but Narwhals are real. Found that out a few years ago. It's the song, I assumed it was a joke.

My most recent (about 2 months ago, I'm nearly 40) - Thailand is NOT an Island. My DCs teach me a lot.

WrongWayApricot · 12/09/2022 18:52

mydogisthebest · 12/09/2022 17:28

But your comparison doesn't make sense. Why would anyone say "you have another biscuit coming"?

The phrase is used to express disagreement with a statement. Therefore to think again.

Thing just makes no sense whatsoever

Show quote history

Why would anyone say "you have another biscuit coming"? exactly my point. You're using think as a noun, why would you tell someone another one is coming if what you want to say is have another one. You wouldn't say 'you have another (noun) coming' if what you meant was, 'you should have another (noun)' or 'do that (verb) again'.

If it doesn't make sense with any other noun, what makes you believe it makes sense with think as the noun.

Stigolini · 12/09/2022 18:53

Until recently I thought those luggage containers on car roofs were little boats that were being taken on holiday.

saleorbouy · 12/09/2022 18:53

A Lanyard is actually the rope or cord securing the ID card holder.
It is also used to describe the cord you put around a wrist to secure a tool, knife, camera etc.
It's also the rope a flag is hoisted on.

BrokenCopper · 12/09/2022 18:53

So many, too embarrassed to mention here to be honest, I sometimes think I am really stupid 😑

Kerensa70 · 12/09/2022 19:00

That Wales was attached to England!!! All the wiser aged about 22

TakeTheOffPisteRoute · 12/09/2022 19:02

That a Tuna was a huge fish....! For some reason (possibly because I'm used to it coming in a tin), I'd assumed it was a small, perhaps mackerel sized fish! 🤦‍♂️

dlizi4 · 12/09/2022 19:03

mydogisthebest · 12/09/2022 15:10

@WrongWayApricot it means "think again". If you think you are going out dressed like that you've got another think coming. In other words, think again because you are not

THIS is totally correct!

alwaysdarkestbeforedawn · 12/09/2022 19:03

LpPp · 12/09/2022 18:34

I found out well into my 30s that black pudding is not cow’s Willy as I had always believed

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
This is too much!!

Juced · 12/09/2022 19:04

Until a few yrs ago my other half pronounced the word Alsatian ( as in the dog ) as Alas-tian 🤣

QOD · 12/09/2022 19:05

I thought HTH was just people being weird and advertising the pizza hut

Statuesque - I pronounced it as stat- es - cue and didnt really know what it meant, but i knew what someone meant if they described a woman as statue esque ...

In Excess were a band and also INKS (INXS) ...

MsFizz · 12/09/2022 19:07

ilovesushi · 12/09/2022 15:06

Another one that hadn't realised the double meaning to the chicken joke! I thought it was funny because the answer was a such a let down.

Oh. My. God. Penny drops. Me too!

WrongWayApricot · 12/09/2022 19:07

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 12/09/2022 17:56

It is another THINK. It is not a thing. The example someone has given of another biscuit makes no sense whatsoever

Here are examples

"I'm still a bit peckish, I think I'll have another biscuit- do you fancy one too?'

Reply- "Well have another think because x cleared out the biscuit tin"

"It's been really quiet here in the café today, I think we'll close up early"

Reply- " have another think, 2 coach loads of tourists have just pulled up"

Or more seriously

"I think Ukraine will lose this war"

Reply- " have another think- did you not see the fantastic result a couple of days ago"

Show quote history

I don't understand the point you're trying to make. All of your examples make sense because, as in my example, you're speaking plain English- telling someone to 'have a think'. If you change all of them to 'you have another think coming' it doesn't make sense anymore. My issue is not telling people to have another think, think again, think twice etc. My issue is if you read the phrase literally it is basically one person telling another person that their thoughts are on their way. That's weird.

I get it if you just prefer to say another think coming. But I think it's disingenuous to say it makes sense. 'you have another think coming' can never sensibly mean 'you should/will have another think'. Just like 'you have another biscuit coming' will never mean 'you should/will have another biscuit'

Newbie20 · 12/09/2022 19:08

ImAvingOops · 11/09/2022 17:31

I'd had 4 kids before I found out that baby vests have that funny envelope neckline so you can pull them down in a poo explosion! I spent years carefully trying to get poopy vests over my babies heads without touching their faces and hair!

@ImAvingOops my husbands friend/boss used to get the scissors out to cut poonami-ed baby vests off his daughter then when he explained why he was late to game night at ours one night we told him that most vests have necks that can be pulled down past the shoulder. His reply was 'no way! The missus will be so annoyed that we've been cutting them off' we even showed him how to do it as our son who is slightly older than his daughter needed changing anyway. It was definitely the funniest moment we've had in a while

MissNowt · 12/09/2022 19:10

That sawdust is dust from a saw 🙄

NovaDeltas · 12/09/2022 19:11

Anyone else just going through this thread open mouthed...?

SharingTheLove · 12/09/2022 19:11

It’s in Northern Ireland (different to Ireland because it’s in the UK) but it’s also in England. There’s also a Bangor and Newcastle in NI.

NovaDeltas · 12/09/2022 19:12

BrokenCopper · 12/09/2022 18:53

So many, too embarrassed to mention here to be honest, I sometimes think I am really stupid 😑

Can't be any worse than people who didn't believe in reindeer.

Mothership4two · 12/09/2022 19:15

Not quite the same, but some (English) friends walking around Leicester Square were jokingly calling it Lice-Sester Square when a red faced American crossly confronted them "No it's Lester Square!". It's forever more been called Lice Sester Square :D

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