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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
ReneBumsWombats · 12/09/2022 21:04

waterlego · 12/09/2022 21:00

Oh! I thought it was ‘squandered my existence for a pocketful of moments such are promises’

Which I admit makes no sense at all now I come to think of it 😬

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Actually I think that's a better lyric.

Lie la lie....

foxesandtoadstools · 12/09/2022 21:08

I went on a date once with someone who thought that llamas were camels who had had to have their humps removed due to cancer and the like.

On the same date I said I didn’t like my food hot (meaning spicy) and he asked me if I just ate sandwiches all the time 🙃

BlackLambAndGreyFalcon · 12/09/2022 21:11

RagzRebooted · 12/09/2022 20:25

For years I thought it was Stupid Bastard Ex Husband.

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Me too!

BlackLambAndGreyFalcon · 12/09/2022 21:12

Treesandsheepeverywhere · 12/09/2022 20:35

That Clarence House isn't in some countryside somewhere.

That's Highgrove - Charles' House in Gloucestershire.

Gr33ngr33ngr4ss · 12/09/2022 21:16

WrongWayApricot · 12/09/2022 18:52

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.

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If she thinks she's getting away with it, she's got another think coming.

It is think. Sorry. It might not be logical but it is

Believe you me is also nonsensical but it's a phrase!

BlackLambAndGreyFalcon · 12/09/2022 21:16

I honestly until this thread did not realise that the Hillsborough stadium is not in Liverpool and is actually in Sheffield. I don't follow football at all but I have obviously heard of the Hillsborough disaster and I must have just assumed that Hillsborough was the name of the stadium in Liverpool. I didn't realise that they were playing away! 😳

nannykatherine · 12/09/2022 21:16

Creepymanonagoatfarm · 11/09/2022 17:08

That Hillsborough is in Ireland.. 😳

Which Hillsborough tho ? Hillsborough castle official government building in northern Ireland
or
Hillsborough football stadium near Sheffield ???
or is there another Hillsborough ???

MsDitsy · 12/09/2022 21:17

It was only a few years ago that I realised that cows had to have calves to produce milk. I'm a mum so have given birth so how did I not know that. 😳

nannykatherine · 12/09/2022 21:18

MoodyMooToo · 11/09/2022 17:28

It was today for me 🤫

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Me too

Joonio · 12/09/2022 21:19

A friend in her 70s who is very churchy and polite calls anyone silly or annoying a TWAT! I dont like to enlighten her.

ArthurDear2021 · 12/09/2022 21:20

Me too!! 🙄

SnoopyNoseTits · 12/09/2022 21:20

Letsbekindplease · 12/09/2022 00:09

@inmyslippers YES! WILLIAM!! I didn’t know this was will.I.am name either.

I also didn’t know SpongeBob square pants was a sponge. I thought he was a bit of Edam cheese.

I used to think wales was a separate island like Ireland.

Surely he would be called cheesebob? And what is a cheese man doing under the sea? 😂

jazzyoldjim · 12/09/2022 21:20

Up until his death I never knew that the Duke of Edinburgh was the queen's husband. I thought he was her friend 😂

RagzRebooted · 12/09/2022 21:20

HangingOver · 12/09/2022 00:10

I thought a shed load of something was an amount that would fill a shed.

Also I thought a lesser spotted woodpecker was so called because you don't spot them very often.

I thought the same re the 'lesser spotted' thing. Fewer spotted would surely be more accurate?

Mandyjack · 12/09/2022 21:22

gatehouseoffleet · 11/09/2022 17:49

Billericay isn't in Ireland

Until about four years ago (because I had two colleagues who happened to live there) I always thought it had an "r" in it and was pronounced Billercray!

There is a Crays Hill near there though

Mandyjack · 12/09/2022 21:23

Gr33ngr33ngr4ss · 12/09/2022 21:16

If she thinks she's getting away with it, she's got another think coming.

It is think. Sorry. It might not be logical but it is

Believe you me is also nonsensical but it's a phrase!

Show quote history

I thought it was another thing coming? 🙄

LambsyDivey · 12/09/2022 21:23

@BalloonSlayer I'm a redneck American and thought, OMG, mind blown! But when I looked it up on IMDB, it's "Enos." I appreciate your literary viewpoint, though!

TheLassWiADelicateAir · 12/09/2022 21:24

WrongWayApricot · 12/09/2022 20:02

I see now that you can't understand what I'm saying, thank you.

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Because what you are saying makes no sense.

The expression is "you have another THINK" coming. There are many people on this thread who have explained it but carry on making no sense if it makes you happy.

bluesapphire48 · 12/09/2022 21:24

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

ReneBumsWombats · 12/09/2022 21:26

Joonio · 12/09/2022 21:19

A friend in her 70s who is very churchy and polite calls anyone silly or annoying a TWAT! I dont like to enlighten her.

I expect she thinks it's a mixture of twit and prat, like I did for many years.

Hia · 12/09/2022 21:27

OrangeFlowersAreLovely · 11/09/2022 17:48

So are we now in the "Charlesian" era? 🤔

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We are now in the Windsor era

LambsyDivey · 12/09/2022 21:28

waterlego · 12/09/2022 21:00

Oh! I thought it was ‘squandered my existence for a pocketful of moments such are promises’

Which I admit makes no sense at all now I come to think of it 😬

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@ddl1 You were right about "mumbles." "... a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises .."

Amabitnewhere · 12/09/2022 21:31

OrangeFlowersAreLovely · 11/09/2022 17:48

So are we now in the "Charlesian" era? 🤔

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Carolean, I believe?

alwaysdarkestbeforedawn · 12/09/2022 21:32

Pinkespressomachine · 12/09/2022 20:40

‘The Wombles of Wimbledon Common are we’. Until recently I didn’t realise they lived in a renowned green area. I thought the Wombles of Wimbledon were just a bit common…rough around the edges so to speak. Which always confused me as Uncle Bulgaria was clearly rather posh.

Oh ffs! 🤦‍♀️ Well it’s obvious now you’ve said it. I blame the pause in the tune. It sounds like a comma! Also, you often hear them referred to as “The Wombles of Wimbledon”. I thought common as in there were lots of them, not that they were rough. Not sure that’s any better though…

Parr1960 · 12/09/2022 21:33

Spottymushroom · 11/09/2022 19:36

When I first joined mumsnet I thought STBXH was ‘shoot the bastard ex husband’

What does it mean ? 🤔

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