Page 28 | Things you’ve only just found out

TheChosenTwo · 2023-05-24T17:35:34+00:00

About 2 days ago I discovered that Skegness isn’t in Scotland 😳 How did I never know this before? Embarrassingly, I’m 38 😂

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 26/05/2023 10:25

I love some of these 😄

I’m normally pretty good on geography, but one that always used to get me was Halifax. To me, it sounds like it should be an affluent town in the South East. I was over 20 when I realised it was neither. I think my brain had filed it alongside Hampshire and Hertfordshire, Hampstead and Hitchin etc.

StarmanBobby · 26/05/2023 10:30

Grew up in a country with no McDonalds or Burger King ( they exist!) and at the age of 25 discovered that Ronald Mcdonald wasn't the bloke that owned Mcds as I believed but the creepy clown mascot thing

CharlottenBurger · 26/05/2023 10:30

TallulahBetty · 26/05/2023 10:08

No way - I assumed it was just British vs American spelling!

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Silicon is a chemical element used in electronics like computer chips ('silicon chips') hence 'Silicon Valley', the name given to a region of California where lots of hi-tech companies are located.

Silicones are a type of material containing some silicon compounds, that are usually liquids or rubbery plastics. They are are used in sealants; adhesives, lubricants, medical products, both cosmetic and orthopaedic implants, cooking utensils, tools, thermal and electrical insulation, coatings for paper, textiles, and gaskets, and even as a dry-cleaning solvent.

CherryRipe1 · 26/05/2023 10:37

CharlottenBurger · 26/05/2023 10:04

@Fink

" I grew up thinking that Knights in White Satin was a song about imitating the chivalrous behaviour of medieval times" -

er, you do know it's 'Nights in White Satin'?

Whaaat?!! Until I read this I thought it was Knights in White Satin. Pictured these Ku Klux klan type knights in long flowing robes!!

Fink · 26/05/2023 10:37

CharlottenBurger · 26/05/2023 10:04

@Fink

" I grew up thinking that Knights in White Satin was a song about imitating the chivalrous behaviour of medieval times" -

er, you do know it's 'Nights in White Satin'?

@CharlottenBurger Yes, that's exactly my point. I used to think it was Knights, hence it was a song about chivalry. I saw it written down and discovered the truth about 15 years ago.

Lollzi86 · 26/05/2023 11:19

😂😂😂😂 no it’s in Lincolnshire. But I did work with a girl who was convinced that she needed different currency to spend in Scotland and thought Gran Canaria was in the Caribbean!

TallulahBetty · 26/05/2023 11:26

CharlottenBurger · 26/05/2023 10:30

Silicon is a chemical element used in electronics like computer chips ('silicon chips') hence 'Silicon Valley', the name given to a region of California where lots of hi-tech companies are located.

Silicones are a type of material containing some silicon compounds, that are usually liquids or rubbery plastics. They are are used in sealants; adhesives, lubricants, medical products, both cosmetic and orthopaedic implants, cooking utensils, tools, thermal and electrical insulation, coatings for paper, textiles, and gaskets, and even as a dry-cleaning solvent.

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Well that's just silly - they are ASKING for trouble/confusion if they name them so similarly!!

Louisetopaz21 · 26/05/2023 11:38

TallulahBetty · 26/05/2023 10:06

I was embarrassingly old when I discovered that Sinn Fein is not a person.

Ha ha it is not, ha ha more learning.

PlatBilledDuckypuss · 26/05/2023 11:41

Season0fTheWitch · 24/05/2023 19:30

That mandarins, satusumas and clementimes aren't the same. I went to school with some posh gits who used to use their posh words for normal things and always assumed they were all posh words for orange.

But if you're a UK supermarket they are all the same - they are all "easy peelers"! Inspite of the fact that they all taste different.

PlatBilledDuckypuss · 26/05/2023 11:41

That Mia Farrow was Maureen O'Sullivan's daughter.

Alcemeg · 26/05/2023 11:42

This reply has been withdrawn

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

JustDanceAddict · 26/05/2023 12:07

ThePlasticScouser · 25/05/2023 20:48

I always thought that the 2 panels on University Challenge were on top of each other and they had to climb up some stairs at the side to get to the top level. I only found this out recently. I was always madly concerned that the ones on the top may not like heights and it may affect their performance. Also, did they flip a coin to see who was on the top?

I thought this for years too!!

Alcemeg · 26/05/2023 12:20

PyongyangKipperbang · 25/05/2023 23:24

RE University Challenge.....In fairness.........they were originally seated in physically tiered seats so one team was above the other as split screen stuff wasnt easy to do when it first started. So its not actually as daft as it sounds to think that it continued. The Young Ones were being factually correct for a certain point in the shows history, although not the one that they were portraying admittedly! It may have helped perpetuate the belief though.

It was really only when the end credits started showing them all on the same level that it made it clear that they no longer were.

The Young Ones did a comedy sketch playing on the idea

Sorry for lowering the tone earlier, I just can't quite get my head round the new information 🤯

Young Ones - bambi

the university challange clip from Bambi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysG96dUtGh4

WestendVBroadway · 26/05/2023 12:32

Lullibyebye · 26/05/2023 07:34

I didn't realise TIA at the end of posts meant thanks in advance. I thought there was a woman on mumsnet called Tia who started loads of threads. I realised when I started browsing reddit. Should have been paying attention to usernames!

My DD used to have the nickname Dee-Dee ( a derivative of her full nsme)I was gobsmacked on joing Mumsnet that it seemed to be such a common popular nickname.the 🤣🤣🤣

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 26/05/2023 12:32

Catchasingmewithspiders · 24/05/2023 23:24

When you have cataract surgery they fish your lens out that hole (well they break it up and fish it out) fold a replacement lens up, pop it through the hole and it flicks back out into place like a mooncup.

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Wow. How do they get you to keep your eye open while they do all of that? The urge to shut it must be so strong!

Fink · 26/05/2023 12:52

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 26/05/2023 12:32

Wow. How do they get you to keep your eye open while they do all of that? The urge to shut it must be so strong!

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I had to have eye surgery (not cataracts). They first of all gave me anasthetic in the form of eye drops, I had to hold the eye open to get them it, they which relaxed me enough that they could inject a further anasthetic. And after that I didn't feel the need to blink until the anasthetic wore off.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 26/05/2023 12:54

Fink · 25/05/2023 11:32

Worldle and Globle are both great fun, but it was Sporcle that really transformed my geographical knowledge. It's been a game changer.

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Ditto. I'm not great at recognising outlines of countries, but once we get onto the borders and capital city question on Worldle, I'm usually pretty good. Population and currency questions are a bit hit and miss, though.

JudgeJ · 26/05/2023 13:02

KirstenBlest · 25/05/2023 22:38

@Fink , . Sacha Distel was on the telly fairly often in the 1970s
You danced like Zizi Jeanmaire!
It reminds me of the local radio station, and the sort of songs they played, Stay in your own back yard, In my Liverpool home, Ferry 'cross the Mersey and that one.

Oh Gawd, I've just listened to Where do you go to my lovely and it's brought back so many memories

God, that takes me back, listening to the Spinners, even now in my 70s, well into, I can still sing along. Where are my white pvc boots these days?
Do they still call one of the cathedrals Paddy's Wigwam or is that now naughty step territory? I was told that name by a Catholic priest, we always called it the Mersey Funnel

Fink · 26/05/2023 13:10

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 26/05/2023 12:54

Ditto. I'm not great at recognising outlines of countries, but once we get onto the borders and capital city question on Worldle, I'm usually pretty good. Population and currency questions are a bit hit and miss, though.

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Same for me. And Worldle is hard because I don't know how they calculate the distances. Whereas Globle will tell me if it's a bordering country, e.g. I'm looking at today's Worldle on another window now and my penultimate guess was 310km from the answer, but it turned out to be a bordering country. It does make me laugh that they ask 'Can you guess the border countries ...', 'Can you guess the capital city ...' Honey, I have no need to guess, I KNOW (thanks to Sporcle). In any case, how likely is it that, given you have to type in the answer (i.e. it's not multiple choice, or at least there are several thousand choices), you'd randomly be able to guess a capital city if you didn't know it?! I'm going to guess that the capital city of Sierra Leone is Antsirabe. Oh dear, I guessed incorrectly.

JudgeJ · 26/05/2023 13:15

TheHandbag · 26/05/2023 07:25

This thread is proof that the British education system is one of the worst in the world!

The Conservatives have a lot to answer for........

The funniest misunderstanding on the thread.

JudgeJ · 26/05/2023 13:18

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 26/05/2023 09:21

It’s also basic knowledge that you don’t need a space before a comma or a full stop. Go to the back of the class and write out 109 times “Knowing where Pontefract is won’t change my life”.

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To be fair, when I used to collect a friend's son from boarding school near Pontefract if was useful knowledge to have!

JudgeJ · 26/05/2023 13:21

Bookloverjay · 26/05/2023 10:25

What!!!!!

Of to Google I go

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I did the same a few pages back about Jana Novotna, still recall her sobbing on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder when she lost the Wimbledon final.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 26/05/2023 13:28

shadowofadoubt · 25/05/2023 19:30

My father was a fruit broker, specialising in citrus fruit, specifically oranges. It's a broad category, encompassing a dozen or so different types. Even what we refer to as oranges can be broken down into specific types including Jaffa, Navel, Seville and Valencia (to name a few), all similarly sized but do differentiate in colour and taste.

Clementines were the smallest, followed by mandarins, which were a much deeper colour orange and had the most distinctive taste. Tangerines slightly larger, more yellow in colour. Satsumas, well, these are more commonly sold now as easy peelers. None of these things really taste as they once did and now are much sweeter than they used to be. This is entirely due to the power of the supermarkets who often demanded a uniformity, not just in size, but taste too. On the continent and in other orange producing countries, the range is still much broader and they still taste as they should.

Mandarins and clementines were more plentiful at Christmas, and my dad used to give everyone, from my friends parents to my teacher crates of them!

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Interesting. The arrival of 'easy peeler' as a substitute for naming each variety accurately was a new low as far as I'm concerned. I like satsumas much more than any other small citrus fruit and they are still seasonal. In season at the moment, actually, so I am happy. I can't be the only person who thinks this way as both Ocado and Sainsbury's do actually sell satsumas under that name. They are juicy and sharp as well as sweet, which is the whole point of citrus fruit as far as I'm concerned.

KirstenBlest · 26/05/2023 13:28

@isthismylifenow , Americans say app-ri-cot not ape-ri-cot.

@JudgeJ , we called it both but mainly Paddy's Wigwam, but hadn't really thought about it for years.

CelticSong · 26/05/2023 13:34

Anoana · 25/05/2023 14:36

I live in Fife and have never seen a sign for Newcastle! Fife is pretty big though, must be some distance away.

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I have just googled this and looks like it is on the outskirts of Glenrothes, near Leslie. I never knew this and used to live in Kirkcaldy!