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Original poster

What other commonly known stuff should I know, but don’t?

656 replies

Lolabear38 · 27/06/2023 23:55

I found out maybe 6 months ago that you should clean out the filter in your tumble dryer on a regular basis, as it gets full of fluff and lint and is a fire hazard. I had no idea. I’m an educated woman, generally reasonably intelligent and practical, I just had no idea you were supposed to do this. I don’t know how. My friend mentioned it in relation to something and I immediately told my husband who looked at me like some kind of moron - turns out he’s been doing it for years!

I’ve been thinking about it recently and I’m starting to wonder what other commonly known stuff you’re supposed to be doing in day to day life that I’m just not. Any ideas? Can be household related or just general life stuff really. I’m starting to wonder what I might be missing out on/ putting us in danger of.

OP posts:
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twinmum2007 · 29/06/2023 23:14

ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea · 28/06/2023 10:17

This is a bit of an urban myth . May be the case in some cars but certainly not in all .

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It's been true of every car I've driven in past 30 years.

twinmum2007 · 29/06/2023 23:15

Yes it is.

AngryBirdsNoMore · 29/06/2023 23:20

There’s literally an arrow!! How can it not be intentional?!?

Theoldgreygoose · 29/06/2023 23:26

ErinBell01 · 29/06/2023 23:06

Hmmm I think the petrol filler thing is an urban myth. Works for many people/cars but it’s not intentional.

What is the point of the arrow then?

ellyeth · 29/06/2023 23:29

If you rub your tongue on the roof of your mouth, you can stop a sneeze.

DreamTheMoors · 29/06/2023 23:33

AnImaginaryCat · 29/06/2023 07:21

I love those place in history facts!

Nintendo was founded when Jack the ripper was still on the loose. The last use of the guillotine was in France, in the same year Star Wars came out.

That sort of thing.

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Cleopatra was born closer to when the iPhone was invented than when the pyramids were built.

Snugglemonkey · 30/06/2023 00:00

HelebethH · 28/06/2023 18:57

I keep a corned beef tin key on my keyring to use on supermarket trolleys. I was shown this one day when I did not have a pound coin and a member of staff used one she kept on her just for that purpose.

I was shown this by a supermarket worker and now I have one that lives in my car. It never gets snaffled like the £1 coins did.

carduelis · 30/06/2023 00:32

KisstheTeapot14 · 29/06/2023 23:02

Never knew until this week that we have lymph nodes in our belly area!

Have a DS poorly with epididymitis (another thing I was blissfully ignorant of) and a UTI.

GP said boys often get belly ache when it's something going on down the testicles end and they are fighting an infection.

Also testicular torsion. Yikes. One to be aware of for parents of boys.

And that, friends, is your boys' bits biology 101 lesson for today.

On a similar theme I was shocked to discover during a pregnancy scan that one of my ovaries was underneath my uterus. I assumed I was some sort of freak of nature until the sonographer explained that the diagram is just drawn that way for simplicity, a bit like the London Underground map, and no-one’s reproductive system actually looks like that.

PyongyangKipperbang · 30/06/2023 02:49

pinkstripeycat · 28/06/2023 22:59

TheDinosaurDuchess · Today 00:13

Talking to my colleagues the other day, I discovered I knew something they didn't.

Your petrol gauge in your car tells you what side your fuel cap is on.

I knew this, they didn't. They returned to the office the next day shocked by this revelation, because they checked their cars on the drive home, and yes the gauge did indicate the side the cap is on 🤣
This is a bit of an urban myth . May be the case in some cars but certainly not in all .

Yes definitely ALL cars! Not an urban myth at all. What a strange thing to say.

Really isn't. My ma pa and me all have the same make and pa's didn't have it despite being the newest and most expensive model.

changeme4this · 30/06/2023 03:08

I still don’t know if this is correct or not, but seems to be working…

today I had to set up a weather station and get it connected to the internet via my mobile.

To programme the day/time etc the instruction said to put in my zone number and gave an example of Korea or somewhere being 8.

so nowhere in the booklet does it give an index of zone numbers/countries and apart from country telephone codes, I couldn’t think what else would be a zone number so googled and it appears our country number for UTC (coordinated universal time) is it…. 🤷‍♀️

stupid instructions

stacyvaron · 30/06/2023 03:18

Did u know bed pillows could be/should be Washed a few times per year?

kennycat · 30/06/2023 03:34

FindingNeverland28 · 29/06/2023 19:48

This brings me to mine and it’s a real pet peeve. The letter H is not pronounced haitch. It’s pronounced aitch. It drives me mad when I listen to alphabet songs from YouTube with the kids at school and it’s pronounced haitch. I have to stop the video to tell the kids.

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Yes the thing thing my drives me nuts. I have to bite my tongue when I hear haitch !

Cariadm · 30/06/2023 03:39

AndTheSurveySays · 28/06/2023 00:08

You know those information leaflets you get inside a packet of paracetamol? You can just throw them in the bin instead of keeping it in the box and having to fight to fit the file of medicine back in every time you have a headache.

'You can just throw them in the bin'... or you could put them in the recycling?! 🙄

Psiaspops · 30/06/2023 04:56

ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea · 28/06/2023 10:17

This is a bit of an urban myth . May be the case in some cars but certainly not in all .

Show quote history

Yeh it works for the petrol gauges that have an arrow beside the low fuel light. The arrow tells you which side the fuel cap is on

Psiaspops · 30/06/2023 04:59

Theoldgreygoose · 29/06/2023 23:26

What is the point of the arrow then?

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That's exactly what the arrow is for

Theoldgreygoose · 30/06/2023 05:04

Psiaspops · 30/06/2023 04:59

That's exactly what the arrow is for

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I know - I was replying to someone who said it is an urban myth and wondering what they thought the arrow was for Smile

Psiaspops · 30/06/2023 05:06

Theoldgreygoose · 30/06/2023 05:04

I know - I was replying to someone who said it is an urban myth and wondering what they thought the arrow was for Smile

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I was just agreeing with you

Icecreamalaska · 30/06/2023 05:40

kennycat · 30/06/2023 03:34

Yes the thing thing my drives me nuts. I have to bite my tongue when I hear haitch !

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As has been mentioned upthread, haitch is perfectly appropriate in some dialects of English. It is the standard form in Ireland, for example.

Damnyouautocorrect1 · 30/06/2023 06:18

One I learned recently is that denture cleaning tablets make whites white. Life changing! Especially as I can’t use bleach.

DeanElderberry · 30/06/2023 07:23

It's commonly known that anxiety about class makes some English people feel very distressed that the eighth letter of the alphabet is pronounced haitch in some places and that it isn't actually a status marker.

purplehair1 · 30/06/2023 07:30

GeriatricMumma · 28/06/2023 18:05

You can use the round end of a key instead of a £1 in the supermarket trolley

Your left thumb and index finger make an 'L' for left.

Turn your bedsheets inside out and it's easier to flip on the duvet.

'W' is the only letter of the alphabet which is pronounced using its actual letter.

Don’t you mean ‘isn’t pronounced?’

sashh · 30/06/2023 07:36

CharlotteStreetW1 · 29/06/2023 10:54

I meant corkscrew 🙄

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My mum always called a corkscrew a screwdriver.

@Damnyouautocorrect1 They also remove stubborn stains from crockery.

ChessieFL · 30/06/2023 07:46

Psiaspops · 30/06/2023 04:59

That's exactly what the arrow is for

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See my post above - the arrow doesn’t always work, it didn’t in my old Peugeot.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 30/06/2023 07:48

Re pillows and mattresses (washing and hoovering) if you read the chapter on dust mites in Bill Bryson’s book ‘A Short History Of Nearly Everything’ I can guarantee that you will (literally) be itching to get the hoover out, and sling your pillows in the washing machine.

AnImaginaryCat · 30/06/2023 07:48

Just remembered something on MN, where people didn't realise something and has never come up on this type of thread. (Probably because it was so amazingly nut they hadn't noticed!!)

Anyway there were a surprising amount of poster (in the UK) didn't know cars in the UK have white number plates on the front and yellow on the back.

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