Things you are too embarrassed to admit you don't understand

[ClassicStripe]

I don't think I really understand what a fascist is.

A bus is 2.55m wide and a typical car is 1.8m. So the bus 75cm wider, and bus seats are much less padded and wide than car seats, especially front car seats. Also the sides of the bus have a lot less shaping than cars do, and no air bags or crumple zones etc.

Thank you, great explanation that I could actually understand. A country is in debt to its own people and institutions! I had no idea!

There is a small museum in west London called the Museum of Brands and Advertising. In their "Time Tunnel" they have info leaflets from the 1970s Euro referendum "Why you should vote Yes" and "Why you should vote No."

There was no similar balanced information widely provided in 2016 because Cameron didn't expect to lose...

He died from the crucifixion, i dont know how long this took. His body was removed and wrapped in something and he was placed in a family tomb covered by a stone. His friends and family mourned and then a few days later he is walking around again (i presume unscarred). Thats when everyone finally believed he is God's son, or God's representative on earth. Then after he shared this he ascended into heaven, literally floated up into the air returning to God. Or so the story goes, that's my recollection anyhow. I was raised Catholic but am not into it myself, but there is a celebration of the ascension every year, Ascension Thursday. Don't know if other religions celebrate this. Mary also ascended at the end of her life although I think this is only a Catholic belief, her date is called the Assumption.

Also the lanes in roads are about 3.3 to 3.5m wide so plenty of room for buses and lorries.

Haha it's a conspiracy! I reckon they shapeshift. I can see other people have posted potential theories based on centimeters but nah, shapeshifting for sure.

I’m the same!!!! I just say ‘impact’ to be safe😂

I also struggle with brought and bought. Fucks me up everytime

Completely agree 😂 basically they are all the Knight bus from Harry Potter.

(this also probably explains why I struggle with parking so much)

I know the difference between the two, but I always get confused between rear and rare!

for example when I’m talking about the rear
view window in my car, I nearly always refer to it as the rare view window!

Re war yes there are international treaties and conventions (Geneva Conventions?) that govern this kind of thing.

i think a war of aggression would always be illegal whereas defence against an aggressor would be legal.

Killing on the battlefield - OK - killing civilians or prisoners - not OK.

Attacking civilian infrastructure I believe would not be ok.

Use of chemical and biological warfare - not OK.

Am no expert though - this is just my layperson’s understanding.

Did you bring it? = You brought it
Or did you buy it? = You bought it

The easy way is to see if you can replace it with advice or advise.

It's the same with licence and license.

Eg "I looked at the GP's practice"
If you replace practice with advice or advise, which still works grammatically?
"I looked at the GP's advice" makes sense
"I looked at the GP's advise" = no.
Therefore it must be practice.
(See also for licence)

Same for:
"The GP practises medicine"
Again:
"The GP advices medicine" doesn't work
"The GP advises medicine" does
Therefore - it's practise

The really bloody confusing thing is Americans do it the other (wrong?!) way around - although clearly not with advice/advise - so you have to ignore that and not get confused if reading US English.

He died ‘on the Cross’ (being crucified) on the Friday afternoon. As commemorated on Good Friday. He was basically condemned for his heretical teaching.

Hence the cross as a symbol of the Cristian religion.

The climate crisis and what to do about it, on a personal level. I really try and reduce and reuse, then I think of the war in Ukraine and all the other pointless destruction and consumerism all around the world and my rose gold reusable water bottle just feels utterly hopeless. I wish there was proper advice and consensus. I feel lost.

Why the sky is blue but space is black

@Debini - when you're in space, obviously it's mostly black with little blobs of bright white where stars are (or reddish / bluish white depending on the type of star), including our Sun - ie out in space, the Sun would appear as a ball of brilliant white.

Down on Earth, our atmosphere interacts with that light, the different wavelengths (blue, yellow, red) bouncing off molecules in the air. The blue gets spread out so much it appears to come from every direction, so the sky looks blue. The yellow and red don't spread out so still appear to be coming directly from the Sun, which is why the Sun looks orange-y on Earth.

@Mourningmorningsleep so if our atoms still exist - where do they go/ reside? Do they become absorbed into something else?
Or is that a really thick question- I can't pretend I understand completely

Well when you die, it's whatever is done with your physical body (which is made up of atoms). If you are buried, then that's where the atoms are. If you are cremated, your atoms are the ash that's given to your relatives, then they go wherever your relatives put your ashes (eg in an urn on the mantlepiece or scattered in the sea /their favourite golf course etc)

I work in finance and I still wonder why they can’t just decide to keep interest rates low and that inflation doesn’t need to be high.

@Horriblewoman - while "they" (ie the Bank of England) can directly change interest rates (by setting the rate it offers banks), there is no "they" who can just decide to reduce inflation.

If you're a manufacturer of bread and your raw ingredients are suddenly more expensive because less grain is coming out of Ukraine and other buyers are competing for the supply, and also fuel costs are higher so it costs more to bake bread, you either put up the price of bread so you can afford to run your business or go bust. Meanwhile, other sellers of goods and services are making the same sort of decisions, and prices rise - ie inflation.

The theory is that putting up interest rates, individuals are motivated to spend less (they are having to service higher debt or saving becomes more attractive), so with less demand, prices don't rise as quickly. (The bread manufacturer has to balance covering their costs with the point that the bread won't sell if people have less money to spend). Also, higher interest rates in the UK attract foreign currency investors, strengthening the pound and making it cheaper to import supplies like fuel and grain, so again the bread manufacturer can avoid making price hikes.

@Wigeon so in that case it's better to be scattered so your atoms are free, rather than cooped up on the mantle piece?
Good to know 🙂

Global warming has a big effect on temperature.

Affect as a noun only has a very narrow meaning , i.e. in psychology where you're talking about someone's emotional response. E.g. she is showing a lack of affect - means she has a flat emotional response.

So you will almost always be using effect when you are thinking of a noun.

Effect as a verb means producing or causing something to happen. It ends in an outcome. Effecting change, effecting a result.

Affect as a verb means to impact something, have an influence on it.

An example of using both as a verb would be:

I don't want to just affect how we do things around here I want to effect change.

And Gen Alpha is what we are in now 2015-2030.

See this is where I also don't have a clue. I only learned what a verb and adjective was when I started learning French in Year 7. The other terms like preposition, etc, just weren't taught when I was at school, so I have absolutely no clue now.

It's not just me either. My best friend from school has 2 degrees and a PHD in sciences but when her 8 year old asked her what preposition she would use in a particularly circumstance, she had to bluff her way out of it and go and google it!

(I do, however, know the difference between past and passed and affect and effect!)

Loving this thread and what is heartening to see is the total lack of arrogance and sneering comments at those who don't know stuff that we perhaps do and think doesn't everyone know that??!!

Because let's face it there's a large helping of haughty individuals on here.

Anyway I have one of my own but not sure if anyone can explain, oh and am not embarrassed that I don't know the answer. I am just very puzzled.

Anyway I hate mushrooms but everyone around me loves them. I love peanut butter but my sister says she doesn't but can't understand why she hates the taste. She loves seafood but her husband has to stay out of the house if she cooks and eats it.

Yes I know it's to do with our taste buds (whatever the hell they are) but why don't we all just like the same foods?

Hormones