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Original poster

What dumb thing has taken you forever to realise?

734 replies

muchalover · 26/08/2023 19:45

Nights in white satin song was playing in the car today. A favourite song of mine so I was singing along and it dawned on me that the word is "nights," not "knights".

Whole song makes much more sense now 😳

I had a similar issue with "Toyota, the car in front" but it's a Nissan I'm behind (or other car brand).

And in the film Winnie the Pooh where the gopher says "I'm not in the book" and I thought it was the phone book😬 for decades!

I promise I'm intelligent.

OP posts:
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20
cakeorwine · 27/08/2023 12:23

MNetcurtains · 27/08/2023 12:21

Oh, gawd. Didn't RTHT before giving my answer🙄

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I just love how you both picked Yorkshire as the go to region Grin

JudgeJ · 27/08/2023 12:51

Tribblesarelovely · 27/08/2023 03:04

Me too 😂😂😂bloody hell !!!!

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Me too and being in my mid 70s I don't intend changing my visuals, one of the benefits of old age is being awkward!

JudgeJ · 27/08/2023 12:54

Poivresel · 27/08/2023 05:34

Yorkshire follk would love that, they genuinely think they’re from God’s own country.

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Or as my late Tyke OH would say 'God's only country'!

Qwerty21 · 27/08/2023 12:56

JudgeJ · 26/08/2023 22:29

My late mother thought that the horse called Bar ran in every race, poor thing, she saw its name at the end of the betting odds when she watched the racing on TV.
My brother asked Dad where Random was, the place they went to to draw the winner's name, The winner was drawn at random!
When we sang 'There is a green hill far away without a city wall' I used to wonder as a child why a green hill would need a city wall.
I also thought that 'Good King Wences last looked out'.

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I've been singing it as good king wencles last looked out 🤦🏼‍♀️

JudgeJ · 27/08/2023 13:02

Royalsingingseal · 27/08/2023 06:50

Never heard that before and born and still live in the north east

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I've heard in, ex NW, as well as 'he were took very badly' if someone was very ill.

Reminds me of the time when I was teaching in Yorkshire and there was a planned bus strike on Friday. My form were wondering how to get to school and I told them 'it won't hurt you to leg it for once'. Only much later after some confused faces did I realise that whereas 'leg it' west of the Pennines means walk, it means truant east of the Pennines!

JudgeJ · 27/08/2023 13:14

VisionsOfSplendour · 27/08/2023 11:47

It's a dead heat with Nights in White Satins I'd say. For a song thats well over 50 years old I'm quite surprised so many people even know it nowadays

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Maybe because it's from the era of some of the best songs ever written, it's up there for me with Whiter Shade of Pale. I never did find out what 'slipped the light fandango' meant though.

ZoChan · 27/08/2023 13:21

@Housenoob 🌼

What dumb thing has taken you forever to realise?
Tiddlywinks63 · 27/08/2023 13:22

StormInaDcup99 · 27/08/2023 07:32

That the group ABBA is named after the first letter of each band member's name! I was 54 before I knew this lol

A gnetha
B enny
B jorn
A nni

🫣 What!!?
How the heck I’ve got to nearly 70 without knowing this and far too many others on this thread
I did ask my dad about 30 years ago where the heck was Gwasanaethau when we were driving on the M4 in south Wales because we didn’t seem to be getting any closer…..

Tiddlywinks63 · 27/08/2023 13:28

Qwerty21 · 27/08/2023 12:56

I've been singing it as good king wencles last looked out 🤦🏼‍♀️

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Me too….. for nearly 70 years…..🤦‍♀️

cakeorwine · 27/08/2023 13:33

Tiddlywinks63 · 27/08/2023 13:22

🫣 What!!?
How the heck I’ve got to nearly 70 without knowing this and far too many others on this thread
I did ask my dad about 30 years ago where the heck was Gwasanaethau when we were driving on the M4 in south Wales because we didn’t seem to be getting any closer…..

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You know they were married as well?

Agnetha and Bjorn
Benni and Anni-Frid

The lyrics to Winner Takes it all lyrics (written by Bjorn at the time of their divorce) takes on a new meaning

Tiddlywinks63 · 27/08/2023 14:01

@cakeorwine yes, I knew that they were married 😊

VisionsOfSplendour · 27/08/2023 14:09

JudgeJ · 27/08/2023 13:14

Maybe because it's from the era of some of the best songs ever written, it's up there for me with Whiter Shade of Pale. I never did find out what 'slipped the light fandango' meant though.

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Are you being deliberately funny? It's not slipped, it's skipped and fandango as in the dance, that one's pretty self explanatory

My point isn't that the decade want good for music it's that I'm surprised that this lyrical misunderstanding is posted about about so often on here when I'm surprised that many people under 30 have even heard of it

LikeShitMermaids · 27/08/2023 14:33

VisionsOfSplendour · 27/08/2023 11:26

You're also forgetting cling film boxes and baby vests 😃

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Also Portsmouth, pineapples and University Challenge (I think the fuel gauge arrow has already made an appearance!).

Original poster
muchalover · 27/08/2023 14:38

imtoooldforthisshite · 27/08/2023 00:13

When the gopher says he's 'not in the book' what does it mean if he's not in the phone book????

He isn't a character in the original story. It's a British story and gophers are not native and not included. Disney added him to make him relevant for American children.

OP posts:
toadasoda · 27/08/2023 14:40

puddingisgood · 27/08/2023 08:49

Well it's not a 'dumb thing' but it was something that I didn't know until in my 40's.
Owls don't make a 'twit-twoo' sound. One owl makes the 'twit' and another makes the 'twoo'.
Apologies if already mentioned, I've not finished reading the whole thread yet.

What??!! That's amazing

toadasoda · 27/08/2023 14:44

As a child I used to sing: "in my mind and in my car, we can't drink wine we've gone too far"

Does everyone recognise the song?

WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps · 27/08/2023 14:47

cakeorwine · 27/08/2023 12:23

I just love how you both picked Yorkshire as the go to region Grin

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Coz YORKSHIRE is awwwwwsome!!! Grin

WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps · 27/08/2023 14:48

toadasoda · 27/08/2023 14:44

As a child I used to sing: "in my mind and in my car, we can't drink wine we've gone too far"

Does everyone recognise the song?

Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles.

This still sounds so good! Smile

toadasoda · 27/08/2023 14:51

WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps · 27/08/2023 14:48

Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles.

This still sounds so good! Smile

Edited
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One of my all time favourites. As is your username!

WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps · 27/08/2023 14:55

toadasoda · 27/08/2023 14:51

One of my all time favourites. As is your username!

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Grin
WomanOfSteel · 27/08/2023 15:22

VisionsOfSplendour · 27/08/2023 11:20

More like a couple of weeks and exactly the same posts as all the hundreds of other ones 😀

One day someone might actually post something new, I do wonder though if a lot of these are made up or copied from previous threads

How often do people come across the worf hyperbole written down? Are they really multiple people who dont know how dandelions work 😂

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On hyperbole, have you ever heard that Natasha Bedingfield song called ‘These words’? It annoys the fuck out of me cos she pronounces it wrong, so people are hearing it wrong and presuming it’s right.

JudgeJ · 27/08/2023 15:39

VisionsOfSplendour · 27/08/2023 14:09

Are you being deliberately funny? It's not slipped, it's skipped and fandango as in the dance, that one's pretty self explanatory

My point isn't that the decade want good for music it's that I'm surprised that this lyrical misunderstanding is posted about about so often on here when I'm surprised that many people under 30 have even heard of it

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Sorry, typo!

ISeeARedDoorAndIWantToBreakIn · 27/08/2023 15:43

BoomBoom70 · 27/08/2023 03:45

That if someone was ‘helping police with their inquiries’ they are a police suspect. I thought that they were being helpful! 😂

Me too! I thought some kind person with a bit of spare time offered to lend a hand!

ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea · 27/08/2023 16:33

Iclyn · 26/08/2023 22:36

That peanuts grow underground and not on trees like walnuts , hazelnuts , chestnuts etc.

What??

YukoandHiro · 27/08/2023 16:34

@ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea

Peanuts aren't nuts. They're legumes, much closer to peas or lentils than any tree nut

A lot of people are allergic to peanuts but not tree nuts (and vice versa)