Things you assumed and were astonished to find out you were completely wrong

[Cattery]

For example: The Elgin Marbles. Heard these mentioned from time to time over the years. Always pictured marbles; kids’ marbles. Then I heard they were something to do with Greece and I’ve always thought Elgin was there. Got it all completely wrong

Yes its opposite South End!!!

TBF they were originally made with meat, and some mincemeat still contains non-vegetarian suet

I always wondered in my younger years what “they eyes to the right” and the “neighs to the left” meant when reporting about parliament 🤣🤣🤣

🙄🤦‍♀️

I only found this out a few years ago, it wasn't something I had thought about but just assumed it was an even split.

I thought this too.

I was very shocked to learn that the Suez canal is in Egypt. For some very odd reason I thought it was in Panama

I thought:

Jimmy Carr was gay
Billericay was in Ireland
Narwhals were mythical like unicorns...

As a child watching Newsround I assumed that "air-strikes" were when pilots went on strike and stopped air drop deliveries of food and medicine packages...

I only worked out the truth around 10 years and was very, very upset 💔

That might be the Panama canal!

@PrincessFairyWren

"No weirder than thinking an island off the coast of Argentina belongs to the British. I was very young asking my dad why the British thought it was theirs. We are not from the UK and his answer would be very inflammatory to post here"

But regardless of the past, the residents have more recently voted to stay with the U.K. so you'd have to go against their wishes now to return it

Not me but someone I know thought the line in the old Kenny Roger's song Lucille was "with four hundred children and a crop in the field" instead of "four HUNGRY children"...

Awww

Tour de France - they refer to it as THE yellow jersey, assumed the being the definite article therefore only one.

Wondered how they got it all washed and clean again in time for the next rider the next day...

Turns out every team has A yellow jersey and they are permitted to wear it if they are in the lead.

Money laundering - due to some ridiculous film/series I watched I thought they actually washed the money in a washing machine to make it clean...

Perhaps these aren't actual assumptions and this is actually just me being a bit stupid! 😅

This is fabulous!!

The British (by which I presume you mean the UK government?) don’t think it is theirs, they believe the Falkland Islanders have a right to self-determination, and the Falkland Islanders have determined that they wish to be British - many times over. They held a referendum on that exact question in 2013 and the results were resounding. Peronists can skew it all they like but to undermine the rights of a people with a self-elected government, in a country that was never a colony is wrong. You would have thought after 42 years people would leave them alone to live their lives in peace without this constant projection on to them of what they ‘should’ be from people who have never ever been there. Sorry but you raised it and I find it obnoxious in the extreme that they STILL face this arrogant nonsense from armchair arbiters. I lived there for four years, amazing country.

Right back to the nice stuff - life’s a custard cream is too cute for words!

I used to think the world’s core was boiling hot lava, but it’s solid. I’m sure I remember learning the opposite at school, but apparently not!

Tbf historically people did used to eat pies filled with spiced meat and fruit. It was later that the meat part was dropped from the recipes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincemeat

The red, cartoon bird from the game angry birds is based on a cardinal bird- which is a real bird!

Mince pies did indeed contain meat in medieval times.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/blog-posts/recipe-for-real-mince-pies/

I thought declaring bankruptcy was a bit like Michael Scott just shouting it.
I still don't entirely get why it absolves you of stuff.

I normally read these threads feeling thoroughly smug, but I must admit that I also thought Harrogate was a seaside town.

I do have another example of my poor knowledge of Yorkshire geography - I was 50 before I realised Hull and Kingston upon Hull were the same place.

I had the radio on, getting ready to go out, it was announced, a group of scrap metal dealers had invaded the Falklands, I was astounded, I also thought Scotland. But what about scrap metal dealers, when it was the Argentines.

I just can't believe how people get through their lives not knowing the most simple basic general knowledge of Britain and the world. Thinking the Elgin marbles are actual marbles, the Falkland Islands are in Scotland, that Harrogate is coastal, that film scenes are filmed in the order they appear on screen and numerous other things have got to be a wind-up, how do people manage not knowing this very simple stuff.

Also no return involved to be fair, it was never Argentinian to start with, they were not the first settlers.

@Hazeby ...i REALLY didnt think\query-so thot ch tunnel was through the water too.
l...(didnt think\query) so...was ok with the stars come out at night.... my then maybe 7yo told me they there all the time!