to have only recently realised..

[TheQueenOfDiamonds]

What the phrase "birthday suit" means... Ffs!

When I was a child, my mother used to quote the Girl Scout Law from her childhood in Massachusetts, which included the line "A Girl Scout is a friend to all and a sister to every other Girl Scout." I interpreted the "every other" part to mean "every second" as in "every other day." I was deeply puzzled about why one was meant to be a sister just to half the girls.

I also couldn't understand the expression "A friend in need is a friend indeed." For (far too many) years I thought it meant that if someone was in need, he/she had to prove it in deed, not just in words. I know, it doesn't make any sense at all.

Love this thread, especially the flamin' yon and being too polite to ask about Dad's time in prison!

Scrambly I once brought home a packet of Cheddars and DS exclaimed, "oh wow they're just like giant mini-Cheddars". He was only 5 though

Boris I said those exact words. I was 21 In my defence, I had never actually seen big Cheddars before...

blush D'uh, thanks Euphemia [slack-jawed yokel icon]

It has just popped in my hand that a tender age, I was naughtily reading my big sister's Just 17 magazine.

There was an advert for Tampax which had a picture of a leek (vegetable) on it. Utterly baffled, I interrrupted the ongoing conversation to ask "Mum, what's a Per I Od?" blush

Assumed it couldn't be pronounced period as in period of time as that made no sense whatsoever so assumed it must be some weird new concept.

When my sister was born Dad took us in to hospital to see her. Mum was BFing her and swapped from one breast to another. I asked why and Dad told me one was hot and one was cold which I happily never questioned until I started to tell someone else that one boob was hot and one was cold. Half way through I realised Dad Had been lying to me. I was in my 20s studying a biology degree.

I was 12 years old before I was told by girls at boarding school that women had a vagina and that we gave birth through it. And although I knew about sexual intercourse, I didn't realise we had a separate opening for the penis. Actually I hadn't really tought about it at all.

I found both sets of news really surprising.

I also used to pronounce the name Stephen as Step-hen until my mother correct5ed me, to my great embarrassment.

Finally we had a plastic cat carrier which was labelled 'Pat Pending'. I always thought that it meant that the cat would be given a pat very soon, not that there was an application for a patent.

Just checking cos its not clear that you know...vagina is for both baby and penisz right?

stealth - yes. sorry if I confused you.

I was confused for years about the old galaxy ads going on about not having cotton when you can have silk....

I only just got the Smarties thing too.

And I had to have a big think about 'drinking out of wet glasses', but I think it means that you pour another drink as soon as you've finished the last one, while the glass is still wet. And therefore get drunk.

I was a full-grown woman and a mother before I realised that Sooty and Sweep's names were connected.

I have just found out that haggis is not fish.

I always thought it was for some reason.

I love this thread! The smarties thing is s revelation to me too!!! And since so many people have only just got it I think it means Smarties had a bad tag line rather than we are all just stupid

I always thought that in the song Beat Surrender by The Jam, Paul Weller sang "succumber to the beat surrender". I was well into my 30s before it occurred to me that there's no such word as succumber.

Also, I never connected the written word "epitome" with the spoken word "epitomee". In my head they were two different words. And I was over 40 when that one dawned on me ...

@ succumber

I thought Sugar Dalmonds were actual thing dunce

I had to explain to some aggrieved Year 8 boys that no, they couldn't have the cervical cancer jab. They said they didn't want to get cervical cancer either, it wasn't fair! It took a while to convince them that they really didn't need it.

With the eppy-tome / epitome thing, I was the the same with mail- vo -lent and malevolent. I knew they meant the same sort of thing (in my head) but it was ages before I realised they were the same word.

ooops ....I just got the smarties double-meaning too!

Ashamed of myself.

Ha ha great thread! Nice that all of the contributions are relevant and light-hearted and that there aren't any annoying answers!

I once wondered,aloud,if chickens had two or four legs! I could quite happily picture both how my mind. Uh oh.

The Channel Tunnel thing? Me too!!

Guilty r.e the channel tunnel and also when I heard about "under-pitch heating" in football. I thought it was there to keep the players warm. It isn't, apparently.

at 42, I was listening to a radio play and tryingt o drown put the sound of my children fighting in the back seat of the car, and the character was saying something like "She is just a slapper!" anyway I started mulling this statement in my brain, and I was shock to realise it is slap her!! could be wrong it was just in my head, but it shocked me to think that.

Did you know that Pringles are not classed as crisps because they don't contain enough potato?

for years i wouldn't drink dr pepper as i didn't think i liked pepper, once i realised i infact i did liked pepper i bought a bottle and was disappointed there wasn't no pepper in there.

Michael Hutchence was in two groups. His old one was called Inxs (pronounced inks)
He then set up In Excess

In my tiny little mind anyway

About the clocks changing in the spring and autumn: only realised last year that we have five months of the winter time and seven of the summer time. Always assumed it was six of each.