To think my OH is pretending not to know stuff?

[Zaphodsotherhead]

We were outside looking at the night sky and I said 'look, there's the Plough'. To which he replies 'what?' 'You know, constellations?' 'I don't know that that is...'

Looking at something that happened during the civil war. Him 'what's that then?' 'When Oliver Cromwell abolished the monarchy? Roundheads and Cavaliers?' 'Dunno any of that'. 'Didn't you do it at school?' 'I dunno. Probably'.

I no longer know if he does know and doesn't care, or just doesn't know. He seems to have a tiny, tiny field of interest (cars) and anything else it's just a shrug and 'I dunno'. Do you think he might be putting it on to stop me talking?

[EdmundCleverClogs]

My partner is like this over anything to do with pop culture. Not that it's important to know who Madonna is, or never have watched an episode of Friends before the age of 25 (), but then acts like anyone who enjoys pop culture is a moron. Ironically, Mr Know It All loves sport, and gets very annoyed when people pish-poshs it. Football obviously isn't usless information .

[EdmundCleverClogs]

ShotsFired, you know my MIL

[ShotsFired]

Edmund Well I was going to suggest we pair up your partner and my friend, but that might get weird now....!

[ImperialBlether]

I find it really unattractive when someone's determined to remain dim.

[lacktoastandtolerance]

At the risk of being incredibly dull, the Plough is not a constellation, but an asterism.

It's part of a constellation - Ursa Major.

[MudCity]

I think there will be some things your OH knows that you don't and vice versa. Knowledge of constellations and the civil war is all well and good but maybe his knowledge is more practical in nature? Knowing about cars is very useful!

I actually had a better education than my DH but despite studying to a higher level, his knowledge of history, for example, far surpasses mine as he is really interested in it. I have a different, more specialist, knowledge base. He would definitely score higher than me in a general knowledge quiz though. Doesn't make me stupid, or disinterested, we are just different.

Thank goodness we all have different knowledge and skills otherwise we would hardly function as a society. Personally, I would be delighted if I or my DH knew about cars....would save us a fortune in car maintenance! Skills in DIY would also be massively useful too....

[Eolian]

Yes but the clue's in the name - GENERAL knowledge - the stuff that most human beings should have a reasonable smattering of. Having specialist or detailed knowledge about constellations or the civil war wouldn't be at all useful to most people. Not knowing they exist, though... that's a whole other level of dimness.

[ZippyNeedsFeeding]

Mr Zippy wouldn't be able to tell you anything about the (presumably English- lots of countries have had them - Civil War). Partly because he left school at 13 and partly because he is Scottish and English history wasn't taught at his school. He knows every constellation though, and can bore on/explain in a fascinating manner (depending on my mood!) about navigation using stars and stuff like that.

It sounds like he just didn't want to talk about stars, or finds astronomy dull. that doesn't make him thick, or boring or anything else except uninterested in stars. If he really can only talk about cars that would be a problem for me though, most normal people don't want to only talk about one subject unless they are new parents, when all bets are off and all conversations are about the PFB!
Also, you might want to consider the possibility that it could be much, much worse- MrZ's favourite topic of conversation is the technical aspects of concrete, concrete finishing and concrete polishing!

[AcrossthePond55]

It would annoy me if he had a lack of knowledge about pretty much everything. There are just things that someone should know. Not specifics, but that the word/event/phrase is 'recognizable'.

My DH's family didn't value education, so his 'schoolbook' knowledge of certain subjects, like history, is rather sketchy. But if I was to say 'Civil War', he'd know what period in our (American) history I was talking about, but not the specific dates or detailed political issues. Enough to say Lincoln, Slavery, North v South. Good enough. And he's educated himself in subjects that interest him; meteorology, aviation, geography. He has a vast amount of knowledge in these things as it's part of his hobby.

To me, it's not specifically the lack of knowledge, it's a lack of wanting to know a bit about 'whatever' if one is confronted with something new. My DH generally does have a curious mind and will ask about things he's unfamiliar with.

[DorothyHarris]

gin I'm exactly the same. Even to the point I can't remember things from my childhood. I'm not sure why.

[JenLindleyShitMom]

Tbh, it's sounds like he just doesn't want to have to talk to you he is saying he doesn't know so you'll stop the discussion (out of frustration with him or just cant be bothered explaining).

[sarahsarah76]

yeah not gonna lie to be honest it sounds like hes just not taking an interest unless its something that concerns him or that hes personally interested in which is a bit disrespectful

[GloopyGhoul]

Mine does the opposite, like a PP, he pretends to know stuff he clearly does not. It's infuriating.

[JustGettingStarted]

My husband is a clever man who is excellent at book keeping for my business, great with computers, and can write an eloquent business letter with perfect grammar and punctuation.

But he recently asked if rhinos were a sort of dinosaur. He distrusts/doesn't understand anything about evolution and secretly thinks global warming is a liberal conspiracy cooked up by liberals to undermine capitalism.

[Lancelottie]

Ooh, I can do the one about the vowels-in-order - facetious and abstemious. Jolly useful pair of words they are too.

[JustGettingStarted]

shotsfired I had a professor at Berkeley who was considering "The Living Authority" on early Christian/late antique history. She gleefully read The National Enquirer every week and had visited Graceland several times (although she attributed that to an interest in the study of pilgrimage.)

Truly intelligent, curious people aren't so conscious of high vs low brow.

[Pipthedog]

If it annoys you enough to write a thread on it then it's only going to get worse. Eventually you'll have absolutely nothing to talk about!

[Oliversmumsarmy]

Dp has always said he doesn't retain unimportant stuff. The problem is he now can't find his way home and has to use the sat nav to find our house because how to get home from 2 miles away he said was filed in the unimportant sector of his brain so he just forgets it.

We have lived here 18years

[Thejubremonyatthelibrary]

From your post OP I now have a picture in my head of your DH being a premier league footballer

[BitOutOfPractice]

Mr Zippy wouldn't be able to tell you anything about the (presumably English- lots of countries have had them - Civil War). Partly because he left school at 13 and partly because he is Scottish and English history wasn't taught at his school.

There was a civil war going on in Scotland at the same time and they each influenced the other greatly. In fact, when Charles II returned to Britain to fight to regain the throne (The Third English Civil War), he landed in Scotland where he has a great deal of support. The first major conflict between Cromwell and Charles II (to be) was the Siege of Edinburgh. Cromwell's forces at one point occupied much of southern Scotland and there were many "English" Civil War battles on Scottish soil. Brief outline on wikipedia here

To the PP who said she had never even heard of theEnglish Civil War - that really does leave me totally astounded!

I also agree with the PP who said that, for me, it's important to have equal conversations with my DP and to at least pretend to be interested in what I'm saying. My DP and I have wildly different educational backgrounds - arts v science - and different interests but we often chat about each other's interests. That stuff is important to me

[blitheringbuzzards1234]

Many of us have special interests which we know loads about and there's other stuff which doesn't attract us. I love quizzes about general knowledge BUT scientific stuff like the Periodic Table, or ancient myths and legends, Kings & Queens, Prime Ministers - I could gen up on those for ages but it just never sticks.
To have very narrow interests is exactly that - narrow and not exactly conducive to conversation. When the initial physical attraction has worn off, what takes its place? Yes, conversation - it helps the longevity of a relationship to have things in common.

[BitOutOfPractice]

But blithering I agree with the PP who said that it's not a case of knowing every detail of the periodic table with the OP's DP, it's the case that he's never even heard of the periodic table if you know what I mean

I think it's the "i dunno" bit that would annoy me. If DP had said "oh look at the plough" to me, if i hadn't heard of it, I would have said "oh I've never heard of that. What is it? Where is it? Why is it called that?" and been interested

[NicknameUsed]

"To the PP who said she had never even heard of theEnglish Civil War - that really does leave me totally astounded!"

I failed history O level, but even I know that there was a civil war.

[BitOutOfPractice]

It's referenced so much in British culture!

[QueenofallIsee]

I don't know if he is pretending or not, but it would bother me - maybe enough to break it off even. I don't expect high brow discussion on obscure passages from 'Ulysses' or anything, but I value people with some intellectual curiosity! Its not the not knowing, as much as the not caring or being interested in things wider than yourself I think.